Finland-headed global energy technology supplier Valmet Oyj has announced that it has been selected to supply a new gravity feed chipper to Sappi Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd Ngodwana pulp mill in South Africa.
According to a statement, Valmet will replace the existing chipper with a new gravity feed chipper as Sappi’s upgrade targets are to increase the chipping capacity, to maintain or improve chip quality and minimize wood losses.
The order consists of a Camura GS1050 chipper with auxiliaries and a screen extension, including machinery, erection, commissioning, training and start-up supervision. Mechanical installation is also to be carried out by Valmet.
Valmet came up with a unique solution to ‘swop’ out the existing chipper with a new larger chipper by not requiring any major concrete works changes allowing for a short shut-down duration to install the new chipper, thus enabling minimal operation down time, said Ryno Eksteen, Senior Regional Project Manager at Sappi.
The chipper will be delivered and installed in May 2018 and the start-up is planned for the beginning of June 2018. The value of the order has not been disclosed.
South Africa has been a successful market area for Valmet’s wood handling business and with this delivery we continue our positive trend. The Valmet sales team concentrated on optimizing the solution for a demanding raw material and minimizing the payback time for Sappi, said Jussi Taskinen, Manager R&D, Product Portfolio & Strategy at Valmet.
