Displaying items by tag: valmet

As Valmet announced by stock exchange release on February 20, 2015, Andritz Oy had filed an application for summons with the Stockholm District Court against Valmet AB, a subsidiary of Valmet, regarding alleged patent infringement. Andritz requested that the court order Valmet to cease the use of the technology described in said patent. Further, Andritz demanded that Valmet pay damages with EUR 54 million.

The validity of the patent has been challenged by Valmet, and as announced by stock exchange release on April 8, 2016, the Swedish Court of Patent Appeals on March 23, 2016, agreed with Valmet and revoked Andritz' patent in full.

Following Andritz' subsequent appeal, the Swedish Supreme Administrative Court has in a decision of August 30, 2016, now refused leave to appeal. The decision to revoke Andritz' patent is thus upheld and the Swedish patent SE 531498 is permanently invalidated. This entails legally that the patent is deemed to never have existed, and as a consequence Andritz' claims for damages in the infringement case in Stockholm District Court are unfounded on all grounds.

Valmet is the leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. We aim to become the global champion in serving our customers.

Valmet's strong technology offering includes pulp mills, tissue, board and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bioenergy production. Our advanced services and automation solutions improve the reliability and performance of our customers' processes and enhance the effective utilization of raw materials and energy.

Valmet's net sales in 2015 were approximately EUR 2.9 billion. Our 12,000 professionals around the world work close to our customers and are committed to moving our customers' performance forward - every day. Valmet's head office is in Espoo, Finland and its shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.

After a comprehensive rebuild supplied by Valmet the rebuilt paper machine PM6 at VPK Paper's Oudegem mill in Belgium has been successfully started. The rebuild in the forming, drying and reeling sections will lift up PM6's production capacity from approximately 185,000 t/a to some 200,000 t/a of high quality packaging grades.

The rebuild was executed in spring 2016 with 148 workers on site during 11 days. Safety is top priority in Valmet's projects, and the rebuild was carried out with no accidents.

Paper machine 6 (PM6) at VPK Paper's Oudegem mill in Belgium

"The rebuild project went very well. The whole PM6 crew and Valmet experts worked towards the same target: safe and on-time start-up," says Jaakko Kerttula, Project Manager at Valmet. 

Technical details of the delivery

The target of this rebuild was to improve machine speed, safety and efficiency. Valmet delivery for the forming section included among others mist eliminators, vacuum foil boxes and top wire lengthening with additional drive. For the drying section, Valmet delivered UnoRun S runnability boxes, new lead rolls and mechanical drive modification and, additionally, FoilForce tail threading after the dryer section. Also, a complete oil lubrication center including piping, tail threading equipment for the reel area, three sets of forming fabrics and spare parts were part of the delivery.

In spring 2015, Valmet had successfully installed a new Quality Control System (QCS) which has proved excellent performance. "We have achieved high availability and remarkably increased production with automatic grade change, improved process monitoring, and faster paper specifications after web break. Working together with Valmet in these two projects has truly moved our performance forward," states Alexis Zenner, Business Unit Manager at the Oudegem Mill.

Information about the customer VPK Paper

Started in 1935, VPK Paper was built out over the years to one of the leading paper mills in her sector. Annually 500.000 T of waste paper and cardboard are converted to produce just as much new paper.  The produced paper qualities are used as raw material to make corrugated and solid board and tubes and cores.

Valmet is the leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. We aim to become the global champion in serving our customers.

Valmet's strong technology offering includes pulp mills, tissue, board and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bioenergy production. Our advanced services and automation solutions improve the reliability and performance of our customers' processes and enhance the effective utilization of raw materials and energy.

Valmet's net sales in 2015 were approximately EUR 2.9 billion. Our 12,000 professionals around the world work close to our customers and are committed to moving our customers' performance forward - every day. Valmet's head office is in Espoo, Finland and its shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.

The start-up of Kotkamills' rebuilt board machine 2 (BM2) in Finland took place on July 22, 2016. Valmet supplied key technology and automation package for the extensive paper machine grade conversion project. The printing paper (MFC) production line was converted to produce a range of folding boxboards and food service boards.

"Our BM2 is the first machine in the world to have the capability to produce dispersion barrier coatings directly on the machine, producing barrier boards that can be recycled with normal paper waste due to having zero plastic content. The interest in our new sustainable products has been massive. The new machine offers a wide range of interesting possibilities for converters, brand owners and designers alike," says Markku Hämäläinen, Chief Executive Officer of Kotkamills.

Kotkamills personnel at start-up on July 22, 2016. Kotkamill's CEO Markku Hämäläinen the third from left and Project Director Stefan Fors in the front row kneeling (the second from right). Photo by Johanna Mäkelä.

