Research and Development

In 2003, the Andritz Group invested a total of 25.5 MEUR for Research and Development.  Including expenditures for contract-related development, total R&D expenses for new processes and products amounted to over 3% of Sales during the reporting period.

Research and Development is an important strategic activity of the Group.  Andritz considers continuous development of new and improvement of existing products to be essential in order to be successful on a long-term basis in the competitive markets in which it operates.  More than 160 people work in the Company’s research centers in the USA, Austria, Finland, and France to find new processes and products with which the Andritz Group’s technological lead will be secured for all product ranges on a long-term basis.  In addition, pilot plants are operated in cooperation with customers.

The Divisions of the Pulp and Paper Business Area continued their Research and Development programs focused on fiber quality improvement, energy optimization, and lowering the investment cost per ton produced.

Newly developed products include the RotaBarker™ debarking system, primarily for frozen logs; a chip sampler/analyzer to control chip quality online; the LMD Filter™ for lime mud filtration; a new generation lime kiln burner with lower NO_x emissions; the High Efficiency Recovery Boiler (HERB) which considerably increases electrical generation capacity; the RBS-Z20 modularized system for recovery boiler safety management; ModuScreen™ A, a combined coarse and fine screen for virgin and recycled fiber systems; a screw press capable of handling over 1,000 t/d in a single line operating in certain cases ahead of the new large-size Disperger; the new Andritz SelectaFlot™ deinking system which has proved its performance in several plants; a slab press for Flash Drying; and for tissue producers a 3-layer headbox with integrated dilution profiling system.

In the cooking area of chemical pulp production, the main development has been the further streamlining of the digester system with the patented TurboFeed™ system.  TurboFeed™ is a revolutionary new chip feeding system which eliminates the need for a high-pressure feeder.  It transfers chips from the chipmeter directly to the top of the digester using specially designed pumps.  As a result, customers save capital, installation, operating, and maintenance costs.  The first installation of TurboFeed™ was at a Weyerhaeuser mill in the Northwest USA.  Based upon its success, Weyerhaeuser ordered another TurboFeed™ system for a new fiberline in the Southeast USA.  TurboFeed™ has also been included in the large continuous cooking system to be delivered for the Veracel greenfield project in Brazil.

Andritz bleaching and washing technologies on the basis of DD washers offer the lowest chemicals consumption available today. The key elements to achieving this are efficient fractional DD washing during bleaching and selective removal of hexenuronic acid (HexA) prior to bleaching.

By using complex simulation programs, the efficiency of Drum Displacement washers is being improved even further, by gaining a deeper understanding of the flow patterns within the machines.  The improved designs reduce the total number of machines in the process sequence, thus lowering the total capital cost of the line.

For the Fiber Preparation Systems area, Andritz has begun work to extend the existing pilot plant in Graz, Austria to be able to provide full-line production trials and testing for recycled fiber applications, including DIP.  The pilot plant consolidates the separate testing facilities in Austria and Finland into a single, full-line plant.  The plant will also have testing loops for MC equipment (pumps, mixers, etc.) used by customers in kraft pulping applications.  Special mention should be made of the excellent cooperation with local and provincial authorities for this project, including arrangements for provincial funding to help defray a portion of the costs associated with the pilot plant.  The new pilot plant facility will be operated jointly by Finnish and Austrian organizations within Andritz.

Andritz, together with specialists from the Voith Andritz Tissue LLC joint venture in the USA, has designed an advanced TAD tissue machine concept (Through-Air Drying technology), that is now ready for marketing.

In the Rolling Mills and Strip Processing Lines Business Area, Research and Development work concentrated on the improvement of acid regeneration plants both for spray roasting and fluid bed types.  Another project targeted the improvement of strip cleaning technology.  Tests with membrane separation of acid and metals in a pilot plant in Krefeld, Germany were continued.

Use of waste heat from power plants for drying of sewage sludge has been a focus for the Environment and Process Business Area.  Several concepts were developed which allow to make use of the thermal energy from exhaust gases of gas engines and turbines.  The newly developed belt dryer is particularly suited for this application.

Feed Technology's Research and Development activities focused mainly on adding value through improved flexibility, controllability, and process traceability of the key process technologies within animal feed pelleting and pet and aquatic feed extrusion plants.