Displaying items by tag: metso

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has affirmed Metso’s BBB long-term and A-2 short-term corporate credit ratings and changed the outlook from stable to positive.

Metso is a global supplier of technology and services to customers in the process industries, including mining, construction, pulp and paper, power, and oil and gas. Our 30,000 professionals based in over 50 countries deliver sustainability and profitability to customers worldwide. Expect results.
www.metso.com , www.twitter.com/metsogroup

Further information, please contact:
Pekka Hölttä, Senior Vice President, Corporate Treasurer, 
Metso, tel. +358 20 484 3195

Metso Corporation

Harri Nikunen
CFO

Juha Rouhiainen
VP, Investor Relations

 RotoFormer was originally developed for TwinRoll Evolution, the latest generation of TwinRoll presses from Metso. Now this new pulp inlet device is available for upgrading the DPA, DPB and TRP TwinRoll presses.

Upgrading to RotoFormer yields a number of benefits. The increased vat angle of the press and improved pulp distribution and formation provide significantly greater capacity for a broad range of inlet consistencies while delivering greater washing efficiency. Upgrading to RotoFormer also minimizes the risk of plugging in the inlet device.

RotoFormer consists of a pulp inlet box and a rotating screw
The inlet box is open toward the roll surface. The screw maintains the flow of the pulp in the inlet box and its function is to distribute and form the pulp for optimal consistency and throughput. The special design of RotoFormer allows a pulp feed consistency between 3% and 11%, enabling capacity increases of up to 30%.

An upgrade includes RotoFormer, a new and improved spray pipe, longitudinal air seals and upgraded air pressurized end seals for presses with water adjusted end seals.

Upgrade information
RotoFormer is easy to install. It is bolted to existing holes on the press. Almost no modifications are needed for the DPB and TRPB presses, but some adjustments of the vat are necessary for the DPA and TRPA presses. Installation takes approximately three days for the DPB and TRPB presses, and five days for the DPA and TRPA presses. The main press drive and the pre-breaker drive may need to be upgraded to handle a capacity increase.

Metso opens a new valve supply and service center in Vadodara, India. The new supply center supports company's strategy to grow valve business globally and strengthens Metso's service capabilities in India for major petrochemical, energy, and oil and gas companies such as Reliance Industries Ltd, Indian Oil Corporation, Technip, Praxair India Pvt Ltd and PRAJ Industries Ltd.

"The market in India is growing. Last year we doubled our order intake for valves and related services, and expect the good development to continue. Establishing a new supply center to India is a step going forward in widening manufacturing and service capabilities in India'', says Alok Kishore, Country Manager India, Metso Automation.

This investment is in line with Metso's long-term strategy to develop and expand its valve offering, delivery and service capabilities for customers in oil and gas, power, pulp and paper industries. It was preceded by a series of investments in Metso's global offering and presence. Last month Metso announced acquiring a valve technology and service company, Valstone Control Inc. in South Korea. Currently Metso is expanding its valve production premises in the US. Last year, Metso opened a new valve technology center in Finland. In 2010 Metso opened a new valve facility in Shanghai, China. Metso also has high-class industrial valve facilities in Brazil and Germany.

The new valve supply center is located in Vadodara city, 400 km north of Mumbai in the state of Gujarat, where Metso's service center has been in operation for more than two years. The state of Gujarat has the fastest growing economy in India, and it is also one of the most industrialized states, having per capita GDP almost the double of the national average. The industrial city of Vadodara houses major customers and engineering, procurement and construction companies such as Reliance Industries Ltd., Indian Oil Corporation, L&T and Linde.

Experienced in valves

Metso is the leading valve solutions and services provider. Metso's Flow Control solutions include control valves, automated on/off and emergency shut-down valves, as well as smart positioners and condition monitoring. Metso's world-leading brands include Neles, Jamesbury and Mapag.

Due to Metso's strong position in advanced valves technology, services are a major part of the offering. For example, customers like Petrobras and Arcelor Mittal have awarded Metso with large service contracts. For valve customers alone, Metso already has 31 service centers around the globe on top of this new one now being opened in India.

The Automation segment's process automation and flow control solutions meet the growing needs of Metso's customer industries to improve production process efficiency as raw materials and energy sources become scarcer and their costs increase. Our global network of service experts delivers business solutions to our customers that improve their productivity, lower risks and optimize costs. 

Metso has inaugurated its new facilities in Brazil on March 8, 2012.  The new facilities, incorporating a machinery production and services unit and an administrative office, are situated in Araucária, a metropolitan area of Curitiba, in the state of Paraná. The facilities will reach full production capacity by June 2012.

The investment value of the construction project was close to EUR 20 million. The new facility is a milestone in Metso’s 42-year history in Brazil. “Brazil, along with China, is one of the countries in which Metso is focusing its investments. The Araucária investment will be continued by further increasing the capacity and capabilities of the facilities,” says Celso Tacla, Area President, South America, Pulp, Paper and Power, Metso.