"The project schedule was really tight; from the change of the ownership of Kotkamills to start-up in less than sixteen months. That is extremely fast. I am very pleased with cooperation with Valmet and how well-prepared Valmet's project organization was for such an extensive project," says Stefan Fors, Project Director of Kotkamills.

About Valmet's delivery

Valmet's delivery included equipment for stock preparation, a new coating section with two layering curtain coating stations, a blade coating station with roll application, a sizing section with film application and all relatedcoating air dryers. A wide scope of equipment for coating color kitchen and machine circulation for sizing and coating was included. The delivery also included a center driven reel, a two-drum compact winder, modernization of dryer section and calender.

An extensive automation package for BM2 included Valmet DNA machine and drive controls with integrated condition monitoring, and Valmet IQquality management solution including QCS, several profilers and web runnability monitoring and inspection system. Automation deliveries for the pulp mill and the Chemithermomechanical pulp (CTMP) plant include a number of analyzers and measurements including optimizing process controlsfor various process stages. CTMP plant and the coating kitchen are also equipped with Valmet DNA automation system.

A performance agreement betweenKotkamills and Valmet was made to continuously develop BM2 coating process to qualify as high class coated board. The agreement involves both on-site support and troubleshooting support via remote connection to speed up problem solving.

"The Valmet-delivered equipment has worked well without any major setbacks. We have also made the first barrier coating run with success," says Petri Aspholm Senior Project Manager from Valmet.

Information about the customer Kotkamills Oy

Kotkamills Oy is a Finnish forest industry company with a long tradition of over 140 years in the business. Kotkamills is part of Kotkamills Group Oyj which was established in early 2015.

Kotkamills produces folding boxboard and food service board, saturating base kraft papers for laminate production, impregnated products and sawn timber. It has two production facilities in Finland and one in Malaysia. The company has approximately 500 employees, with a majority located in Finland. The turnover of Kotkamills Oy was 266 million euros in 2015.

Valmet will supply a moisturizer system to Zhejiang Dongda Paper Co. Ltd. in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. The new solution, Valmet IQ Moisturizer, will enable the mill to improve board quality on its paper machine PM2.

The order is included in Valmet's second quarter 2016 orders received. The delivery will take place in September 2016.

"IQ Moisturizer is very important for our PM2. Before our decision, we visited another mill where it has been installed and were very impressed by its performance. We expect the solution to solve our current curl issue and help us to increase the machine speed to the targeted level," says Sun Guanfa, General Manager, Zhejiang Dongda Paper Co. Ltd.

"We have earlier supplied a Valmet DNA distributed control system, a Valmet IQ quality control system and a ValmetIQ Process and Quality Vision (PQV) system for Zhejiang Dongda Paper's PM2, and the mill has been very satisfied with their good performance and stable runnability. IQ Moisturizer will now provide the mill with easy and fast curl control without any other curl control measures," says Guo Zhutuan, Sales Director, Automation, Valmet.

Technical information about Valmet IQ Moisturizer

Valmet IQ Moisturizer is a moisturizing system with applications for moisture cross-direction profiling, curl control and smooth moisture level increase. It features an air atomized spray nozzle, a linear water control valve and a mist removal system.

The solution is part of the Valmet IQ product family for monitoring and optimizing process performance and end product quality.

Information about the customer Zhejiang Dongda Paper Co. Ltd

Zhejiang Dongda Paper Co. Ltd is a major producer of coated white cartonboard and paper in Zhejiang Province. The company was founded in 1999, and its annual production capacity is 400,000 tons.

Valmet is the leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. We aim to become the global champion in serving our customers.

Valmet's strong technology offering includes pulp mills, tissue, board and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bioenergy production. Our advanced services and automation solutions improve the reliability and performance of our customers' processes and enhance the effective utilization of raw materials and energy.

Valmet's net sales in 2015 were approximately EUR 2.9 billion. Our 12,000 professionals around the world work close to our customers and are committed to moving our customers' performance forward - every day. Valmet's head office is in Espoo, Finland and its shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.

Valmet has received repeat orders of advanced process control (APC) systems and analyzers from Nippon Paper in Japan. The solutions will be delivered to three of the Nippon Paper mills and consist of  Valmet Advanced Process Control (APC) systems and Valmet Kappa Analyzers for the mills bleaching and lime kiln processes. The solutions will provide Nippon Paper with savings in chemicals and in energy consumption, as well as reduce end product quality variability. The new, latest technology kappa analyzers replace Nippon Paper's existing analyzers. The new advanced process controls and kappa analyzers will be in operation in 2016.

