When Irving Pulp and Paper of Saint John, New Brunswick, on the Atlantic coast of Canada, started up its new continuous pulping operation in March, 2016, it was a milestone in the Canadian pulp and paper industry. The two-phase modernization project for the bleached kraft pulp mill represented the largest investment in the Canadian industry since 1993.
Process simulation and interactive multi-media training provided by Valmet were invaluable ingredients needed to bring the operators up to a high level of proficiency before startup.
Jim Brewster, Technical Director
Summary
Location
Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada
Customer challenge
Irving was expecting significant returns based on increased mill capacity now and in the future, higher yield, flexibility of operation for hardwood and softwood pulps, reduced maintenance and operating costs, and improved pulp quality.
Solution
New continuous digester based on Valmet's CompactCooking technology.
Results
Project right on schedule and 10% below budget
Excellent start-up, reaching target production on the third day
The 600,000 man–hour project was completed with only one lost time accident
Improved yield - Pulp production is up by approx. 50 tonnes per day at constant recovery boiler loading
Improved pulp quality - Higher freeness has significantly improved pulp dryer runnability. Higher softwood strength, but more work to be done
Lower energy consumption - Mill electrical load down approx. 1.5 Mwe and biomass consumption down 80,000 tonnes per year
Lower bleaching costs - 15–20% reduction of CIO2 and NaOH
Improved effluent quality - Final BOD and COD discharges down 20% and 12% respectively
Improved O2 delignification - Softwood delignification up 5–10% at lower reactor temperatures
Lower maintenance costs – to be determined (preliminary approx. 10%).
