Linde offers a suite of CO2-based technologies to increase efficiency and minimize the environmental footprint of the pulp and paper industry.
Faced with ubiquitous reminders to “think before you print”, one would expect the pulp and paper industry to be struggling. Yet far from it. After years in the doldrums and despite digitalisation, this industry is set to see strong growth in most of its sectors except graphic paper.
“Packaging is growing all over the world, along with tissue papers, and pulp for hygiene products”, McKinsey observed in May 2017. The consultancy expects consumer packaging and tissue sales to grow roughly on par with GDP and industrial packaging slightly below GDP. Key drivers are the growing use of home delivery services and emerging countries’ increasing demand for convenience products such as tissues.
While this is good news for the pulp and paper industry, the coming years will also bring significant change. McKinsey forecasts “the most substantial transformation” the sector has seen in decades. In the wake of declining newspaper circulations, paper mills need to convert from graphic to packaging paper. Executives should also reduce costs, establish new ways of cooperating and invest in research and development for biorefinery products, the consultants recommend.
With a profound understanding of the industry and a long list of relevant patents, Linde is poised to become a strategic partner as the pulp and paper industry rises to these challenges. ”We provide custom-tailored, gas based solutions for process improvement as well as reliable gas supply in suitable modes,” says Ann-Charlotte Jansson, a pulp and paper expert with Linde. “Thanks to our deep process knowledge, we help customers to solve production-related problems or increase the mill’s productivity in an eco-friendly way.”
To this end, Linde offers a multitude of solutions and technologies based on carbon dioxide (CO2). Take ACTICO® CO2 pulp wash technology, for example. It boosts mills’ pulp washing efficiency by adding CO2 and thereby significantly increases their capacity without the need to invest into new and larger washing equipment. The CO2 slightly reduces the pH value, but leaves it at alkaline levels. As a result, some of the charged groups of the pulp fibres are protonated and therefore less repellent. “This results in less swollen fibres and more water is released from the fibres,” says Jansson.
Control over pH levels and pH stability are essential in modern paper machines, as pH influences most unit operations. Experts at many mills believe that maintaining a stable pH is even more important than obtaining a precise pH level, since paper machines are much easier to optimize under stable conditions.
The ACTICO® CO2 pulp wash technology is adapted to customers’ challenges according to their specific process parameters. While the benefits are ultimately dependant on the individual mill, they include improved dewatering, less wash water usage and less foaming. ACTICO® CO2 pulp wash can also smooth a mill’s transition from paper to cardboard. In the case of one Linde customer, this conversion changed the produced pulp from bleached to unbleached. Linde’s ACTICO® helped achieve the desired production.
With a profound understanding of the industry and a long list of relevant patents, Linde is poised to become a strategic partner as the pulp and paper industry rises to these challenges. ”We provide custom-tailored, gas based solutions for process improvement as well as reliable gas supply in suitable modes,” says Ann-Charlotte Jansson, a pulp and paper expert with Linde. “Thanks to our deep process knowledge, we help customers to solve production-related problems or increase the mill’s productivity in an eco-friendly way.”
To this end, Linde offers a multitude of solutions and technologies based on carbon dioxide (CO2). Take ACTICO® CO2 pulp wash technology, for example. It boosts mills’ pulp washing efficiency by adding CO2 and thereby significantly increases their capacity without the need to invest into new and larger washing equipment. The CO2 slightly reduces the pH value, but leaves it at alkaline levels. As a result, some of the charged groups of the pulp fibres are protonated and therefore less repellent. “This results in less swollen fibres and more water is released from the fibres,” says Jansson.
Control over pH levels and pH stability are essential in modern paper machines, as pH influences most unit operations. Experts at many mills believe that maintaining a stable pH is even more important than obtaining a precise pH level, since paper machines are much easier to optimize under stable conditions.
The ACTICO® CO2 pulp wash technology is adapted to customers’ challenges according to their specific process parameters. While the benefits are ultimately dependant on the individual mill, they include improved dewatering, less wash water usage and less foaming. ACTICO® CO2 pulp wash can also smooth a mill’s transition from paper to cardboard. In the case of one Linde customer, this conversion changed the produced pulp from bleached to unbleached. Linde’s ACTICO® helped achieve the desired production.
Linde's broad solution portfolio uses O2, N2 and ozone to increase efficiency and lower environmental impact at many different steps in pulp and paper production (ACTICO and ADALKA)
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