Pulp & Paper

Leaders in Precision Measurements & Control Efficiency

The paper and pulp industry is highly competitive and must meet ever-changing market needs. Yokogawa helps realize energy-efficient plants which are globally sustainable. The demanding applications and severe process conditions in pulp mills pose challenges for accurate, repeatable, and reliable liquid analysis measurements.

By combining the field-proven superior design of application-specific technology, Yokogawa’s solutions provide the functionality and the flexibility to adapt quickly to the changing industry requirements; while guaranteeing performance throughout the lifecycle of the process measurement even for the dirtiest applications lies in your hands.

Application Understanding and Expertise

Pulp and Paper Process  

Dedicated support staff and regional support specialists are available to help you tailor the appropriate products to your application needs.

  1. Chipping
  2. Cooking
    1. Recovery
  3. Washing & Bleaching
  4. Stock Preparation
  5. Paper Machines

Details

Solutions

Yokogawa delivers measurement and instrumentation devices that offer extreme precision with dependable measurement accuracy, application flexibility, reliability, and serviceability. Creating value for you in both time and money savings

Maintenance   Support   Modification
         

Verified Performance

“Unnoticed problems upstream can cause irreversible problems for me downstream.”

“Failure with instruments in service can cause loss of product or quality problems for me.”

 

Designed to Last

“I just need to keep the instrument running. I worry about unplanned outages.”

“I worry about plant obsolescence and the costs of keeping plant instrumentation and control systems current.”

"We use old technology because we can't seem to justify the upgrade."

 

Plant Wide Integration

“I worry about plant obsolescence and the costs of keeping plant instrumentation and control systems current.”

"I am concerned with the plant engineering resources utilized to make modifications or maintain the systems. There just is not enough people."

Verified Performance

Total Insight is a Yokogawa concept for optimizing operations and reducing maintenance costs through every phase of the product lifecycle. The real-time diagnostics and sensor wellness for early detection of sensor failure and replacement enable you to have a more pro-active maintenance schedule. No more unplanned outages.

 

Designed to Last

Yokogawa’s field-proven instrument can withstand the severe process conditions like high temperatures and abrasive slurries pose, without reducing the accuracy, repeatability, and reliability for the most critical measurements.  Dedicated support staff and regional support specialists are available to help you tailor the appropriate products to your toughest application needs.

Flow Meters

Field Instrumentation

Maximize your plant’s profitability through digitized process measurement solutions that alleviate cost pressures, increase availability and reliability, and improve safety.  Learn more

Conductivity Analyzers

Process Analyzers and Integrated Analyzer Systems

Yokogawa’s analyzers and systems ensure accurate, repeatable measurements for asset management, process optimization, and regulation compliance.  Learn more

Plant Wide Integration

It is a well-known fact that plant data is the basis for all solutions in the process industry. As such, data must be easily captured and accessible to ensure long-term improvement opportunities. Based on open standards, Yokogawa's data historian and PIMS solution capture data easily to provide a valuable bedrock. Our solution is especially unique in that implementation costs are significantly reduced when compared to the alternatives.

Learn more

 

Cooking (Digester) Process

This is the important step of all cellulose processes, as the better the chips are cooked in the process, the less lignin in the pulp. This results in more efficiency in the final steps of the process, which will save money and customer operation time. Many measurements are used in the digester such as pressure, temperature, and conductivity, but the most problematic for operators are the flow measurements. 

Challenges

Black Liquor is an aggressive fluid used in the circulation and extraction lines of the digester and blow line. It’s a high concentration of pulp and high abrasive levels, result in extreme conditions that the operator must be aware of:

  • High temperature 150 °C (300 °F)

  • High pressure 20 Bar (290 psi)

  • High alkaline consistency

  • Adhesive fluid

Taking flow measurements often becomes very complicated due to:

  • Damage to the lining from the changes in pressure and temperature conditions

  • Damage due to the abrasive and adhesive fluids

  • Leakage from electrodes, due to a deformation of the lining, resulting in a gap between the lining and electrode

Talking conductivity measurements often becomes very complicated due to:

  • Plugging of the filters causes the conductivity to go up

Solution

Earth Rings

Minimizes lining abrasion from a slurry fluid

 

Welded Punch Plate

Prevents lining deforming at high temperature

PFA Lining, Electrode

Maintains sealing performance when the lining encounters abrasion from a slurry fluid

 

Epoxy Potting

Increases heat dissipation for high-temperature fluid measurement. Prevents the outflow of fluid when fluid leaks from the electrode.

