CMPC Orders Valmet White Liquor Plant for Laja Pulp Mill in Chile

Valmet, Finland, will deliver a new white liquor plant to CMPC Celulosa S.A.'s Laja pulp mill in Chile. The new white liquor plant will replace the existing one and will comply with new environmental permits coming into force in 2018. It also will give a higher white liquor plant production rate and increase flexibility of the lime cycle management within CMPC Corp. 

Startup of the new plant is scheduled for February 2018. The value of the order was not disclosed, but according to Valmet, a new white liquor plant with this scope is usually valued at EUR 70-80 million.

"We have selected Valmet to supply this project due to the company's solid performance in carrying out different projects for us, while maintaining excellent environmental and safety standards during the construction phase. We trust that the new white liquor plant will not only improve Laja's environmental performance, but will also help to reduce our operational costs," said Neil Chablani, director of projects and technology at CMPC Celulosa.

"We have shown that our white liquor plant technology is competitive both from a capital as well as an operational point of view, and confirms our position as a leading technology supplier in South America region," said Carl Mikael Stål, technical and operational manager at Valmet in Andes Region. 

Valmet's delivery includes a white liquor plant with causticizing and lime kiln for efficient chemical recovery. The new white liquor plant will have a capacity of 5,500 cubic meters of white liquor per day and a lime kiln capacity of 450 metric tpd. Valmet's Recovery Analyzer is a key element for the process control of the white liquor plant. This implementation will be the first Recovery Analyzer reference for Valmet in the Andes region.

Established in 1920, CMPC produces solid wood products, pulp, paper, packaging products, and tissue in Latin America, operating in eight countries, and selling to more than 30,000 clients in 45-plus countries. CMPC has around 16,800 employees around the world.