Sappi producing high-quality dissolving wood pulp in South Africa
Aug 12, 2015
Paper and pulp producer Sappi has been producing high-quality dissolving wood pulp at its Ngodwana mill in South Africa since 2013. Valmet's unique dissolving fiber line concept resulted in a flexible and sustainable solution.
As well as improving our environmental footprint, this project has improved the mill's prospects."
Hunphrey Landman, Technical Services Manager of Sappi Ngodwana
Summary
Location
The Ngodwana mill is located approximately 50 km west of Nelspruit in Mpumalanga province in South Africa.
Customer challenge
Innovative process and execution solutions were needed, and this project was both urgent and demanding. For example, the product from Ngodwana had to be interchangeable with sulfite pulp from Sappi's Saiccor mill, and the fiber line had to be capable of producing elemental chlorine-free and totally chlorine-free dissolving pulp, as well as bleached hardwood kraft pulp.
Results
"Today we have a flexible process where we can run a variety of sequences and qualities. If we need to, we can replace the first stage in the bleach plant with acidic hydrolysis and the last with a peroxide stage in the bleach plant, for example, making the process totally chlorine-free," says Hunphrey Landman. The new line is designed to minimize the use of fresh water and performs in the top 5% of integrated pulp and paper mills worldwide in this respect.
Keywords
Pulping and fiber, Other, New lines, Rebuilds and upgrades