    BACK TO TOP

Recovery Plant

The recovery plant is considered the most important unit or the heart of any pulp manufacturing; being directly related to the economic viability of the entire process. In this process, the strong black liquor is burned at the recovery Boiler (the heart of this process )and the reagents are fused and recovered. During the heating process, the chemicals generate heat and the chemical reagents fuse are then recovered. 
In the recovery boiler, heat is used to produce high-pressure steam, which is used to generate electricity in a turbine (co-generate plant). The turbine exhaust, low-pressure steam is then used for process heating. After the strong black liquor is burned, this becomes green liquor. This caustic soda is recovered and sent back to the chemical plant to return as white liquor to the process. The process cycle then starts again.

Challenges

Taking flow measurements often becomes very complicated due to:

  • Instrument performance is at risk dues to the nature of the solidify of fluids causing build up on flow meters and conductivity measurements
  • High temperatures and pressures of the system stretch the specifications of instruments 
  • Particulate dust load in the rotary kilns can make O2 difficult

Solution

In a lime kiln, the control can be complicated as several elements need to be maintained to provide the proper and efficient drying. As the size of the kiln increases the more critical the items are. The control of the burner is paramount. It has to be hot enough to ensure that the lime mud is dry by the time it reaches the end of the kiln but not too hot that refractory damage could occur and poor product quality. The length of the flame in the cylinder directly affects these issues. 

There are two considerations in managing flame length, the amount for fuel supplied to the burner and the amount of air generated by the primary air and induced draft fans. These fans together control the total production capacity of the kiln, how far the flame is thrown into the kiln, and its shape. 

Timed Automation for blowback to prevent plugging and Oxygen, O2 errors. 

Control for efficiency and energy cost savings

  • Steam pressure control
  • Combustion control
  • Airflow
  • Fuel flow
  • Feedwater control
  • Steam pressure control
  • O2 trim
  BACK TO TOP

Washing & Bleaching Process

Washing

After the screening process,  the washing process uses chemicals to help reduce the lignin and substances (black liquor) in the pulp. This stage’s objective is to remove the maximum amount of black liquor dissolved solids from the pulp while using as little water as possible. The remaining solids and chemicals in the pulp will interfere with later bleaching and other steps, increasing the cost of the final process.  Normally the process has 3 or 4 washing stages in series. The same washing process is located after the oxygen delignification process and after the bleaching stages, as well.

The lignin in the pulp will result in a bad quality of paper (in the case of the final product), because the lignin over time will oxidize in contact with the air, and this is what makes the paper looks “yellowish”.  Excellent paper quality will keep the bright and white aspect as a lower quantity of lignin remains in the final product.

Bleaching

The objective of the bleaching process is to remove only the chromophores (elements that provide color). This is possible because the structures responsible for color are also more susceptible to the oxidation and reduction process. In the bleaching process oxygen, hydrogen peroxide, ozone, and caustic Soda are used to reduce the lignin, but keep the integrity of cellulose fibers. The combination of these chemicals and the sequence of these steps will depend on each customer’s required level of brightness in the final product. Most facilities use the following process and wash with sodium hydroxide, then treated in sequence with alkaline peroxide and sodium dithionite.

Many measurements are used to monitor the process such as pressure, temperature, and flow. However, the process of bleaching highly depends on accurate pH/ORP measurements. 

Challenges

Taking pH/ORP measurements often becomes very complicated due to:

  • Excessive Cl2O that weakens the paper intensity will also deteriorate a pH electrode.
  • Installation locations are often proven to be difficult to get a pH sensor directly into the process.
  • High pH 10-11, used to dissolve the reacted lignin, causes short reference life and thinning of the glass membrane resulting in unstable and inaccurate pH readings.
  • The consistency of the process media causes plugging and coating of pH sensors resulting in sluggish and inaccurate readings.

