The UPM Paso de los Toros pulp mill was recently granted approval by the Uruguayan environmental authorities for its commissioning plan enabling UPM to begin the testing phase for pulp production equipment at the new plant.
The commissioning tasks, including mechanical, hydraulic and efficiency tests, and the respective adjustment of various production equipment, will be carried out during 2022 and until the start-up of the mill. The start-up and pre-operation of certain equipment is an essential stage of commissioning required prior to the start-up of pulp production at the pulp mill in the first quarter of 2023.
“The execution of the tests and trials in the different areas of the mill brings us closer to the start-up and allows us to focus more and more on production. This phase, where everything that has been built so far is tested, is a key stage to continue planning the overall operation,” said Gervasio González, Senior Environmental Manager of UPM.
At this stage many of the pulp mill areas are subject to a thorough check of their components and operational requirements, and preparation for full operation takes place. The areas concerned are the wood yard, chipping, fibre line, pulp drying, evaporation, recovery boiler and biomass boiler, auxiliary boilers, white liquor plant, steam generation and distribution turbines, water treatment, demineralized water plant, effluent treatment, sludge drying plant, chlorine dioxide plant, oxygen plant, auxiliary systems and industrial solid waste final disposal site.
Other tasks include reception of chemicals and wood in preparation for the production phase.
All tests to be carried out in this process were approved by relevant authorities in the Environmental Management Plan and will be under strict environmental monitoring, including measurement and recording of air and water quality.