Mills

WESTERVILLE, OH, Sept. 28, 2020 (Press Release) -ABB has been chosen to supply leading Mexico packaging paper producer Grupo Gondi with a robust and reliable automated paper testing solution for its greenfield site in Monterrey, Mexico.

The comprehensive order—which focuses on improving quality and efficiency at the mill—includes L&W Autoline, with a wide range of testing modules and sample trimmer and L&W benchtop testing instruments. Engineering and installation of the project is planned for completion in Q3 2020.

Grupo Gondi became the first paper producer in Mexico to commission automated paper testing with the L&W Autoline installation at its Guadalajara mill in 2013, emphasizing the company’s commitment to achieving high quality outputs.

The new order for the Monterrey mill in northeast Mexico will continue to improve efficiency and reduce costs for the company, reducing dependence on manual testing and allowing resources to focus on optimizing product quality.

“Our previous experience of L&W Autoline and ABB’s excellent service made ABB an obvious choice for this contract,” said Felix Rocha, Paper Mills Director, Grupo Gondi. “We are confident that this order will provide us with rapid, reliable feedback on product quality across the business, ensuring the highest quality of output.”

“Having worked with Grupo Gondi to commission the first automated paper testing solution in Mexico, we have now built on our relationship to contribute to the company’s focus on consistently high-quality product,” said Per Sandstrom, Head of Lab and Process Testing Measurements, Pulp & Paper, Process Industries, ABB. “Automated paper testing will benefit the mill by enabling the prompt identification and resolution of issues that can compromise quality, helping to maximize on-spec output.”

By rapidly gathering information and highlighting off-spec data, L&W Autoline measures paper properties, identifies problem areas and allows papermakers to tune processes promptly, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to optimize product quality. Reports and visualizations provided to operations and engineering personnel both locally and remotely in real time ensure the fulfillment of production targets and quality specifications.

Grupo Gondi is the leading company in paper and cardboard packaging, with 65 years of experience in the Mexican market. Currently, Grupo Gondi employs over 7,500 people, with 15 converting plants and 6 recycled paper machines in operation for a current paper production of 650,000 tons per year. With the new paper machine at Monterrey, the Group will increase its capacity to over 1 million tons per year.

Gondi’s packaging solutions carry products from its clients to more than 190 countries worldwide, supported by certified processes and international regulations, offering high quality products and services to the market, with the support of the Gondi Paper and Packaging Investigation Center (CIPEG, for its initials in Spanish), which on a daily basis researches for innovational contributions to the success of its clients.

ABB is a trusted partner and leading supplier to the pulp and paper industry, offering deep expertise and a comprehensive portfolio of integrated digital solutions, automation and electrification systems, industry-focused products and comprehensive services to help our customers optimize all phases of the papermaking process. We are committed to serving packaging, paper, tissue and pulp producers to help drive availability, performance, cost and quality improvements. Active worldwide, ABB has over 1000 pulp and paper professionals who serve customers in over 50 countries.

ABB is a leading global technology company that energizes the transformation of society and industry to achieve a more productive, sustainable future. By connecting software to its electrification, robotics, automation and motion portfolio, ABB pushes the boundaries of technology to drive performance to new levels. With a history of excellence stretching back more than 130 years, ABB’s success is driven by about 110,000 talented employees in over 100 countries.

GRAZ, Austria, Sept. 28, 2020 (Press Release) -International technology Group ANDRITZ has received an order from JSC Management Company of the Holding Belorusskie oboi, Belarus, to complete and start up its production line for folding boxboard. Start-up is scheduled for 2021. The board machine is designed to produce 200,000 tons per year of folding boxboard, with basis weights ranging from 170 to 400 g/m2.

The ANDRITZ scope of supply comprises equipment and engineering services for wood handling, chemi-mechanical pulping, stock preparation and approach flow, as well as the board machine including winder and roll handling, and the automation equipment.

The wood processing plant, ensuring the highest chip quality for the pulp mill, includes log receiving, a debarking line with RotaBarker technology, and a chipping line with a horizontally fed HHQ-Chipper. Chip handling comprises two closed, round silos and the related equipment. Bark and other wood waste are treated to be suitable for use in the power boiler.

The P-RC APMP (Pre-Conditioning Refiner Chemical Alkaline Peroxide Mechanical Pulp) system features a capacity of 450 admt/d and comprises the entire equipment from chip washing to pulp storage.

The stock preparation system handles NBKP (Needle Bleached Kraft Pulp) and LBKP (Leaf Bleached Kraft Pulp) fibers in two lines, and the approach flow system is designed for three layers. Broke handling and fiber recovery systems round off the stock preparation and approach flow systems.

The board machine features three Fourdrinier plies – one containing a hybrid former with a wire width of 4,750 mm – and will operate at a design speed of 600 m/min. In the press section, there is an extended nip press, one shoe press and one smoothing press. The pre-drying section is followed by a film press and the post-drying section, two calenders (one hard nip, one soft nip) and a coating section with three roll coaters, including air drying equipment, as well as a pope reel and a rewinder. A roll transport system and sheet cutter complete the production line.

Apart from a new PrimeControl and multi-motor drive system for the entire line, ANDRITZ will extend the motor control center and start up the existing QCS system. The ANDRITZ PrimeControl includes extended features for process automation throughout the paper mill and minimizes the number of subsystems and associated interfaces. Thanks to the advanced multi-motor drive system, energy and power consumption will be reduced.

Alexandr Kolyada of JSC Management Company says: “For us, the completion of our board production line is a real milestone! We are happy that ANDRITZ is supporting us with its experience and know-how.”

