Jul 11 2008
UPM has completed the rebuild of the chemical recovery plant at its Kymi pulp mill in Kuusankoski. The new plant has started operations after a one month test period preceded by large connecting work between production lines. During the connecting works, the paper mill was shut down for six days at the end of May.
Construction of the new recovery plant started in May 2006. The plant is the biggest ongoing investment project not only for UPM but also for the whole Finnish forest industry. The project employed 1,057 people as maximum. The final investment value exceeds EUR 340 million.
The new recovery plant replaces two outdated chemical recovery lines by one modern line. After the investment, Kymi is a very competitive mill with integrated pulp and fine paper production and an annual paper production capacity of 840,000 tonnes with two paper machines.
The new recovery plant improves Kymi's energy self-sufficiency as well as production efficiency. In addition, fossil carbon-dioxide emissions, odour emissions and other emissions to air will be decreased. The new plant enables to increase the use of biofuels and to double bio-electricity production capacity.
Chemical recovery is one of the main processes of pulp production. The recovery plant is used to recover the chemicals used for cooking chemical pulp and to return them for re-use. At the same time, the wood dissolved during cooking can be utilised for energy.