When the environmental permit for Billerud’s Frövi mill was coming to its end in 2023 the management had to make an informed decision on replacing its aging recovery boiler. With increasing environmental regulations, as well as a competitive business landscape, the new recovery boiler had to be fit for the future and go the extra mile when it came to efficiency, availability and environmental performance.
The mill, located near Örebro in central Sweden, has a long and colourful past, with the site first being industrialized in 1550. The manufacturing of paper started in the 1900s and the latest board machine was installed in 1981. The mill produces combination of high-quality liquid packaging board and folding boxboard and has a capacity 500,000 t/a. The site makes around 330,000 t/a of chemical pulp and 150,000 t/a of CTMP.
Despite its long history, the mill focused on the future with a new recovery boiler investment. Richard Morén, Mill Director at Frövi says, “We had ongoing challenges with our existing recovery boiler simply because it was so old. Supplied in the1960s, the boiler faced ongoing issues and couldn't meet stricter 2023 environmental regulations, making its replacement essential for compliance and continued operational efficiency.”
In 2021, Frövi got the green light from the board at Billerud to invest in a new recovery boiler for the site with ANDRITZ being chosen to supply a solution to meet the mill’s environmental and future production needs.
Richard Morén
Mill Director
Billerud Frövi
The complete scope of supply to the Frövi mill for the project included:
Kari Liukko
Vice President, Recovery Boilers
ANDRITZ
The HD concentrator from ANDRITZ was supplied to enable optimal conditions for efficient operation of the new recovery boiler. The HD was installed 12 months ahead of the recovery boiler.
“This was one of the examples of flexibility displayed by ANDRITZ,” explains Morén. “The HD concentrator being installed in the evaporation plant a year before the recovery boiler enabled us to broaden our production window at the same time as prepare for a future increase in capacity.”
Liukko, adds, “The target with installing the HD concentrator was to prepare the mill in advance for the start up of the recovery boiler, immediately maximizing the benefits of the new installation.”
With the HD concentrator, the dry solids content of the black liquor is increased from 72% to 82% which enables higher steam and power production in the recovery boiler plant. The HD connection to the existing older evaporation plant was tailormade in order to optimize the evaporation plant’s operation as well as the mill’s hot water production. All-in-all enabling an optimized energy system.
Despite challenges encountered due the second wave of Covid and the start of the war in Ukraine during the construction phase, the recovery boiler project started up on time and on budget. The HD concentrator started up in October 2022, with the recovery boiler coming on stream in October 2023.
“This was a challenging time at the mill,” says Morén. “As well as the second wave of Covid, we had to deal with problems of obtaining steel from Ukraine due to the outbreak of the war.
“This was where the close collaboration with the Frövi and ANDRITZ teams came to the fore. We had a completely transparent relationship during the project, from the top management of both companies to the engineers on the ground, dealing with challenges and finding solutions together.”
The recovery boiler started up in the summer of 2023 during the Frövi mill’s annual shutdown, with the original recovery boiler still in place. “This was an exciting time”, says Morén. “It is said by experienced pulp operators that switching recovery boilers is like changing an airliner engine in mid flight, and in this project that’s just what it felt like!”
Apart from the usual teething problems, the boiler start up and ramp up went smoothly, and the mill is now benefiting from the newly applied technology from ANDRITZ.
Morén says, “We are delighted with how this project went and we are now concentrating on optimizing the operation of the recovery boiler. One advantage we had with the start-up was the use of ANDRITZ’s comprehensive e-learning solution in Swedish, as well as a simulator of the recovery boiler for training purposes.”
“Another advantage was the involvement of our production and maintenance teams in the project right from the start, with the result that the learning curve has been much shorter than usual.”
Petri Pynnönen, Global Principal Engineer at ANDRITZ says: “The collaboration between Billerud and ANDRITZ was strong from the start, enabling a clear understanding of Billerud’s goals and a smooth equipment start-up. Excellent co-operation continued after start-up by optimizing boiler performance for current mill capacity. “
Petri Pynnönen
Global Principal Engineer
ANDRITZ
The recovery boiler is now successfully running at first phase design capacity and well under the environmental regulations set. The mill is now also ready and prepared for expansion in the coming years. Morén adds, “We have already pushed the boundaries of the new recovery boiler, at all levels and we are very pleased with the performance. Our operators are fully engaged and continually improving and optimizing the recovery boiler process.
“This recovery boiler solution from ANDRITZ has really been designed for the future, and complies perfectly with our own sustainability goals of recyclable, reuseable and renewable production.”
Billerud Frövi is a key manufacturing facility of Billerud, a globally renowned leader in high-performance paper and packaging solutions. The plant focuses on producing cartonboard and liquid packaging board for the food, beverage, and consumer goods sectors.
The installation of the new fossil-free recovery boiler enhances sustainability by lowering emissions and maximizing energy efficiency. It also improves operational safety and reliability through advanced modern technology.
This is the fourth recovery boiler or major upgrade that ANDRITZ has delivered to Sweden over the past 15 years.
The recovery boiler plays a central role in the chemical cycle of a modern kraft pulp mill and generates energy for the mill.
With autonomous recovery boiler solutions, ANDRITZ is aiming to bring added value to your recovery boilers and maximize their potential. Together, we will help you to succeed in the new era of digitalization throughout the whole lifecycle of the boiler.
Enhance operator safety by more than 90% with the installation of the Smart Smelt Spout Robot.
ANDRITZ Smelt Spout Cleaning Systems are proving to be something of a hit with recovery boiler operators world-wide, with several successful installations and more than 20 new systems on order. Nevertheless, the work never stops in developing the robotic systems further; ANDRITZ experts have devised a number of new features that help to provide an even safer working environment, as well as new intelligent tools for managing efficiency in a recovery boiler.
ANDRITZ recovery plant service experts work in close cooperation with you to improve the performance, stability, availability, and efficiency of your recovery boilers and auxiliary equipments.
ANDRITZ has decided to pool its many years of experience in the plant business to develop smart, attractive and seamlessly integrated solutions for existing and new plants under the brand Metris.
