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“The cooperation between Andritz and Sun Paper has been very effective, congenial, and professional.”
Ying Guangdong, Deputy General Manager and Chief Engineer of Sun Paper Group.
It is estimated that by the year 2010, there will be more than 200 enterprises each producing over 100,000 tonnes of paper per year in China. This totals 80 million tonnes – the total production of the world’s seven largest paper companies.
With this rise in paper production, China has become more and more dependent on international pulp suppliers. Three years ago, China imported close to 25 million tonnes of pulp and wastepaper for its mills. That figure will certainly grow. That said, increased production of pulps from local reeds, bamboo, and wheat straw is also expected to increase. Domestic wood pulp production will grow as well, with pulpwood from domestic plantations, supplemented by imported wood chips and pulpwood.
Seeking independenceOne paper producer with a strategy to become independent in raw material supplies is the Sun Paper Group in Yanzhou, Shandong Province. The company’s 22 paper machines (the 23rd is now under construction) with a total capacity of 2.5 million tonnes per year, are now being at least partially supplied by their first Andritz P-RC APMP line of 100,000 tonnes per year. Shortly after starting up the first line, Sun Paper and Andritz signed a second contract in March 2008 for another line with almost double the capacity of the first one.
APMPThe Andritz P-RC APMP (Alkaline Peroxide Mechanical Pulping) process is ideally suited for various Asian hardwoods like poplar and tropical hardwoods like eucalyptus and acacia, because it produces a high-quality pulp in a very energy-efficient way. Which makes it perfectly matched for the Chinese needs. The P-RC in the name indicates chip pre-conditioning followed by refiner chemical treatment. Compared to a conventional CTMP process with post-bleaching, this pre-treatment uses less overall electrical energy. Plus, by splitting the application of alkali peroxide between the chip impregnation stage and the primary refiner, better chemical efficiency, with improved optical and strength properties in the pulp, is achieved.
The pre-treatment consists of an efficient application of alkali and peroxide in the chip impregnation stage, followed by a short reaction time in a bin.
The pre-conditioned chips are refined to individual fibers in a pressurized high-consistency refiner and alkali and peroxide are again added. The pulp then drops to a high-consistency bleaching tower to develop brightness and other pulp properties. After the bleaching tower, the pulp is washed and dewatered on a screw press before it is treated in further process stages to reach its final quality. This produces a high-brightness pulp suitable for printing/writing, LWC paper, liquid packaging, and other bleached board grades. A separate post-bleaching stage is usually not needed.
Remarkable growth speed“Our target is that by 2010 the annual capacity of our pulp and paper mill will be 3.5 million tonnes and sales will be RMB 20 billion (€ 2.2 billion) per year, with most of the raw materials supplied by ourselves,” says Ying Guangdong, Deputy General Manager and Chief Engineer of Sun Paper Group.
The speed of the company’s growth has been remarkable. “In March 1982, Yanzhou Fulou Paper Making Factory was founded with a loan of RMB 30,000 (€ 3,279), with only 30 locals in the country-type workshop,” Ying explains. “In 1994, the corporation grew and became Shandong Sun Paper Industry Group Company and in 2000, the company reorganized into a Joint Stock Company. Today, the capacity of Shandong Sun Paper Industry Joint Stock Co., Ltd. is 2.5 million tonnes per year.”
The Sun Paper Group has integrated papermaking, chemical production, foreign trade, power generation, R&D, timber plantations, and capital investments inside its three companies: Shandong Sun Paper Co., Shandong International Paper & Sun Coated Paperboard Co., and International Paper & Sun Cartonboard Co. In China, Shandong Sun Paper Industry is the largest privately owned and managed paper business, as well as the largest producer of premium coated packaging board. Sun Paper Group employs more than 7000 people. Its paper and board products are sold throughout China and exported to more than 20 countries in Southeast Asia, Africa, and the USA.
For paper production, the Group uses various raw materials including NBKP, LBKP, APMP, straw pulp, and imported wastepaper. “These materials are suitable for different paper and board grades,” Ying explains. “For the APMP line, there are abundant wood resources in the mill area, the most important raw material being poplar. It is very suitable for the APMP.”
When Sun Paper signed the agreement with Andritz for the first APMP line at their Yanzhou mill, they began reducing their purchasing of APMP pulp even before the Andritz line had been handed over. “The start-up of the plant was so successful, that we were reaching quality and capacity targets within a week,” says Manfred Fitz, Andritz Project Manager. “The line was running continuously and all the pulp we produced was being used by the paper machine.” This allowed Sun Paper to use their own APMP rather than purchasing it elsewhere.
