A concept we continually challenge here at the LGMI is tradition.  Pulp and paper mills are some of the oldest industrial facilities in the world.  Many, many things we do regularly in designing and operating mills has been and is being done because "we have always done it that way."  

Sadly, some of the elements we accept in this manner are so ingrained we don't even think about them.

For instance, why is a paper machine building so tall?

You'll say, that's a stupid question, Jim, everything has to fit inside the building.  

Let's think about this for a minute.  

I would say the wet end is so tall due to the traditional materials selection dictating the size of rolls and so forth.  Poorer materials from days gone by dictated large diameter rolls in order to meet deflection and strength requirements.  We can make smaller rolls do the same job today.  

Hence, lower building height in the wet end.

In the dryers, we have had tall hoods which date from the days when we did not understand air flow and psychometric conditions nearly as well as we do now nor nearly as well as we can measure them now.

Use the engineering tools and scientific principles we know today and make the hoods lower.

Do all these things and what have we done?  Can we take, five feet, maybe even ten feet out of the height of a paper machine building?  What does this do to the cost of the structure?  What does this do to the cost of the foundation?  What does this do to the wind load design?

There is real money here, folks.