Valmet and Mercer Stendal have signed an agreement to modernize valves at Mercer’s pulp mill in Arneburg, Germany. The project will bring significant energy savings and reduce CO2 emissions. The delivery includes 800 intelligent Neles™ NDX valve controllers and 500 Neles™ B1 pneumatic actuators.
The order is included in Valmet’s orders received of the first quarter 2022. The first part of the delivery was successfully commissioned in April 2021, and the remainer will progressively be delivered by the end of 2023.
Because of the positive impact on energy consumption and emissions, up to 30% of the investment is supported by grants from BAFA (Bundesamt für Wirtschaft und Ausfuhrkontrolle, Germany’s Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control).
Mercer Stendal will leverage data from these intelligent valve controllers for predictive maintenance and condition monitoring. With the upgrade, the company aims to further minimize unplanned downtime and improve plant availability.
“The aim of the valve modernization project is to save compressed air, improve the reliability of energy supplies and increase plant availability. Cooperation between Mercer Stendal and Valmet’s flow control team is very good. Planning and implementation have been trouble-free. Small challenges in the early stages of implementation were quickly detected with the support of Valmet’s valve technology center, then resolved and eliminated. Since then, these bugs have no longer existed, and the positioners have run to our satisfaction,” says Frank Wegener, Energy Manager at Mercer Stendal.
“We are proud to continue our cooperation with Mercer Stendal and provide them with our industry proven valve solutions that enable even more reliable and sustainable operations. Thanks to their air-saving technology, our intelligent NDX valve controllers help reduce the plant's CO2 emissions,” says Raimar Hellwig, Head of Sales and Services, DACH region, Flow Control, Valmet.
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