Kemira's international customer magazine for the pulp and paper industry.

Solutions
Kemira

2
09

• Focusing on water
and energy efficiency

• Kemira's flagship
retention technology

New bio- Modern Karton's Biocides

degradable brand-new board in action at
chelating agent machine Äänekoski
11 18 26
 Editorial

Contents
Water
efficiency
photo kreetta järvenpää

efficiency is becoming an ­increasing key

Water and energy issue in all areas of industry. Limited sup-
plies of clean water, ever-stricter official permit levels, and the need
to cut costs all mean that more water needs to be recycled. Based on
the extensive know-how we have in water treatment chemistry, we 18 22 26
want to do everything we can to help our customers face these types
of challenges.
The importance of optimizing water and energy usage is growing,
and the need to recycle water and treat the raw water used in proc- 04 Short Cuts 22 R&D
esses is growing with it. Wastewater treatment costs are rising as well. Ten years ago we were talking about water Kemira's new, special dry strength additive is
Water and energy efficiency is an environmental issue, but it is also recycling, and we still are today. Marcelo one of the latest innovations to emerge from
very much an economic one, as making better use of these resources Costa from São Paolo gives us his take on the company's R&D pipeline, says Bernd
can bring major cost savings to a production plant. R&D in South America in the Q&A column. Hauschel.
Water chemistry is an increasingly important factor as recycling
08 On Topic 24 At Your Service
levels increase, as Kaj Jansson of Kemira’s R&D explains in this issue of There are still a lot of opportunities left for Kemira’s new line of high-temperature,
Solutions. The more closed a process is, the better its water chemistry reducing the energy intensity of the pulp and water-based defoamers provide
management needs to be. Recycling water within a production plant paper industry, says Research Professor Kari effective foam and entrained air control at
increases its temperature and the level of contaminants it contains and Edelmann. higher temperatures.
can lead to corrosion problems and elevated microbial growth.
The amount of water used by paper machines has dropped signifi- 11 To the Point 26 Partnership
Kemira’s patented biodegradable chelating M-real’s Äänekoski board mill in Finland
cantly over the last decade, and in the future we are likely to see even
agent, Fennobio S, has been registered under has been involved in testing and developing
more water being recycled. Modern Karton, based in ­Turkey and the ­European REACH regulation. Kemira’s new slime control concept from the
featured in this issue, is a good example of a producer that has been start.
12 Analysis
able to increase its water recycling thanks to ­efficient wastewater
treatment. “Water and When closing water cycles, it is always 28 At Your Service
By focusing on water and energy efficiency, and on how
­improvements can be made, we want to highlight some of the
energy efficiency important to evaluate physical, chemical, and
biological factors, according to Kaj Jansson.
Kemira's flagship retention technology is
now in use at multiple mills around the
­expertise that Kemira has to offer in this area – expertise that could is an environmental 18 Modern Karton
world producing both printing paper and
packaging board.
help you too.
issue, but also very Turkey's leading board producer is thoroughly
committed to quality.
Kaisa Sipilä
Editor-in-chief much an economic
one.”
Kemira Solutions is published in Finnish and English two times a year.
PUBLISHER Kemira Oyj, P.O. Box 330, 00101 Helsinki, Finland, tel. +358 (0) 10 8611, Try some recycling
fax +358 (0) 10 862 1694, www.kemira.com. technology for yourself!
EDITORIAL BOARD Kemira: Kaisa Sipilä (Editor-in-Chief), Ari Pirneskoski, Nichlas Kavander, There’s a lot of fun things you can do with
Jean-Francois Caisso, Susan Flesher, Darren Swales, Tuomo Keskinen, Jan-Luiken Hemmes, water, and it’s easy to recycle at home as well.
Mats Rönnbäck, Clayton Campbell, Susanna Ruotsalainen, Johan Grön, Johanna Juuti, Kirsti Check out the back cover to see how you can get
Kalaniemi. Lehdentekijät: Jussi-Pekka Aukia (producer), Jenni Sepponen (subeditor), Mervi
water to move along a piece of thread from one
Ahlroth (photo editor), Miikka Tikka (AD). PRODUCED BY Alma Media Lehdentekijät Oy, P.O. Box 502,
container to another, just by capillary action.
00101 Helsinki, tel. +358 (0) 10 665 102, fax +358 (0) 10 665 2533, www.lehdentekijat.fi.
REPRODUCTION Aste Helsinki PRINTED BY Punamusta Oy, 2009. Paper Lessebo design smooth
white 115 g. Produced using Kemira products. ADDRESS REGISTER Kemira's customer register.

Gettyimages
Subscriptions and changes of address www.kemira.com > Media > Publications > Magazines
ISSN 1456–5064

2 Kemira Solutions 2 | 2009 3

 Short Cuts text Jussi-Pekka Aukia photos gettyimages, jussi-pekka aukia

Q& A
text Jenni Sepponen photo miika kainu

Focusing on water Marcelo Costa

and energy efficiency
news Optimizing water and energy usage is becoming increasingly important for the
pulp and paper industry. As a leader in water chemistry, Kemira is ideally placed to help
its customers optimize their processes, water quality, and water consumption (WQQM).
Kemira will continue to focus on further developing its unique capabilities in this area
and its presence in regions where the pulp and paper industry is growing the most: APAC
countries, South America, and Eastern Central Europe.
“We’re committed to improving our long-term profitability and strengthening our
competitive position through a regional approach based on understanding the needs of
different regions and offering a product portfolio designed for these needs. We want to
understand our customers needs even better and adapt our operations rapidly to meet
them, and seize new opportunities that emerge in a marketplace where things are chang-
ing all the time,” says Petri Helsky, President of Kemira’s Paper segment.
Record production in Russia
case One of the largest paper machines in Rus-
sia was recently modernized, but following the
start-up it was found that extractives from the
birch pulp used at the site was having a negative
impact on runnability. Following the introduc-
tion of Kemira’s pitch control solution, which
includes Fennodispo 320 and Fennofix 41
chemicals, the problem has disappeared and the
machine has been breaking all its previous speed
and output records.
“This is a great example of what Kemira’s local
organization in Russia and our experts in Finland
can achieve by working together to solve a customer’s
problem,” says Customer Service Engineer Konstantin
Khudozhilov.
Kemira at Expo 2010
in Shanghai
Kemira will take part in the Shanghai
World’s Fair in 2010 as one of the part-
ners in Finpro’s Finland at Expo 2010
project. The event – which will focus on
the theme of Better Cities, Better Life
– will run from the beginning of May
to the end of October and is expected
to attract over 70 million visitors. Pho-
tographs from a competition organized
by Kemira and Finland at Expo 2010 in
fall 2009 will be featured at the event
to give visitors a view of life in Finland
and the importance of clean water in
today’s world.
See you there!
Kemira is set to showcase its capa-
bilities at a number of trade fairs next
spring. We will take part in Tissue World
Americas in Miami between March
24 and 26 and in Asian Paper 2010 in
Bangkok between April 21 and 23; and
we will be back in the US, at Papercon
’10 in Atlanta, between May 2 and 5.
Clean technology
from Finland
Kemira recently joined the Clean-
tech Finland program to promote its
water-related customer solutions. The
program brings together top Finnish
South American Research
and Development Center
Manager, São Paulo
What are your main goals regarding the South
American marketplace?
“Our main goals initially will be to initiate a tech-
nical customer service (TCS) for Kemira’s customer
industries in South America, with a focus on water-
intensive processes. This will mean developing our
capabilities for carrying out product development
and R&D activities for specific regional needs to
open up new markets and new customers, and
building a strong network with local customers
and research institutes.”
Are you going to develop some new research
­areas? When will the Center start operations?
“We expect eco-friendly processes to grow rapidly
in the region, and the R&D Center will cooperate
with universities and institutions in this area. We
hope to start up the center during Q4/2010. We
see future R&D looking at areas like biorefineries
linked to the sugar cane industry and pulp mills,
and membranes and desalination technologies
for the partial closure of industrial water cycles,
­drinking water supply, and deep water drilling.”
What is your own professional background?
“I have over 12 years of experience in the pulp
and paper industry. I transferred to Kemira from a
Suzano Pulp and Paper mill, where I was process
manager and responsible for process optimization.
Before Suzano, I worked for several years at mills
operated by Veracel and Cenibra Pulp. I earned my
Ph.D. in 2001 and completed an MBA in 2003.”