“We were adjusting and optimizing to achieve the final performance values within three weeks from start-up,” Fitz says.
Ying is complimentary of the flexibility of the Andritz APMP process. “The capacity is quite large and the working efficiency is very high, which is suitable for the development in China,” he says.
Evaporation includedSun Paper needed the APMP pulp to blend with their other raw material grades (e.g. deinked pulp from imported wastepaper, kraft, and other mechanical pulps) to achieve the required paper properties. Earlier they purchased this pulp from other APMP plants, but they are now in a position to produce their own. As part of the investment, an evaporation system was needed to process the effluents and recover the water. Sun Paper chose to install three new MVR evaporation systems from Andritz.
Mechanical Vapor Recompression (MVR) technology uses a compressor (low-rotation speed turbo fan) to increase the pressure of the vapors being evaporated. This allows the vapor to be used as a heating medium in the process. The MVR Evaporator extracts clean water from the effluent from the APMP process which is saturated with dissolved wood solids and alkali chemicals. The evaporator condensate is treated and returned to the APMP process, significantly reducing total water consumption. The residuals are further concentrated and incinerated. Andritz also provided a system for collecting and treating the odorous gases from the process.
The Sun Paper Group’s new evaporation units are the first in China to be used in this way for the wastewater system. “With the evaporation units from Andritz, we get very good results, which is a favorable precondition for us to achieve zero discharge,” Ying points out.
“In our company, we have a wastewater treatment plant which utilizes anaerobic, aerobic, biochemical, and physicochemical treatments,” Ying says. “The final COD of the treated water is below 80 mg/l. For each effluent stream, we have already reached the environmental performance standards of the industry.”
Automation tooFor such a major greenfield project, several interfaces (e.g. wood handling, chip storage, fiberline, evaporation, etc.) have to be taken care of. Combining everything in one controllable system for fast start-up and continuous operation was the goal of Sun Paper.
“We selected the Distributed Control System (DCS) from Andritz because it could control multiple systems with its own supervisory functions,” Ying says. “The interface with other systems is quite efficient. Andritz understands all the various system controls, providing us with the most suitable solution. Of course, this was strengthened by frequent positive communications between Andritz specialists and our operators. The major advantages of Andritz technologies are their highly flexible design, low energy consumption, and significantly high production capacity.”
Cooperation is the key“The first time when all project team members met at the Yanzhou mill, we saw our task as transforming Sun Paper’s goal into a real plan,” says Fitz of Andritz. “Their goal was to start up the mill in the shortest possible time. From this, we built an effective plan together. Through open dialog, transparency, and close cooperation, all outstanding issues were agreed upon and implemented in the engineering documents.”
“The cooperation between Andritz and Sun Paper has been very effective, congenial and professional,” Ying confirms. “We exchanged views about every question and issue, and came to a solid and satisfactory conclusion without effort. Only with this kind of cooperation could we get a successful start-up. The fast-track delivery of Andritz’s equipment was excellent. In this way, the whole project period was shortened.”
With any project come technical issues and challenges. In the case of the APMP line at the Yanzhou mill, there was a slight vibration in the main refiner. However, this was quickly solved. A few other technical issues developed and were quickly resolved, too. “Overall, Andritz has an outstanding service group,” Ying says. “Andritz responded very promptly and I was somewhat amazed of the efficiency.”
More self-sufficient and autonomous The new Andritz P-RC APMP line currently under construction will have a capacity of 200,000 t/a. Erection work will begin in January, and start-up is planned for May 2009. “This will triple the Group’s APMP production from the current 100,000 t/a to 300,000 t/a,” Fitz says. Andritz is also supplying a disc screen and chip screen for the incoming wood processing.
Ying adds: “This will further reduce our purchase of APMP market pulp to make the composition for our paper and board grades. Moreover, it enables us to produce pulp that is directly in accordance with the quality parameters of our end products.”
The Sun Paper Group also has chemical pulping projects ongoing. At Yanzhou, Andritz is delivering fiberline systems, chemical systems, and woodyard equipment (chip receiving, reclaiming, and screening systems). “At the same time, we are building a pulp project and power plant in Laos,” Ying remarks. Sun Paper’s growth continues without delay, and Andritz is there to provide the technology and service needed – now and in the future.
