Yes, It’s Possible To Effectively Clean a Yankee Dryer!
Consumer Tissue Manufacturer BeforeWhat is the most expensive and critical piece of equipment in a tissue mill? The Yankee dryer, of course. When chatter marks and other damages to the Yankee dryer surface are found, they require expensive grinds that can reduce this important asset's operating life.
The first action to take once chatter marks are detected is to remove them before they migrate across the Yankee surface or, even worse, down into the base metal surface.
When the time comes to completely remove the built-up coating from the Yankee surface, each mill has a slightly different approach. In most cases, this is done with homemade equipment designed with grit paper or emery cloth. These devices can be unsafe, take too long to work, and are costly to operate. In many cases, these homemade solutions are constructed from wooden boards and do not have the tight tolerances required to ensure even coating removal.
Is it possible to effectively, consistently, and safely clean a Yankee dyer? The answer is YES!
Consumer Tissue Manufacturer AfterKadant Solutions developed a Yankee dryer cleaning solution designed to insert into the existing Yankee doctor holder easily. The device is manufactured from lightweight aluminum and features a patented cleaning shoe with two cleaning pads. The shoe is attached to a pivot blade that inserts into the Yankee doctor holder and takes the shape of the holder profile to ensure even application to the Yankee surface. The Yankee dryer cleaner and pads can be safely inserted from outside the machine frame requiring minimal effort. The ease and safety of operation provides the flexibility to use it more often and not require special crews or safety scaffolds to be run across the machine when the need arises to clean the Yankee dryer surface.
There are a variety of pad types available to manage a wide range of coating types and Yankee RA surface requirements (ranging from aggressive 80 grit to fine 400 grit pads). Kadant pads contact the Yankee dryer with a wider surface area than typical grit paper approaches which have a finer point contact. Also, these pads are open to accept and remove the coating from the Yankee dryer surface. The filled pads provide the user with an easy visual of the coating that is being removed from the Yankee dryer surface.
Whether the objective is regular Yankee dryer cleaning or removal of the coating to manage chatter build-up, having the right Yankee dryer cleaning solution is important. This maintenance activity should be done with a solution that is easy to use, can be done safely with minimal manpower, and provides effective cleaning.
