Arauco's MAPA project makes progress and produces the first pulp bale from its new production line
Jan 25, 2023
On Friday, January 20, 2023, Arauco produced the first bale of pulp by the new production line of the Arauco MAPA project, which includes major improvements to line 2 and the installation of this new production line (line 3) at the Arauco pulp mill, located in the Biobío region, in Chile.
On December 29th, the process of feeding and loading wood chips into the digester of Line 3 began, thus starting the initial step to obtain the first production of pulp from this line.
In this context, Valmet, a developer and supplier of technologies, automation systems and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries, has played a key role in the development of the MAPA project, supplying the pulp drying line, which is characterized by its low energy consumption; the recovery boiler, which thanks to its high power output allows for maximum energy efficiency, and the power boiler, which provides renewable energy to the entire plant; are already in operation and will enable Arauco to further improve its environmental standards.
Valmet is also providing a comprehensive Industrial Internet services agreement comprising the use of plant-wide optimization applications, advanced prediction, and monitoring applications, as well as expert services.
"The MAPA project investment is undoubtedly the largest ever made by the forestry sector in Chile, and expectations are high in terms of its productive capacity as well as its environmental performance. For us as a supplier, this makes us put even more effort into boosting our customer's performance. With our supply, Arauco's mill will produce high-quality pulp using our state-of-the-art, energy-efficient technology. In addition, our Industrial Internet solutions will help the Arauco mill in its vision to become the world's most autonomous pulp mill," said Carl Mikael Stål, Sales and Production Manager at Valmet.
With the start-up of MAPA, which includes the operations of Line 3, in addition to the pulp production of Line 2, the Arauco mill will have a total pulp production capacity estimated at 2,100,000 tons per year.
Construction of the mill began in December 2019, however, it had to face the restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic, leading to special attention being paid to construction site safety and logistical planning.
