- ABB’s L&W Fiber & Freeness Online integrated into Sappi’s papermaking process for greater productivity, energy and resource efficiency
- The advanced solution enables better visibility into pulp quality, optimizing control and refining for on-specification outputs
- Sappi Maastricht paper mill is renowned for its heritage of innovation and resilience as it reaches its 175th anniversary
Global paper producer Sappi has commissioned ABB’s fiber measurement technologies to enhance energy efficiency and increase productivity and profitability at its Maastricht mill in the Netherlands.
ABB’s L&W Fiber & Freeness Online is an industrial hardware solution that provides accurate and continuous fiber morphology measurement and freeness at the wet end of the paper production process. It has been deployed at the Dutch mill to stabilize pulp quality at the stock preparation, controlling and refining stage. This results in better runnability on paper, board or tissue machines, helping make more on-specification product at lower cost.
Machine operators at the mill have greater visibility into the batch process for producing microfibrillated cellulose (MFC), more accurately controlling the properties end-customers have requested. Such monitoring has consistently proven to be reliable in better predicting how the materials behave when online in the machine. This ensures high quality, on specification of the pulp mix/fibers through the wet end of the paper machine.
The mill, which has reinvented itself numerous times over the years, recently switched to the production of luxury packaging cardboard after anticipating the shrinking market for graphic paper1. It now includes high-end retailers, magazine publishers and packaging converters in its customer base.
ABB will support Sappi's Maastricht mill to produce paper with the right properties to meet customer expectations. Image Sappi 
ABB L&W Fiber Freeness Online will support the production of around 260,000 tons of coated woodfree paper and paperboard per year. Image Sappi 
The Sappi mill in Maastricht has switched to producing luxury packaging cardboard rather than graphic paper. Image Sappi
“Papermakers strive for consistency at every stage of their process, predictable outcomes to meet customer specifications,” said Wilson Monteiro, Global Business Line Manager for Pulp, Paper & Fiber, ABB’s Process Industries division. “Sappi is making papers for the luxury market at Maastricht and wants to achieve the right quality, neither under nor over processed. ABB’s L&W Fiber Freeness Online is a tool to optimize this at the early stock preparation stage. We look forward to working with Sappi to understand the results of its use and support further developments.”
“We’re very proud of the legacy built up at Sappi Maastricht but we are also set on the future with open eyes for the innovative possibilities,” said Jeroen Janssen, Process Technologist, Sappi. “Together with ABB we are committing to the use of online fiber measurement technologies and we appreciate their expertise. It is one part of the infrastructure at the mill which has recently brought in other solutions for improved electrification, productivity and sustainability.”
Sappi Maastricht employees nearly 500 employees and produces around 260,000 tons of coated woodfree paper and paperboard per year. It is currently marking its 175th anniversary year.
ABB is a global technology leader in electrification and automation, enabling a more sustainable and resource-efficient future. By connecting its engineering and digitalization expertise, ABB helps industries run at high performance, while becoming more efficient, productive and sustainable so they outperform. At ABB, we call this ‘Engineered to Outrun’. The company has over 140 years of history and around 110,000 employees worldwide. ABB’s shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ABBN) and Nasdaq Stockholm (ABB). www.abb.com
ABB’s Automation business automates, electrifies and digitalizes industrial operations that address a wide range of essential needs – from supplying energy, water and materials, to producing goods and transporting them to market. With its ~26,000 employees, leading technology and service expertise, Automation helps process, hybrid and maritime industries outrun – leaner and cleaner. go.abb/automation
