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PM6 is 5.6 m wide (trim width) and designed for 1,100 m/min. PM6 will bring Hebei’s total capacity to 700,000 t/a, making it the largest containerboard producer in northern China.
Wu San Luo, General Manager of Hebei Yongxin, is looking forward to the future with confidence, even as competitors are building new mills in his region during 2009. The main markets for Hebei’s packaging materials are close by where several customers have their converting operations.
“Our customers include joint ventures like Kangshifu instant noodles, Mengniu milk, Yili milk, Zhenyuan Packaging for Nokia, Motorola, etc.,” Wu says. “Principally, we sell to all the packaging producers. The total market in northern China is about two million tonnes per year, and the demand for high quality products is increasing each year.”
Wu believes that the decision to purchase a complete production line (PM6) from ANDRITZ was fully correct. “Although the start-up was only two months ago, many customers have already acknowledged the increased quality and good value produced by PM6,” Wu says. “Hebei is now facing the interesting challenge that market demand from the new line is exceeding our production.”
Hebei Yongxin Paper is now the largest containerboard producer in northern China and is positioned among the 15 largest paper companies in China. The mill is very open for visits, allowing any potential ANDRITZ customer to visit them. Companies from Europe, China, and other Asian countries have already traveled to the mill, which is about a three-hour drive from Beijing.
Why invest in the north, as the main market still seems to be in the south? Ma Ping, ANDRITZ’s Sales Manager China for Paper Machines, as well as Project Coordinator for ANDRITZ, has his own observations: “In the early 1990’s, the Pearl River Delta region developed very fast and there was a huge need for packaging material,” he explains. “Later on, there was good growth in the Yangtze River Delta region. In order to balance economic development, the Chinese government started promoting the Economic Circle around the Bohai Sea in 2000, and hopes that it will become the third leg of economic development in China. After the start-up of PM6, Hebei Yongxin is now the number one kraftliner producer in this Economic Circle.”
International standards Wu says that Hebei Yongxin chose ANDRITZ after many technical and commercial discussions. He himself started at Jiangxi Paper Industry Co. in the 1970’s and that is when he first came in contact with ANDRITZ, during discussions about a new deinking line. “We wanted a high level production line at Hebei Yongxin produced to international standards,” he says. “At the same time, ANDRITZ wanted to expand its offerings in the paper machine market. We knew that ANDRITZ produced good stock preparation and approach systems, and good tissue machines. So, we believed they could also provide a good packaging paper machine. The results fully proved this to be true.”
Hebei chose ANDRITZ to supply all the systems, including stock preparation, the machine approach system, the machine itself, and the automation. ANDRITZ was also chosen as the general contractor and service provider for the whole project. The contract was signed in March 2007 and erection began in June 2008.
A huge joint effortThe two-year project was a huge joint effort coordinated by ANDRITZ. About 2,500 individual components were sourced and manufactured locally in China, and another 1,850 components were shipped from Austria. In addition to components manufactured by ANDRITZ Technologies Ltd.’s workshop in Foshan, 19 Chinese sub-suppliers and 31 from Europe were involved in the project.
“ANDRITZ people have been at our site to supervise the installation, commissioning, the start-up, and now the optimization phase.” Wu says. “All discussions about the details have been carried out in a very smooth way. These discussions have all had the same target – to bring PM6 into optimum production.”
Efficient and environmentally friendlyPM6 started up April 6, 2009. It adheres to the proven ANDRITZ PrimeLine design concept, featuring the most efficient equipment needed to produce high-quality packaging paper.
Wu remarks that, “For the paper machine, ANDRITZ provided advanced technology, including hydraulic headboxes with dilution control, shoe presses, a film press, and a calender, all of them at the same high technical level as those of the other top suppliers.”
The ANDRITZ scope of supply started with the complete stock preparation system and approach flow system. The machine itself has a multi-layer PrimeForm former and a PrimePress X shoe press. The dryer section is both single-tier and double-tier and equipped with a calender, a film press, and an air turn. The PrimeReel is capable of winding parent rolls up to 3.6 m diameter. Apart from the stock prep and paper machine, ANDRITZ also sup-plied the automation package: plant and quality control systems coupled with the condition monitoring and hydraulic and pneumatic control systems.
