Fieldbus & Industrial Networking


Metsä Fibre’s new bioproduct mill

October 2023 Fieldbus & Industrial Networking

Metsä Fibre’s Kemi bioproduct mill in Finland was recently successfully commissioned. The material, environmental and energy efficient mill will not use any fossil fuels, and it will produce two terawatt hours (TWh) of renewable electricity per year. Valmet’s technology and automation contributed to the sustainable operation and high-quality end product.

The new mill is located on the same site as an old pulp mill, which was decommissioned. After startup, the production process will be fine-tuned for full-scale production, which will be achieved within a year from startup. Valmet’s delivery covers the full production process from wood handling to baling, flow control solutions and mill-wide automation systems. Annual pulp production capacity will be 1,5 million tons, and in addition, the mill will produce various other bioproducts.

“The startup of the mill is an important milestone for us. I am looking forward to seeing how the most significant investment in the history of the Finnish forest industry will achieve its full production capacity,” says Jari-Pekka Johansson, director of the bioproduct mill project at Metsä Fibre.

“By combining Valmet’s innovative process technology, automation and services we have delivered a solution with world-class sustainability and minimised emissions. For example, energy efficiency has been improved by steam integration between the evaporation and digester, and with new pulp drying features. The advanced mill-wide automation system and integrated industrial internet applications help to optimise the mill’s production efficiency,” says Sami Riekkola, pulp and energy business line president at Valmet.

The mill features leading process technology and the most advanced automation systems. Valmet’s delivery includes the wood handling; cooking and fibre line; pulp drying and baling; evaporation; recovery boiler; recausticising; lime kiln; biomass dryer and gasifier; ash crystallisation; mill-wide non-condensable gases handling solution; and dry and wet electrostatic precipitators for the recovery boiler and lime kiln. Valmet also delivered the sulphuric acid plant, which uses the mill’s own odorous gases to produce sulphuric acid. In addition, Valmet delivered a rebuild of the existing fibre line, including new chip feeding and washing systems.

Valmet’s automation delivery includes a mill-wide Valmet DNA automation system, plant information management system, Valmet IQ Quality Management System, advanced process controls, analysers and a measurement package. The industrial internet solutions embedded in the delivery include analytics tools, monitoring and optimisation applications, simulators for selected process and Valmet Performance Centre connectivity. With this mill-wide automation system, the mill can run in a balanced way, control the process and ensure it runs flawlessly with high quality, cost-effectiveness and environmental efficiency.




Share this article:
Share via emailShare via LinkedInPrint this page

Further reading:

Comprehensive solutions for the food and beverage sector
RS South Africa Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
RS South Africa is reinforcing its commitment to the country’s dynamic food and beverage sector, backed by a comprehensive portfolio of over 800 000 products, extensive technical expertise and end-to-end service capabilities.

Read more...
Case History 198: Cascade control overcomes valve problems
Michael Brown Control Engineering Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
A large petrochemical refinery asked me to perform an audit on several critical base layer control loops. This article deals with a problem found on a valve controlling the flow of fuel to a heat exchanger.

Read more...
Improved networking technology for fire and gas detection
Omniflex Remote Monitoring Specialists Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Critical alarm and event management technology supplier, Omniflex has worked with the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation to upgrade equipment providing digital and analogue signals for its safety critical fire and gas alarm systems.

Read more...
PC-based control for fertiliser
Beckhoff Automation Editor's Choice Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
On a farm in the USA, valuable ammonia is extracted from slurry and processed into ammonium sulphate. NSI Byosis has transformed this complex process into a flexible modular system. This modular approach requires an automation solution with flexible scalability in both hardware and software, which this Dutch company has found in PC-based control from Beckhoff.

Read more...
Loop signature 28: Things to consider when tuning.
Michael Brown Control Engineering Editor's Choice Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
I was giving a course at a remote mine in the middle of the Namibian desert. We were discussing tuning responses, and as I always do on my courses, I mentioned that in my opinion ¼ amplitude damped tuning is not desirable, and is in fact not good.

Read more...
How industrial network design impacts ESG commitments
Omniflex Remote Monitoring Specialists Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
In safety-critical industries like nuclear, petrochemical and oil and gas, installing a new industrial cable network is an extremely complicated task. Gary Bradshaw, a director of industrial network specialist, Omniflex explains why this is often unnecessary as plants are likely to have existing cabling capable of being used to create new industrial networks.

Read more...
Minelert industrial solutions
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Profitek provides cutting-edge industrial networking, automation and IoT solutions for harsh environments.

Read more...
The ultimate industrial LoRaWAN gateway
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
The GW-101-LORA-4AO is the ultimate industrial LoRaWAN gateway, combining advanced IoT connectivity with expandable I/O.

Read more...
Industrial Power-over-Ethernet DC injector
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
The ML-NET-INJECT series sets the standard for industrial PoE, featuring IP68-rated RJ45 connectors and military-grade components for extreme reliability.

Read more...
Industrial networking IO-Link
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Balluff IO-Link Network Modules enable seamless, intelligent communication between sensors, actuators and control systems. Designed for Industry 4.0, they provide real-time data exchange, simplify wiring, and enhance diagnostics.

Read more...