Customer case:

Metsä Board Simpele: Valmet Fold-up Wall for closed hood

Oct 2, 2024

In 2023, Metsä Board Simpele rebuilt the hood of the BM 3 board machine and installed the Valmet Fold-up Wall to enhance the mill’s working environment and safety. Unlike traditional hoods, the Fold-up Wall can be adjusted to any desired height during web breaks and fully opened during shutdowns, providing excellent access to the dryer section. Its design enables faster cooling of the hood, making tasks like roll changes easier to perform.

Valmet Fold-up Wall in Metsä Board's Simpele mill

“We’re satisfied with the new Valmet Fold-up Wall. The fact that the entire wall opens up is an important advantage during disturbances. The hood cools down faster, and tasks like roll changes are easier to perform”

Metsä Board Simpele

Summary

Location	Simpele, Finland
Solution	Metsä Board Simpele rebuilt the hood of the BM 3 board machine and installed the Valmet Fold-up Wall to enhance the mill’s working environment and safety. Four Fold-up Wall units were installed to replace the original lifting doors and fixed-wall elements on the tending side of the dryer section, creating 250 m2 of free access to the dryer section. The delivery covered everything from project management to installation supervision, to hands-on training. Dryer section ventilation, which is an important part of an energy-efficient drying process, was also improved by installing an additional pocket ventilation unit.
Results	The hood cools down significantly faster. The measurements performed at the Simpele mill showed that it took only 30 minutes to reach 52°C in the upper part of the dryer section when the wall was fully opened. Compared with the old conventional hood lifting doors, the same temperature level could be reached in 210 minutes. The Fold-up Wall also improves visibility and lighting, facilitates roll and fabric changes, and improves the safety and working conditions of personnel.
Keywords	Paper & board, improvements, folding boxboard, Valmet Fold-up Wall, energy efficiency, safety, Finland

Technical data

Grade

Folding boxboard

Technical information

Design speed of the machine: 800 m/min

Basis weight: 200–340 g/m2

Annual production capacity: 300,000 tonnes

Start-up

2023

Read the whole customer success story and watch the video:

Enhancing safety with the Valmet Fold-up Wall

Metsä Board Simpele installed the Valmet Fold-up Wall to improve the mill’s working environment and safety. It gives maintenance personnel full access to the dryer section, enhances visibility, and provides a safer working environment.

Metsä Board Simpele: Valmet Fold-up Wall for closed hood

Watch the video to learn how Metsä Board Simpele rebuilt the hood of the BM 3 board machine and installed the Valmet Fold-up Wall to enhance the mill’s working environment and safety. Unlike traditional hoods, the Fold-up Wall can be adjusted to any desired height during web breaks and fully opened during shutdowns, providing excellent access to the dryer section. Its design enables faster cooling of the hood, making tasks like roll changes easier to perform.

OptiAir Hood

OptiAir Hood combines systems for ventilation, runnability and heat recovery, thus providing excellent tools for controlling drying performance and maintaining energy efficiency.

Process upgrades