Additionally, Valmet will provide Nippon Paper with performance services which will sustain the results and savings long term. The services contain expert support and consultation, and the processes will be improved further in in close cooperation with the customer as part of the services.

The order was included in Valmet's first quarter 2016 orders received.

Excellent results from an earlier delivery

The order is based on excellent results from an earlier delivery to Nippon Paper's Akita mill. In 2015, a performance improvement project was successfully delivered for Nippon Paper Akita mill.

"The highlight of the project is the speed in which Akita mill was able to achieve significant savings," comments Mr. Kameda, Senior technical manager of automation department, Akita Mill, Nippon Paper. This was achieved by delivering a holistic solution consisting of APC, analyzers as well as process consultation. The savings were delivered on schedule and clearly exceeded all targets.

The Akita mill now enjoys bleaching chemical savings of 7 %, 28% decrease in final brightness standard deviation, 5.5% saving in specific energy at the lime kiln, and has entered into Performance Sustainability agreement with Valmet to maintain and improve those savings long term.

"Through our proven automation and analyzer technology, and with our global and local professionals, we deliver concrete benefits and move the customers operations to a whole new level," says Atsushi Yamamoto, Sales Manager, Japan, Automation, Valmet.

Record high kappa analyzer deliveries in the past 12 months

In the past 12 months, Valmet has received a record number of orders for kappa analyzers. This has further strengthened Valmet's leading position on the global kappa analyzer market and increased its market share.

All greenfield pulp mills started up in the 2000s are equipped with Valmet's kappa analyzers. Since its introduction in 1992, Valmet has installed over 430 Valmet Kappa Analyzers in pulp mills around the world. Today, all leading chemical pulp producers worldwide use this technology in their processes.

Read more about the kappa analyzer market trends on valmet.com: Valmet's kappa analyzer deliveries hit record high in the past 12 months

Proven performance solutions through advanced process control and optimization

Valmet's performance solutions are part of comprehensive services offering and are designed to provide sustained performance improvement to pulp and paper producers. Valmet is a market leader of advanced process control (APC) with its 320 installations globally. The solutions combine advanced process control and optimization technology and expertise, and utilize Valmet's process measurements and analyzers. The solutions are scalable from one department to a line or mill level optimization.

Read more about Valmet Process optimization services and solutions at valmet.com.

Information about the customer Nippon Paper

Nippon Paper Group is one of the leading producers of paper and cardboard in the world. Nippon Paper Akita is the leading Japanese producer of paper, cardboard and pulp.

On July 7, 2016 Valmet inaugurated its logistics center in the city of Araucária, in Paraná state in Brazil. The center is Valmet's fifth logistics center globally and serves the pulp, paper, fiber board and other industries across South America with spare parts and components produced by Valmet and its local suppliers.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by local authorities, customers and Valmet's management. From left Marcos Ozório, Vice-Director of Codar, Celso Tacla South America Area President, Valmet, Marcelo Lupparia Vice President, Abimaq,  Rui Souza Araucária Vice Mayor, and Elio Krummenauer Services Director, Valmet.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by local authorities, customers and Valmet's management. "This is an important milestone for Valmet in South America and offers a concrete contribution to moving our customers' performance forward," stated Celso Tacla, Area President for South America at Valmet in his inauguration speech.

The new logistics center will help to secure the reliability and efficiency of customers' processes in South America by supplying the required spare parts and components from the same continent, saving on freight costs and cutting delivery times.

"We'll be delivering just-in-time services to our customers, and we will reduce their dependency on spare parts imports. In addition, our customers will not have to invest in inventories, as Valmet is prepared to take care of their inventory management," says Jukka Tiitinen, Business Line President of Services at Valmet.

By securing a presence close to its customers' operations, Valmet's new logistics center in Araucária takes Valmet closer to its vision of becoming the global champion in serving its customers. Valmet's other logistics centers are located in Beloit (USA), Wuzi (China), Sundsvall (Sweden), and Helsinki (Finland).

"We want to deliver the best service experience to our customers worldwide. One part of that is being close and available whenever needed," states Elio Krummenauer, Valmet's Services Director in South America.

Valmet is the leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. We aim to become the global champion in serving our customers.

Valmet's strong technology offering includes pulp mills, tissue, board and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bioenergy production. Our advanced services and automation solutions improve the reliability and performance of our customers' processes and enhance the effective utilization of raw materials and energy.

Valmet's net sales in 2015 were approximately EUR 2.9 billion. Our 12,000 professionals around the world work close to our customers and are committed to moving our customers' performance forward - every day. Valmet's head office is in Espoo, Finland and its shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.

