Technical Program


The PPFIC TECHNICAL PROGRAM is developed over the course of a 2 year period by dedicated members of the IAS Pulp & Paper Industry Technical Committee. The objective of the Technical Committee is “To advance the theory and practice in the electrical field as related to the design and management of electrical systems within the pulp, paper and forest products industry”. Our committee is comprised of five subcommittees, each with domain expertise in specific industry applications.

Our subcommittees include:

Process Control, Engineering, Maintenance & Construction (PCEMC)
Safety and Training (S&T)
Drives and Control Systems (DCS)
Power Distribution Systems (PDS)

The subcommittees meet twice a year, including a working session during our annual conference. During the meetings held on Tuesday afternoon, we discuss new ideas for technical papers for future conferences. Our subcommittee meetings are open to all and all conference attendees are invited to participate as guests during these sessions.

Listed below are the 2019 Technical Papers and Tutorials for our Conference: 

Technical Papers

  1. Review of the new IEEE STD. 3004.8 “Recommended Practice for Motor Protection in Industrial and Commercial Power Systems” with Focus on Forest Products Industries
  2. A Hidden Hazard – Identifying, Understanding and Preventing Combustible Dust Explosions in Forest Industry Facilities
  3. Assessing the Health of an Electrical System
  4. Impact of Improper Installation, Maintenance and Servicing of Electrical Equipment in Forest Products Industries
  5. A Design Guide to Neutral Grounding of Industrial Power Systems – Part II: Supplementary Topics
  6. Making my Paper Mill Safer: An Arc-Flash Energy Reduction Story
  7. Application of Undervoltage Protection to Critical Motors
  8. Nuggets of Knowledge – Transformer Service Life
  9. Oxygen at Extremely Low Levels In Transformer
  10. Calculation  of Degree of Polymerization in Cellulose from Methanol in Oil
  11. Methods for Quantifying Rotor Condition in Synchronous Motors
  12. Unique Challenges for Resistance Grounding of High Harmonic-Content Power Systems
  13. Most Common Mechanisms and Reasons for Electric Motor Failures in Industry
  14. Vintage Low Voltage MCC´s – Upgrade or Replace?
  15. Experiences of an Existing Industrial Facility: The Journey to Become Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) Ready
  16. A Project to Correct Mill Power Factor – Selection of a Second Capacitor Bank
  17. Underfrequency and Undervoltage Load Shedding in an Industrial Plant with Cogeneration Facilities
  18. Strategy For Reliable Arc Flash Detection in Low Voltage Switchgear
  19. Process Control Networking – Security bridging between Process control and IT
  20. Overhead Lines – Don’t Design Them To Be A Threat From Above
  21. Transformer Fuses – Mind The Gap
  22. Implementing an Intelligent Steam Load-Shedding System for a Large Paper Mill: Design and Validation Using Dynamic Simulations

 

Technical Panel

How to Deal with Obsolete Drive System Components and Communication Systems?

Tutorials

  1. TAPPI Drives Short Course
  2. The Internet of Things / Machine Learning
  3. 1584 Tutorial (Guide For Performing Arc Flash Hazard Calculations

 

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.
• And that’s just the beginning.

Follow this link to view the agenda for the conference

Comments from Previous Attendees:

“The majority of the papers presented in the technical sessions, as well as the tutorials, are down to earth with very practical experience and procedures that an attendee can bring back to the facility and immediately implement.”

Bob Jordan, Weyerhaeuser

“Without a doubt this is the premier technical conference for electrical engineers in the Pulp & Paper industry. The technical papers are excellent and right on target for day to day electrical engineering challenges in the mill. Once you attend one of the annual conferences, you will want to come back year after year!”

Martin Troy, PE, Mill Electrical Engineer, Madison Paper Industries, Madison, ME

Young Engineer Testimonial: As a first time attendee I was very impressed by the papers and how much I learned from them. Everything was set up very well from the first time attendees, facilities were nice. I look forward to attending next years conference. I had a great experience in Milwaukee, getting exposed to the technical papers and professionals within the field! The hotel was great, and the vendor hospitality was much appreciated!  Excellent technical conference. This conference is always on my “Definitely Attend” list. Great opportunity to network with industry professionals.

I was pleased to be accepted as a Young Engineer this year at the IEEE conference and that was probably the only reason I was able to attend the conference this year. I look forward being able to attend future years as the conference exceeded my expectations I’m more likely to pursue attendance next year.