Joutseno mill to replace natural gas with biomass derived gas

Photo: Metsä Board

Andritz and Metsä Fibre have successfully collaborated on a program to maximize reduction of the use of fossil fuels, as well as improve the overall performance of the lime kiln at the Joutseno mill in Finland.

The goal of the program, entitled “Gasification Plant 100% Utilization Rate”, was to maximize the availability of all equipment, including the wood processing plant, dryer, gasification plant, and lime kiln, as well as the lime kiln burner and its heat transfer system.

As a result of the program, the Joutseno mill has now replaced 95% of natural gas being used in the lime kiln with biomass (bark) derived gas. Moreover, the quality of lime product has markedly improved. The cooperation between the two companies will continue with Overall Production Efficiency (OPE) agreements to further fine tune the systems.

The Joutseno 48 MW gasification plant is based on the Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) technology developed by Andritz. Other CFB references include a 65 MW CFB gasification plant supplied to Zhanjiang Chenming Pulp & Paper mill in China; which replaces the heavy fuel oil it used earlier in the lime kiln; and a repeat order from Chenming Group in 2015 with a 80 MW CFB gasification plant for its new greenfield pulp mill, Shouguang Meilun in China.