“This is the first step in a whole modernization concept. The aim was to reduce energy consumption and we succeeded.”
ALEKSANDR YAKOVINA
Quality Director, PJSC Kyiv Cardboard and Paper Mill
PJSC Kyiv - „This is rare“
In Spectrum, we often have the privilege of reporting on new technological breakthroughs. But in this article about upgrading BM1 at PJSC Kyiv Cardboard and Paper Mill in Ukraine, that is not so much the focus. The new shoe press and calender from ANDRITZ have brought gains, true, but what was arguably most interesting in this case was …
“We didn’t need guarantee runs.”
So says Aleksandr Yakovina, Quality Director at the mill, where he started working on BM1 three decades ago. In this case, we are talking about a 37-year-old machine, one of four identical board lines built during the Soviet era - two in Russia, and two in Ukraine. With a working width of 4.2 m, BM1 produces white-top liner and white-lined chipboard (GD2 & GD3) in a basisweight range of 125–420 gsm, combining with the mill’s BM2 to turn out up to 240,000 tonnes per year of packaging paper and board. The mill sells these in almost 30 countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America, with customers including Unilever, Nestle, and McDonald’s.
PROBLEMS SOLVED
Yakovina explains, “We are trying to continue modernizing step by step to reflect market requirements, e.g., BM1 is starting to produce lots of products in low grammages (150-200 gsm) for flexographic printing.” In this respect, the upgrade to the press section in early 2019, as Yakovina says, “has improved all of the low grammages, as well as enabling us to make lighter-weight grades in the 150-180 gsm range.”
What is perhaps most remarkable about Yakovina's claim that guarantee runs were unnecessary is that this was not an easy project.
According to Aleksandr Kravchenko, the mill’s Chief Technical Officer, “It was a tough start-up.” The mill planned a 21-day shutdown for the project (from last paper to first paper), with three of those days set aside for the start-up. As Yakovina explains, “There are problems to be solved in every start-up” and, in this case, that meant “we eliminated some threading issues in the press section and into the dryers.”
YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE FAITH
Georg-Michael Sautter, Senior Sales Director Paper & Board at ANDRITZ points out, “Normally, it takes six or seven months to acceptance.” In this case, the more than 30-year industry expert explains, “It only took three.” All of which brings us back to Yakovina saying there was no need for guarantee runs. He explains why, “We saw that all the contract values were being achieved in normal operation, so we didn’t need to do a warranty test run. This is rare.” Vitaly Solovyov, Chief of Cardboard Production at Kyiv, adds, “This depends on the supplier’s experience.”
IT’S COMPLICATED
Sautter notes, “The press section wasn’t simple. Look at the space and the height. Plus, we used bigger rolls and new sheet-feeding technology - the project was a real challenge. The tough part is that you’re going into an existing plant – you have to take account of all the parts that are already there. It’s much harder than building it new.”
This part of the upgrade involved ANDRITZ moving the existing 1982 press from the second to a newly-created third position, while installing a new ANDRITZ PrimePress X shoe press in the original second position, between the two original presses. The special shoe design delivers gentle dewatering and preserves bulk, while reducing steam consumption and cleaning time. Besides that, “The shoe press has some unique features,” explains Sautter, which include “a patented solution that doesn’t cause belt wear, so the belt doesn’t need to be moved to prevent wear.” But the key point of this upgrade was reduced energy consumption, and steam use in BM1’s rebuilt press section is now down by 20%. The upgrade was future-orientated, as Yakovina points out, “This is the first step in a whole modernization concept. The aim was to reduce energy consumption and we succeeded. Now, if we raise the capacity of the machine in the future, we will need to use less energy.”
The new PrimeCal Hard hard-nip calender from ANDRITZ achieved the agreed smoothness parameters soon after start-up.
© Behrend & Rausch
(Left to right) Aleksandr Yakovina, Georg-Michael Sautter, Aleksandr Kravchenko, and Vitaly Solovyov
© Behrend & Rausch
The upgraded press section on BM1 has a new geometry and increased capacity, with a new ANDRITZ PrimePress X shoe press in the original second position.
© Behrend & Rausch
The new PrimeCal Hard hard-nip calender from ANDRITZ achieved the agreed smoothness parameters soon after start-up.
© Behrend & RauschCALENDER DATE
In the calender section, ANDRITZ installed a new PrimeCal Hard hard-nip calender to provide a consistent CD caliper profile, bulk control, and a smoother surface finish. Yakovina explains that the resulting consistent board geometry is key for flexographic printing. And the 200°C calender also had a target of delivering roughness in a range of 2.5-3 pps (Parker Print Surf), especially on low grammages. Sautter says, “There was nothing unusual in the calender, but we delivered it, installed it, it ran and it achieved its smoothness targets – it worked.”
Also part of the upgrade by ANDRITZ was an extension of the automation system on BM1. Although Sautter admits this is a normal part of any major upgrade, Yakovina adds that in this case, it “helped us to achieve stable quality.”
