New recovery boiler and turbine for Metsä Board’s Husum mill

Anew recovery boiler and turbine has been inaugurated at Metsä Board’s mill at Husum in Sweden.

At the ceremony in May were, among others, project partners and representatives of Örnsköldsvik municipality. Started up at the end of 2022, the technology has increased the mill’s bio-based energy production that raises the mill’s electricity self-sufficiency to more than 80 per cent.

The new boiler and turbine are part of a €380 million project, the second phase of which will be the replacement of the two current fibre lines with one new line.

Chief executive of Metsä Board, Mika Joukio commented: “The renewal will strengthen the Husum mill integrate’s role as an efficient and sustainable platform for the long-term development of paperboard production and is an important step towards our target of entirely fossil-free mills.”

The renewal involved replacing two old recovery boilers and three turbines. “As the new recovery boiler is of a completely new generation, we have trained our staff extensively,” said Olov Winblad von Walter, vice president of Husum Pulp & Board mill.

The project also includes a new control room and office, which will gather the operation and maintenance staff on the same floor. “This will enable us to establish new integrated ways of working between technicians, engineers, maintenance and operators,” Winblad von Walter added.

An investment programme is also under way at the Husum mill

World’s most productive MG paper line for Gascogne Papier

Gascogne Papier in south west France has ordered a PrimeLine machine glazed (MG) paper production line from Andritz for its mill at Mimizan with start-up planned for 2025.

The paper machine will have a web width of 6.8 metres and a design speed of 1,300 metres per minute producing basis weights from 25 to 120 gsm, using 100 per cent softwood unbleached kraft pulp. The machine’s width will make it the world’s widest MG paper machine and with a capacity of 125,000 tons per year it will set a new industry benchmark for uncoated MG papers.

The core of the MG machine will be the world’s largest PrimeDry Steel Yankee. With a diameter of 26 feet (7.9m) the Yankee will, it is said, enable energy-efficient drying while providing excellent surface properties such as gloss and dimensional stability.

The Yankee will be manufactured and transported in sections and assembled at the customer’s site.

The Andritz MG line will replace three of the mill’s four paper machines. The main target of the investment is to establish a multi-grade production line, to increase the annual capacity of folding boxboard by around 200,000 tonnes. The investment is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2023. capable of producing more than 80 different grades of ribbed and unribbed paper.

The Husum mill is an integrated board and pulp mill producing folding boxboard, uncoated white kraftliner and bleached chemical pulp.

Dominique Coutière, chief executive of Gascogne Papier, explains: “Investments of that scale are a big milestone for companies in our business. The selection of the right partner is a decisive success criterion. The experience and references in the MG sector as well as the customer-orientated approach of Andritz convinced us. We are really looking forward to a great partnership.”