Read more www.valmet.com

Valmet will deliver a biomass-fired boiler plant and related automation and environmental systems to Segezha Pulp and Paper Mill (Segezha PPM) in the Republic of Karelia, Russia. The boiler will produce steam for the mill's production processes and enables the mill to use wood residues and sludge as fuel and thus reduce the use of heavy fuel oil and lower its emissions and environmental impact. Valmet's delivery is scheduled for 2017.

The order is included in Valmet's second quarter 2016 orders received. The value of the order is not disclosed.

"We selected Valmet's multi-fuel boiler after comparing a number of supplier offers. We took into account the reliability of the equipment and its operation, and the price/quality ratio. The decisive criteria that determined our decision were the technological factors and successful boiler references in numbers of industry enterprises. We see that a modern multi-fuel boiler can efficiently burn waste from wood processing with high and variable humidity, as well as sludge from our effluent treatment," comments Sergei Pondar, Vice President of Production for Segezha Group.

The new order strengthens Valmet's position as the leading supplier of bubbling fluidized bed (BFB) boilers with electrostatic precipitator based flue gas cleaning on the Russian market. This is the third boiler delivery featuring Valmet's bubbling fluidized bed (BFB) technology to Russia in the past three years.

"Over decades Valmet has delivered numerous biomass-fired boilers as well as chemical recovery boilers to Russia. We have an established supplier network in Russia and significant part of the delivery for Segezha will be manufactured in Russia. We look forward to delivering our competitive technology to Russia's market also in the future," remarks Nikolay Doroshenko, Director of Energy Sales and Services Operations, Russia and CIS, Valmet.

Technical information about Valmet's delivery

Valmet's delivery includes a 90 MW HYBEX boiler utilizing BFB combustion technology, Valmet electrostatic precipitator based flue gas cleaning equipment, electrification and a Valmet DNA automation system to control and operate the plant.

The HYBEX boiler developed by Valmet features wide fuel flexibility, high combustion efficiency, high reliability, excellent controllability and low emissions. Its main advantage is the possibility to use fuels with high moisture content and a low thermal value.

Information about the customer Segezha Pulp and Paper Mill

Segezha Pulp and Paper Mill is part of Segezha Group, a vertically integrated international forest industry holding company that comprises Russian and European enterprises in the forest, wood processing and pulp and paper industries as well as paper packaging manufacturing enterprises. Segezha Group has assets in 13 countries and employs around 13,000 people.

Valmet is the leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. We aim to become the global champion in serving our customers.

Valmet's strong technology offering includes pulp mills, tissue, board and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bioenergy production. Our advanced services and automation solutions improve the reliability and performance of our customers' processes and enhance the effective utilization of raw materials and energy.

Valmet's net sales in 2015 were approximately EUR 2.9 billion. Our 12,000 professionals around the world work close to our customers and are committed to moving our customers' performance forward - every day. Valmet's head office is in Espoo, Finland and its shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.

Arjowiggins' Papeteries du Bourray graphic papers mill in France has ordered a Valmet DNA distributed control system (DCS) for PM1 to replace an earlier control system that is reaching end-of-life. The new Valmet DNA system will replace an old system from another supplier.

The order is included in Valmet's second quarter 2016 orders received. The value of the order is not disclosed. Typically the order value of this kind of automation system deliveries is below EUR one million.

 "Our Valmet DNA is based on more than 30 years of developing distributed control systems ranging from micro-sized systems to mill- and plant-wide systems that support global organizations. In this project we are replacing an old distributed control system from another supplier. The limited space in the mill's cross connection room meant that a major requirement for the mill was our ability to install the new system in the existing cabinets. Meeting both the ergonomic and performance expectations of the mill were keys to winning the replacement," says Boris Hosteins, Valmet Sales Manager in Bordeaux.

Technical details of the delivery

Valmet's delivery includes engineering, installation supervision, training and commissioning. The start-up of the new system scheduled for September 2016.

Valmet DNAis a single automation system for all applications - process, machine, drive and quality controls. It can also cover information management functions along with mechanical and field device condition monitoring. Guaranteed compatibility between different generation Valmet products helps to future-proof investments and maximizes the effectiveness of existing equipment.

About the customer Papeterie du Bourray

Arjowiggins manufactures a range of high quality natural white 100% recycled papers at the Papeteries du Bourray Mill in Le Mans, France. Printing paper production at the site started in 1951 and the present capacity is 80,000 tons per year.