Analyzing biomass cleantech companies and experts in a

new type of network and will provide
concrete marketing and communica-
NEWS Kemira’s portable LumiKem technology monitors the health of the biomass in a tions support for profiling Kemira as a
wastewater treatment plant by measuring levels of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which leading cleantech company in the field
of water quantity and quality manage-
acts as a direct and interference-free indicator of total living biomass.
ment.
LumiKem brings a new generation of process efficiency to biological treatment opera-
The cleantech concept covers all
tions, according to Edouard Papin, Senior Application Specialist, W ­ ater Quality Manage- products, services, processes, and tech-
ment. LumiKem PORTAL software can monitor treatment processes in their entirety, nologies that prevent or reduce man’s
from early toxicity detection to energy cost optimization. harmful impact on the environment
“It’s a user-friendly program that can make quick correlations between process data – and is designed to promote better
and help optimize wastewater treatment operations at a customer’s facility. It can assist quality, efficiency, progress, effective-
in minimizing nutrients, energy costs, and incoming toxic shocks to a process, as well as ness, and profitability.
optimizing the living biomass inventory.”
What is it like living in São Paulo? What about
your personal life?
“São Paulo is a very cosmopolitan city and a great
place to live. As traffic congestion is a big problem,
it’s very important to live near where you work, so
once we’ve decided where the lab will be we’ll be
moving close by. I enjoy swimming, fishing, and
spending time with my family on the weekend. I
like travelling and meeting people from around "I've come to like the
the world, and I've enjoyed my stay In Finland Finnish sauna and
very much.” I would like to try
snowboarding during
my two-month stay
in Finland.”

4 Kemira Solutions 2 | 2009 5


10 text Jussi-Pekka Aukia
photo katri tamminen
Years
Ago
Look at the
big picture
The 2/1999 issue of Kemira Solutions fea-
tured an article on a biocide project at UPM-
Kymmene’s Jämsänkoski mill in Finland. The
mill’s Process Manager, Matti Taimisto, told
readers about his water usage philosophy in
a sidebar to the main article. Reducing water
consumption was already an important target
in the industry.
“Even though water volumes, as such, are
not a problem in Finland, attempts are being
made here to cut water consumption as well,
for environmental and image reasons. When
reducing water consumption, care needs to be
taken that solids emissions are reduced as well.
Water quality can be a problem.
“Reducing total water consumption, and the
use of cooling water in particular, is an impor-
tant objective − and can be achieved by things
such as circulating process water through
­cooling systems.
“New technologies can help cut water con-
sumption, but energy consumption shouldn’t
be forgotten either. Great technical solutions
can easily increase power consumption, so you
always need to look at the big picture when
planning water use. In addition to optimizing
energy and water flows, attention must be paid
to wet-end chemistry as well. The main goal is
to improve the operating efficiency of paper
machines, in terms of their runnability and
efficiency. When managing the totality of a
process, everything affects everything else.”
6 Kemira Solutions
New JV in China gets off to a good start
News Kemira and the Chinese company, Tiancheng Ltd., set up a joint venture in January
2009 to produce AKD wax and AKD size for the paper and board industry. Kemira has a
51% holding in the company – known as Kemira-Tiancheng Chemicals (Yanzhou) Co.,
Ltd – and Tiancheng 49%. Operations have got off to a good start and demand for product
has developed well.
R&D Center in Atlanta
up and running
research The opening of the latest addition to
Kemira’s R&D capabilities was celebrated in Sep-
tember. Located in the centre of Atlanta in the
Technology Enterprise Park alongside the Georgia
Tech campus, the Atlanta R&D Center has global
responsibility for oil, mining, tissue, recycled fiber,
defoamers, and polymer research and will be a key
part of Kemira’s global R&D network. The Center
consolidates the expertise of four separate North
American research locations under one roof and is
intended to promote new levels of synergy between
academic research and commercially focused technology
and product development.
Lower demand Q3 | 2008
decreased revenue
Q3 | 2009
Numbers Revenue at Kemira’s Paper segment de-
creased by 14% in the third quarter of 2009, to €230.2
million (2008: 267.7 million), as a result of a significant 267.7 230.2
slowdown in demand from the segment’s custom- million million
ers. Consumption of newsprint, magazine paper, and € €
printed advertising material was lower in traditional
core markets in Europe and North America in particu-
lar. Management estimates that demand has fallen by
10–25%, depending on paper grade.
The segment recorded an operating profit, exclud-
ing non-recurring items, of €14.8 million (2008: 11.7
million), equivalent to a net operating profit percent-
age of 6.4% compared to 4.4% last year. Lower fixed
and variable costs compensated for the decline in sales Net Net
operating operating
volumes. Paper segment revenue for the first three profit
profit
quarters of the year, at €676.8 million, was 11% down 6.4%
on 2008 (756.5 million). 4.4%
Short Cuts
Successful start-up
for the microbiology
lab in Leverkusen
The new laboratory began opera-
tions as planned in May, managed
by Professor Dr. Olof Norrlöw and his
colleagues. Based at the R&D Center
in Leverkusen, Germany, the new
facility is part of moves to concen-
trate Kemira’s R&D functions into
five centers operating as a global,
company-wide network. The labora-
tory handles a very wide range of
different types of samples and works
particularly closely with the labora-
tory in Espoo, Fnland to compare
analysis data and develop strategies.
In addition, the lab routines focus
on technical customer service for the
microbial process control at Kemira's
production site in Leverkusen. The
target of the new lab is to develop
and offer tailor-made solutions for
microbial process control to custom-
ers of different production segments
based on the right product combina-
tions and engineering know-how.
ABTCP fair 2009
Kemira took part in the 42nd ABTCP
fair organized in Saõ Paulo by the
Brazilian Pulp and Paper Technical
Association (ABTCP) in conjunction
with the Finnish Paper Engineers'
Association. The four-day event, the
largest of its kind in Latin America,
attracted 163 exhibitors and 8,200
visitors.
“ABTCP 2009 was a very good
place to consolidate our relationship
with our customers,” according to
Luiz Leonardo, Paper Sales Senior
Manager – South America. “More
than 300 visitors visited our stand,
from plant operators to senior execu-
tives, which helped make the event
a great success for us.”
2 | 2009 7
 On Topic text Jussi-Pekka Aukia photos MIKKO VÄHÄNIITTY
Getting more out of your
energy inputs
Although the pulp and paper industry has already implemented
all the easy ways to save energy, there are still a number of
opportunities out there for making more savings.
energy it uses is a
Reducing how much critical issue for
the pulp and paper industry.
“Energy costs are rising all the time and the
price the industry pays for its energy is fluctuat-
ing to an increasing extent. New power lines
and energy market consolidation are pushing up
the cost of electricity in areas where prices have
typically been low, such as Northern Europe,”
says Research Professor Kari Edelmann of VTT
Technical Research Centre of Finland.
“Alongside this trend, we’re seeing a parallel
drop in profitability in the industry’s mature
markets in Europe and North America, despite
the cuts in overcapacity that have been made
recently.”
Rising energy and raw material costs are eating
away at the industry’s ever-smaller margins and
undermining its potential to invest in the future.
“And we shouldn’t forget that energy is still
cheap in many places compared to what it’s
likely to cost in the future. As a result, cutting
energy consumption and greenhouse gas emis-
sions is critical.”
8 Kemira Solutions
“Recycling
water and air
saves energy.”
Energy-saving strategies
Greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced
by making use of new sources of bioenergy,
such as harvesting residues and internal waste
streams, and by improving process efficiency.
The latter will not be easy, however, according
to Edelmann, as modern processes are already
quite efficient. Virtually all the ‘easy’ solutions
have already been implemented in Finland, for
example.
Making additional savings will become
­increasingly expensive.
“At some point, we’ll need to start looking at
completely new approaches, and this will call
for a radical rethink of processes, machine de-
sign, chemistry, and the way machines are run.
The challenges here include the operation of Kari Edelmann
the wet end at significantly higher consistency is a research professor at VTT Technical Research
and ­temperature or how to operate the process Center of Finland, and r­ esponsible for coordinat-
with smaller amount of water. There will also ing VTT’s strategic research on energy usage in
need to be adjustments in process and additive papermaking processes. He has over 30 years of
chemistry.” experience in R&D in the forest products industry.
Automatic control and measurement systems
and new types of ‘proactive’ systems can help in
2 | 2009 9