Pulp Bleaching

Solution

The best fit pH solution is not a one size fits all. Yokogawa’s experts work side-by-side with each plant operator to determine which solution best aligns with their goals and existing installation constraints.

Heavy Duty Glass GraphHeavy-Duty Glass
Mechanically strong sensor design for harsh and abrasive applications.

All-in-One Flat Surface Sensor 
Built-in silver ion trap to ensure the electrolyte remains completely free from silver ions and therefore eliminating the junction plugging problem while creating a double junction barrier at the same time.

Maintenance Manager >
The data-logging function provides a total process analysis by showing the record of the measured data before, during, and after the event occurred. The sensor wellness function predicts the next maintenance and sensor replacement for early detection of sensor failure, for pro-active maintenance. 

Sensor Wellness Example

< Process Guard
Real-time online reference impedance dynamic check to detect early signs of coating

  BACK TO TOP

Stock Preparation & ​Paper Machine

Immediately after the washing and bleaching section, the white pulp is further refined to specific specifications and consistencies in cleaning, storage, and blending chests before it is introduced to the headbox of the paper machine.  During each of these operations, additives such as resins, paper sizing materials, and colorants are blended into the pulp to meet customer specifications for fiber binding, wet tensile strength characteristics, and color in the finish paper sheet. As the paper stocks consistency has been significantly reduced through dilution of the pulp prior to the headbox, significant amounts of white water are removed as the pulp is applied to the Fourdrinier (wire bed immediately after the headbox) and as the sheet moves towards the drying section of the paper machine. 

Flow is commonly measured on the pulp stock into the headbox and on the white water lines; while level and pressure transmitters are used in the paper machine. The most critical measurement depends on accurate pH/ORP measurements. 

Example of Paper Machine

Challenges

Taking pH/ORP measurements often becomes very complicated due to:

  • Coating of the pH sensor and clogging of the junction makes the tight control that is needed a very maintenance intense installation

Prior to the headbox, the tolerances allowed for pH can be relatively wide, in many cases +/- 1-2 pH units. However, at the headbox, the pH must be tightly controlled to typically within +/- 0.2-0.4 pH units.  pH control at the headbox is normally achieved with the addition of alum or soda ash.  Both are used to control the pH but they are also acting a flocculating agent to precipitate resins during the forming of the sheet of paper on the paper machines wire.  The control of pH at this point in the process is critical to the proper formation of the paper and also to prevent excess wear on the paper machine.  

Solutions

All-in-one pH Sensor 
Built-in silver ion trap to ensure the electrolyte remains completely free from silver ions and therefore eliminating the junction plugging problem while creating a double junction barrier at the same time. 

Differential pH 
The electrode is a 316SS rod coated with H+ ion and Na+ sensitive enamel allowing for pH measurements. There are no junctions to be clogged and no electrolyte to be depleted or replaced.

Digital SMART Sensors
There is no need to worry about unplanned outages and lost production time with the maintenance manager's function. The SENCOM platform utilizes the integrated "hot swap" and "plug and play" function to significantly decrease downtime, while the sensor wellness function predicts the next maintenance and sensor replacement. The SA11 SMART Adapter can integrate on top of the FU20 All-in-one pH sensor, giving you the ability to clean and calibrate offline. Giving you greater insight and enhanced capabilities to deliver more credible data throughout the entire product lifecycle.

  BACK TO TOP

Resources

Overview:

The replacement of plastic products with paper pulp is rapidly progressing to achieve carbon neutrality.
Bracell uses OpreX LIMS to streamline quality inspection operations for its high-quality cellulose products.

Overview:

PT. Tanjung Enim Lestari Pulp and Paper (PT. TEL) operates a pulp mill in Muara Enim, which is 130 km west of Palembang, the capital of Indonesia's South Sumatra province. This is the only pulp mill in the world to produce high-quality, bleached-hardwood kraft pulp solely from plantation grown Acacia mangium trees.

Overview:

A virtual network system that securely connects OT-IT built on existing network resources.
Yokogawa experts monitor the network remotely like customer's information system department.

