If you think about it, this requires a tremendous amount of equipment, water and pumping energy.

What if we could develop a new dry-broke chopper that could chop up the whole sheet and blow it to the wet end for reintroduction to the system?

Yes, I know you think I am crazy, and the next question out of your mouth will be, "Have you never experienced the maintenance on winder trim choppers, Jim?" And you would not be alone in your doubt.

However, the savings that could come from developing and implementing a great, full-sheet chopper/blower are huge. 

Let me suggest just a few:

1. No under-the-machine pulpers with their agitators, pumps and water requirements

2. No consistency problems from said pulpers

3. No problems with fiber churned into mush by over pulping under poor startup conditions

4. Lower energy costs (I don't have to pump all that water or run all those agitators)

5. One may be able to lower the height of the basement by as much as five feet

Yes, the challenges to designing such an installation are great, but the payoff would be even greater.

Or maybe the design is not so difficult.  Perhaps in your office you have a paper shredder. Here in the United States, these are at least 8 inches wide.  Are they 1/4 horsepower?  Perhaps that is a good estimate.  Extrapolating this machine to 240 inches wide, it would require 7.5 horsepower. Assume this is underestimated by a factor of 10, so it is 75 horsepower.  Add a blower and you are done.

What do you think?