Metso, the pioneer in measuring and controlling retention, has reached an important milestone with the delivery of its 300th Metso RM3 retention analyzer to the paper and board industry. It was installed on BM 2 at Stora Enso Imatra Mills’ Kaukopää production unit in Imatra, Finland, in May. The wet end of the machine that produces packaging and graphic grades was equipped with a total of three analyzers for measuring white water consistency of all layers online. The delivery also included two Metso MCA microwave consistency sensors for measuring total consistency after the machine chest.
Earlier the white water analyses on BM 2 were carried out in the mill laboratory with water samples taken manually from the production line. Now the RM3 analyzers measure white water consistency online.

“With the help of the new white water consistency measurements, we are able to stabilize retention better than before. This decreases machine fouling, in addition to improving runnability and product cleanliness,” says BM 2 Supervisor Riku Suurnäkki.

Reliable and accurate RM3 is suitable for all monitoring and closed loop control applications. It is the only optical measurement on the market able to measure both true ash consistency and total consistency from a continuous sample flow. It can also be used to measure stock flocculation. Retention and ash controls based on reliable measurements provide excellent tools for enhancing production efficiency, improving quality and lowering production costs in a paper or board production process.

RM3 represents the third generation in Metso’s retention measurement technology, which has become an industry standard. The analyzer’s success is based on over 20 years’ experience in optical consistency measurements as well as on continual, fruitful cooperation with paper and board makers. The analyzers are widely used at paper and board mills and DIP plants around the world.

The Kaukopää production unit is part of Stora Enso’s Imatra Mills with an annual capacity of over a million metric tons of board and paper. Specialized in packaging, paper and wood products, Stora Enso has about 26,000 employees globally. Its net sales in 2010 reached 10.3 billion euros.