Eka Chemicals, a company within the Akzo Nobel group, has signed an agreement with Metsä Botnia Rauma to supply a new turn-key chlorine dioxide plant and take on chlorine dioxide production at the Rauma mill, Finland.
Metsä Botnia is investing in bleaching process development at the Rauma mill. The mill process is to be modified to accommodate the production of both ECF (elemental chlorine-free) and TCF (totally chlorine- free) bleached pulp.
Eka Chemicals has undertaken to build a new chlorine dioxide plant, based on Eka Chemicals SVP SCW and SVP LITE technology. This uses methanol as a reducing agent with an extra salt cake wash filter facilitating neutral salt cake and lower sulphuric acid consumption. Eka Chemicals will also take on chlorine dioxide production at the Rauma mill, scheduled to start up by the end of May 2007.
The chlorine dioxide process will be controlled on-site but constantly remote-monitored from the Eka Chemicals factory in Oulu, Finland, supported by the Eka operations center in Stockvik, Sundsvall, Sweden.
“Continuous monitoring of the process by qualified staff provides our customers with better and more efficient service around the clock. We now manage the chlorine dioxide process at 15 pulp mills throughout the world", says Sonny Nielsen, Strategic Account Manager at Eka Chemicals. “Apart from scale advantages, these activities generate knowledge and experience that can be transferred to the customers, thus minimizing the total cost of their chlorine dioxide production and enabling them to focus on their core operation - the manufacturing of pulp and paper.”
For further information, please contact:
Eka Chemicals AB, Bohus, Sweden
Phone +46 31 58 70 00
Sonny Nielsen, Strategic Account Manager
Erik Widén, Communications Manager
Eka Chemicals, with its 2,900 employees in 30 countries, is a business unit within Akzo Nobel. Turnover in 2005 amounted to EUR889 million. Eka Chemicals is a leading supplier of bleaching chemicals, paper chemicals and systems to the pulp and paper industry throughout the world, and supplies certain specialty chemicals to, among others, the pharmaceuticals industry, water treatment and electronics industry. www.eka.com
Akzo Nobel is a Global Fortune 500 company listed on both the Euronext Amsterdam and NASDAQ stock exchanges. It is also included on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes and FTSE4Good Index. Based in the Netherlands, it is a multicultural organization serving customers throughout the world with human and animal healthcare products, coatings and chemicals. Akzo Nobel employs around 61,500 people and conducts activities in four segments − human and animal health, coatings and chemicals − subdivided into 13 business units, with operating subsidiaries in more than 80 countries. Consolidated revenues for 2005 totaled EUR 13 billion. www.akzonobel.com