enhancing process energy efficiency.
"In terms of overall
energy efficiency,
“Another approach could be to simplify
the best solutions things, by minimizing intermediate stor-
are those that do age, for example. Eliminating these buff-
not generate waste ers would improve the control you have
heat that is difficult
or impossible to over a process. At the same time, though,
recover", says Kari it presents some major new challenges to
Edelmann. system capabilities.”
Systematically monitoring energy us-
age is critically important to improving
energy-related performance.
“Process operators today don’t really un-
derstand the impact the choices they make
have on a line’s energy efficiency or why
some mills achieve better performance
and how. Better monitoring would teach
operators to improve the energy efficiency
of the way they run their machines.”
Reducing heat loss
Everything that is put into a process will
come out of it at some point. The majority
of the energy lost by a modern paper mill is
channeled through cooling and exhaust air
or effluent as it passes through treatment
plants on its way to local waterways. The
temperatures involved here are relatively
low, as all the hotter streams have already
been addressed.
VTT’s extensive modeling work on the
energy and raw material streams typical of
today’s mills has shown that around 80% of
the material input of a modern integrated
site takes the form of air, which is pumped
back into the surrounding atmosphere at
some point.
“Around 75% of the energy used by a
modern mill is expelled from the process
via its cooling air. Technologies that are
capable of reducing this or that can recover
the heat it contains as efficiently as pos-
sible will be in great demand in the future.”
Heat pumps are one of the technolo-
gies that can address this; the use of heat
exchangers will also grow. Employing these
units in hot, corrosive areas full of process
contaminants will require the use of new
materials and efficient deposit manage-
ment, however.
10 Kemira Solutions
Other potential savings
VTT has looked at many other approaches
to saving energy as well, including such
things as wood fractionation and more
energy-efficient mechanical pulping.
“Using process water for cooling would
bring some real savings, for example.
­Preheating raw water in different parts of
a process by making use of heat that would
otherwise be lost makes it possible to get
something out of even low-temperature
water.”
Installing a wet end hood would enable
moist air to be recycled there. Excess mois-
ture could be removed by scrubbing units
if necessary.
“Turbo fans could be used instead of
annular water pumps in vacuum drainage
systems in environments with a higher
process temperature and could raise the
temperature of exhaust air to a level where
it could be used for heat recovery purposes.
Doing this, though, would call for solving
a number of questions, particularly things
like how to avoid or manage airborne dirt.”
Raising the moisture content of air
­inside dryer hoods can reduce steam usage,
although condensation risks are involved
here.
“There’s some potential for savings in
the design and dimensioning of pumps and
other equipment. It also makes sense to
look at whether we can find passive alter-
natives to the components that ­currently
consume a lot of the energy used by today’s
fast paper machines.” •
Summary
There are still a lot of opportunities left for
reducing the energy intensity of the pulp
and paper industry:
- Improving the efficiency of unit operations
- Developing new types of processes
- Improving heat recovery techniques
- More advanced control, measurement,
and monitoring systems.
An eco-friendly alternative
Kemira’s patented biodegradable chelating agent is the
company’s first product to be registered as a new substance
under the European REACH chemical regulation system.
chelating agent, based on the
Fennobio S AES molecule, has recently
been officially registered as a new substance with
the REACH regulatory system, introduced by the
EU to reduce chemicals-related risks and provide
better protection for human health and the
environment.
The registration process involving the Euro-
pean Chemicals Agency (ECHA), which is based
in Helsinki, was a long and involved one. Part
of the reason for this was that Kemira did not
want to register AES as a formulate but as a pure
substance.
Eliminating unwanted metals
Chelating agents are used to remove metal ions
that undermine bleaching performance from
pulp. Kemira began studying and developing
biodegradable chelating agents in the mid-1990s
with the aim of producing a more eco-friendly al-
ternative to existing products for removing trace
copper, iron, and manganese from mills’ pulp
streams. This work generated some completely
new molecules and a number of patent applica-
tions. Among them were two molecule patents
where the AES (Aspartic Acid Etoxy Succinate)
area was included.
Developing products based on one’s own pat-
ented molecules is pretty rare in industry. Glo-
bally, only some 20-30 molecule patents appear a
year. Companies generally patent formulations
produced by blending existing raw materials to
create a unique combination that can be used in
a customer’s process.
Kemira was given special dispensation under
previous chemical regulations to develop
text timo hämäläinen photo gettyimages To the Point
­ ennobio S, based on the AES molecule. Mill-
F
scale tests showed that Fennobio products were
capable of solving the key problems associated
with traditional EDTA and DTPA chelating
agents.
Multiple benefits
While EDTA and DTPA are very efficient in
binding metals, they decompose slowly and find
their way into rivers and lakes via water treat-
ment plants. They are suspected of releasing
harmful heavy metals, such as cadmium, mer­cury,
and lead, from bottom sediment. As a result, the
environmental authorities have imposed increas-
ingly tough restrictions for their use.
Biodegradable Fennobio products do not have
this problem. They also contain only about a
third of the nitrogen that EDTA and DTPA do.
This means that they also reduce the nitrogen
content of the mill effluent.
When using EDTA and DTPA, it is generally
recommended that a separate chelating stage
should be used to remove iron and manganese
from pulp. This is because the metal complexes
of EDTA and DTPA act as catalysts for decom-
posing bleaching chemicals such as hydrogen
peroxide.
Thanks to their completely different chemical
composition, Fennobio S products can be dosed
directly into a mill’s bleaching process, avoid-
ing the need for a separate chelating stage. This
makes it easier to simplify the pulping process
and introduce closed water cycles. Some trials
have also shown that the use of Fennobio im-
proves the bleaching performance compared to
EDTA and DTPA. •
2 | 2009 11
 Analysis text timo hämäläinen photos gettyimages and kemira
Saving Saves
WaterEnergy Too
Pulp and paper mills have improved their water and
energy usage significantly by recycling their white water,
but recycling has its limits. The less water a process uses,
the more well-managed its chemistry needs to be.
of clean water,
Limited sources environmental
concerns, and ever-rising energy prices
are continuing to encourage the forest
products industry to improve the efficiency
of its energy and water usage. The more
­efficient a mill is in these areas, the bigger
the cost savings it can achieve.
Cutting back on water and energy usage
in mill processes goes hand in hand, as a
large proportion of the energy a site uses
is transferred to its water in the form of
heat. The more a mill recycles its water,
the greater the amount of energy absorbed
by the water can be recovered. Any water
piped off-site represents a massive loss of
energy.
Recycling water is particularly important
in areas where clean water is in short sup-
ply, such as Central and Southern Europe,
and even more so in Asia. Mills further
north do not face the same problem, but
they too are keen to increase the amount of
water they recycle and reuse.
Recycling water brings with it a number
of problems, however. The more closed a
process cycle is in terms of water usage,
the higher the concentrations of various
