Full steam ahead – saving steam
The development project comprises three parts: increasing the mill’s production capacity; investing in energy and water efficiency; and investing in the bioproduct mill’s connections and interfaces.
“Our goal is to cooperate seamlessly with the bioproduct mill, which will provide us with steam and water, for example. In return, we will provide our neighbour with condensation water and black liquor.”
The project at Kemi also aims to improve the mill’s water and energy use.
“We will do this by reducing the volume of steam used to dry paperboard and by enhancing heat recovery, for example,” says Development Manager Pekka Marttinen, who is in charge of the mill’s environmental matters.
Steam can be saved by using dried baled pulp instead of wet birch pulp in the surface layer of paperboard. As well as reducing the amount of heat energy used for drying, this offers additional capacity to the paperboard machine.
The heat recovery towers have been renewed to improve heat recovery.
“They can now recover waste heat more efficiently – and recycle it for reuse.”
Increasing the mill’s production capacity is the project’s third pillar. “The project has developed the whole mill from beginning to end. It helps remove bottlenecks and will increase capacity from the current 425,000 tonnes to approximately 465,000,” says Lavonen.
Approaching start-up
Equipment installations for the Kemi project are nearly finished, and the equipment is now being tested at the mill. This will ensure that everything is ready and operational when the two mills start up in the third quarter.
“The development project has progressed well and as scheduled thanks to our highly skilled team, which has proved to be both competent and flexible, despite the world situation complicating things and causing occasional delays,” says Lavonen. •
