Refining the future

29 January 2021


Andritz, a leading supplier of fibre preparation equipment, identifies saving energy as a main current requirement from its customers worldwide. Stephen Powney talks to Michael Rupp and Michael Frint, joint vice presidents Panelboard Group

From its base in Graz, Austria, Andritz has been a leading force in the pulp, paper and panelboard industry for many decades. Its panelboard division sits within the pulp and paper business group – which itself is one part of a global company that recorded €4.84bn sales for the first three quarters of 2020 and €1.67bn in Q3 alone, with the pulp & paper business area recording a substantial increase in revenue. The Graz site, which covers 95,000m2 of manufacturing space and employs 1,200 workers, is the heart of the business though the group operates other manufacturing facilities as well.

The paneboard division is mainly located in Vienna, designing and producing single equipment and complete front-end packages for the MDF industry – ranging from debarking, chipping and screening, to chip handling, chip washing to pressurized refining systems and waste water evaporation.

Michael Rupp and Michael Frint, joint vice presidents of the Panelboard Group, told WBPI that the panelboard business had held up well despite the coronavirus pandemic and they identified customer demands for energy-saving solutions as a main focus.

Mr Rupp, who has been with the company since 1993, explained that it was extensive system and process know-how for panelboard fibre preparation that was the technological basis of the Andritz solution, which also comprises responsive service, replacement parts and machines upgrades.

“The reason the Panelboard business is in the Pulp and Paper division is because we use the same equipment - so the log yards, chip washing system, plug screw feeders and refiners - basically, from the raw material input to the factory to the fibre production.

We are the only company that uses the same machine family in mechanical pulping and also for the panel board industry for MDF.”

If you take the first and last letter of the company name it spans the whole alphabet – A to Z – which Mr Rupp said was a good way to explain the comprehensive offering of technology to the panelboard sector.

By supplying turnkey log to fibre solutions, Andritz says there are less intersection points for customers to deal with.

Energy Saving

Saving energy is on the priority list of many wood-based panels manufacturers globally. “A main focus for us and our customers is thermal and electrical energy saving,” added Michael Frint, joint vice president Panelboard.

“We have developed a lot in the refining area and implemented in customer lines, for instance - steam recovery, so we can use the steam generated in other processes of the plant. This is something we see coming up more and more.”

Andritz can help MDF producers save energy with retrofit options that have short downtime.

“Evaporation technology, which can also be provided by Andritz, is increasing in the panelboard industry.

Customers would like to avoid waste water and if you can generate energy out of waste water it becomes a huge energy-saving process for them.”

“So, low electrical and thermal energy consumption with best performance is the driving factor for the design of each individual machine in the system and the process.”

Andritz R&D work also focuses on recycling, seeing how much recycled wood can be used in MDF production and using alternative raw materials, such as straw and bagasse. “There are so many raw materials which we are testing. Our machines process any species of wood or agricultural fibres.

“You have to adapt it to every customer. Every customer is unique and have their own requirements and special ideas - every system is tailor made. We produce fibres, but is it from normal wood or plants, is it for MDF or insulation board? Whatever is the right process we can provide.”

A shredding technology division within Andritz allows the group to supply shredders to prepare a variety of raw materials.

Pandemic

When the coronavirus pandemic hit, Andritz shifted its meetings online.

“As we are a quite big company, we are in a lucky position that we already had online communication tools globally set up before the pandemic,” added Mr Frint.

“It was still a change for us because there is not much chance to travel. We had to overcome time differences. With project startups we were in the lucky position to have people globally placed. For instance, we had people in Thailand that could do project erection and supervise start up.

A lot of the work has also been successfully performed online with the currently available tools in the Andritz Performance Center.

“So, it was a change but we adapted and could continue to serve customers as we did before. We saw each other online and of course dinner was skipped!”

China is still the biggest market for Andritz with the biggest numbers of lines but new projects in South America and Turkey are also being worked on.

Earlier in 2020 an order was received from Guangxi Guoxu Group Co Ltd to supply a pressurized refining system for their MDF production line in Wuzhou City, Guangxi Province. The system has a capacity of 45 bdmt/h and includes an S2064M refiner, processing 60% eucalyptus and 40% pine and hardwood as raw materials. Start-up of the equipment is scheduled for the end of 2020.

A new project in Turkey is to supply a second MDF production line to Starwood, Turkey, at Inegöl.

The scope of supply includes a complete fibre production line including disc chipper, chip washing system and a pressurized refining system. This will be the second fibre production line supplied by Andritz to Starwood, with start-up scheduled for the end of 2021.

Starwood plays a major role as a supplier to the furniture market in Turkey, as well as in other countries located in the Middle East. From a financial results aspect, Mr Frint said the panelboard business was looking quite positive. “Even with the pandemic situation we cannot complain.”

Another significant area to Andritz’s panelboard business is the company’s Modul Systeme operation, specialising in second hand machinery, equipment and plants. Modul Systeme was established over 30 years ago and was acquired by Andritz in 2013.

“Modul Systeme is a major player in the second-hand panelboard equipment industry,” added Mr Rupp.

“We have a big storage area in Springe near Hannover where we have single machines but we are also marketing whole lines. It is something we are proud of because it fits perfectly with our business.”

A quick look on its website shows flooring and MDF lines for sale, as well as individual equipment including sanders, chippers, flakers, glue blenders, refiners, silos and knife grinders.

The second hand equipment sold covers a much wider range than Andritz’s fibre focused technology. Modul Systeme does everything – covering OSB, particleboard, MDF and cement-bonded board processes.

Future

The world of Industry 4.0, enhanced data flow and digitalisation is a big topic in the woodworking industry and an area Andritz has been active in.

“Industry 4.0 solutions are definitely on our top-priority list and are getting more and more important to our customers,” said Mr Frint.

“There is more emphasis on how we can control the mills and lines without human beings, so the computers are taking information from the sensors and making adjustments. It’s predictive maintenance. Customers can implement this on their existing lines or new lines.

“We also need to convince customers. There is a young generation which is more open to those kind of things.”

Elsewhere, Andritz is also a major supplier of laboratory systems – it has supplied 150 lab systems globally for manufacturers, universities and R&D centres.

“This is another area we can also see that customers are going to invest in, especially testing new raw materials,” added Mr Rupp.

Mr Rupp said he was looking forward to the next Ligna exhibition in 2021 after successfully exhibiting at IndiaWood and WMF Shanghai in 2020.

“There are some new things which we will present at Ligna for sure!” he concluded.

Andritz steam recovery systems
pressurized refining system
Michael Rupp (centre) at the contract signing with Guangxi Guoxu Group Co Ltd executives