Fiberline Division

Profile

The Fiberline Division is one of the world's leading suppliers of systems, equipment, and processes for the production of chemical pulp.  Products include continuous cooking systems, washers, screens, bleaching systems, and related equipment.  

The Division is headquartered in Kotka and has operations in Savonlinna, Finland; Alpharetta, GA and Glens Falls, NY, both in the USA; Tokyo, Japan; Curitiba, Brazil; and Stockholm, Sweden.   

Business Development

During the third Quarter, two major chemical fiberlines were started up in the USA.  The first start-up was at Weyerhaeuser’s mill in Kingsport, Tennessee. The project included the delivery of an Andritz continuous digester, incorporating the new TurboFeed™ system and Lo-Solids^® Cooking process using soda (non-sulfur) chemistry. The chemical fiberline also included an Andritz-supplied pulp screen room, a multi-stage oxygen delignification system, and Drum Displacement (DD) washers for both brownstock and bleaching plants.

The second major start-up was a total Andritz fiberline supplied to a large integrated mill in the Southeast USA. This delivery included the continuous digester system, brownstock washing, multi-stage oxygen delignification, pulp knotting and screening, and a four-stage bleach plant. DD washers were used for brownstock and bleach plant washing.

Both of these projects were replacements of older batch cooking and bleaching systems and were driven by a combination of environmental and economic factors.

Due to the combined efforts of the customer, and Andritz project personnel, and the robust fiberline technology applied, these projects started up ahead of schedule and exceeded their demanding targets in terms of pulp production during the early months of operation.

Most of the sales activity in Europe was focused on projects for upgrading existing lines to increase the capacity and/or operational economy. The activity level in the  Russian market has increased.  The bleach plant modernization at Stora Enso's Varkaus mill in Finland started up very well.

The markets in Asia have become active again.  Several large pulp mill projects are in the evaluation phase, mainly in China and Indonesia. In Japan, there are numerous upgrade projects to convert existing fiberlines to produce ECF pulp.  The Andritz bleach plant modernization project for Nippon Paper's Yatsushiro mill, Japan, was successfully started.  In China, several screen rooms for wheat straw pulp mills were started up.

Major Orders

• The Division booked an order for a complete fiberline for the greenfield Veracel mill in Brazil.  This order is significant because it is the largest single-line fiberline Andritz has sold and it includes the first TurboFeed™ chip feeding system in South America.  The order will also further strengthen the position of Andritz's DD washing technology both in brownstock and bleaching applications.

• From Russia, the Division received an important order from Segezha Pulp and Paper Mill.  It includes a digester retrofit and new screening and washing systems.

• To South Africa, the Division will deliver a major washing system upgrade for Sappi Kraft’s Tugela mill.  Portucel awarded the Division an order for fiberline modernization for its Tejo mill in V.V. Rodao, Portugal.

Other Important Orders

Customer, Country	Products/systems ordered
UPM-Kymmene Wisaforest, Finland	Sawdust cooking, washing
Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper, Indonesia	Pin chip cooking, screening, washing
Stora Enso Norrsundet, Sweden	Bleaching upgrade
Stora Enso Varkaus, Finland	Bleaching upgrade
Veracel, Brazil	Lo-level® chip delivery system, Lo-Solids® cooking and digester retrofit

fiberlinedivision_importantorders.htm

Research and Development

The on-going technology development programs in the Fiberline Division have as a primary objective to lower the investment cost per ton of produced pulp through process simplification, optimization, standardization, and modularization.  

To this end, the Division developed a new combined coarse and fine screen to further reduce screen room costs.  The possibilities of MC technology and higher pulp consistency are applied in simplifying the fiberline concept.  

Andritz’s research center in Glens Falls, NY, USA played a key role in projects to optimize the performance of the pulping and bleaching processes, not only due to investment projects, but also increasingly due to direct orders from customers.

The reduction of chemical consumption and wood losses through optimizing fiber properties is being addressed by studies of chemical, dissolved solids, and temperature profiling during the delignification and bleaching processes.  Particular emphasis is being placed on fast-growing hardwood species such as eucalyptus.  

In the pulp bleaching area, Andritz developed systems which will significantly reduce the effluent volume from the plant by efficient re-use of segregated effluents.  Chemical consumption has been decreased to a record low level.  The key elements for achieving this are efficient fractional DD washing during bleaching and selective removal of hexenuronic acid (HexA) prior to bleaching.  

A group of scientists from Finnish and Swedish research institutions was awarded the Marcus Wallenberg Prize in October 2003 for its breakthrough discoveries around HexA and for the practical removal of it.  Andritz has participated and cooperated with the research group since the beginning of the project and has the commercial rights to deliver this technology.

By using complex simulation programs, the efficiency of Drum Displacement (DD) washers is being improved even further, by gaining a deeper understanding of the flow patterns within the machines.  In brownstock washing and oxygen delignification systems, Andritz applies the improved designs of the multi-stage DD washers in order to reduce the total number of machines in the process sequence, thus lowering the total capital cost of the line and making the DD washer not only the most effective but also the most economical system on the market.

The Division is configuring its modular process sub-systems to allow the newest chip cooking systems to meet the unique requirements of each customer.  These solutions can be used for modernizations of the installed base as well as new lines.