PAPER TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL - Advanced TAD technology for premium tissue grades (ATAD) Softer on the environment, lighter on energy, and stronger in performance. Paul Richards, Senior Technology Manager, Tissue, and Grade Owner for TAD & Hybrid Technologies, ANDRITZ - Paper Technology International 2026 - Book - Page 121

PAPER TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL - Advanced TAD technology for premium tissue grades (ATAD) Softer on the environment, lighter on energy, and stronger in performance. Paul Richards, Senior Technology Manager, Tissue, and Grade Owner for TAD & Hybrid Technologies, ANDRITZ

PAPER TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL - Advanced TAD technology for premium tissue grades (ATAD) Softer on the environment, lighter on energy, and stronger in performance. Paul Richards, Senior Technology Manager, Tissue, and Grade Owner for TAD & Hybrid Technologies, ANDRITZ
INTRODUCTION:
The TAD process has been widely recognized across the tissue industry as a major breakthrough in terms of 昀椀nished product
quality; however, the process has also become synonymous with excessive energy demands. ANDRITZ has come to the rescue with the
ATAD concept, which is set to revolutionize the energy-intensive demand of TAD production.
ATAD: a specially-developed module – integrating a suction pressure roll,
controlled heating and pressing – raises sheet solids ahead of the 昀椀rst TAD
drum. This reduces the amount of moisture that
must be thermally evaporated, which is the costliest and most
carbon-intensive part of the process.
Soft tissue, hard energy reality
Through-air drying (TAD) has been celebrated in the tissue
industry since the 1960s for delivering premium products with
superior bulk, strength, absorbency, and softness. However, TAD’s
Achilles’ heel has been its signi昀椀cantly higher energy consumption
compared to conventional tissue production processes. This energy
intensity has limited the technology’s adoption, particularly outside
regions like North America, where energy costs are signi昀椀cantly
higher.
ANDRITZ has tackled the TAD energy challenge head on
by launching Advanced TAD (ATAD), a groundbreaking innovation
designed to slash energy use in the TAD drying process by more
than 20%. Crucially, the energy reduction takes place while
preserving the premium quality that makes TAD so appealing.
Developed through years of research and testing at the ANDRITZ
Image 1: Paul Richards, Senior Technology Manager, Tissue,
state-of-the-art PrimeLine TIAC pilot plant in Graz, Austria, ATAD
and Grade Owner for TAD & Hybrid Technologies, ANDRITZ.
addresses the core challenge head-on by removing more water from
the sheet before it enters the energy-intensive TAD drying
section.
“With ATAD, we set out to rethink the TAD process where it
Paul Richards, Senior Technology Manager
matters most: right at the point where energy consumption
Tissue and Grade Owner for TAD & Hybrid technologies
begins. By increasing sheet dryness before it reaches
at ANDRITZ explains, “Since starting the TAD journey, our
the drums, we unlock meaningful energy savings without
goal has always been to target maximum energy ef昀椀ciency.
changing what makes TAD so valuable.”
That is why our standard offering for TAD includes an
impingement drying hood over the Yankee.
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