Valmet will supply a dissolving pulp cooking demonstration plant to Sappi in South Africa to explore and optimize the extraction of biorenewable chemicals. The plant will be close to industrial size and is located at Sappi's Ngodwana mill. The demonstration plant will make it possible to study the next generation dissolving cooking process and test new ideas in mill scale. Start-up of the new plant is scheduled for the beginning of 2017.

The order is included in Valmet's second quarter 2016 orders received. The value of the order will not be disclosed.

In this project Sappi and Valmet will together take the next step in dissolving pulping and explore new revenue possibilities in the dissolving pulp production. These new revenues include possibilities to extract bio-based materials from the cooking plant pre-hydrolysate stream such as sugars and lignin to beneficiate to higher value bio-chemicals.

"This investment in new technology continues to support Sappi's strategic direction of seeking new bio-based opportunities and at the same time will generate a platform with associated benefits for further increased volumes and quality of dissolving wood pulp," noted Andrea Rossi, Sappi's Group Head Technology.

"We are very pleased that Sappi has selected Valmet as the supplier of the Ngodwana mill dissolving cooking demo plant. Our common target is to create the next generation dissolving pulp cooking concept which has the potential to be a game changer for our industry the coming years. The main features with the new concept are higher dissolving pulp quality, lower operating cost and a new optimized hydrolysate revenue stream. This project is in line with our R&D targets to provide advanced technologies and promote the use of renewable material. This will also further strengthen our market leadership position within dissolving pulp technology," says Lars Sjödin, Director at Valmet's Fiber Processing business.

Information about the customer Sappi

Sappi Specialised Cellulose is a division of Sappi Limited and sells dissolving wood pulp (specialised cellulose) to converters for a wide range of consumer products, but in particular for the manufacture of viscose staple fiber (VSF) for clothing and textiles. They are the world's largest manufacturer of dissolving wood pulp (from two mills in Southern Africa and the Cloquet Mill in North America) and export almost all of the production from their mills.

Valmet is the leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. We aim to become the global champion in serving our customers.

Valmet's strong technology offering includes pulp mills, tissue, board and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bioenergy production. Our advanced services and automation solutions improve the reliability and performance of our customers' processes and enhance the effective utilization of raw materials and energy.

Valmet's net sales in 2015 were approximately EUR 2.9 billion. Our 12,000 professionals around the world work close to our customers and are committed to moving our customers' performance forward - every day. Valmet's head office is in Espoo, Finland and its shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.

Metsä Board has ordered Valmet IQ quality control systems(QCS) for the new extrusion coating line to start in the first half of 2017 at its Husum mill. This order follows the recent startup of Valmet IQ QCS on Husum's new BM1 board machine and off-line coater.

The order is included in Valmet's second quarter 2016 orders received. The value of the order is not disclosed. Typically the order value of similar automation system deliveries is below EUR one million.

"The new quality control system, supplied by Valmet, will support our work at different production stages. In their daily work, the machine operators can monitor products using one single system and combine different views to guarantee efficient and consistent production," says Kai Vikman, Vice President for Technology in Metsä Board.

"The delivery of the third quality control system to Husum is a significant opportunity to show again that Valmet can deliver a complete quality measurement and control system for both coated or uncoated qualities," says Mikael Jonzon, Sales Manager for Valmet's on-line quality management solution.  

Technical details of the delivery

The delivery includes two scanners, the first measuring basis weight, moisture and caliper before coating with the second to measure and control the extrusion coating-thickness on both sides of the board. Additionally machine and cross direction controls are included in the delivery.

Extrusion coating thickness will be measured by a variant of the successful Valmet IR Coat Weight sensor with the patented technology offering a direct correlation to extrusion coat weight. The same sensor also makes a direct measurement of moisture.

Information about the customer Metsä Board

Metsä Board is a leading European producer of folding boxboards and white linerboards made from fresh forest fibres. Its lightweight paperboards are developed as the perfect fit for consumer goods, retail-ready and food service packaging. The pure fresh forest fibres Metsä Board uses are a renewable resource, traceable to origin in northern forests.

The global sales network of Metsä Board supports customers worldwide, including brand owners, converters and merchants. In 2015, the company's sales totalled EUR 2.0 billion, and it has approximately 2,600 employees. Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group, is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.

Valmet is the leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries. We aim to become the global champion in serving our customers.

Valmet's strong technology offering includes pulp mills, tissue, board and paper production lines, as well as power plants for bioenergy production. Our advanced services and automation solutions improve the reliability and performance of our customers' processes and enhance the effective utilization of raw materials and energy.

Valmet's net sales in 2015 were approximately EUR 2.9 billion. Our 12,000 professionals around the world work close to our customers and are committed to moving our customers' performance forward - every day. Valmet's head office is in Espoo, Finland and its shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki.