Portucel Sopercel Completes Pulp Mill Expansion at Cacia Tissue Mill

 

The Portucel Soporcel group, Portugal, has officially opened two new capital projects at its industrial complexes in Cacia and Vila Velha de Ródão (see MAS Bright Star article above) tissue mills in Portugal, representing a total investment of EUR 95.3 million. The company also recently announced plans to invest an additional EUR 120 million (through 2017), at its Cacia mill for a new tissue production line (see details in the October 2015 issue of Tissue360o Newsletter). 

This array of projects, together with others, such as the vertically integrated forestry project in Mozambique, with a value of EUR 2.1 billion, and the construction of a pellets factory in the US, representing around EUR100 million, is part of the company’s plans to expand and diversify its business over the next few years. 

The recent expansion at Cacia pulp mill, the result of a EUR 56.3 million investment to boost annual exports to more than 120 countries, has increased the mill’s production capacity by 20%, from 294,000 metric tpy to 353,000 metric tpy, accompanied by an increase in production of renewable energy of around 9%, to a total of 336.7 MW/year.

 

The new mill extension has created 15 direct jobs, and potentially generated around 290 indirect jobs, in particular in the forestry industry and in port logistics and road haulage sectors. As many as 1,520 external workers were recruited during the construction period. 

Modernizations and expansions at the Cacia mill incorporate the latest industrial and environmental technology, and innovative measures have been adopted to improve environmental performance, including the collection, processing, and incineration of malodorous gases (17 km of piping are used to collect and treat these gases), as well as the fitting of a new burner in the existing lime kiln, the installation of an electro-filter for the new lime kiln, and partial substitution of the use of fuel oil by natural gas in the lime kilns. In terms of specific achievements, the project has cut atmospheric emissions of malodorous gases from the production process and allowed water from the production process to be reused, thanks to a new cooling tower, resulting in a significant reduction in consumption. 

The work on building the new facilities and installing the new equipment all took place with the Cacia mill in full operation, except for the months from January to June this year, when work had to be carried out on the existing equipment, and to integrate the new equipment into the existing system. 

This project has made it possible to optimize performance at the Cacia mill, helping to improve reliability in the mill facilities and to eliminate bottlenecks in certain production areas.