Technical Program

The Conference Technical Program provides paper industry engineers and maintenance professionals valuable knowledge that can be applied to daily mill responsibilities.

Conference participants will:
  • Learn about changes in electrical engineering, maintenance and safety practices, standards and codes.
  • Experience equipment upgrades in other plants, hear about the projects that worked and the ones that didn’t.
  • Acquire skills in generator and motor protection, determining relay settings and troubleshooting failures.
  • Discover how to justify electrical upgrades with an emphasis on efficiency, reliability and safety.
  • Network with other attendees that are extremely knowledgeable and actively working every day in the industry to make industry facilities, safer and more competitive.

The PPIC technical program is developed over the course of a 2 year period by dedicated members of the IAS Pulp & Paper Industry Technical Committee.

PAST EVENTS

2024 Schedule
2023 Schedule
2022 Schedule
2021 Schedule

PDH CREDITS

Professional Development Hours are awarded for all technical sessions and tutorials attended. In general, 3.5 PDHs are awarded for each morning or afternoon session. Half-day tutorials receive 4 PDH, full-day tutorials get 8 PDH. Certificates are available at the end of each technical session or tutorial.

2024 TECHNICAL CONTENT

PAPERS PRESENTED

GFCI: A Standards Perspective
Nehad El-Sherif (MNKYBR), Thomas Domitrovich (Eaton), Frederick Reyes (UL)

Racking Out or In Power Circuit Breakers is Simple Isn’t It?
Terry Becker (TW Becker Consulting)

Modernizing a Refinery Brushless Motor
P&C System to Maximize Availability
Christine Crites & Ray Luna (GE Grid Solutions), Mourad Dib & Michael Johnson (PEMEX)

Applications of NGRs in Multiple Source MV Power Systems
Jeremie Bergeron & Leo Busch (Delta Wye), Jeff Glenney (Bender)

Modern IED Data Capture Configuration Challenges
Duane Leschert & Kris Somerstad (Worley), Jacob Janzen (Shell), Craig Wester (GE Vernova)

Control of AC Brushless Exciter to Regulate Power Factor on AFD Fed Synchronous Motors
Stan Simms & Thomas Farr (Eaton), Mark Fanslow (TECO-Westinghouse), Gabriel Braga (PWP Lab)

Why Can’t I Start My Motor? Demystifying Motor Relay Lockouts
Christine Crites & Justin Comer (GE Grid Solutions), Walter Simpson (RYAM)

Factory Acceptance Testing from Three Different Perspectives
Jaco Krüger (Wilson Engineers), Marc Elliott (Eaton), Warren Hopper (Retired)

Real-Time Controller HIL Simulation for Motor Starting Studies
Stan Simms & Thomas Farr (Eaton), Gabriel Braga (PWP Lab)

A Better Approach Towards Verifying the Absence of Voltage Testing * Ensuring Workplace Safety
Sergio Panetta (I-Gard)

Solid State Circuit Breaker Technologies:
Advanced Protection & Control Capabilities for Forest Product Applications
Philip Allen & Eric Norton (Grace Technologies), John Kay (Retired)

Ride the Lightning (Protection) All the Way to Ground
Mike Huynh & Neil Sutton (Allnorth)

Dismiss Your Fears: A Guide to Writing & Presenting a Paper at the IEEE PPIC Conference
Dave Durocher (Eaton, Retired)

The Crucial Role of Cybersecurity in Operational Technology
Matthew Cosnek & Dante Barragan (Eaton), Christina Lutkus (Domtar)

Review of TAPPI Constants in the Modernization of a Lineshaft Paper Machine to Sectional Electrics
Michael Kozlowski (ABB)

The Future of Variable Frequency Drive Predictive Maintenance
Richard Butler, Yujia Cui, Zhijum Liu, Todd Jaremko & Sarah Hinds (Rockwell Automation)

Evaluating Substations to the NFPA 70B 2023 Standard
Austin (AJ) Johnson & Paul Sullivan (Eaton), Scott Brady & Sharon Mullen (DuPont)

Protection Relay Based Industrial Motors Pro-Active Asset Management Solution
Dr. Balakrishna Pamulaparthy, Boukadi Atef, Anish Sachdev, Marcus Bonner & Mahesh Kumar (GE Grid Solutions)

Extending the Operating Life of Critical High Voltage Motors
Terry Perillous & Keith Lyles (Marathon), Saeed Il Haq (GE Power Conversion), Tom Reid (Integrated Power Services)

Operations Driven Safety & Reliability–Creating a Blue Ocean of Asset Reliability
Martin Robinson (IRISS Group)

Medium Voltage Cable Systems at Aging Paper Mills–Life-Cycle Management of the Last Critical Asset
Patrick Hall (WestRock), Benjamin Lanz & Timothy Morello(IMCORP)

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION

Research & Innovations Driving the Future of the Pulp & Paper Industry
Chris Luettgen (Alliance for Pulp & Paper Technology Innovation)

PANEL DISCUSSION

Capital Projects: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
Greg Drewiske (Billerud), Michael Feldkirchner (Domtar), Jaco Krüger (Wilson Engineers), David Durocher (Retired)

SUBCOMMITTEE SESSIONS

Drives & Controls Systems

Power Distribution Systems

Process Control, Engineering, Maintenance & Construction

Safety & Training

ATTENDEE FAVORITE

Unusual Failures
Warren Hopper (Retired)

VENDOR PRESENTATIONS

Successfully Deploy LED Ligting in Extreme Temperature Environments
VM5

A Digital Twin of the Power Distribution Network
ETAP

Recent Advancements in Switchgear Digitalization
Eaton

DigiFEX 4.0 Field Exciters for Synchronous Motors
AMI Automation

EA Technology Online Partial Discharge Test Equipment Solutions
EA Technology

Digital Transformation/Industrial IoT Solutions for the Pulp & Paper Industry
WESCO

Digital Transformation Workshop–The First Step in Your Transformation Journey
ROVYSIS

Drive Peak Performance
Service You Can Count On
Service Wire Co.

The New GE Vernova & Feeder Relays
Grid Beats
GE Vernova

TUTORIALS

DC Motors Primer 101
4 hours

Chris Heron

Intro to Codes & Standards Development Process
4 hours

Nehad El-Sherif

This half-day tutorial provides attendees having little or no background of codes and standards with information to develop a basic understanding of the topic. It also serves as a refresher for experienced attendees. The 5W’s method will be used to engage attendees and historical examples to emphasize the importance of complying with codes and standards are shared. The relation between innovation and standards will be discussed as well as the benefit of getting involved in the development process of codes and standards. Finally, a real-life design example will be shared with attendees to demonstrate how codes and standards are applied in practice.

IEEE 2455 Recommended Practice for Repair & Maintenance of DC Electrical Machines Overview
4 hours

Chuck Yung

This half-day tutorial will review the recently published IEEE 2455 Recommended Practice for the Repair and Maintenance of DC Electrical Machines. The need for documented repair practices for DC machines prompted the working group to develop this Recommended Practice providing consistent recommendations for repair “best practices”. The session will share many examples useful to the Pulp & Paper industry.

NFPA 70E
4 hours

Daryld Ray Crow & Daleep Mohla

This half-day tutorial will cover key changes approved for the 2024 edition of NFPA 70E.  The presentation will be provided by Daryld Ray Crow and Daleep Mohla, both are members of the NFPA 70E committee.  Consult the full document as published prior to making any changes to your electrical safety program.