Metsä Fibre, part of Metsä Group, and Linde plc (Guildford, U.K.) have signed a preliminary agreement of an on-site oxygen supply to Metsä Fibre’s new bioproduct mill in Kemi. The preliminary agreement includes construction of an on-site oxygen plant based on VPSA (Vacuum Pressure Swing Adsorption) technology, as well as operation and maintenance of the plant.
Linde’s oxygen plant in Kemi, Finland would be one of the world’s largest oxygen plants based on the VPSA technology, and it delivers many benefits, including oxygen on demand and adjustable, high energy efficiency, and fully automated operation. It will be monitored and operated from Linde’s remote operation center in Avesta, Sweden.
“We have co-operated for a long time with Linde and are used to trust the technology of Linde, for example we have very positive experiences with Linde VPSA technology and on-site oxygen supply to our mill in Äänekoski with a high efficiency and operational reliability. Oxygen is an essential chemical in pulp production, and the uninterrupted supply is of primary importance to the production process, product quality and operational safety”, says Project Director Jari-Pekka Johansson from Metsä Fibre.
“We are proud to be selected as the partner of Metsä Fibre in this project and are looking forward to a continued good co-operation between the companies. Oxygen produced on-site is the most efficient way to deliver large quantities of gases for industrial processes, and our solution meets the high environmental, material and energy efficiency targets for the Kemi bioproduct mill”, says Marika Kärki, Regional On-Site Account Manager, Linde.
The total investment for the new bioproduct mill is estimated to EUR 1.5 billion and it will produce around1.5 million tons of softwood and hardwood pulp per year, as well as many other bioproducts. The bioproduct mill will not use any fossil fuels at all, and its electricity self-sufficiency rate will be 250%. This would further strengthen Metsä Group’s position as a major electricity producer relying on renewable Finnish fuels.
“We’ve set high environmental, material, and energy efficiency targets for the Kemi bioproduct mill. We therefore also expect our partners to deliver both the technologically most reliable solutions and to know our production requirements well. Linde is the leading industrial gases and engineering company with full focus on improving their customers sustainability performance,” says Johansson.