Weyerhaeuser to rebuild mill boilers

Pulp & Paper, Mar 2005

CAPITAL SPENDING

Weyerhaeuser Co. plans to spend $129 million on a recovery boiler project at its Grande Prairie pulp mill in Alberta to improve the facility's efficiency, raise capacity, and lower energy costs, officials said. The project is expected to increase the northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) pulp mill's capacity by potentially 30,000 mtpy to 380,000 mtpy. The new boiler, provided by Aker Kvaerner, replaces an old one that was first installed in 1972 in Grande Prairie.

The project at Grande Prairie is one of various boiler and turbine projects that the second largest pulp and paper producer in North American plans in coming years. Weyerhaeuser is set to spend at least an estimated $1 billion on new recovery boilers over a span of 10 years through 2010.

In a conference call in February, Weyerhaeuser chairman, president, and CEO Steve Rogel said the company planned to spend $850 million on capital projects in 2005. Some of these projects include the Grande Prairie recovery boiler installation, new equipment at the massive Valliant, Okla., containerboard mill, and a new turbine at the Kingsport, Tenn., uncoated free-sheet mill. He said the company also planned a boiler rebuild at its Springfield, Ore., kraft linerboard mill.

The new boiler at Grande Prairie will reduce the mill's need for natural gas and decrease the amount of greenhouse gases the plant generates, the company said. Other benefits include lowering the amount of odor-causing gases, and sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and paniculate emissions. The boiler is rated at 2,170 tons of dry solids/day and steam parameters of 510 C and 103 bar, according to Aker Kvaerner.

The total cost of the project, which is scheduled to get underway this spring, includes not only the boiler, but also construction costs in housing the large equipment. The project's completion date is early 2007.

An industry contact said the cost of a boiler alone is about $60-$80 million. Additional equipment such as turbines and evaporators go with that kind of replacement project, according to the contact. That's why there can be a "tremendous range" in costs for these kinds of installations.

The Grande Prairie project is one of several similar capital expenditure undertakings Weyerhaeuser has been focusing on, a company official said. The company is honing in on higher-return projects that will result in energy savings and increased efficiencies, the official said.

Andritz is set to deliver a new recovery boiler at Valliant. The new equipment is also replacing an existing boiler that was originally installed in the 1970s. The new recovery boiler, rated at 2,860 tons of dry solids/day, is expected to reduce emissions and is designed for 103 bar and 496 C.

The installation at Valliant is expected to be completed in August 2006, which has a capacity to produce 1.52 million tpy of linerboard and corrugating medium capacity. A similar project was started last year at Weyerhaeuser's Dryden, Ont., mill, which has a capacity to produce about 80,000 tpy of bleached softwood kraft market pulp and 460,000 tpy of uncoated free-sheet.

Another recovery boiler was also installed in 2001 at Weyerhaeuser's Prince Albert, Sask., pulp and paper mill, which has a capacity to produce 150,000 tpy in bleached kraft market pulp and 270,000 tpy in uncoated free-sheet.

Throughout North America, there are an estimated 251 recovery boilers, according to an industry contact. And of those, almost 30% of them are more than 35 years old; and about 14% are more than 40 years old.

A supplier contact said the useful lifespan of a recovery boiler is about 35-40 years and estimated that about 50-60 boilers in North American are "ready to retire." Other industry contacts estimated that the lifespan of recovery boilers can be longer than 40 years and there has not been a recent uptick in companies looking to replace more of their recovery boilers.

MeadWestvaco Corp. has installed one new boiler in the last five years, according to a company official. This one was installed in Brazil. MeadWestvaco said it regularly evaluates the condition and economics of operating its existing boilers, but currently there are no approved plans to install new boilers at any of its mills.

Welding Services Inc. marketing dir. Mike Welch said boilers can run for decades until they become "so inefficient" that it makes sense to upgrade or replace them. Welding Services becomes involved in recovery boiler jobs to refurbish tubes in the boiler system. If a boiler's tubes become worn out and leak, it can explode, Welch said. Welding Services looks at these tubes, and provides welded overlays, essentially refurbishing the tubes, without having to replace the entire boiler, Welch said. Overall, he said he has not seen a rise in companies looking to replace their boilers.