Sappi Gratkorn Increases Process Visibility and Operator Efficiency with Experion®

“Honeywell as the base supplier for automation systems at Sappi Gratkorn has offered us a customer-oriented solution that reuses installed equipment combined with the newest DCS and QCS functions and technology.”

 – Karl Weiss, Sappi Gratkorn

Background

Paper has been produced at Gratkorn (Austria) for more than four centuries. Sappi totally revolutionized the mill by building the largest and most advanced coated fine paper production line in the world. Gratkorn has an annual capacity of one million tons of triple-coated fine paper on just two paper machines and 250,000 tons of totally chlorine free (TCF) chemical pulp. After extension of Gratkorn’s sheeting plant, it now has an annual sheet finishing capacity of 860,000 tons.

Coated papers from Gratkorn Mill are used mainly in high gloss advertising for brochures and leaflets as well as for art cata-logues, books, magazines, annual reports, calendars etc.

These papers are the preferred choice where highest print quality and outstanding color reproduction is needed and where best results are expected in die cutting, embossing, dispersion-, oil based- resp. UV-varnishing or laminating..

Challenge

The main reason for this project was quality improvements and reduction of off-spec production.

In addition, plant management needed to improve operator effec-tiveness with a modernized automation platform and still while continuing to communicate with other legacy Honeywell products in the same production line.

The migration of the legacy Honeywell DCS, with over 12,000 IO points, was required to complete in a very short time frame in order to minimize shutdown time and support functions for further rebuilds.

Solution

As legacy DCS and QCS systems become more difficult and costly to support, Honeywell’s Experion Upgrades enable a step-by-step transition for the most critical components. The upgrade options allow users to take advantage of the latest technological innovations in a simple, cost-effective manner.

Selected capabilities for Sappi Gratkorn include:

• Experion MX,
• Experion with PMD controller,
• Uniformance™ PHD and
• Safety Manager

The site’s MXOpen QCS systems migrated to Experion MX and the TP Alcont DCS to Experion PKS. PMD and PHD are up-graded to the latest versions. Also, with Safety Manager, the site will have a fully integrated solution based on the Experion plat-form for their Paper Machine 11.
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Benefits

Coated woodfree paper Paper has been produced at Gratkorn, Austria, for more than four centuries. The mill annually produces 990,000 tons of high quality multi-coated papers which are used for premium quality publications all over the world. Sappi totally revolutionised the mill with the building of one of the largest and most advanced coated fine paper production lines in the world. The mill produces 250,000 tons of totally chlorine free (TCF) chemical pulp and it has an annual sheet finishing capacity of 875,000 tonnes. About 95 % of the mill’s production is exported. Gratkorn Mill, Austria Coated woodfree paper Paper has been produced at Gratkorn, Austria, for more than four centuries. The mill annually produces 990,000 tons of high quality multi-coated papers which are used for premium quality publications all over the world. Sappi totally revolutionised the mill with the building of one of the largest and most advanced coated fine paper production lines in the world. The mill produces 250,000 tons of totally chlorine free (TCF) chemical pulp and it has an annual sheet finishing capacity of 875,000 tonnes. About 95 % of the mill’s production is exported. Capacities Bleached chemical pulp for own consumption: 250,000 tpa   Coated woodfree paper: 990,000 tpa   Facts and Figures The pulp mill, as it is currently structured, commenced operations in the late 1970s. It is designed for softwood and hardwood and works with a magnefite modified sulfite process, providing high yield and comparatively high strength parameters from the produced fibers. In its core parts, the woodyard is a plant from 2004, processing 1.2 million solid cubic meters of wood per annum. The majority of wood used is spruce, 60% of which is delivered to the mill in the form of sawmill chips. The smaller softwood proportion is mainly beech. The main parts of the fibreline are a digester area with 7 digesters measuring 350 m³ and a totally chlorine free bleaching plant with a yearly capacity of around 250.000 t of pulp. In 2014, the share of renewable energy was 49.7%, generated from black liquor pulp production, bark and purchased biomass, and biogas from an anaerobic wastewater treatment plant. Specific water use for production lines has decreased by more than 5% since 2010 due to the closing of water circulation systems. Mechanical and chemical treated surface water from the nearby river and water supply wells is used for cooling, heating and dissolving processes. Products The coating process at Gratkorn Mill is specifically designed to provide papers with a visually outstanding surface and superb printing properties. These fine multi-coated papers are available in gloss, silk and matt qualities. The range of papers span from 90 to 250 g/m² and is complemented by board weight grades manufactured at the sister mill in Maastricht (The Netherlands). Coated papers from Gratkorn Mill are used mainly in high gloss advertising for brochures and leaflets as well as for art catalogues, books, magazines, annual reports, calendars etc. These papers are the preferred choice where highest print quality and outstanding colour reproduction is needed and where best results are expected in die cutting, embossing, dispersion and UV-varnishing or laminating. Mill certification . . . Product certification . . . . Our paper grades are awarded an EU Ecolabel, license number SE/011/07. Our papers are also Nordic Ecolabelled. Environmental awards 1996 ECO-Audit-Award ………….2008 TRIGOS Steiermark (Sustainability award) 1997 Öko-Pionier-Preis ………….2014 Auszeichnung für Kompetenz im Klimaschutz

Upgrading Sappi’s systems will increase process visibility and provide better operator efficiency, leading to higher product quali-ty at lower production cost.

Experion PMD and MX provide the full advantages of a single automation platform for Paper Machine 11 with less hardware, cost savings on spares, and reduced maintenance services.

The new Experion platform delivers new tools and diagnostic functions for comprehensive remote support.

Results

Using the Honeywell TPA-PMD Migration tools, it was possible to upgrade all applications and displays 100% error free, resulting in immense time savings.

The large legacy DCS application migration at PM11 was ac-complished in just three days.

Sappi reports that the Gratkorn DCS and QCS upgrade invest-ment has achieved the scheduled targets in time and within planned production capacity.