Because of the importance of wet pressing to the overall economics of the papermaking process, the Water Removal Committee of TAPPI saw a need for some guidelines in this area. The purpose of this effort was to provide a uniform method of evaluating the performance of a paper machine press section in terms of economic factors. The following items were to be included in the final result:

1. A list of factors which are of economic importance to the operation of press or a press section
2. The importance of each factor
3. Suggested methods of evaluating or estimating each factor
4. A uniform method of reporting the results.

This TIP is the result of the task group's efforts.

It is recognized that each mill has its own methods of cost accounting, and there is probably no such thing as "typical" in this regard. As a result, the outline shown in the Introduction will need to be adapted by each user to his or her own particular needs.

The example which is attached is intended only to illustrate the use of the suggested procedure and is in no way typical of any given mill. While this particular example deals with evaluating press clothing, the same general techniques can be applied to any process change, equipment change, etc.

It is hoped that these guidelines may prove helpful in putting economic studies of wet pressing on a common footing in order that mill-to-mill comparisons might be more meaningful.