Overview:
  • Yokogawa installed a B/M9000CS quality control system with various cross direction profile control functions.
  • The installation improves product quality and efficiency at pulp & paper mill.
Overview:
  • Exaquantum Achieves $2 Million in Annual Savings for CENIBRA Pulp & Paper Plant.
  • Following an upgrade to the CENTUM CS 3000 Production Control System, leading pulp and paper supplier CENIBRA saw the potential for further savings and efficiencies through tighter control of the production process.
Overview:

To enable central control of the entire plant, all of its subsystems are integrated with Yokogawa's CENTUM VP DCS.

Overview:

Yokogawa's unique simultaneous, dual-frequency excitation method used in the ADMAG TI magnetic flowmeter can enable tighter control, faster response, larger quantity of end product per batch, reduced cost, and higher profitability.

Overview:

As the second largest pulp producer in the world, Brazil is known for producing multiple raw materials, especially eucalyptus. The country’s soil and climate are conducive to the plant’s cultivation, which takes an average of seven years to grow and spends this period absorbing CO2. For every crop cut, new seedlings are planted and more eucalyptus grows, making this a cyclical, sustainable, and cost-competitive business model. The pulp industry also contributes significantly to local employment and the economy, creating a broad supply chain that includes eucalyptus cultivation, chemicals, biotechnology, and transportation.

Application Note
Overview:

With the high temperatures, pressures, and levels of dissolved organics that are encountered, the ADMAG AXG flow meter design is ideal for use in all phases of the chemical recovery process.

Application Note
Overview:

Drying is an important part of the papermaking process that evaporates the remaining water in the wet paper web. This is performed with a dryer, and the humidity control in this dryer is essential to maintaining high paper quality (e.g., strength, paper surface) and high heat energy efficiency.

Overview:

The treatment of wastewater from pulp and paper plants is a serious environmental concern. Yokogawa's submersion holder with an ultrasonic+air-jet cleaner (customized product) can reduce the manual cleaning frequency to just once every one or two months.

Overview:

Ideal for various tank and vessel level measurements, diaphragm seal systems with compensating capillaries set a new standard for high performance, safety, and reliability.

Overview:
  • Oil level measurement of diesel tanks that feed fuel to their diesel generator's which are at three locations and 400 meters apart from each other.
  • Also to measure level , pressure and flow to and from their main storage yard.
Overview:

The kraft process, also known as kraft pulping or the sulfate process, is a technology for conversion of wood into wood pulp that consists of almost pure cellulose fibers. Today, the kraft process is used in approximately 80% of paper production.

Overview:

Reverse osmosis (RO) is a separation process that uses pressure to force a solution through a membrane that retains the solute on one side and allows the pure solvent to pass to the other side. More formally, it is the process of forcing a solvent from a region of high solute concentration through a membrane to a region of low solute concentration by applying a pressure in excess of the osmotic pressure.

Overview:

Heat exchangers are devices that provide the flow of thermal energy between two or more fluids at different temperatures. Heat exchangers are used in a wide variety of applications. These include power production; process, chemical and food industries; electronics; environmental engineering; waste heat recovery; manufacturing industry; and air-conditioning, refrigeration, and space applications. Yokogawa offers a means to control heat exchanger leakage and prevent costly maintenance, repair and downtime with an easy-to-use, virtually maintenance-free condensate conductivity measurement method.

Overview:

Drying is an important part of the papermaking process that evaporates the remaining water in the wet paper web. This is performed with a dryer, and the humidity control in this dryer is essential to maintaining high paper quality (e.g., strength, paper surface) and high heat energy efficiency.

Overview:

To defray energy costs, many industrial plants have their own boilers to generate steam to produce a portion of their energy needs. In addition to generating power, the steam may also be used directly in plant processes or indirectly via heat exchangers or steam jacketed vessels. 

Overview:

Ion Exchange is a method for the exchange of ions between two electrolytes or between an electrolyte solution and a complex molecule. In most cases the term is used to denote the processes of purification, separation, and decontamination of aqueous and other ion-containing solutions with solid polymeric or mineralic ion exchangers.

Overview:

The use of recycled oil as an energy source presents a significant processing problem. Because composition of the fluid is not consistent and it also may contain impurities, the use of conventional flowmeter technologies is not practical. ADMAG CA Series, however, has been shown to provide reliable and stable flow measurement of recycled oil containing water.

