The Marcus Wallenberg Foundation proudly announces that the 2012 Marcus Wallenberg Prize is awarded to Mr. Mika Severi Viljanmaa, for his ground-breaking development of metal belt calendering technology resulting in better paper print surfaces with less fibre materials and higher production efficiency. The invention also paves the way for applications in pressing and drying with the opportunity of becoming a wider platform technology expected to substantially enhance production efficiency, competitiveness and sustainability of paper and board making.
Calendering is done to improve the paper surface and thus print quality. Compared to conventional calendering, the metal belt calendering technology enables manufacturing of paper and board with better surface smoothness at a desired level of stiffness and bulk, but using 3-10% less fibre raw material. In addition, it consumes less energy and yields higher production efficiency than other calendering concepts. It is particularly...