ANDRITZ GROUP

International technology group ANDRITZ offers a broad portfolio of innovative plants, equipment, systems and services for the pulp and paper industry, the hydropower sector, the metals processing and forming industry, pumps, solid/liquid separation in the municipal and industrial sectors, as well as animal feed and biomass pelleting. The global product and service portfolio is rounded off with plants for power generation, recycling, the production of nonwovens and panelboard, as well as automation and digital solutions offered under the brand name of Metris. The publicly listed group today has around 27,800 employees and more than 280 locations in over 40 countries.

ANDRITZ PULP & PAPER

ANDRITZ Pulp & Paper provides equipment, systems, complete plants and services for the production of all types of pulp, paper, board and tissue. The technologies and services focus on maximum utilization of raw materials, increased production efficiency and sustainability as well as lower overall operating costs. Boilers for power production, flue gas cleaning plants, plants for the production of nonwovens and panelboard (MDF), as well as recycling and shredding solutions for various waste materials also form a part of this business area.

ESPOO, Finland, Sept. 24, 2020 (Press Release) -Metsä Fibre, part of Metsä Group, and ANDRITZ signed a preliminary agreement on wood raw material reception and feed equipment for the Kemi bioproduct mill. The delivery includes two automated overhead cranes, as well as their installation and commissioning. This type of fully autonomous, AI-based equipment is a new solution for the reception, storage and process feeding of wood raw material, even on a global scale. It also enables the minimisation of the area needed at the mill for storing wood raw material. The domestic rate of the delivery is 45% and the project is managed by ANDRITZ Oy Lahti center of excellence in Finland.

The electrical equipment and the systematic placement of functions will enable wood yard operations to be run on fossil-free fuel. One of Metsä Group’s strategic sustainability goals is to eliminate the use of fossil fuels and the generation of fossil-based carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. The Kemi bioproduct mill will contribute to achieving this goal.

“Fully automated wood processing equipment is also a good example of our forerunner position. We will acquire the best available technology for the new bioproduct mill in Kemi, and we are ready for new types of solutions to further develop our bioproduct mill concept,” says Project Director Jari-Pekka Johansson from Metsä Fibre.

The minimisation of the noise impacts of the wood yard was seen as a key aspect of the environmental impact assessment for the Kemi bioproduct mill.

“Minimising environmental impacts is important, and now selected equipment will help us reduce the noise impacts of wood processing,” says Johansson.

Transport and unloading arrangements in the new wood yard will be implemented safely and efficiently. The wood processing equipment will be placed in such a way that the wood unloading areas and the wood yard will be close to the equipment. This will minimise the need to transfer wood raw material. Timber trucks will use a one-way route to avoid encounters between vehicles, and there will be no crossings between road and rail traffic. With one-way route of timber trucks it is also possible to avoid reversing traffic and warning signal noises caused by it.

Metsä Fibre and ANDRITZ have a long history of successful cooperation.

“ANDRITZ has delivered more than 50 traditional wood processing crane solutions to the North American market, and this agreement is a significant breakthrough for wood processing crane deliveries in Europe. Our development work in robotics and artificial intelligence further improves the environmental performance and competitiveness of the solution by enhancing wood processing efficiency and minimising waste. It’s a great opportunity for us to participate in the construction of the world’s most advanced wood processing solution for Metsä Fibre’s new bioproduct mill in Kemi. This is a continuation of the long and successful cooperation between ANDRITZ and Metsä Fibre,” says Janne Lähteenmäki, Product Group Manager, Wood Processing, ANDRITZ.

The Kemi bioproduct mill project is progressing as planned in terms of equipment purchases, environmental permit process, financing negotiations and the logistics required for the new mill, among other aspects. The project engineering started at the beginning of August 2020 which means the detailed planning of the mill’s technology, construction, installations and commissioning, as well as preparation for the construction phase. The planning work will be carried out in cooperation with the four main implementation partners: Valmet, ABB, AFRY and Fimpec. From the beginning of August, more than 400 people have been working in the project engineering organisation.

During the construction phase, the bioproduct mill’s employment impact is estimated to be nearly 10,000 person-years, of which more than half will be carried out in Kemi. The number of employees working in the mill area over the entire construction phase is estimated to rise to around 15,000. The decision concerning the EUR 1.5 billion investment in the bioproduct mill will be made in autumn 2020, at earliest.If implemented, the Kemi bioproduct mill will produce 1.5 million tonnes of softwood and hardwood pulp per year, as well as many other bioproducts. If implemented, the investment will secure the existing 250 jobs at the Kemi mill decades to come. Through its direct value chain, the bioproduct mill will employ around 2,500 people in Finland, which is 1,500 people more than the employment at the current pulp mill in Kemi.

Metsä Fibre

Metsä Fibre is a leading producer of bioproducts, biochemicals and bioenergy. Metsä Fibre is the world’s leading producer of bleached softwood pulp and a major producer of sawn timber. Currently employing approximately 1,300 people, the company’s sales in 2019 totalled EUR 2.2 billion. Metsä Fibre is part of Metsä Group.

Metsä Group

Metsä Group is a forerunner in sustainable bioeconomy utilising renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. Metsä Group focuses on wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fibre paperboards and tissue and greaseproof papers.

In 2019, Metsä Group’s sales totalled EUR 5.5 billion, and it employs approximately 9,300 people. Metsäliitto Cooperative is the parent company of Metsä Group and is owned by approximately 100,000 Finnish forest owners.