Voith: Vanguard of Green Development in the Papermaking Industry

On February 22, 2019, the China Paper Industry Sustainable Development Forum and the release ceremony of the White Paper on the Sustainable Development of China's Paper Industry, hosted by the China Paper Association and China Press and Publication Media Group, were held in Beijing. It was emphasized at the meeting that the paper industry, as an important basic raw material industry closely related to the national economy and social development, has the characteristics of sustainable development. Over the past decade, through technological progress, the application of advanced equipment, the elimination of outdated production capacity and the improvement of industrial concentration, the paper industry has provided effective guarantees for improving resource utilization and environmental protection, and the technology and equipment level of most of the production capacity in China's paper industry has reached the international advanced level.

As a long-established family-owned paper machine manufacturer in Germany, how did Voith win the acclaim of partners around the world with its excellent product quality? And how does it support the sustainable development of China's paper industry through innovation? To this end, the Jiangsu Province Paper Industry Association conducted an exclusive interview with Mr. Yu Zhibing, President of Voith Paper Asia, who offered the following insights.

Innovative Technologies Create Green Papermaking Processes

Only innovation can bring development. In recent years, Voith has invested 5.3% of the Group's sales in product innovation and R&D every year. Voith now holds more than a thousand valid patents, and the number is growing by more than a hundred each year. Mr. Yu Zhibing said: "From the earliest wood grinder patent to the latest Voith 'Papermaking, the Next Generation', innovation has never stopped." In 1869, Voith obtained its first wood grinder technology, which could grind wood into pulp, making it possible to produce high-quality paper at a reasonable cost. As early as 1881, Voith manufactured its first paper machine.

Especially in 1960, in an era when environmental protection and resource conservation had not yet drawn social attention, Voith joined hands with the two paper mills Palm and Haindl to jointly develop a new flotation deinking process. The new process could remove printing ink from waste paper, and Voith thus became a pioneer of resource-saving processes in paper recycling. In 1993, Voith achieved another breakthrough in paper recycling technology: Voith PM11 at the Schwedt paper mill was put into operation - it was the first paper machine to produce newsprint using 100% recycled paper.

(Voith wood grinder)

Today, with the arrival of the fourth industrial revolution, digitalization is becoming one of the key words for industry development in this period. Under this wave, China's paper industry is actively moving toward greater efficiency and intelligence. To help the paper industry meet the dual challenges of digitalization and environmental protection, Voith Paper launched a new-generation papermaking engineering solution in 2016 - "Papermaking, the Next Generation", which aims to improve efficiency, increase output and ensure quality throughout the entire production process, making paper machines more intelligent.

Mr. Yu Zhibing said: "Today's paper companies place greater emphasis on the energy-saving and environmental performance of paper machines, which is highly consistent with Voith Paper's current development philosophy. Faced with growing energy and resource pressure in the Chinese market, Voith Paper works closely with customers in response to their needs and tailors green, energy-saving solutions for each project." In recent years, Asia, as an emerging market, has had great room for growth, while China faces new challenges from national macro policies, the market and customer demand. Voith's "Papermaking, the Next Generation" meets the needs of industry transformation and upgrading and national environmental protection policies, and can help customers achieve transformation and upgrading, shifting from scale growth to efficiency growth.

(Voith Papermaking, the Next Generation)

Industrial Upgrading: Carrying Out Green Transformation

The high-quality development of the economy and people's growing need for a better life have pointed out the direction of development for the paper industry and provided broad space for sustainable development. As long as the green, low-carbon and recyclable development characteristics of the paper industry are turned into industrial development advantages and a full-cycle, more scientific and reasonable circular economy system is formed, the industry's level of sustainable development will certainly continue to improve.

This also coincides with Voith's green development philosophy. To this end, Voith has upgraded its business in two aspects: hardware and software. From this interview, it was learned that Voith has the most comprehensive product portfolio to maximize customer profitability. According to Mr. Yu Zhibing, Voith first focuses on equipment upgrades to improve efficiency. For example, the XcelLine intelligent paper machine raises the production efficiency of various paper grades to a whole new level, achieving outstanding performance across the full life cycle of the paper machine. There is also the BlueLine pulp line, also known as the new low-carbon process. Using the new BlueLine series of stock preparation products, customers benefit from Voith's consistent quality commitment, effectively reducing energy, fresh water and fiber consumption and saving maintenance costs, while improving operating efficiency and safety.

(Voith XcelLine intelligent paper machine)

"Worldwide, for high-speed packaging paper machines, more than 60% of OCC pulp lines are supplied by Voith. The new low-carbon process launched by Voith continues our longstanding pursuit and development of process technology, including safety, lower energy consumption, better operation, less maintenance, lower fiber loss, lower water consumption and higher quality, among other aspects," said Yu Zhibing. At the same time, Voith pays special attention to upgrading control modules so as to reduce costs, cut labor and increase precision. This includes Papermaking 4.0 and augmented reality (AR) solutions developed under the Industry 4.0 environment.

(Augmented reality (AR) solutions)

Today the paper industry faces the challenge of having to constantly adapt to modern trends such as new printing technologies, packaging demands and environmental protection policies, and companies increasingly value the energy-saving and environmental performance of paper machines. In recent years, Voith Paper's investment has been focused precisely on the R&D of green papermaking technologies such as water saving, energy saving and resource reuse, so that through new technology transformation the paper industry can be upgraded in a green way.

Innovation and Optimization: Focusing on Sustainable Development

Opportunities always coexist with challenges, and Voith focuses on optimization while innovating. Through innovation in papermaking technology and optimization of production processes, Voith can help customers improve efficiency, increase output, save resources and create smarter and more sustainable industrial processes. Yu Zhibing said with pride: "We reduce the consumption of fiber, energy and water by providing advanced equipment and technology as well as green papermaking processes, guiding the green development of traditional manufacturing. In terms of energy consumption, with Voith's equipment, water consumption per tonne of paper is only 5 cubic meters, far below the national standard of 20 cubic meters."

At present, the Asian market will pay more attention to environmentally sustainable development, moving toward energy saving and emission reduction and improved product quality. Market conditions have gradually shifted from price competition to comparison of value. Voith's advanced BlueLine OCC pulp line processing technology, Europe-standard-compliant full-line papermaking solutions, and harmless treatment technologies for waste, solid waste and wastewater provide professional support for the transformation, upgrading and sustainable development of the paper industry. With the same capacity, Voith can ensure savings of 40 kWh of electricity per tonne of pulp.

Voith BlueLine OCC pulp line

"We respond to market changes through continuous innovation, and drive customer development through the stable quality and performance of our paper machines. Voith is committed to providing the Chinese market with globally consistent quality and service, with a view to significantly reducing customers' raw material costs and energy consumption," said Yu Zhibing.

Voith's products and services are designed to create ecological and economic added value for customers. Therefore, it focuses on energy and resource efficiency in both the production and use stages. Mr. Yu Zhibing said confidently: "We will actively promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, guided by intelligence, green development, service and high-end orientation. As a technology leader, Voith will continue to develop new products and services to help customers meet new challenges. With our resource-saving new technologies, we can protect the environment more proactively, thereby ensuring that our customers achieve sustainable development." As a member of China's paper industry, Voith will persist in innovation and join outstanding Chinese paper industry entrepreneurs in embracing the green and intelligent transformation of the paper industry.

——This article is reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-350603.html