12 Kemira Solutions
substances in its water will be, and the
greater the amount of compounds that will
precipitate out.
Water temperature will also tend to rise,
corrosion problems will increase, and the
size of microbial populations will grow as
well, thanks to the warmer conditions.
Managing the water cycle
In principle, the best thing would be to
close processes completely in terms of
their water cycle, according to Kaj Jansson,
Vice President of Common Chemistry at
Kemira Research and Development. So far,
however, only a few mills producing some
unbleached board grades have been able to
do this. All the others producing both pulp
and paper recycle water in varying degrees.
“All mills have the potential to improve
their water and energy balance, whether
we’re talking about sites producing
chemical or mechanical pulp or ones using
recycled fiber or deinking waste paper.
The challenges involved are big, though, as
processes need to be closed in a well-man-
aged and cost-effective way.
When a mill begins investigating how it
can recycle more of its water, it first needs
to look at the areas where fresh water is
essential and where suitable recycled water
can be sourced from. The right filtrates for
the right parts of a process need to be iden-
tified and whether they can be used as such
or whether they may need to be treated,
chemically for example or not.
“Clean water is normally essential in the
final stages of a process to ensure the qual-
ity of the end-product. ‘Dirtier’ water can
be used in the early process stages, though.”
A general rule is that it is most cost-
effective and efficient to remove pollutants
where they are generated. But not always.
“European mills using recycled fiber and
those producing board, as well as deinking
units, often recycle their water only after
“In principle, it would be
best if we could close the
process completely.”
it has passed through their wastewater
treatment plants. Typical volumes vary
between 10% and 20%. The reason for this
is that they rely on biological treatment to
remove the organic matter that builds up
in water flows to ensure that this does not
promote the growth of microbial colonies,
cause production problems, and undermine
product quality,” says Jansson.
“Some mills producing unbleached board
recycle all their waste water after biological
treatment. They often use anaerobic treat-
ment to reduce the organic load from the
water, and because it produces methane,
which can be used as energy. The prob-
lem here, however, can be that the entire
system can become very anaerobic, which
2 | 2009 13
 Analysis
usually results in an increase in corrosion A similar approach is used when look-
problems and a drop-off in the dewatering ing for chemical techniques to prevent
performance of board machines caused by problems developing on the biological side,
anaerobes.” such as build-ups on machine and pipe
surfaces. Chemicals can be used to improve
You’ve got to know your chemistry the efficiency of a biological treatment
Kemira has been involved in numerous plant by eliminating the substances that
development projects aimed at closing mill impact its operation, such as reduced sulfur
water cycles, often in partnership with an compounds and extractives.
equipment manufacturer. You need to know your white water
“It’s good to have a manufacturer on chemistry in detail to avoid selecting chem-
board from the start, as this enables us to icals that will only make problems worse.
develop a maximally stable, reliable, and “Chlorine-based products can easily lead
cost-efficient system from the very start.” to increased corrosion, as their concen-
Jansson emphasizes that when closing trations in process water will rise, while
water cycles it is always important to sulfates can cause odor issues in anaerobic
evaluate physical, chemical, and biological treatment units if water is recycled too
factors. much. Some substances can easily cause
“You need to identify the substances deposit problems when they react with
that have a tendency to cause deposits and each other, while others can encourage the
in doing so upset a process. These sub- growth of microbial populations.”
stances – typically extractives and calcium When looking at a major project,
carbonate – need to be removed from the Kemira’s specialists always evaluate the
filtrate using chemicals. The process can be entire process before doing anything.
enhanced using flotation, evaporation, and “We can use a mill simulation model to
filtering. These ‘kidneys’, as they’re known, see which parts of a process it would be
can be installed at suitable locations best to take water from for recycling and
around a mill.” where it would be best to return it to. At
Kaj Jansson
M.Sc. (Eng), has been responsible for numerous water
research-related projects at Kemira since the mid-1990s.
He is currently Vice President of Common Chemistry at
Kemira Research and Development.
14 Kemira Solutions
the same time, we also look at whether the
water would need to be treated in some
way,” says Jansson.
“We also carry out lab tests to check how
much different filtrates would need to
be treated to bring the concentrations of
problem substances they contain down to
the required level. The results of these tests
are fed into the simulation model, which
can then tell us whether we will achieve
the targeted reduction in water and energy
usage with the parameters we’ve selected.”
Making the most
of energy recovery
Although the forest products industry has
been able to improve the efficiency of its
processes significantly over the years, there
are still a lot of opportunities left in this
area.
In Finland, the amount of water used per
tonne of output has been roughly cut in
half since 1992, and the amount of ­water
used by paper machines has fallen by a
third in the last 10 years.
Producers of chemical pulp typically use
around 35 cubic meters of water per tonne
of pulp at the moment, while mechanical
pulp mills use less than 20, deinking units
less than 10, and board mills less than five.
Jansson expects these figures to move
down further in the future, thanks to
things like new film technologies capable
of removing the harmful components that
build up in recycled water.
“We’ll also probably see more biologi-
cal treatment being used in the recycling
chain. The popularity of anaerobic treat-
ment is set to increase, because of the
methane benefit. Some mills are already
generating 5–10% or more of the energy
they need from this methane.”
Jansson also believes that evaporation
technology has more to offer. The draw-
backs here are its high energy requirement
and problems keeping equipment clean
with certain types of water. Evapora-
tion plants are simple and hard-wearing,
however, and can handle large amounts of
water easily. The sludge they produce can
be burned directly as fuel as well.
“In the future, we’ll also see solutions in
which water that’s passed through biologi-
cal treatment is then sent through local
marshland for further polishing. I wouldn’t
be surprised to see green methods like this
increasing over the next couple of decades.”
Enhancing the efficiency of energy recov-
ery is also important. One option is to send
treated waste water to other facilities, such
as market gardens and fish farms, which can
recover the heat it contains.
“Heat can also be recovered using heat
pumps or heat exchangers. The right chemi-
cals can help keep their surfaces clean to
maximize their overall efficiency.” •
Summary
Industry is recycling an increasingly large pro-
portion of its process water today. This is not
without its problems, however. As processes
become more closed in terms of their water
cycle, concentrations of contaminants tend
to rise, as do water temperatures.
Many sites have the potential to further
improve their water and energy performance,
and that includes mills producing chemical
and mechanical pulp, those using recycled
fiber, and deinking units. The challenges are
significant, however, as water cycles need
to be closed in a controlled way that is also
cost-effective.
2 | 2009 15
 Theme Spread text jussi-pekka aukia photo M.L.Carstens (ca 1900), the collection of the national board of antiquities