On a land area of 60,000 m2, of which 10,000 m2 represent the built area, the Araucária plant will generate 150 new jobs and some indirect jobs. Together with the staff transferred from the earlier location in Curitiba, the total number of personnel at the Araucária plant will rise to 500 when the operation reaches its full capacity.

“The Araucária plant will improve Metso’s capabilities in serving the pulp, paper and power generation industries in South America where Metso has a wide installed base and where several greenfield projects and new production lines are to be supplied to customers e.g. in Brazil and Chile,” adds Celso Tacla, pointing out to a new cycle of the pulp and paper production expansion in South America.

In addition to the production and administrative facilities in Araucária and eight other locations in Brazil, Metso has offices in Chile, Peru and Argentina.

Metso has signed an agreement to acquire South Korean valve technology company, Valstone Control Inc. (Valstone). The acquisition strengthens Metso’s control valve and service offering for customers in the oil and gas and power industries. Valstone’s globe valves add to Metso’s current wide portfolio of control valves. The acquired technology plays a key role in most critical processes with extreme pressures and temperatures. The acquisition follows Metso’s strategy and strengthens Metso’s market position in the growing Asian markets.

Valstone is a privately owned globe valve and service specialist company. Its customers include many of the leading South Korean petrochemical and power generation companies and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies. Valstone’s net sales are less than MEUR 10. More information: www.valstone.com. The value of the transaction will not be disclosed.

Metso has an ambitious growth strategy to develop its valve business.The Valstone acquisition is preceded by a series of investments in Metso’s global valve offering. Last year Metso opened a new valve technology center in Finland, and the previous year in Shanghai, China. Currently, Metso is expanding its valve production premises in the US as well as building a new supply and service center in India. Additionally, Metso has high-class industrial valve facilities in Brazil and Germany.

Commitment to meeting customer needs has also made Metso a leading valve technology service supplier. For example, customers like Petrobras and Arcelor Mittal have awarded Metso with large service contracts. Valstone strengthens Metso’s service capabilities in the growing South Korean market. For valve customers alone, Metso has 31 service centers around the globe. 

‘’The acquisition of Valstone and the preceding investments confirm that we are in the business with a long-term strategy to continuously improve our technology offering and services to benefit our customers. Asian growth markets have a key role in our strategy. We invest heavily in these markets in order to serve our customers better, both locally and globally’’, says Perttu Louhiluoto, President, Metso Automation.

Metso and Fortum Power and Heat have signed a contract regarding a delivery of a bio-oil production plant and a related automation system to the Fortum power plant in Joensuu, Finland. The delivery involves a demonstration plant, in which bio-oil is produced from forest residue and other biomasses. The bio-oil produced in the plant can be used instead of heavy fuel oil, and it may be used as raw material in the chemical industry and biodiesel production in the future.

The nominal output of the plant will be 30 MW oil production and the planned annual production will be 50,000 tons. The annual production will equal to 210 GWh of energy, which corresponds to the yearly heating consumption of more than 10,000 private houses. In its process, the production plant will utilize 225,000 solid cubic meters of forest residue and sawdust a year. The integration of bio-oil production into the power plant process enables the utilization of the side product from the production process in the generation of electricity and district heating. The utilization of bio-oil produced at the Joensuu plant helps reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 59,000 tons a year.

"Metso actively researches and develops new technologies, which support sustainable development in power generation. Demonstration ventures of this type are important for the commercialization of new products. In this delivery, a bio-oil production plant is integrated profitably to a fluidized bed boiler, in which the uncondensed gases and coke generated in the pyrolysis can be combusted", says Kai Mäenpää, Director, Metso Power business line.

Bio-oil will be produced by means of pyrolysis. In this process, wood-based biomass is quickly heated up to approximately 500°C, a temperature at which the biomass is vaporized to gases, which are condensed to bio-oil when cooled. Metso has developed the pyrolysis technology in collaboration with VTT (Technical Research Centre of Finland), Fortum and UPM since 2007. The development work is based on the basic research and patents of VTT.

Metso will deliver the plant to Fortum as a turnkey delivery. The scope includes foundations and building work, necessary production equipment, a Metso DNA automation system, and electrification. This demonstration venture will test and further develop integrated pyrolysis technology and the control solutions of the Metso DNA system, which will be utilized in the pyrolysis processes of larger-scale power plants in the future.

The new bio-oil production plant is scheduled for start-up in the autumn of 2013. The value of the order has not been disclosed, and the order is included in Pulp, Paper and Power's first quarter orders received. 

On February 23, 2012, the Metso-supplied PM 2 containerboard machine at Propapier PM2 GmbH in Eisenhüttenstadt, Germany, set yet another 24-hour world speed record of 1,675 m/min. The PM 2 thus became the first containerboard machine to break the 100 km/h milestone. During the record run, the 10.85-m-wide PM 2 was producing corrugating medium at a basis weight of 80 g/m2 at a total efficiency of 91%.

