Kadant Johnson System Upgrades Reduce Motive Steam Usage by 75% at U.S. Paper Mill
Three Rivers, Mich., September 16, 2008 - Kadant Johnson Inc., a subsidiary of Kadant Inc. (NYSE:KAI), recently completed a dryer system energy and water conservation project at a Southeast U.S. paper mill. The completed project reduced motive steam flow by 15,000 pounds per hour, resulting in potential savings of up to $245,000 per year in electricity generated from the mill’s steam turbines.
According to Ken Hill, president of the Systems Division of Kadant Johnson Inc., “Recent advances made to the geometry of Kadant Johnson thermocompressors have resulted in minimizing the need for high pressure motive steam while optimizing flow characteristics that match the syphon design.” System modifications that contributed to the reduction in motive steam included the installation of Kadant Johnson’s high-efficiency thermocompressors, the optimization of orifice sizes for the mill’s existing stationary syphons, and incorporating blow-through flow control.
Kadant Johnson also implemented dryer drainage system changes to reduce blow-through steam flow and improve flash steam utilization. This resulted in the low-pressure steam use being reduced by 7,500 pounds per hour. The elimination of the main dryer drainage condenser tank resulted in water consumption being reduced by more than 200 gallons per minute. In addition, condenser metering was installed to measure and monitor energy efficiency. The steam loss from the system was measured to be less than 0.75% of the total steam supplied to the dryers.
Kadant Johnson Inc., based in Three Rivers, Michigan, is a leading provider of rotary joints, precision unions, and fluid handling systems to process industries, where they optimize heat transfer in rotating cylinders and integrate fluid handling systems.
Kadant Inc. is a leading supplier to the global pulp and paper industry, with a range of products and services for improving efficiency and quality in pulp and paper production, including paper machine accessories and systems for stock preparation, fluid handling, and water management. Our fluid-handling products are also used to optimize production in the steel, rubber, plastics, food, and textile industries. In addition, we produce granules from papermaking byproducts for agricultural and lawn and garden applications. Kadant is based in Westford, Massachusetts, with revenues of $366 million in 2007 and 2,000 employees in 16 countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.kadant.com.
The following constitutes a “Safe Harbor” statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including forward-looking statements about our products and technologies. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such statements are set forth under the heading “Risk Factors” in Kadant’s quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 28, 2008. These include risks and uncertainties relating to our dependence on the pulp and paper industry; significance of sales and operation of manufacturing facilities in China; international sales and operations; competition; our debt obligations; restrictions in our credit agreement; litigation and warranty costs related to our discontinued operation; our acquisition strategy; future restructurings; factors influencing our fiber-based products business; protection of patents and proprietary rights; fluctuations in quarterly operating results; and anti-takeover provisions. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.