The coating of paper in a paper mill is achieved by spraying a jet of liquid coating material at the paper surface as it passes by at extreme velocities. Although the coating material is passed through a series of filtration equipment, there are still instances of particle clogging in the coating application process. The particle clogging causes large losses in production and current methods used in removing them are not adequate for high volume production. Conventional methods also require manual labor in both the inspection and removal procedures and can be suspect to human error.

ETREMA Products, Inc. has developed an automated solution to the industry problem. Transducers designed around ETREMA Terfenol-D were developed in order to introduce mechanical vibrations in the jet of liquid coating. The vibrations impart energy into the coating stream allowing the particles to free themselves from the jet. This type of removal process takes about 1/30 of the time of conventional methods and can be fully automated. Depending on the type and volume of the mill, the system could pay for itself within a few months.