Alstom awarded service contract for boiler plant in Austrian paper mill

Alstom has been commissioned by the Austrian paper manufacturer Sappi Austria Produktions GmbH & Co KG, located in Gratkorn, to undertake extensive servicing activities on a high-pressure steam boiler. The liquor boiler started operation back in 1978, and will be serviced to ensure its operation in the coming years. The service contract includes replacement of the membrane walls covering a total of 1,080 m² equivalent to a pipeline length of around 13 km as well as the reinforcement of the boiler walls, the installation of two new gas burners and the replacement of several collectors. Work is scheduled to begin in 2015 and will be completed in the summer of the same year.

The replacement of the pressure parts is part of Alstoms routine service, and our extensive manufacturer know-how in the field of boiler plant construction is a tremendous benefit here. Once the comprehensive servicing work has been completed, the boiler will offer an extremely high level of availability. This is crucial when it comes to operating and maintenance costs of the plant, says Armin Fieber, Head of Boiler Service for ALSTOM Power GmbH in Stuttgart.

At the Gratkorn site, a part of the pulp needed for the paper production is gained with the sulphite method. The resulting liquor is burned in the so called liquor or recovery boiler. Furthermore, the caloric value of the organic substances in the wood is used for the steam- and power generation, and the process chemicals magnesium oxide and sulphur dioxide are recovered. As the liquor boiler is indispensable for the pulp production it is important to keep the duration of the works to a minimum and to carry them out according to schedule. Every year, the Sappi plant in Gratkorn produces around 950,000 tonnes of high-quality graphics paper and 250,000 tonnes of bleached, chlorine-free pulp.

During the course of the maintenance work in spring 2015, up to 80 people will be putting in day and night shifts on the site, working on more than 10,000 weld seams and 2,330 m² of insulation.

Press Contact

Beatrix Fontius (Alstom Germany) - Tel +49  621 329 2547
beatrix.fontius@alstom.com

Christopher English (Alstom Thermal Power) - Tel +33 1 41 49 26 85
christopher.english@power.alstom.com