Finland-headed forest industry and energy technology provider Valmet Oyj has announced that it has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with CMPC Pulp SpA, the pulp and paper subsidiary of Chile-headed forest industry major Empresas CMPC (CMPC), for the delivery of key technology for the BioCMPC project – a major modernization project of line 2 at CMPC's Guaíba pulp mill in the State of Río Grande do Sul, Brazil.
CMPC produces and markets wood, pulp, packaging products, paper, tissue, and personal care products from certified plantations. The Company has over 641 000 hectares (ha) of forest plantations, mainly pine and eucalyptus, located in Chile, Brazil, and Argentina.
CMPC Pulp operates four production lines in Chile and two in Brazil, with a total annual production capacity of approximately 4.1 million tonnes of pulp.
The objective of the BioCMPC project is to increase the production capacity of line 2 at Guaíba pulp mill, from 1.5 million ADt/y (air dry tonnes per year) to 1.85 million ADt/y. Additionally, the project aims to improve the environmental performance of the line with, for example, increased production of renewable electricity and minimized water usage in the pulp production process.
Major overhaul and upgrades
Valmet’s delivery for the Guaíba pulp mill line 2 modernization will include a rebuild of the pulp drying, fiberline, evaporation, and white liquor plant, a new recovery boiler, and new ash treatment extended distributed control system including advanced industrial internet features.
The technology delivery is supported by spare parts packages. The upgraded line is optimized for high reliability and performance with low environmental impact.
Valmet and CMPC target to finalize the contract during October 2021, while modernization is expected to start operation in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Valmet delivered the CMPC’s Guaíba mill line 2 in 2015 and the mill has been a showcase for many of our technologies. Over these years we have introduced value-adding industrial internet solutions and offering our expert services for mill maintenance. To be chosen as the main partner for this remarkable project reinforces Valmet’s commitment for a more sustainable future, said Celso Tacla, Area President, South America, Valmet.
Technical details
The pulp drying line upgrade will increase the drying and baling capacity and performance with the same high operational safety requirements and the upgrade include improvements to screening and drying, automatic tail threading, and an additional baling line.
The fiberline upgrade includes cooking plant technology update, fiberline improvements in brown stock and post oxygen washing, and a new additional bleaching stage. The upgrade gives the flexibility to minimize water usage and effluent generation improving the fiberline sustainability and environmental KPIs.
The white liquor plant upgrade includes a capacity increase of the recaustisizing and lime kiln. The modernized lime kiln electrostatic precipitator (ESP) and lime mud disc filter will ensure low emissions.
The evaporation plant will be upgraded to process 2 000 tonnes of water per hour. The eight-effect design provides a high steam economy and features a robust and reliable Valmet Tubel design. Improved condensate treatment will lower the water consumption of the mill.
The new recovery boiler will have a design capacity of 1 900 tds/d (tonnes dry solids per day) and will feature several high-power features for low energy consumption and high steam generation. The delivery also includes electrostatic precipitators (ESP) tailored for recovery boiler conditions.
The recovery boiler ash will be treated with Ash Leaching Duo technology offering easy operation and improved leaching efficiency to maximize cooking chemicals recovery.
The CMPC Guaíba mill has already been the benchmark of the industry as an odorless mill. The collection and handling of the mill’s odorous gases are further improved with non-condensable gases (NCG) upgrades across process islands.
The automation delivery includes Valmet DNA distributed control system, advanced process controls (APC) for selected process areas, analyzers, and online measurements.
The delivery is supported with extensive Valmet Industrial Internet (VII) services package with onsite and remote expert support. The VII services include Valmet Performance Center support, Data Discovery, Dynamic Center Line Advisor, Performance Monitoring tools, and Operator Training Simulator.
With this project, we will continue delivering the best technology available combined with leading automation and industrial internet solutions for efficient and even more sustainable pulp production. This delivery will feature our latest technology to lower water usage, reduce emissions and eliminate odorous gases. Our experts will support optimizing the mill performance both onsite and remotely, said Bertel Karlstedt, Business Line President, Pulp & Energy, Valmet.