The Ankkapurha rapids in the

River Kymijoki around 1900.

The amount of raw water

used by the pulp and paper industry today has dropped to a fraction of what it
was 50 or 60 years ago. As much as 60 to 70 tonnes of water were needed to
produce a tonne of paper in the 1950s, for example, while the best technology
today can produce a tonne of paper with only 6-8 tonnes of water, and as little
as 2 tonnes of water are needed in the case of fine paper.
“The first flocculent-based clarification basins were introduced in the 1960s.
They were followed by systems designed to separate cooling and white water
from each other in the 1970s, when biocides were introduced. The 1970s–
1980s also saw the launch of biological wastewater treatment, the recycling of
filtrates, material recovery, and the use of fixatives to bind problem substances
into the paper web,” explains Research Professor Kari Edelmann.
“A little later, we saw the introduction of washing presses in paper mills,
and the reuse of cooling water. The counter-current principle was introduced for
managing white water streams soon after. And by the 1990s systems were be-
ing introduced that were capable of managing process fluctuations, as well as
internal treatment systems within mill processes. The new millennium has seen
engineers begin developing balanced water networks based on sophisticated
control and expert systems.”

16 Kemira Solutions 2 | 2009 17

 Case text JUSSI-PEKKA AUKIA photos Arif Mustafa Zade

Committed to

Quality
Turkey’s largest packaging board producer
is committed to quality, in its products, its
technology, and its choice of partners.

packaging board plant is located in Çorlu,

Modern Karton’s
roughly 100 kilometers from Istanbul. Part of
the Eren Holding Group, the plant is Turkey’s largest and most modern
papermaking facility and also a significant player on the European
market.
Mill Production Manager Sirzat Açikgöz explains that the growth in
the plant’s capacity in recent years has been driven by the rapid expan-
sion of demand in the marketplace.
“We started up our first board machine, PM1 in 1981 and this was
joined by a similar-sized unit, PM2, 10 years later. Both are 100,000
t/a units. With the coming of the new millennium, we invested in a
new 200,000 t/a machine, PM3, and last year we started up our biggest
machine yet, PM4, with 400,000 t/a of capacity.”
Modern Karton produces over half of Turkey’s 1.4 million t/a
­requirement for unbleached packaging board.
The Çorlu mill occupies a 530,000 m² site, of which 130,000 m² are
under cover. The location is excellent, as the majority of the mill’s test
liner, corrugating medium, and white top liner goes mainly to custom-
ers in the Marmara region, which also supplies the bulk of the mill’s
recycled input.

Being large is not all plain sailing

Çorlu’s PM4 is Turkey’s largest paper machine, and its PM3 the country’s
second-largest. PM4 virtually doubled the mill’s capacity at a single stroke,
and its speed has been steadily increased, and it is now running at some
85% of its baseplate capacity. Capacity levels have been partly affected by
“We want to achieve the best European
the ongoing global economic crisis.
standards when it comes to both efficiency
Modern Karton has always believed in making use of the best avail- and quality, and we believe we will. Our
able technology and PM4 is no exception, but its size has called for approach is to concentrate on problems
a number of changes in mill operations to make the best use of its and bottlenecks one at a time, resolve
them, and then move on,” says Mill
capabilities. Production Manager Sirzat Açikgöz (on the
“We understood early on that standard solutions were not going to left). Mill Maintenance Manager Bülent
be sufficient to boost capacity and develop the quality of our output Binat (on the right) stresses the importance
of efficient maintenance as part of good mill
with this new fast and efficient machine,” says Açikgöz.
management.

18 Kemira Solutions 2 | 2009 19

 Case
Sirzat Açikgöz, in the middle,
with the proud team running PM4.

Getting the most out

of PM4 is a key issue for us.
“So we set about looking for partners in chemicals. That’s why it’s very useful to be
paper machine clothing, felts, and chemi- able to sit down together and go through
cals that could offer us a high standard of test results with Kemira and identify pos-
product support and expertise, and would sible problems and decide how we should
be able to tailor their products to our proceed.
needs where needed.” PM3 was the first machine at Çorlu to
One of the partners Modern Karton switch to using Kemira’s retention system,
selected was Kemira, which is responsible but PM4 followed soon after. Handling
for retention and dewatering, the key the switch-over in this order made the
­aspects of wet-end chemistry, for both testing process a lot cheaper and safer, says
PM3 and PM4. Açikgöz.
“Getting the most out of PM4 is a key “Larger-capacity machines mean faster Summary
issue for us. We’re keen to keep on im- and faster running speeds. Retention and
proving its productivity, runnability, and drainability quickly become key factors. • Modern Karton produces over half of Turkey’s requirement for unbleached packaging board.
• Kemira is responsible for the retention and dewatering chemistry of both PM3 and PM4, which
the quality of its end-product by working The strength and homogeneity of our
are Turkey's two largest paper machines.
together with our partners. Kemira has a products are already very good, and we
wide range of products that enable us to want to see our efficiency and quality rank
adapt to even small changes in running among the best in Europe.”
conditions, such as the charge level of our
process.” Recycling saves resources “Alongside the PM4 project, we also impact runnability. The effluent running together as smoothly as possible.”
Açikgöz has been very satisfied with Turkey follows the EU lead in envi- invested in an advanced wastewater treat- from PM4 to the treatment plant has a Problems in any part of the integrated
Kemira as a partner in this respect. ronmental legislation, which means ment facility. We recycle the water treated COD content of 5,000 – 10,000 mg/l. process at Çurlu, from raw material
“Kemira provides us with regular that o
­ perating permit limits are getting here in our process. In the case of PM4, “You can begin to experience runnabil- sourcing to sales, are likely to become
technical support, and their local support tougher all the time, and this is one of over 60% of the water treated is returned ity problems if white water COD content expensive. At the same time, the inte-
personnel can call on Kemira’s exten- the reasons why a producer like Modern to the machine, which means that we only exceeds 7,000 mg/l, and by 10,000 mg/l grated nature of the mill’s operations is
sive international expert network when Karton is keen to invest in the latest pro- use less than four tonnes of water for you can encounter serious problems on one of Modern Karton’s strengths. Some
needed. Kemira regularly takes samples duction technology that offers the best in every tonne of board we produce,” says the production line. COD is one of our of the board it produces is converted into
from our process to analyze and passes on resource usage. Açikgöz. most important parameters for making the corrugated board-based packaging in an
all the data to us as well. This has seen Modern Karton become “The treatment plant is the first in Tur- most of our potential to treat and recycle adjacent plant, for example.
“We’re papermakers, so we only know a pioneer in the environmental field in key to use anaerobic digestion to process water.” “Modern Ambalaj, one of our Group
the main parameters when it comes to Turkey. sludge. The biogas produced is used as companies, buys around a quarter of our
fuel in our natural gas-fired power plant Efficient and integrated output,” explains Açikgöz. “The remain-
to generate electricity and steam. We use The most important reason for ensuring ing three-quarters goes to other Turkish
specialty Kemira chemicals to dewater the that the mill has a modern production producers, and some volumes even go for
plant’s sludge.” infrastructure, according to Açikgöz, is to export.”
Working together helps improve The mill uses groundwater for its water keep everything running smoothly. Açikgöz says that end-product quality is
raw material quality needs. Quality water is a limited natural “Runnability is the main parameter often a more important factor than price
The average per capita consumption of paper in Turkey is very low. In the country’s large cities, resource, as it is in many other countries, when it comes to getting the most out in Turkey, as it is elsewhere. The extended
however, such as Istanbul, which has a population of 14 million, consumption runs at European and the Turkish government is monitor- of the efficiency offered by PM4, which width of PM4 makes it possible to supply
The extended width of PM4
levels. Modern Karton depends on a partner supplier to source its recycled raw material. makes it possible to supply even ing and restricting usage to an increasing means that effective maintenance man- even large roll sizes both flexibly and cost-
“The recycled paper we get from Turkey is of a better quality than the material we can buy large roll sizes both flexibly and extent. agement is very important,” continues effectively. Many customers have various
from the European spot market, which we do buy sometimes. One of the reasons for this is the cost-effectively. “Our permit sets a maximum of 870 mg/l Mill Maintenance Manager Bülent Binat. other special requirements as well. Which
good partnership relationship we have with our local supplier and the fact that their personnel is COD for the effluent leaving the mill, but “That’s why we’ve introduced a proac- is why Modern Karton focuses on quality
well-trained,” according to Çorlu’s Mill Production Manager Sirzat Açikgöz. thanks to the new treatment plant the ef- tive system at the mill, and why mainte- as one of its main selling points.
“In the future, the government wants to regulate paper collection more closely to ensure that fluent leaving PM4 has a COD content of nance issues are discussed with operations “We tried producing poorer-quality
the original source of the material can be tracked easily and help prevent chemical residues
only around 200 mg/l now.” people at our weekly meetings. This product for the low-price category, but
from ending up in the wrong products, for example. But it won’t bring any improvements for us,
Reducing water usage brings its own helps ensure that we have a good produc- had problems, as we ended up with run-
as we already operate to these higher standards.”
limitations, however, as too high a COD tion program for the week ahead and nability issues, so that wasn’t for us,”
content in white water will eventually that maintenance and operations work laughs Açikgöz. •

