Montreal, Quebec, Canada— In the dead of winter, Canada's lumber industry comes to an icy halt. With downtime pending, the Canadian Pulp Paper Association held its PaperWeek International conference here during the last week of January. Despite ice storms, the 1998 event drew more than 15,000 pulp and paper industry attendees from 40 countries.

An important part of PaperWeek was EXFOR '98, which featured 457 exhibitors displaying the latest technologies devoted to pulp and paper product manufacturing. Well-represented were several leading process control system suppliers, including ABB, Fisher-Rosemount, Foxboro, and Honeywell-Measurex.

New from ABB is the AccuRay HyperScan fullsheet imaging system. With HyperScan, papermakers see 100% of their sheet, as opposed to the 1% visibility provided with conventional mechanical scanners and sensors. The 100% visibility improves product uniformity through fullsheet controls and runnability through advanced process diagnostics. HyperScan, with frame foundation, light source, and cameras, is integrated with the AccuRay 1190 system for display, analysis, and control.

Also on display in the ABB booth was the ACS 1000 medium-voltage induction motor drive for general-purpose use. This is the first drive to use ABB's new Integrated Gate Commutated Thyristor (IGCT), which provides high-speed switching, high-voltage blocking, and low-loss conduction. (For more on IGCT, see the Editors' Choice cover article in this issue; also see CE, July 1997, p. 17; and December 1997, p. 9.).

Flow measurement was hot in Fisher-Rosemount's booth. On display were the Mass ProBar, which combines Rosemount's Model 3095 MV mass flow transmitter with Dieterich Standard's Annubar, and the Model 8800A smart vortex flowmeter.

Mass ProBar measures four process variables in one device; DP, static pressure, temperature, and mass flow. Mass flow rate accuracy is within 1.3% for liquids, gases, and steam over an 8:1 flow turndown. New electronics in the 8800A provide accessible test points to aid in ISO 9000 electronics verifications and troubleshooting.

During a special presentation at the Chairman's Welcoming Reception, Foxboro was recognized for its long participation in EXFOR. In its booth, Foxboro showcased products in three main categories, including advanced control solutions, integrated information technology solutions, and intelligent field instrumentation.

Open control solutions included direct interface between a third-party scanning gage and Foxboro's I/A Series system to enable machine direction and cross-direction strategies. For integrated IT, Foxboro teamed with Documentum to embed the company's Enterprise Document Management system within Foxboro's I/A system to create FoxEDM.

Field and analytical instruments were highlighted in the Honeywell-Measurex booth at EXFOR '98. The company previewed its gage pressure, flush-mount pressure transmitter, STG93P, for applications where process clogging is a concern. Replacing three transmitters with one is Honeywell's SMV3000 smart multivariable transmitter, which provides compensated mass flow measurement of air, gas, and steam. Of special note to the pulp and paper industry was the MagneW3000 Plus, a pulsed dc electromagnetic flowmeter.

Also of special interest to industry professionals was Honeywell-Measurex's new FAST (fullweb advanced systems technology) Web Imaging system. FAST uses digital CCD line-scan cameras to produce photo-like images of defects and the surrounding area. The new system is said to be faster and offer enhanced analysis and networked processing of visual quality information.