Ten Years On: Eldorado Continues to Run Faster and Faster
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The start-up of the Eldorado mill in Três Lagoas, Brazil, in 2012 was big news in SPECTRUM magazine and across the global industry, and it hasn’t stopped there.The mill has often been in the news since then, it has broken all sorts of records and has produced many more tons of pulp than it was originally designed for. In fact, on its 10th anniversary of start-up last year, the mill was recorded as having produced a total of 11 years of production – a full year of additional pulp!
The Eldorado project was undoubtedly one of the most exciting of its kind just over a decade ago, but it also presented a major challenge. Carlos Monteiro, Eldorado’s Technical Industrial Director says, “The main challenge was that we had to build the company from scratch. The owners had a large forest, and decided they wanted to be involved in pulp, but had no experience.
“The beginning was really difficult; however, the owners’ dream soon became a reality as we were able to attract some of the best professionals available in the area to complete the set-up of the company. These professionals came and joined us, and the vast majority are still with us today. And this is the great differential for Eldorado - it’s the people.”
ANDRITZ HELPED US CREATE A MILL THAT RUNS WELL ABOVE EXPECTATIONS
ANDRITZ was chosen to supply the major part of the process islands for Eldorado Celulose e Papel S.A on an EPC-C basis, with contracts being signed in November 2010. The scope of supply included the delivery of the bleaching systems; and white liquor plant with recausticizing and lime kiln. The delivery also included the latest generation of pulp drying plants, including two parallel twin wire former pulp machines, two airborne dryers, two cutter-layboys with a 6,670 mm working width; and four baling finishing lines.
“Many professionals who joined the Eldorado mill project had previously worked with ANDRITZ from other pulp producers in the industry, so they already knew the quality of technology and expertise that the company provided in the pulp area,” continues Monteiro.
The mill was successfully started at the end of 2012 and has since broken a number of production records, including an outstanding record of 5,576 admt/d in September 2019 when it also ran for 200 days without a sheet break on its MS2 line.
However, the mill has continued running faster and faster with more and more pulp being produced. Marcelo Martins, General Industrial Manager at Eldorado says, “Choosing ANDRITZ was definitely the right move for us at Eldorado. From the woodyard and chip preparation to the fiberline and drying, as well as the implementation of Metris OPP digital solutions for optimizing production at the mill, the numbers speak for themselves; we originally had what we saw as a challenging target of producing 1.5 million t/y and we have now exceeded that with our latest production figures of 1.8 million t/y for 2022.
“ANDRITZ helped us create a mill that goes beyond our expectations. We also plan to go beyond those records in the future; in fact, we are already challenging ourselves to reach even higher goals.”
MORE PRODUCTION, BUT ALSO MORE EFFICIENCY
Martins says that it’s not just the increase in production over the last decade at the Eldorado mill that has been impressive, overall efficiency has also improved dramatically with the implementation of Metris OPP. “Our chemical consumption at this mill is now a reference for the industry,” says Martins. “In Brazil, Eldorado has the lowest consumption of all mills and is close to the lowest numbers worldwide. This is really down to our excellent production staff and our technologies, including the low consumption of chemicals in the ANDRITZ bleaching plant. But also a great deal of this efficiency is down to the Metris OPP system, AI and other digital solutions.
“We also have the latest Metris technology in our drying area where our low sheet break records are the envy of our competitors. We recently went 404 days without one sheet break, which we again put down to excellent production skills, as well as the Metris AI system that positions the sheet for maximum efficiency in the feeding of the dryer.”
