Wire positioned on the hybrid former, in order to improve water removal from the superior side of the paper web.
Definition source:
Brewer (2003)
Context:
The top wire, by itself, does not add an extra ply, but it does provide dewatering elements (while improving formation). These are typically a forming roll (the 1st roll), which may or may not be a suction roll, plus a blade shoe (containing foil blades), and sometimes a form of vacuum box. Drainage above the wire (about 33% of the total) is complemented by a slight pulsating action on the web as it passes over blades below the wire.
