8 Oct. 2024: Although used for many years, many industries have been moving away from chrome use and seeking alternatives due to environmental concerns.
The senior product engineer for AFT, Mathieu Hamelin, says these environmental issues “compelled us to think about the future.” As a leader in screening technology, he adds that the company wanted to stay ahead of the curve. This led to the development of DiamondWire® technology, a wear-resistant surface treatment designed to extend cylinder life. The proprietary hexavalent chromium-free treatment is corrosion- and impact-resistant and can extend cylinder life by more than 20%, even in high-wear screening applications.
As part of the company’s focus on continuous R&D, Hamelin says that AFT had been working on the innovation for several years. He adds that AFT is the only company able to offer this type of hexavalent chromium-free treatment.
It has been used in the field for about five years and Hamelin says this technology is now proven both in terms of performance and capacity. A more official promotion of DiamondWire technology will come this autumn at three pulp & paper shows: ABTCP in Brazil, ATIP in France, and MIAC in Italy.
Speaking to journalists at the Pulp and Beyond conference held in Finland earlier this year, company officials said DiamondWire technology would be offered on its MacroFlow2 (MF2) wedgewire screen cylinders at first, but plans are to extend the technology to AFT’s entire screening product line. AFT is also known for its proprietary technology for extending the life of low consistency Finebar® refiner plates.
Hamelin explains that the MF2 wedgewire cylinder is the company’s flagship for screening products. It is an intricate product as the cylinders can range from 300 mm up to 2 m in diameter. “A large one will contain up to 2,000 small wires and there are thousands of connections with no welds. The cylinders need perfect concentricity.” It is, as Hamelin stresses, a very complex process.
This is why MF2 cylinders were chosen to lead the way, with the expectation that the technology could be transferred more easily to AFT’s other products such as screen rotors.
The two core markets at this time for DiamondWire technology are Europe and the Americas. The next step will be Asia. AFT has two facilities equipped for DiamondWire technology: Varkaus in Finland and Sherbrooke, QC, in Canada. AFT also has facilities in China and South Korea, which serve the Asian market.
Reaction from customers has been very positive. “They love it for different reasons,” Hamelin says. “It is a unique technology that provides a competitive advantage. The health and environmental benefits appeal to them. And DiamondWire surface treatment offers a good ROI as a less expensive option based on wear life.”
The objective was ambitious because the technology had to meet the same criteria as chrome in terms of impact and corrosion resistance. Chrome has been used for decades and Hamelin says that AFT’s product was the best as it made its own chrome, so the bar was set high.
To replace an existing successful technology and work to develop something new and improved was a risk and the stakes were high. Hamelin says the company soon realized the significant benefits of DiamondWire wear-resistant surface treatment in that mills were able to achieve at least 20% longer cylinder life.
“The technology will become the standard for us,” Hamelin states. “We invested a lot of effort in this project and we are very proud to be the only ones able to provide this advanced technology.”
Hamelin says that chrome plating will probably still be used for some time as industries gradually transition to alternatives. “We made the right decision to move ahead in this sustainable direction.”
by Graeme Rodden, Paper Advance
