What is required of a modern paper making dryer fabric?

The main task of a dryer fabric is to transfer the paper web from the press section to the pope reel through the challenging (hot and humid) paper machine hood environment. 

A dryer fabric must also act as a drive for otherwise undriven rolls and cylinders. Although paper machine speeds are increasing all the time, the average lifetime of a dryer fabric is also increasing. This means several million extra laps over a dryer fabric's running lifetime. 

The runnability challenges set by higher paper machine speeds and modern, more effective sheet stabilizers have doubled the running tension of dryer fabrics. Due to the high tension, the fabric's wear resistance and strength - especially seam strength - at the end of the planned running time are very important.