The machine can produce kraftliner in the 100-200 g/m² basis weight range. Current production is in the 110-175 g/m² range. The line has a capacity to produce 400,000 t/a of kraftliner or linerboard, which increases annual production ca-pacity of Hebei Yongxin to more than 700,000 t. “Our new PM6 is world class, and it is equal to any such paper machine worldwide,” Yuan Youming, Vice Chief Engineer and Production Manager for PM6 says. “Throughout the project and now through the optimization phase, ANDRITZ has made engineers and specialists available. It has significantly enhanced the PM6 to perfection, and they have taught us several things about how to fully obtain the value from this new machine.”
Environmental issues were also kept in mind when planning the new production line. The Chinese government has tightened restrictions on water consumption and COD discharge. According to the new standards, all effluent must go to a biological treatment plant, and the paper machine water consumption must be below 20 m³/t of product.
“The high technology used in the PM6 production line has reduced water consumption to seven cubic meters per tonne” Wu says. “Compare this to our existing PM5 which uses 15 cubic meters per tonne. Also, steam consumption is reduced, thanks to the shoe presses. Additionally, the high level of automation (about 8,000 I/Os) helps save energy.”
Like virginYuan says that the end-products from the new line, thanks to ANDRITZ’s advanced stock preparation technology, look like they were made from virgin pulp, even though the furnish is recycled fiber.
PM6 has three pulp lines with a production capacity of 1,570 t/d: a mixed wastepaper line of 1,000 t/d, an old corrugated container (OCC) line of 350 t/d, and a 220 t/d wood pulp line.
Currently, the company obtains mixed wastepaper in China from its own raw material collecting companies. “We established wastepaper collection companies in Bei-jing, Tianjin, Harbin, and Shenyang as part of this project,” Yuan says. “They provide 1,000 tonnes per day for the mill. We also import around 15,000 tonnes of OCC from the USA, and about 4,000 tonnes of kraft pulp each month from South America.”
“The new stock preparation equipment from ANDRITZ breaks down the wastepaper in a gentle way and can extract the long fibers from OCC, enabling the PM to make the highest quality A-grade linerboard, which is a kraft topliner,” Wu says. “This has better strength properties than the lower quality grades. Internally, the yield is high and the whole process is consistent and very energy-efficient.”
A complete production chainIn northern China, big cities generate wastepaper in huge amounts but there are not many major packaging material producers. This was one of the main reasons why the company owners and investors wanted to build a new packaging paper line.
Jin Guoming, President of Hebei Yongxin explains the ownership structure: “Hebei Yongxin Paper was established in 2003,” he says. Today, Hong Kong Wing Fat Printing Co. Ltd. (printing products for the packaging industry) owns 80% and Tianjin Xinnan Trading Co. Ltd. (wastepaper collection) owns 20% of the shares.”
Forging forward togetherANDRITZ Küster’s Martin Dahlmann, who has been on site at the Hebei facility as Service Supervisor for two months during the optimization phase, says that the operators and maintenance team at the mill have become very familiar with the new PM6 regarding the new technology, maintenance, and production.
“What I find most impressive with the PM6 specialists is their enthusiasm and drive to learn,” Dahlmann says. “They ask pertinent questions and are always willing to try new things. The cooperation between our team and Hebei Yongxin has been outstanding even through the language barrier… yet with the help of our translator we are able to forge ahead without any major hindrances.”
The ANDRITZ scopePrimeLine paper machine:
Wire width: 6.2 m
Design speed: 1,100 m/min
Capacity: over 400,000 t/a
Final product: kraftliner and linerboard
Headbox with dilution control
PrimeForm SW former
PrimePress X Twin shoe press
Complete dryer section with calender, film press, and an air turn
PrimeReel
Stock preparation and approach flow system:
FibreSolve pulping system, cleaning and screening, fractionator, dispersion, thickening, and refining.
Three separate approach systems
Save-all and broke system
Under machine pulpers
Andritz Automation:
Complete DCS system for the entire production line, QCS, and condition monitoring system
Service for start-up, commissioning and remote maintenance