This is already the third 24-hour world speed record set by Propapier PM 2 in a fairly short time. The first was set on November 25, 2010, when PM 2 set a record of 1,620 m/min at a basis weight of 90 g/m2 becoming the world’s first containerboard machine to exceed the 1,600 m/min speed level and to exceed 1 mpm. A few months later on April 14, 2011, producing corrugating medium at a basis weight of 80 g/m2, a new speed record was set at 1,650 m/min. The PM 2 was started up in March 2010.

“A third world record in a row is truly a great example of results that can be achieved with highly skilled and motivated teams working together, determined to get the most out of modern papermaking technology,” says Jürgen Heindl, CEO of Progroup AG.

The gigantic PM 2 features Metso paper making and automation technology from the stock preparation plant to the OptiConcept paper machine. The design speed of the machine is 1,900 m/min.

Propapier PM2 GmbH is part of Progroup AG, a group of companies offering products and services for the corrugated board-converting industry. The annual tonnage of Progroup AG's two paper mills equals 1 million tonnes of containerboard.

The Metso-supplied containerboard production line, PM 3, for Ji’An Group Co., Ltd. successfully came on stream at the end of November 2011 and the line’s curtain coating process was started up on January 4, 2012. The new PM 3 was installed at the company’s mill located in Haiyan County, Jiaxing City in Zhejian Province, China. The 7.25 m-wide PM 3 is the world’s fastest coated board machine at the design speed of 1,200 m/min.

Metso’s delivery comprised a complete containerboard line from headboxes to reel including a 3-ply multi-Fourdrinier forming section with a ValFormer top forming unit. The delivery also included a ValPress press section equipped with two straight nips, a dryer section with single- and double-fabric dryer groups, an OptiHard precalender, a ValSizer film size press, coating sections with two ValCoat Jet blade coating stations and an OptiLayer curtain coating station, a ValSoft soft calender as well as a new type of a ValReel reel. The comprehensive Metso automation system comprises process, machine and quality controls with headbox and moisturizer profilers and retention analyzers.

“The new PM 3 features an OptiLayer multilayer curtain coating unit that applies two coating layers on the web at the same time in a non-contact operation with no speed restrictions. Curtain coating is a coating method, which gives a full coverage for brown base sheet. The uniform-coverage coating layer makes it possible to run the machine without expensive bleached fiber in furnish. This is a totally new tool for optimizing raw material costs,” says Henri Vaittinen, Metso’s Paper Technology Manager.

The daily production capacity of the PM 3 is approximately 1,900 tonnes of coated and uncoated white top testliner in the basis weight range of 130-280 g/m², mainly without virgin fiber.

Ji'An Group Co., Ltd. currently produces containerboard on four machines of which three are Metso-supplied machines, in addition to the PM 3, on the PM 1 started up in 2008 and on the PM 2 started up in 2006. The company’s annual production capacity is around 1,650,000 tonnes.

A Metso-supplied Advantage DCT 200 TS tissue production line successfully came on stream on January 24, 2012 at Lila Kagit’s mill in Corlu, about 100 km west of Istanbul in Turkey. This is the second production line supplied by Metso for this company.

The Lila Kagit TM 2 started up smoothly and produced a good-quality saleable product from the very beginning.

Metso’s delivery covered a complete tissue making line. Besides the Advantage DCT 200 TS tissue machine, it included, among other things, stock preparation equipment, process ventilation, controls, electrical equipment, basic engineering services, erection, start-up and training services.

Metso’s modularized Advantage DCT standard concepts for tissue machines repeatedly prove their success through record-breaking fast start-up processes and immediate highest-quality production.

The new line using virgin fiber adds another 195 tonnes per day of tissue paper for facial, toilet, napkin and towel products to Lila Kagit’s production capacity. This makes Lila Kagit one of the largest tissue manufacturers in Turkey.

Lila Kagit belongs to the Marmara Pamuklu Mensucat San.ve TiC. A.S. Group. The company was established in 1980 and is now one of the leading producers of yarn and dyed yarn. Its production facilities are in Corlu, Tekirdag. Marmara Elektrik Uretim A.S. also belongs to the Group and produces electricity at the same location.

Metso will supply a new evaporation plant and an upgrade of an existing recovery boiler for Billerud Skärblacka AB’s Skärblacka mill outside Norrköping in Sweden. The goal is to strengthen the mill for the future by improving environmental performance and energy efficiency as well as to enable future company expansion. Metso’s delivery will contribute to this environmentally-oriented investment. The value of the order will not be disclosed.

Metso’s delivery will allow for a substantial increase in production capacity in the future. In addition, the mill’s energy efficiency will be improved leading to a significant reduction in consumption of fossil oil and external biofuels.

“This investment is very important for Billerud as the mill’s overall energy efficiency and environmental performance will improve significantly,” says Johanna Lindén, Director, Scandinavia from Metso.

The project will go through two project phases. The first is to install the new evaporation plant and the second to upgrade the recovery boiler. The entire project is scheduled for completion at the end of 2013.The order is included in Pulp, Paper and Power’s first quarter 2012 orders received.