Sappi has completed a €61 million rebuild of Paper Machine 2 (PM2) at its 300-year-old Alfeld Mill with the installation of a 6.5m diameter, 138 tonne machine glazed (MG) cylinder - transforming it into the world's largest and fastest (1,200m/min) speciality paper machine for one-side-coated paper.
"This is the biggest investment made in Alfeld in the last 20 years," says mill director Dr Stefan Karrer. "We are transforming the range and volume of products that can be produced on an operational machine in an old mill and existing press hall."
The mill produces totally chlorine-free (TCF) bleached chemical pulp for its own use. Current combined capacity of coated wood-free, coated and uncoated speciality paper is 330,000 tonnes/year. The PM2 rebuild will reduce the coated wood-free production capacity by 150,000 tonnes, while speciality packaging paper production will increase by 135,000 tonnes. Eventually, all of Alfeld's mill production will be speciality papers.
"When we began talking about rebuilding PM2 in 2010, the production of commodity grades on PM2 was no longer competitive," explains Dr Karrer. "We also recognized a significant decline in demand for graphic arts papers, dropping by up to 6% in recent years. At the same time, forecasts for packaging paper predicted as much as 3% growth on average."
The new MG cylinder is ideal for the production of Sappi's new generation Fusion top liner for corrugated packaging. It enables a high bulk and better smoothness of the base paper while enhancing the grade's converting abilities. It will enhance grades with a very smooth top-side surface, high dimension stability, higher bulk, lower penetration of coating colour, and high two-sidedness.