Overview:

Problems at the wet end of a paper machine can rarely be corrected downstream. That is why monitoring and controlling pH in pulp stock is critical to the paper-making process. Essentially, at every stage in the manufacture of paper, correct pH values play a vital role. Variations in the pH value at the headbox have a negative effect on the quality of the paper produced. Proper monitoring ensures minimizing plugging and fouling problems that occur with pH measurements in paper mills. 

Overview:

The quality of paper for printing or writing should be high and it depends on many parameters. Cobb is one of the parameters, which requires control. Using a retractable fitting, this optimum pH level can be achieved by using Yokogawa's 4-wire pH Analyzer with a suitable, retractable fitting and sensor. Since a separate controller is not required for the dosing pump, this solution provides a cost-saving.
 

Overview:

Yokogawa's digitalYEWFLO Reduced Bore Type Vortex Flow meter features a cast stainless steel body and a concentric reducer and expander that enable stable flow rate measurements in low-flow conditions. This expands the range of measurements that can be performed, from the higher flow rates down to the lower end of the flow span, which is normally difficult for Vortex Flow meters, and ensures stable and accurate flow rate output.

Overview:

A belt conveyor fire detection solution employing the DTSX distributed optical fiber temperature sensor can greatly reduce crises that can threaten a company's survival.

Overview:

With industrial and economic development comes increasingly large and advanced power plants and factories. Nevertheless, we find many cases where the original cables, cable tunnels, and other components of the power infrastructure have languished under continuous operation.

Overview:

In this Yokogawa RAP Best Practices eBook, you’ll discover how our wealth of knowledge about Integrated Safe Systems and Control of Work is available to help you and your teams design and implement a system that best suits your needs.

Overview:

Visual MESA© is a steam system optimization and management computer program that was originally developed at Chevron and now marketed by Nelson & Roseme, Inc. Visual MESA is currently used at refinery and chemical manufacturing sites to optimize the overall site steam system and the parts of the electrical system that economically trade off with the steam system.

This paper will explore significant optimization variables and constraints commonly encountered in refinery steam system optimization, the strategies Visual MESA uses to deal with them.

Overview:

This paper will not describe just all the features of the software or fully explain on-line optimization technology. The objective of this work is to present some interesting facts and lessons from the experience of implementing a cost based optimization program at thirty oil refineries and petrochemical complexes, around the world, since 1997. This paper will focus on the key optimization variables and constraints in steam system optimization, how they should be handled and how the human and organizational aspects can be addressed. 

Overview:

On-site digital champions can drive your operation towards data integration and a more aligned way of working.

Overview:

The worlds of process automation and production management have been converging for some time. What once used to be islands of automation and production management functionality connected through highly proprietary integration schemes that were costly to maintain have developed into integrated platforms that provide seamless data exchange between the world of automation and the plant floor, the functions of production and operations management, and integration with business level systems.

Overview:

Digital twins are dynamic digital representations that enable companies to understand, predict and radically reorient their business processes.

Overview:

The world of process automation is governed by procedures. While we like to refer to the process industries as being largely "continuous", this could not be further from the truth. Process manufacturing is constantly in flux.

Overview:

The automation suppliers that will be successful in the long term will be those that effectively address application or industry specific problems for end users with a value proposition that cannot be ignored. These problems exist throughout the process industries today, and they won't be solved by simply offering a product, but through a combination of hardware, software, services, application expertise, and knowledge.

Overview:

In ARC's view, customers need a compelling business value proposition to justify investment in any kind of automation. Vigilance and VigilantPlant were created with this in mind. Yokogawa's vision with VigilantPlant is to create an environment where plant personnel and operators are well informed, alert, and ready to take action. 

Overview:

Yokogawa has come a long way in making its message clear to the world of process automation. Last year, the company embarked on a full-scale global marketing campaign to make customers aware of the company's focus on system reliability, security, dependability, and robustness. Dubbed "Vigilance", the campaign created a unified message for the company and greatly helped expand awareness of the Yokogawa brand and corporate philosophy.

Overview:

Smart devices, like Yokogawa’s line of Total Insight transmitters and flowmeters contribute to Digital Transformation during operations and throughout the lifecycle of the instrument.

