More value through biomass conversion

“We are looking into biomass conversion technologies not only because of our love of technology but also because the world really needs new solutions. This area of business is driven by challenging global issues: climate change, increasing need for energy, energy security, and rural welfare. Therefore, biomass conversion is urgently needed but it can only be part of the solution,” says Marita Niemelä, D.Sc. (Tech.), who is responsible for Valmet's bioenergy strategy.

Niemelä has an impressive career in biomass and related processing technologies, business consultation, strategy development, marketing and sales. She joined the company from Pöyry and has published dozens of articles on biotechnology. She is also a Docent at the Aalto University School of Chemical Technology in Finland.

A fresh perspective on existing technology

In its operations, Valmet has defined biomass conversion as the sustainable processing of non-food biomass into marketable products such as pulp, paper, heat, power, fuels, chemicals and bio-based materials like composites. The company uses the term biomass to mean woody biomass, recycled paper, agricultural residues, purposely grown energy crops and combustible sorted waste.

“Biomass conversion with our processes and technologies provides our customers with increased value from biomass. Good examples of our present technologies are pulp mills and power plants,” Niemelä adds. “Biotechnology is largely about further developing what we are already familiar with and taking a fresh perspective on the future potential of our technologies.”

Biomass opens up new opportunities for companies especially in the pulp and paper, sugar and biofuels, oil and gas, chemicals and power generation industries.

Intensified use of wood

Biomass conversion is definitely nothing new for pulp and paper mills, since making pulp and paper out of forest resources is biomass conversion at its purest. So what’s in it for them? In the short-term, new opportunities and revenues.

It is no secret that the pulp and paper industry is facing challenges in the modern electronic age. Mills are thus actively seeking new revenue streams and ways to maximize the value created from each processed ton of biomass.

“Valmet offers technologies for intensifying the use of wood and for using various waste flows. Our target is to convert biomass into renewable energy like producer gas and biofuels, lignin-based new products and nanocellulose, composites and bioplastics, as well as new paper and board grades,” Niemelä points out. “We are continuously introducing new tools and processes for our customers and thereby contributing to the development of new business opportunities.”

Practical examples of new approaches include the structuring of tissue paper in Valmet's novel NTT process, or making containerboards and cartonboards with less raw materials, or using multilayer curtain coating to produce specialty grades.

Innovations improve efficiency

Other key elements in biomass conversion are cost efficiency and energy efficiency. Due to rising energy prices, all mills need to pay more attention to their energy consumption and operating costs. New innovations developed by Valmet are already making pulp and paper makers’ production processes more efficient. They include, for instance, a press to improve press dryness and save energy as well as a new process for low-consistency refining.

“We truly are committed to biomass converting technologies and will develop new concepts and make them into winning solutions,” Niemelä continues. “And our total offering is just the same as it is now in our traditional areas of business, ranging from new installations to rebuilds and services. For example, the importance of start-up services is likely to increase in this challenging area of new technologies.”

In order to ensure that their targets are achieved, Valmet works in close partnership with customers who are looking for ways to improve the productivity and availability of their processes throughout the entire life cycle.

Valmet’s LignoBoost process separates and collects lignin from pulping liquor. The world’s first commercial installation of this technology was supplied to Domtar, Plymouth, North Carolina, USA. The separation of a portion of the mill’s total lignin production allows an increase in pulp production capacity. It also provides the mill with a new and more profitable value stream from a product that was traditionally burned in a recovery boiler. Lignin can be utilized as renewable fuel instead of fossil fuels and as a starting material for new bio-based products in many industries. 

Papel San Francisco in Mexico has installed a new Advantage NTT textured tissue production line that was supplied by Valmet. It features a novel method of producing premium-quality tissue paper with high bulk and softness in an energy- and cost-efficient way. Innovative textured tissue technology produces a saving in fiber of up to 30 %.

Some examples of biomass conversion technologies