AUBURN, Mass. - Kadant Solutions, a division of Kadant Inc., reached a milestone in nanotechnology-enhanced composite doctor blades sales. Since the launch a few years ago nanotechnology-enhanced blades represent Kadant's largest volume composite doctor blade type.

The nanotechnology-enhanced composite blade line provides a unique technology for paper and tissue mill applications in North America, Europe, and China. The nanotechnology-enhanced resins allow the composite resin matrix to be manipulated on a molecular scale to produce high-performing, wear resistant doctor blades.

According to Scott Borges, product manager at Kadant Solutions, "The results we have seen in mills throughout North America, Europe, and China have exceeded our expectations with respect to nanotechnology-enhanced blade performance and operating characteristics. The advances in material manipulation, from microtechnology to nanotechnology, have allowed us to further enhance the performance of our doctor blades on the toughest applications, including stickies removal from lead-in paper dryers, hard-rubber wet-end rolls, and critical positions on press rolls."

The nanotechnology-based doctor blades have increased stiffness, increased resistance to chipping, improved interlaminar bonding, and have a lower coefficient of friction compared to conventional blades. As a result, roll surface cleaning is improved and doctor blade life has been shown to increase significantly compared to that of conventional blades. The high-performance doctor blade results in fewer blade changes and the potential for reduced operating costs while enhancing overall doctoring and machine efficiency.