Is the Flow Scanner a worthwhile investment?
Mantex is offering prospective chemical pulp mill managers a pre-study to estimate the impact of accurate real-time wood chip analysis in your fibre line. The no cost, no-obligation study is available until the end of 2014 and will indicate what improvements to expect and their estimated value.
- Get initial data for your investment budget decisions
- Compare your mill to similar Flow Scanner installations
- Understand and discuss how our improvements are calculated
Variations are a fact of life. But do they matter?
Evidence from dissolving chemical pulp mills proves that changes in wood chip moisture and dry fibre content have a direct and decisive impact on pulp quality. Whilst almost all chemical pulp mills accept that variations in the woodchips have an impact no one can be quite certain to what extent they effect the kraft process. Neither industry consultants nor pulp mill engineers have had the option to be able to control the digester process with forehand knowledge, so no one can say with certainty how great the improvement can be.
But this is changing – the Flow Scanner is the first instrument to provide on-line and real-time information on raw material variations.
Every mill is different
Speak to a few kraft mills and it becomes clear that no two mills are the same. Continuous digesters have different control strategies compared to batch digesters and there are a bunch of factors that affect the final Kappa number. The wood type, target Kappa, chip production, mixing, screening, white and black liquor concentration and end product requirements are some of the factors likely to have an effect on the the pulp produced. The huge amount of simultaneous variables and long process times can make identifying specific causes and their solutions almost impossible.
Flow Scanners are providing answers
Mantex has installed Flow Scanners at a several chemical pulp mills and we are starting to observe and understand the benefits in more detail. Installations at dissolving pulp mills has shown that variances in wood chips can be managed by adjusting the amount of white and black liquor – at least for batch digester processes. At continuous digester sites, Flow Scanner real-time data has been used to adjust the amount of black liquor in order to keep a constant wood-to-liquid ratio.
Assessing the magnitude of the effects when there are so many other influences is a continuous challenge. Positive results have been reported from mills that have successfully integrated Flow scanner signals directly into their control system. There is a long way to go before the full potential of feed-forward digester control, where white liquor is matched to dry wood content, is fully utilized, but there is no doubt that pulp mills will benefit.
Get some early answers
The fibre line process is complex and absolute answers are hard to find. However, with the knowledge Mantex has gained to-date, a preliminary benefit evaluation can be made. From annual production and lab data, together with background knowledge of the mill, the amount of out-of-specification pulp can be studied to give an indication of likely improvements. The results may be helpful to justify a deeper study and review with an independent external consultant.
For a limited period Mantex will offer this pre-study at no cost and with no obligation. Why not put us to the test?
Please contact Sales Manager Harvey Washbrook (+46-8 477 04 64, harvey.washbrook@mantex.se) for more information.