Paper web dryer and paper moisture profiling system

Apparatus for drying a wet paper web during manufacture of the paper web by conductive, convective and radiant heat energy simultaneously applied to the paper web, said apparatus comprising, in combination:

• a heated rotatable dryer drum having a web support surface supporting a wet paper web;
• a hood at least partially encompassing said rotatable dryer drum and defining a hood interior for receiving the wet paper web supported by said dryer drum web support surface upon rotation of said dryer drum;
• a plurality of elongated heater nozzle boxes disposed in said hood interior extending continuously across said dryer drum in the cross-machine direction, arrayed side-by-side in the machine direction, and extending completely across the wet paper web supported by said dryer drum web support surface, each said heater nozzle box defining a nozzle box interior and at least one exit opening leading from said nozzle box interior toward said dryer drum web support surface;
• a plurality of gas burners at least partially positioned in the nozzle box interior of each of said heater nozzle boxes and arranged side-by-side along the length of the nozzle box interior for producing hot combustion gases within the nozzle box interior of each heater nozzle box and along the length thereof, said heater nozzle boxes applying radiant heat energy to the wet paper web supported by said dryer drum web support surface and directing heated combustion air from the nozzle box interiors through the exit openings of the heater nozzle boxes toward the wet paper web supported by said dryer drum web support surface, each said gas burner including a burner nozzle within a nozzle box interior extending along a predetermined width portion of the wet paper web supported by said dryer drum web support surface and an aspirator for mixing air and flammable gas and delivering the mixture of air and flammable gas mixed thereby to the burner nozzle, each said burner nozzle comprising an elonqated nozzle segment, and elongated nozzle segments of the plurality of gas burners positioned in the nozzle box interiors of said heater nozzle boxes extending in alignment along the length of their respective heater nozzle box, said heater nozzle boxes being spaced from each other, each said heater nozzle box including opposed side walls, and side walls of adjacent heater nozzle boxes defining return air flow paths for receiving combustion air after the combustion air has exited the exit openings of said heater nozzle boxes, said heater nozzle boxes including nozzle plates defining said exit openings, said nozzle plates extending across said dryer drum in the cross-machine direction, said plurality of elongated heater nozzle boxes being located with their respective nozzle plates closely adjacent to the web support surface of said rotatable dryer drum, heated gases from said plurality of burner nozzles impinging against said nozzle plates of said heated nozzle boxes to heat said nozzle plates and exiting the exit openings of said heater nozzle boxes adjacent to the wet paper web supported by said rotatable heater drum.