Mercer Lignin Center inaugurated – state-of-the-art facility with Valmet LignoBoost XS
Aug 27, 2023
Mercer Lignin Center was inaugurated on August 23, 2023. The state-of-the-art facility is located at Mercer Rosenthal's site in Rosenthal am Rennsteig, Germany.
Valmet delivered a demonstration-scale lignin extraction plant, LignoBoost XS™, for the Mercer Lignin Center. LignoBoost XS is a module-based installation enabling streamlined engineering and faster delivery. The Mercer LignoBoost XS plant is adapted both for hardwood and softwood kraft lignin extraction. The plant is designed for safe and easy operation.
Dr. Lars Gabriel, head of the Mercer Lignin Center, explains the diverse potential of the natural material.
Commitment to sustainable circular economy
The Mercer Lignin Center is a fully integrated plant with a maximum capacity of 1,000 kilograms of high-quality lignin per day on an area of 1,000 square meters. It is the first facility of its kind in Germany and includes storage facilities, on-site control rooms, offices and laboratory workstations.
"At Mercer, we support the idea of a sustainable circular economy and the responsible use of nature. Our focus is on the full utilization of wood resources. It is therefore only logical to exploit the often untapped potential of lignin. The opening of the Lignin Center is another forward-looking contribution by Mercer to a strong bioindustry. We will continue on our path, investing in processes and technologies focused on continuous improvement and innovation in all areas of our business," says Juan Carlos Bueno CEO of Mercer International.
Thuringia's Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow and guests from politics and business visit the lignin pilot plant at Mercer, the only one of its kind in Europe
LignoBoost XS – a step forward in lignin market development
“We are very pleased to see that Mercer is taking this step and that there is a new participant joining the lignin production arena. This is the second LignoBoost XS plant in the world and the first one in Europe. The collaboration with Mercer has been excellent throughout the project and the startup of the LignoBoost XS plant, which took place in July, went very smoothly,” says Jussi Mäntyniemi Vice President, Recovery, Pulp and Energy, Valmet.
Dr. Lars Gabriel, Manager of the Mercer Lignin Center, Dr. Christian Sörgel, Managing Director Mercer Rosenthal, Hanna Karlsson, Valmet Lignin Business Developement Manager, Dr. Maria Arvidsson, Valmet Project Manager, Bodo Ramelow, Thuringia´s Prime Minister, Juan Carlos Bueno, CEO and President Mercer International, Lars Erlandsson, Product Sales Manager at Valmet and Anders Littorin, Valmet LignoBoost Senior Product Technology Manager.
“Valmet’s LignoBoost XS plant serves as an important component in lignin market development, enabling our customers to explore the lignin business on a smaller scale before making larger investments. LignoBoost XS can generate a substantial volume of lignin, serving purposes in both developmental contexts and sample production for end-users interested in evaluating lignin as a raw material. We are very excited to follow Mercer on the lignin journey,” says Hanna Karlsson, Business Development Manager, LignoBoost Technology, Valmet.
About Mercer International and Mercer Rosenthal
Mercer International Inc. is a global manufacturer of wood-based products with locations in Germany, Canada, the United States and Australia. Mercer Rosenthal produces kraft pulp, raw material for German and Central European paper and tissue production. The annual production capacity is 360,000 ADMTs. An important biobased by-product of Mercer Rosenthal's pulp production is tall oil, which replaces fossil products in the chemical industry. Lignin joins the existing portfolio of bioproducts from Rosenthal.
What is lignin
Lignin is a by-product of the utilization of wood cellulose and consists of various aromatic building blocks, the phenylpropanoids. This is what makes the raw material so valuable, because aromatic compounds are normally obtained from petroleum. Phenylpropanoids are used to manufacture a wide variety of materials and products such as plastics, medicines or paints. Other promising applications include the production of batteries and composite materials.
