Aracruz launches "Fiberline C": after investing US$ 807 million, Aracruz Celulose began test runs on Fiberline C this past May, and officially started up the line on August 2. The 700,000 metric tons/year unit took just 18 months to complete.

IN THIS ARTICLE YOU WILL LEARN:

* Aracruz Celulose successfully started up its Fiberline C through a series of EPC contracts

* The new fiberline and Aracruz's two existing lines are minimizing water consumption

* A new power generation system is meeting the mill's needs and providing excess power--a critical factor in power-short Espirito Santo

This article originally appeared in the March 2002 issue of 0 Papel in Portuguese (p. 50) and as an English summary (p. 60). The English text is being reprinted here, with minimal editing, through an exchange of papers agreement between TAPPI and the Brazilian Pulp and Paper Technical Association (ABTCP).

The turbines of Fiberline C--Aracruz's third pulp production line--started up for the first time in May. with the new line, total pulp production capacity at Aracruz (lines A, B and C) reached 2 million metric tons/year. Aracruz is the largest bleached eucalyptus pulp plant in the world, while slowing demand in 2001 and early 2002 kept market pulp prices low, the risk did not deter Aracruz in its business plans for the new project.

"We will continue to export 95% of our production, with 45% going to Europe, 35% to the United States, 25% to Asia, and the remainder to Brazil and Latin America," said Carlos Lira Aguiar, president of Aracruz Celulose. "The situation is really not very good for producers," Aguiar recognized, but he noted that demand began to recover in the second quarter of 2002.

"Global producers have already moved in this direction [lower production], including Aracruz, and if necessary, we will repeat the action this year." However, Aguiar added that this would take place only in Plants A and B, since there is greater control over the units' performance since they have been in operation longer. As part of the measures to better balance pulp supply and demand on the global market, construction of the Veracel Project (which Aracruz currently jointly controls with Stora Enso and Odebrecht) was delayed. According to Aguiar, Veracel should get off the drawing board in 2003, if approved by shareholders at the end of this year.

PRODUCER-SUPPLIER PARTNERSHIP

Aracruz's third production line is not merely one more step in the company's output growth, but also represents the introduction of new technologies and an expansion of the range of potential uses for its pulp. Devoted to the production of elemental chlorine free (ECF) pulp, Fiberline C has the capacity to produce special pulps for fine, printing and sanitary papers, photographic papers, and paper for digital printing.

"Fiberline C will also have much more competitive production costs due to its state-of-the-art technologies," noted Aguiar. When deciding on equipment for the line--most of it developed abroad--Aracruz focused on compatibility with existing equipment and building closer relationships with its suppliers.

One result of this supplier partnership was building minimization, which reduced construction costs to one-third of standard building design. In many cases, back-up equipment was eliminated, producing immediate investment savings and long-term maintenance savings. The project included maximum pre-fabrication and assembly by suppliers to reduce tasks at the construction site. The plant layout--which has approximately 64,000 [m.sup.2] of floor space--is also more compact, reducing investment cost, electricity consumption, and maintenance.

USING EPC

Project optimization extended to contracting services. Aracruz chose a comprehensive system of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC). The company was one of the first pulp producers to use the complete EPC concept, in all phases. The plant was divided into 11 blocks and the supplier chosen for each of them assumed responsibility for the entire process. The suppliers' tasks ranged from equipment definition to civil construction, electromechanical assembly, commissioning, and start-up.

Another unique feature of the Fiberline C project was its "matrix" organizational system. This system made it possible to work with a smaller, specially selected, 50 person team. This group was also responsible for delivering the project and reaching startup goals. "We managed to reduce the staff for operating Fiberline C since the support staff are the same as those for Lines A and B. We needed only to hire operators and maintenance people," said Aguiar.

Employment at the peak of construction was 4500. More than 80% of the construction personnel hired for the third line were residents of the region. "We are sure that the organizational system chosen, the modern technological standard of the project, and the project timeframe will make Fiberline C a benchmark and a new standard for pulp plants throughout the world," says Aracruz Celulose Engineering and Projects Director Renato Gueron.

NATURAL RESOURCES

According to Aracruz calculations, Fiberline C will use around 2.7 million [m.sup.3] of plantation wood per year to produce the projected 700,000 metric tons/year of pulp. Aracruz signed a contract with Veracel to supply around 3 million [m.sup.3] of wood per year for the first three years of Fiberline C's operation. Aracruz is also investing US$ 200 million in the purchase of another 65,000 hectares of plantable lands, with 45,000 h in Bahia and 20,000 h in Rio de Janeiro and in Espirito Santo.

Aracruz is also reducing water consumption per metric ton of pulp produced through new equipment and processes. In 1990, the global average for pulp industry water consumption was 70 [m.sup.3]/metric ton, but for Fiberline C (as well as lines A and B), this figure will be around 33.2 [m.sup.3]/metric ton, one of the lowest in the sector.

The processes include oxygen pre-bleaching (delignification), ECF bleaching (D0-EoP-Dn-D sequence), closing the effluent circuit in the second and fourth bleaching stages, reusing water from the dryer in bleaching, and a system of collection and recovery of spillage in all areas. Emissions of particulate material from the new line will be less than 100 mg/[Nm.sup.3]. By comparison, Canadian pulp mills are allowed between 200 mg/[Nm.sup.3] and 850 mg/ [Nm.sup.3], depending on the age of each plant, according to Aracruz.

Odorous gas emissions will be around 2 ppm of total reduced sulfur (TRS), which again exceeds Canadian regulatory standards that vary between 5 and 70 ppm of TRS, said Aracruz. Fiberline C also has a latest generation system of gas incineration for the entire complex, using gas washers, a methanol rectification tower, and other modern equipment. This system prevents emissions of odorous gases, which after being treated are burned in a recovery boiler.

The plant's existing biological effluent treatment system can handle the new demands of Fiberline C and does not need to be expanded. The only modification will be additional lagoon aeration. Modern environmental controls keep emissions below regulatory standards in several areas. For example, electrostatic precipitators and high efficiency gas washing systems help control air emissions.

POWER UP

Aracruz must cope with potential electricity shortages. As a result, Fiberline C is equipped with a electrical turbogenerator with 84 MW capacity, which will generate a surplus of 26 MW. The company can make this energy available through the public transmission system, helping to alleviate the Brazilian energy crisis. Currently, 85% of all electricity consumed in the state of Espirito Santo is imported by Furnas Centrals Eletricas, which sells the electricity to the state distributor.

Espirito Santo Centrals Eletricas (Escelsa) has a generating capacity of 140 MW, which does not meet the demands of the entire State. The steam turbine of Fiberline C has 25 stages and weighs 131 metric tons. The generator weighs 121 metric tons. Responsible for generating electricity and for process steam, at two pressure levels, the Fiberline C generator will be the largest thermoelectric facility in Espirito Santo and the sixth at Aracruz. Fiberline C will raise the company's generating capacity from 150 MW to 234 MW.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

* The home page far the Brazilian Pulp and Paper Technical Association (ABTCP) and 0 Papel (in Portuguese) is http://www.abtcp.com.br/

* For information from Aracruz, available in Portuguese or English, go to http://www.aracruz.com.br/

* For a list of "Fiberline C" suppliers and their web sites, go to http://www.aracruz.com.br/eng/e_fabc_empresas.htm plus http://www.abb.com for news of the dryer installation

Patricia Capo is journalist and responsible editor and Renata Mercante Savastano is editor on the staff at 0 Papel in Sao Paulo, Brazil; email the staff at [e-mail] or Capo at [e-mail]