Overview:

Process automation end users are under more pressure than ever to do more with less. The current economic climate means that many automation capital projects are on hold. With capital budgets tighter than ever, users instead focus on operational budgets (where cost cutting is also a key concern), or on automation investments with a very rapid return on investment.

Overview:

In today's dynamic industrial marketplace, the only constant is change. Raw material costs, energy costs, market demands, environmental and safety regulations, technology, and even the nature of the labor force itself are constantly changing, and not always in predictable directions.

Overview:

Discovering your Baseline with OT Security Risk Assessment

Overview:

Vibrating element (VBE) type gas measurement devices measure refinery reformer stream compositions, power generator hydrogen purity, centripetal compressor gas inputs, process heater fuel gas quality, and others in multiple process control environments.

Why is pH Calibration important? How to clean pH glass? Which pH buffers should I use?  How fresh should pH buffer solution be?  How long between calibrations?
Overview:

Why is pH Calibration important? How to clean pH glass? Which pH buffers should I use?  How fresh should pH buffer solution be?  How long between calibrations?

They help remove stray energy or noise as it builds up in the flow process by grounding it. They can even help protect the magmeter liner from damage in harsher processes.
Overview:

They help remove stray energy or noise as it builds up in the flow process by grounding it. They can even help protect the magmeter liner from damage in harsher processes.

Overview:

Optimizing the maintenance cycle is not always straightforward. In some cases, cleaning once a week is sufficient and other processes may require every 8 hours.

Overview:

Learning these four lessons will help you improve your engineering skills and most importantly extend the life of your pH sensors.

Overview:

Select the correct pH glass and reference type to improve your pH sensor lifetime and you can limit or even eliminate the effects of temperature and pressure on especially the reference sensor.

Overview:

The lifetime of a pH sensor has a significant impact on the overall annual costs of a pH measuring loop. Optimizing four key factors will decrease these costs and optimize process control and overall plant efficiency.

Overview:

Kind of. Calibration itself will not extend the life of a sensor, however, a sensor that is not calibrated properly can cause unreliable measurements - that are often misdiagnosed leading to unnecessary replacements.

Downloads

Videos

Overview:

Open up control. Open Process Automation (OPA) opens the door to expanded choices, leverage, and customization.

Create a scalable, sustainable architecture. Remove the restraints of proprietary systems. OPA enables you to leverage all available technologies to open up solutions. Explore the possibilities today.

Overview:

How much do you know about pressure transmitters? Are you accurately, quickly and reliably measuring pressure? Ultimately, the drive of any good pressure transmitter is to get an accurate, reliable pressure measurement to the data user quickly. This video gives you the answers to your basic questions about pressure and pressure transmitters.

Overview:

Join this webinar to better understand which manifolds you should use for specific applications and conditions. You will learn:

  • A brief history of manifolds
  • An overview of the different types of manifolds that are available
  • The advantages, disadvantages, and application considerations you should consider when selecting a manifold
Overview:

What about other instrumentation pain-points in the blow tank, washing, or bleaching process?

Overview:

In the digester process, high temperature and pressure, along with the slurry pulp, can cause extreme damage to traditional meters.

Overview:

In this webinar, industry-leading experts will describe how OPAF is selecting standards that will achieve the vision of truly open systems, the status of its efforts, and what this exciting change to the process automation world means to you.

Overview:

This workshop provided by industry partners Yokogawa and ThreatConnect will show you a way to strategically manage cyber risk within an industrial environment. Learn how to transition from the “break/fix” model of industrial cybersecurity to a business risk management strategy through cyber risk quantification, return on investment (ROI) for industrial cybersecurity solutions calculations, and cyber risk identification.

Overview:

Discover how to achieve industrial autonomy step by step through one of the 75+ inspiring presentations.

Overview:

In this webinar, we will:

  • Share best practices for monitoring, recording, and transferring data 
  • Challenges in data acquisition and how Yokogawa can help
  • Demonstrate GA10 Data Logging Software capabilities
Overview:

In this webinar, we will:

  • Introduce Yokogawa AI, including Sushi Sensors
  • Demonstrate GA10 AI Dashboard and simple setup
  • Discuss applications and real-world examples
Overview:

DX value delivery at scale requires high-quality data to be accessible to the users and systems that rely on it.

News

Looking for more information on our people, technology and solutions?

Contact Us

Top