Reutlingen, October 2010. Huyck.Wangner just launched its patented, entirely new EDC (Engineered Drainage Channels) forming fabric technology that will replace the SSB product generation. Its unique performance characteristics will give papermakers a substantial paper quality and cost advantage.

Unlike SSB designs, which are now over a decade old, the EDC concept focuses on drainage channels. When developing the new product, Huyck.Wangner's clothing specialists focused on extensively improving the performance attributes of the fabric area that gives papermakers the choice of significant savings in terms of energy consumption and production costs, or increased capacity while maintaining top paper quality.

The completely new design of the drainage channels, which unlike conventional SSB designs are tapering towards the running side, results in a larger free surface on the paper side, which is essential to drainage capacity and retention.

This improves initial drainage control and not only leads to a significantly enhanced sheet forming process, but also outstanding dry content at the pickup and optimum runnability. The outstanding formation and retention performance of the innovative warp concept, with significantly better CMD orientation of the mesh on the paper side, redefines the initial sheet forming process. It is already being used for the successful apexx product. The open, drainage-promoting sheet structure combines with efficient water removal along the entire former and a highly stable fabric, characterized by high skew resistance and bending stiffness as well as improved CMD profiles.

Huyck.Wangner will successively replace its entire forming fabric portfolio with the new design concept. formexx, a fabric designed for graphic paper manufacturing and finetexx, for magazine papers, are currently the first two EDC forming fabrics introduced this year after very promising test runs.