20 Kemira Solutions 2 | 2009 21

 R&D text Jussi-Pekka Aukia photo miika kainu
Increased dry strength with
Fennobond 4000
Kemira’s new, special dry strength additive is more efficient and stable,
has a higher solids content, and works better in packaging than the
conventional alternatives. The product launch is expected next year.
Bernd Hauschel
Team Leader says that the existing
technologies do not work efficiently in
board production and recycled furnishes.
This was the need driving the develop-
ment of Kemira’s new strength additive,
­Fennobond 4000.
The project dates back to the beginning
of this decade. Hauschel led the devel-
opment work in those days, as he does
today.
“We picked it up again in 2007 with
people from R&D and from the product
line, and came to the conclusion that we
should take a closer look at it. We did the
upscaling very quickly in two months,
and it worked very well. Since then, we
have been working on the product’s fur-
ther development,” says Hauschel.
The laboratory development work was
done by Kemira's R&D in Leverkusen in
Germany and the upscaling in Vaasa in
Finland.
Stable and effective
Two primary goals were set for the
project: the first was to create a stable
product with a high solids content.
“The competing products currently
available have a low solids content and
remain stable only for weeks. Fennobond
4000, on the other hand, has a shelf life of
up to six months and has a much higher
solids content than its competitors. Fen-
nobond’s greater stability and higher
solids content make the distance to the
customer a much less critical factor.”
22 Kemira Solutions
The second goal was that the product
should be efficient in recycled furnishes,
where the existing chemistry is not effec-
tive. Strength improvement in packaging
materials offers huge potential.
“It took eighteen months to two years
to really develop the recipes, including
about nine months of intensive laboratory
development work. Now we're looking
at the stability of the formulation and
improved versions of the product.”
A completely new technology
The main innovation of the new technol-
ogy is the combination of two types of
polymers.
“The product is a chemical combination
of a natural polymer and a synthetic poly-
mer. It’s not just a question of mixing the
two – the chemical process is such that we
benefit from both. The resulting product
has a higher solids content, is more stable
and efficient, and works better in packag-
ing.”
Hauschel points out that the product is
still in the development phase. Different
versions for board and paper could be
developed later, for example.
“The strength enhancement depends on
the paper grade, furnish quality and the
particular property in question. Currently,
it is between 5 and 50%. Clean systems
and rather strong fibers benefit the most.
It’s more difficult to add strength in dirty
systems with high conductivity.”
The new technology also brings indirect
cost savings.
Synthetic dry strength chemicals
have been available since the 1970s, and there are
currently a handful of options for enhancing the
strength of various paper grades and reducing raw
material costs.
In printing and writing, dry strength chemicals
are mainly used to increase the filler content. In the
packaging and board segment, they are used to give
more strength to products made of recycled and
other lesser quality fibers. They can also be used to
manufacture lighter weight products or make it pos-
sible to use lower quality and cheaper raw material.
“Savings might come through increased
filler loading or the replacement of expen-
sive kraft pulp fibers. In packaging, they
might also be derived from surface starch
replacement. This reduces the need for
energy in the post-drying section and also
the number of breaks. Using less wet-end
starch gives better drainage, and that ena-
bles faster-running paper machines.”
At the moment Fennobond 4000 is be-
ing produced in Europe, which is the pilot
market for the application’s development.
Later, it may be transferred to North
America and Asia.
“We have not yet launched this of-
ficially within the company or on the
market. We're currently building up expe-
rience from trials for further development
of the appli­cation. The product launch is
expected in 2010.”
Bernd Hauschel is also a team leader
for wet end chemicals, which combine
not only strength and retention but also
drainage and sizing. He predicts that
Fennobond will be an important part of
Kemira’s wet end portfolio.
“I think it’s very important that we
­develop a good product line for dry
strength enhancement. Filler loading and
fiber substitution using lower quality
fiber will be a general and ever-growing
trend in the industry.
“The paper industry is always looking
for ways of cutting its costs. Suppliers
can help them in this process. Strength
enhancement has the potential to play an
important role here.” •
1 | 2009 23
 At Your Service text JUSSI-PEKKA AUKIA photo Gettyimages

Figure 1 Figure 2

Foam Height
Foam Height
70°C 60°C 50°C 70°C 60°C
50°C

40°C

40°C

Cleaner
systems
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 -10 10 30 50 70 90 110 130 150
Time (sec) Time (sec)

Figure 3 Figure 4

Oil Based Defoamer

Foam Height
Cleaner pulp and paper processes are now possible thanks

Foam Height
Traditional @ 70°C High Temp @ 70°C

to Kemira’s new high-temperature water-based defoamers. Kemira’s new product

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

and paper industry has striven for years to
The pulp clean up its internal systems and effluent
streams. Tighter municipal, regional, and national regula-
tions have forced the industry to adopt practices designed to
reduce the environmental impact of mill operations.
Kemira’s Research Scientist John Martin says that these
improvements have not come without their costs, however.
“Closing process cycles, which has led to the increased use
of recycled water, has left pulp and especially paper mills
to deal with a myriad of issues, such as higher operating
temperatures and increased dirt and pitch.”
Defoamers that can take the heat
Higher operating temperatures on paper machines are a
growing trend in the industry, and can lead to foam and
entrained air control issues when using traditional water-
based defoamers.
“Historically, water-based defoamers were the product of
choice for paper machines that ran at temperatures below
50 °C. However, due to the melting point of the waxes
and fatty alcohols used in water-based defoamers, which
is around 40–50 °C, these products are not as effective at
higher operating temperatures.”
To address this issue, Kemira has recently developed a new
series of water-based defoamers to alleviate the problem.
“The new technology offers effective foam and entrained
air control at temperatures up to and even exceeding 70 °C.
This innovation also provides customers with an alternative
to using oil-based and water-extended defoamers in their
processes at elevated temperatures.”
An oil-free alternative
The use of traditional oil-based defoamers has never been
problem-free. Oil and EBS are routinely found in pitch
deposits, both in machinery and in paper, and residual
­defoamer in pulp can lead to downstream quality issues.
“These typically come from over usage or poor product
placement in the system, or both. Because of these issues,
water-based defoamers are the preferred product.”
The use of the appropriate product at the appropriate
place and time is crucial in preventing runnability and
­quality issues.
“By offering a line of water-based defoamers that provide
effective foam and entrained air control at higher tempera-
tures, and providing the application and operational knowl-
edge to use the products, we are providing a cleaner option
to traditional chemistries,” says Kemira’s Defoamer Product
Manager Ricky Dixon.
“By removing EBS and oil from the paper machine, the
new Kemira defoamers are helping to provide higher-quality
products, improved runnability, lower pitch deposits, lower
dirt counts, and lower volatile organic compounds, while
maintaining foam and entrained air control at the higher
operational temperatures seen on today’s paper machines.” •
Time (sec) Time (sec)
Figure 1:
Performance of a traditional water-based defo-
amer at varying temperatures. Shorter run time
and higher foam height means lower performance, Comparing the technologies
longer run time and lower foam height means best
performance. Traditional water-based defoamers are typically formulated with fatty alcohols or waxes, or both,
which have a relatively low melting point range (40 – 55 °C). The defoamer in Figure 1 is formu-
Figure 2:
lated with a fatty alcohol that has a melting point range of 50 – 57 °C, and demonstrates that
Performance of a Kemira high-temperature water-
based defoamer at varying temperatures.
once the melting point of the wax is reached, the efficacy of the defoamer decreases dramati-
cally, resulting in lower initial knockdown and quicker foam recovery.
Figure 3: Kemira’s new high-temperature defoamers provide better initial knockdown and better
Traditional water-based product compared to one longevity at higher temperatures when compared to traditiownal water-based defoamers. Figure
of Kemira's new high-temperature water-based 2 demonstrates the efficacy of one of Kemira’s new high-temperature defoamers at various tem-
­products at 70 °C.
peratures. Note that while the knockdown and longevity is affected by the increase in tempera-
ture, the performance drop observed between 40 °C and 70 ° C is relatively low when compared
Figure 4:
Kemira’s new product compared to a paper machine to traditional water-based defoamers.
defoamer containing oil, EBS, and silica. When tested head to head at equal solids dosage, the performance advantage of the new
Kemira defoamers at higher temperature becomes apparent. Figure 3 demonstrates the knock-
down and longevity advantage of Kemira’s new water-based technology at 70 °C.
Kemira’s new line of high-temperature, water-based defoamers enables the customer to
remove EBS and oil from their system by eliminating the need to use these substances for
foam and entrained air control. Figure 4 shows the performance one of Kemira’s new defoam-
ers compared to a traditional oil-based paper machine defoamer containing silica and EBS. The
results show an increase in longevity – control of foam build over time – with the use of the new
derefoamer and over an oil-based defoamer containing EBS and silica at 60 °C.

