Bracell's STAR pulp mill in Brazil starts up dissolving pulp line after switching one of plant's two flexible hardwood fiber lines from kraft; project uses Andritz A-ConFlex continuous kraft, dissolving pulping technology, EvoDry pulp drying system

International technology group ANDRITZ has successfully started up an environmentally friendly production plant for dissolving pulp at Bracell’s “STAR” project in Lençóis Paulista, São Paulo. In April 2022, one of the two flexible hardwood fiberlines that were started up successfully in September 2021 was switched from kraft to dissolving pulp production. High capacity with premium quality was reached within a few days of the switch.  

For this trendsetting project, ANDRITZ is using its self-developed A-ConFlex™ continuous kraft and dissolving pulping technology. It enables full flexibility in production, switching between high-quality dissolving pulp and kraft pulp in a very short time to meet the market demand.

The world’s largest EvoDry™ pulp drying system from ANDRITZ, with two energy-efficient pulp drying lines enabling efficient and very fast switches between dissolving pulp and kraft pulp production, was also supplied to the mill.

The STAR project is one of the largest and most sustainable pulp mills in the world, complying with the highest environmental standards. It features two flexible, environmentally friendly hardwood fiberlines for a total capacity of 2.6 to 2.8 million tons/year of bleached kraft pulp or 1.5 million tons/year of dissolving pulp made from sustainably cultivated eucalyptus.

Per Lindblom, Bracell’s Vice President, says, “We are pleased and proud to now have the largest and greenest continuous cooking line in the world for dissolving pulp at the Bracell mill in São Paulo, utilizing proven ANDRITZ technology. We started up quickly after the switch and were soon producing top-quality pulp. This success is clearly down to the close teamwork between Bracell and ANDRITZ as well as both companies’ complementary expertise in dissolving pulp technology and production.”     

With this start-up, ANDRITZ once again confirms its position as the only technology supplier with solid references and experience in continuous cooking of dissolving pulp.

The ANDRITZ scope of supply includes:

• a complete high-capacity wood processing plant, enhanced with state-of-the-art autonomous wood processing solutions from ANDRITZ to ensure optimum chip quality,
• two flexible fiberlines with DD-Washer technology ensuring low operating costs, low emissions, extremely high washing efficiency, and excellent fiber quality,
• the world’s largest EvoDryTM pulp drying system equipped with the Metris DryQ smart pulp drying solution,
• the largest HERB recovery boiler in the world from ANDRITZ, with a capacity of 13,000 tons per day,
• a non-condensable gas (NCG) treatment system.

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ANDRITZ started up two environmentally friendly hardwood pulp production lines for the STAR project, Brazil, in September 2021.

PRESS RELEASE AND PHOTO AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD

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ANDRITZ GROUP

International technology group ANDRITZ offers a broad portfolio of innovative plants, equipment, systems, services and digital solutions for a wide range of industries and end markets. ANDRITZ is a global market leader in all four of its business areas – Pulp & Paper, Metals, Hydro, and Separation. Technological leadership, global presence and sustainability are the cornerstones of the group’s strategy, which is focused on long-term profitable growth. The publicly listed group has around 27,100 employees and over 280 locations in more than 40 countries.

ANDRITZ PULP & PAPER

ANDRITZ Pulp & Paper provides sustainable technology, automation, and service solutions 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, lower overall operating costs as well as innovative decarbonization strategies and autonomous plant operation. Boilers for power generation, flue gas cleaning systems, various nonwoven technologies, panelboard (MDF) production systems, as well as recycling and shredding solutions for numerous waste materials also form a part of this business area. State-of-the-art IIoT technologies as part of Metris digitalization solutions complete the comprehensive product offering.