Wepa Lucca Starts up Rebuilt Tissue Machine in Piano Della Rocca, Italy

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At the end of June, Wepa Lucca, Italy, completed the rebuild of Tissue Machine No. 1 in Piano della Rocca (Lucca Italy). The rebuild was conducted by Toscotec, Italy, under a tight time schedule of only 10 days shutdown from paper to paper.

The Piano della Rocca plant contains a Toscotec sloped wire machine with a grooved, cast iron, 12-ft-dia yankee dryer originally supplied in 1987and rebuilt into a Crescent Former in 2000 by Toscotec. The machine has a paper trim at the reel of 2,750 mm with a max running speed before the rebuild of 1,700 m/min and a maximum production output of 80 metric tpd, with a speed limitation on production of low basis weight.

The goal of the project was to increase the machine speed up to 1,900 m/min and improve paper quality as well as runnability. Toscotec’s supply included a headbox revision and upgrade, felt run modification with new felt rolls, new steel yankee dryer (3,660 mm dia TT SYD 12-ft-dia), new creping doctor on the yankee dryer, new machine mechanical drives, new steam and condensate system, new lubrication unit, and a new blind drilled press roll with a bigger diameter than the existing one.

The project was handled on a turn key basis by Toscotec, which also provided engineering, erection, commissioning, and startup. During the shutdown, some additional interventions were also carried out by the mill—new building roof, DCS upgrade, boiler plant maintenance, new bridge crane, new air conditioning system for electrical room, and preliminary works for a future stock preparation upgrade. Only one week after startup, the new machine had produced more than 100 metric tpd of high quality tissue.