24 Kemira Solutions 2 | 2009 25

 Partnership text jussi-pekka aukia photos hanne nykänen
Kalle Viljanen Mikko Hietanen Petri Vakkilainen
Development Engineer, Operation Manager, Mill Manager,
Äänekoski board mill, Äänekoski board mill, Äänekoski board mill,
M-Real M-Real M-Real
Water is the
Best Biocide
M-real’s Äänekoski board mill in Finland has been involved in
testing and developing Kemira’s new slime control concept
from the start. The concept has been commercialized – and
successfully – as Fennoclean L.
Kalle Viljanen
Development Engineer remembers
the ‘father’ of biofilm research at Kemira, Marko
Kolari, visiting the mill to take samples back when
he was working on his Ph.D. thesis. Kolari’s find-
ings made their way into a product in 2005, when
Fennosurf 300 was selected for short circulations.
“It was around this time that we started ­taking
a harder look at how clean things were in our
machine, drawing people’s attention to the need
to keep splash areas clean, and started carrying
out more systematic washing routines. We also
switched to washing surfaces with hotter water.
All in all, we learnt that even the best biocide
cannot keep a mill clean on its own, you also need
­thorough and regular washing routines as well.”
Operations Manager Mikko Hietanen stresses
that there is a limit to how much you can increase
your usage of biocides in any case, because of the
costs involved and the residues that build up in
end-products.
“Following the introduction of Fennosurf 300
and thanks to various other measures, we’ve been
able to extend our wash interval from a couple of
weeks to four to five weeks today.”
Mill Manager Petri Vakkilainen brought the
concept of using run-time washing units and
large quantities of washing water to the board
machine from paper production, where odor
and taste issues are not generally a big issue, but
26 Kemira Solutions
Joni Välimäki
Area Manager,
Kemira
where runnability is a major priority.
“Increasing the number of washing units was
an excellent fit with the new biocide philosophy
focused on combating biofilm formation. Together,
these two changes were what it took to put an end
to the conventional boardmaker’s ‘wisdom’ that
washing cycles have always been run every two
weeks and always will be.”
Combating microbe colonization using biocides
is always a question of getting the balance between
the problems caused by the microbes and those
caused by the residues from the active ingredients
in the biocides right, continues Vakkilainen.
“Water is the best biocide, if only you can spray
it where the microbial colonies are growing. That’s
the reason why we’ve installed new spray nozzles
throughout the process and why we’ve also been
one of the pioneers of continuous ‘kidney’ technol-
ogy. When you can stop surfaces getting contamin-
ated in the first place, your biocide system will
keep them clean between your maintenance
outages.”
Increasing the amount of run-time washing does
not increase a machine’s overall water usage per
tonne of output either.
KALLE VILJANEN:
“Extending our washing intervals has improved “We have been moving towards a greener
our productivity significantly,” says Mikko approach to combating microbial coloni-
­Hietanen. “We’re now able to coordinate our zation for some time. And it’s a move that
has saved us money as well.”
­washing outages with our normal maintenance
­outages, rather than the other way around.”
2 | 2009 27
 Partnership
Petri Vakkilainen:
“Our cooperation with Kemira has gone so well, in fact,
that although their people have been making regular
visits to the mill for a long time now, I’ve never had
much cause to note down their names or keep their
cell phone numbers handy.”
A pioneer always takes a risk
Kemira’s Joni Välimäki admits that shift-
ing from simply eliminating microbes
where and when you can to a new anti-
slime philosophy based on dealing with
the select few bacteria that actually cause
biofilm to form in the first place was
something of a risk for the company.
“We couldn’t be completely sure in
advance that the scientific data would
actually translate into results in mill
conditions.”
Kalle Viljanen says that the choice to
go with the new concept was taken with
everybody’s eyes open and jointly.
“We decided to go out on a limb and
put the theories that had been developed
in the lab at the University of Helsinki to
work for us at the mill. The proposal to
do this came from Kemira, and by being
part of the trial we were able to be in on
something that no one else knew any-
thing about. We were very up front with
Kemira, as they were with us.
“The efficacy of anti-slime measures
had previously been measured simply
by measuring the numbers of colonies
of bacteria swimming in white water,”
he continues. “We took the bold step of
turning this at least partly on its head.
We didn’t say no to monitoring micro-
28 Kemira Solutions
MIKKO HIETANEN:
“It took us some time to sell all the additional
capacity of the modernized machine, and this
gave us the time we needed to put all our
productivity-related matters in order. When
the machine was running at full output, no
one really had a problem about extending
our washing intervals.”
JONI VÄLIMÄKI:
“The work we’ve done
here has opened up
opportunities for
Fennoclean applications
on other M-real machi-
nes, and this has been
to both our advantages,
I believe.”
bial levels, but we emphasized that what tion with it can be allowed to cause those free and offer consistent quality, and they It has made it easier to plan maintenance one problem, you’ve got more time to deal
was most important was to keep surfaces kinds of problems.” can optimize their own processes as part outages and things like switching felts with the other ones.”
clean. The tough demands associated with of this. They make things easier for us, and wires more efficiently. Petri Vakkilainen says that the pressure
“And it proved the right way to go, as these types of board products also impact and that’s something we want to pass on “When we no longer have to ‘budget’ to succeed has been pretty heavy, as M-real
it has improved our efficiency and the the mill’s chemical supplier. to our customers.” for emergency shutdowns and things are has invested a lot of money in the mill.
­quality of our end-product. “What it means for Kemira is that we To ensure process continuity and better planned overall, our maintenance “Perhaps that’s also one reason why
All our products today, whatever have a much smaller palette to work with eliminate unexpected problems develop- people have more time to concentrate on we’ve been a little more receptive to
they’re intended for, are now suitable for in microbial control here than we do in ing, Kemira carries out checks on agreed what they’re doing. We can now plan our new solutions and technologies than the
packing foods containing fats,” confirms other areas of paper and board produc- parts of Äänekoski’s process at regular fall outages well in advance. Everyone average. In a situation like this, it’s very
Vakkilainen. tion,” says Välimäki. intervals to see that everything is working realizes the benefit of not having to shut important for a supplier to understand
“Chocolate products are a real yardstick as it should. down the machine because of microbial where things stand and where they can
here in terms of quality, as even the small- An ongoing partnership Kalle Viljanen describes this monitoring issues.” help, and not just try and get us to buy
est taste issue with packaging can result The partnership between Kemira and the process as a joint one. “We both share common goals: to more of what they’re selling. Kemira
in major financial repercussions for our mill has every potential to be an ongoing “In addition to normal customer service extend our wash intervals, improve how understood where we wanted to go and
customers. Our approach is that nothing one, believes Petri Vakkilainen. routines, we also hold more extensive we monitor the state of our surfaces, and what was important for us and leveraged
we do on our board machine or with the “Kemira is helping us supply our cus- follow-up meetings every couple of ensure that our process stays aerobic,” all their expertise to help us get there.”
chemicals and systems we use in conjunc- tomers with products that are problem- months even when there aren’t any prob- says Viljanen. Joni Välimäki believes that the partner-
lems. We’re all committed to continually ship between the two companies has been
optimizing the process and our costs and Real progress very successful from Kemira’s standpoint.
Everything began around the beginning of the new millennium... getting everything running even better Following its last modernization, the "We’ve moved forward together very
than it is today.” output of the board machine at Äänekoski systematically. Recently we’ve started
...with a development project aimed at enhancing the quality of the mill’s coated folding
“As part of this, we also do more with has increased from 160,000 t/a to 210,000 focusing on logistics, procedures, environ-
boxboard by improving its brightness and weight. The success of the project has reinforced the
mill’s reputation for high-quality, food-grade folding boxboard among customers in the tobacco, our analyses than we used to,” continues t/a, although average grammages have mental issues, and occupational safety."
alcohol, pharmaceutical, and chocolate industries. Välimäki. “We pay a lot of attention to dropped. “The world’s changing and new things
Production machinery and the mill’s overall process have been upgraded on a phased basis. making sure we measure the right things “We haven’t needed any major invest- are coming up all the time,” says Petri
The board machine, with the exception of its wet end, was modernized in 2002, and its raw in terms of process and end-product per- ments to achieve this, we’ve just consist- ­Vakkilainen. “But when you come down
­material input switched to BCTMP. The process was switched from an acid one to a neutral one formance.” ently focused on developing our opera- to it, it’s not really about the technical
some time before to improve quality and runnability. Mikko Hietanen has been very satisfied tions,” says Mikko Hietanen. side of things. When a supplier under-
Kemira had supplied Äänekoski with biocides for many years prior to the start of the project, with the improved reliability and predict- “Efficient slime control has been one stands what’s important for a customer
and once it was under way cooperation between the two companies took on a new dimension. of the factors that’s made this possible,
ability of operations that has resulted from like us, then we understand what’s impor-
the mill and Kemira working together. among other things. When you eliminate tant for them as well." •
2 | 2009 29
 At Your Service text and photo JUSSI-PEKKA AUKIA 3d-illustration METSO
Adding strength and
saving energy
Kemira’s Kemform retention system was originally
developed for use in fine paper production. It also
has a lot to offer for board producers.
retention system is an all-in-one
The Kemform solution for enhancing dewatering ef-
ficiency, cutting energy costs, and optimizing the furnish mix.
Product Line Manager Kimmo Strengell says that demand
for Kemform technology, which was patented three years
ago, has grown strongly, and it is now in use at multiple mills
around the world producing both printing paper and packag-
ing board.
In fact, Kemform has become the undisputed flagship of
Kemira’s retention product offering.
“Thanks to Kemform, mills can achieve up to a 10–15% sav-
ings in energy usage as a result of improved dewatering. Stud-
ies have also confirmed that filler content can be increased by
2% in fine paper products,” says Strengell.
“Kemform works equally well with both new and old
machines. In the case of new machines, the benefits tend to
be seen in better overall productivity, while lower energy
usage will be the biggest benefit in older setups with limited
dewatering capacity.”
A Kemform system is typically made up of two or three
components: inorganic microparticles, either bentonite or col-
loidal silica, and micropolymers, which are normally anionic
in fine paper applications and cationic in packaging ones. The
third component is Fennopol retention polymer.
Strengell says that applications based on colloidal silica
seem to be growing in all segments, particularly in the fine
paper area.
“Our ‘three-dimensional’ Fennosil micropolymer, dosed in
weak solution, plays a central part in Kemform solutions, as
it results in significantly better dewatering performance than
conventional ‘two-dimensional’ polymers,” he explains.
30 Kemira Solutions
“Fennosil polymers also contain hydrophobic end groups
that bind to hydrophobic substances in process water, such
as pitch, stickies, and fine particles coated in pitch. In the
application, this results in less foaming in the process."
Greater product strength
Kemform was initially developed for use in machines produc-
ing fine paper, and its first trial runs were done on these.
Following its commercialization, it was tested on some cus-
tomers’ packaging board machines. The good results achieved
with these encouraged Kemira to continue development work
to extend Kemform’s scope to board production.
The key benefits Kemform offers in board production are
reduced energy usage, as a result of improved dewatering,
and an increased level of dry content in the web after the wet
press section and further downstream.
“A high level of dry solids after the wet press improves
board strength, and makes it possible to keep the elastic
modulus as high as possible,” explains Strengell.
“Elastic modulus is an important metaparameter for board
manufacturers, as it tells you a lot more about a product’s
stiffness and other strength-related characteristics than peo-
ple generally realize.”
Kemform helps keep elastic modulus as high as the strength
potential inherent in the fiber being used will allow, in fact.
Each fiber has strength potential as it is. A sheet matrix is
formed from the fiber raw material. The final elastic modulus
of the matrix is dependent on formation, wet pressing, draws,
and drying.
“Board mills typically run headbox consistency very low.
Typically half of that used when running fine paper for ex-
ample. Floc size remains small when using
Kemform, and this makes it possible to
maintain or improve formation even when
operating at a higher consistency in the HB
than normally. This translates into better
energy efficiency and strength.”
Using Kemform also makes it possible to
reduce draw when the paper web travels
through the dryer process. The reeler at the
end of the dryer runs faster than the wire
by a factor of few per cent and reducing
this difference, by 50% for example, will
improve the strength properties of board
significantly.
“Thanks to Kemform, the dry solids
of the web leaving the wet press will be
higher and the web itself will be stronger.
This makes it possible to keep tension
between the wire and the wet press and
the wet press and the first drying section as
small as possible.
“The smaller the total draw, the smaller
the loss of elastic modulus will be,” says
Strengell.
In terms of dewatering efficiency when
producing board, it is important that a mill
can achieve as high a dry solids content The Kemform retention system gives the web
as possible from the suction roll stage good wet press strength, which is valuable in
delivering an optimum level of board perfor-
onwards. Kemform typically increases dry
mance. A modern press section designed for
solids by 1%, from 17% to 18% for example. board machines, a Metso ValPress, can be seen
This reduces the amount of water trans- here.
ferred to the press and ensures that the
press will operate more smoothly.
“If a wet press is operating near the
upper limit of its hydraulic capacity, this
represents a clear production bottleneck
and Kemform offers the perfect solution.
Let’s not forget that the wet press is a key
component of many paper machines when
it comes to the strength of the products
they produce.
“If there’s too much water in the nip,
it will be squeezed out along the length
of the web (x-y direction), reducing the
elastic modulus of the board. Ideally, it
should travel along the z-direction in the
wet press. Efficient wet pressing is the
cornerstone of good operations and good
end-product quality when producing board.
Kemform offers an excellent solution Kemform has become the undisputed flagship
here."board. Kemform offers an excellent of Kemira’s retention product offering,” says
solution here.” • Kimmo Strengell.
2 | 2009 31
 photo GETTYIMAGES illustration TUULI RANTA

Let’s do it!

Try some recycling

technology for yourself
If you want to see how water will absorb itself into a piece of thread and
start moving around, put a couple of containers of water on a table and
dye the water different colors using food color. Then place a piece of cotton
thread between the containers as shown in the illustration, ensuring that
the thread is slightly submerged below the surface of the water. It will only
take a minute or two before you will see the water getting on the move!