Voith Paper's 10 years of BlueLine stock preparation tech

Low energy consumption, low maintenance costs, reduced water consumption

Voith’s stock preparation solutions are used by paper manufacturers all over the world. Since 2014, the full-line supplier’s innovative BlueLine technologies have represented sustainability, cost savings and futureproofing. The resource-saving, low-maintenance BlueLine product range has established itself in the industry as the gold standard for robust and efficient stock preparation systems and now comprises over 20 product families. Worldwide, BlueLine systems produce suspension for 40.4 million tons of paper, with more than 85 large BlueLine OCC systems in operation. This makes Voith the market leader in stock preparation.

“Essentially, 2014 marked the culmination of a series of profound innovations – and the jump-start to a new era in stock preparation,” reports Steffen Bassmann, director products Fiber Systems at Voith Paper. The more than 20 innovative product families are designed in such a way that they can be used to equip all standard system sizes and variants on the market. All components stand for proven Voith quality with low costs for energy, fiber, water and maintenance as well as improved runability and occupational safety.

The optimized solutions can achieve efficiency increases of between 20% and 30%, which go hand in hand with considerable cost savings and more environmentally friendly processes. “We provide robust machinery, highly automated processes and expert services that save fiber, water and energy,” says Bassman. “And we continue to do this on a scale that nobody thought possible before 2014.”

Modern Karton, Turkey’s largest manufacturer of cardboard and packaging paper, was one of the first customers to install BlueLine products. “We are proud to be among the pioneers in using BlueLine innovations, which gives us significant benefits in increased fiber yield and remarkably reduced energy consumption,” reports Ersin Şahin, production director at Modern Karton.

“These outstanding results are supporting us in taking our operations up to the next level of performance and process stability. Especially impressive is the capability of the Voith stock preparation system to handle high reject rates in raw material, up to 15%, with the Voith BluePulp LC pulping system. This means we have expanded alternatives in choosing raw materials,” says Şahin. The company confirmed its trust in Voith with the installation of a high-speed paper machine with BlueLine stock preparation last year, which produces 2,400 tons of recycled corrugated base paper every day and underlined further its commitment to innovation with the installation of one of the first smart InfibraFiner DG Refiner for PM 3.

Voith has also supplied numerous BlueLine stock preparation systems to the Chinese paper industry in recent years. In 2017, for example, OCC stock preparation systems were supplied to the Chinese paper manufacturer Shanying Suzhou Paper for its two paper machines PM 21 and PM 22. Huaqiao Fenghuang also equipped its PM 6, which produces 2,200 tons of paper per day, with the latest BlueLine machines. Production manager Jia Tinghe reports, “Voith has provided us with excellent support and services. In the future, we look forward to our cooperation continuing to achieve greater success.”

At the German corrugated base paper manufacturer Schoellershammer in Düren, an OCC stock preparation system for 800 tons of paper per day was installed on PM 6 in 2016. An average OCC plant would require over 120 kWh of electricity per ton to operate. At Schoellershammer, this value is around 60 kWh/t. Armin Vetter, managing director, production and technology at Schoellershammer, is convinced, “Thanks to the BlueLine stock preparation system and the XcelLine paper machine, we have achieved high energy efficiency and can produce packaging papers in a resource-saving way. Our trust in Voith has paid off, we are extremely satisfied with the solutions.”

In 2019, the German paper mill Palm in Aalen also ordered a stock preparation system from Voith for its PM 5 with a production volume of 2,200 tons per day. Five hundred tons are supplied by an innovative pulping concept that reduces energy consumption by over 30 percent compared to conventional pulping systems.

“Thanks to Voith’s tailor-made concept, expertise and professional support, we were able to achieve and even exceed the performance targets within a very short time. In the area of sustainability, the technology takes a top position and is a good tool to further increase our resource efficiency and achieve our goals,” summarizes Stephan Gruber, chief technology officer, Palm.

In the United States, more than 10 OCC systems with a production volume of around 16,910 tons per day in various sizes have been sold since the BlueLine was launched. Among them is the U.S. paper manufacturer Pratt Industries in Henderson, Kentucky, which last year commissioned Voith to supply a BlueLine stock preparation system for its paper machine for 1,450 tons of paper per day.

Other notable projects in the US include the delivery of an OCC stock preparation system to the paper manufacturer Green Bay Packaging, where Voith, with its many years of experience as a full-line supplier, successfully designed and installed the complete production line consisting of a BlueLine stock preparation and paper machine. “We’re saving considerable amounts of fiber, energy and water with the help of Voith’s innovative technologies,” says Matt Szymanski, vice president of Mill Operations at Green Bay Packaging. “Voith’s solutions have proven to be a game-changer, setting new benchmarks for sustainability and efficiency in our operations.”

Voith will continue to expand its BlueLine stock preparation portfolio in the future. The focus will continue to be on resource conservation and, in particular, system automation. The aim is to provide solutions for even more efficient, profitable and safer paper production and to further minimize environmental impact.

Just past the middle of 2024, we can see that the Indian economy is resilient but the trajectory of the growth is still uneven. Consumption is erratic but in our industry while newspapers are still down, the book publishing and printing industry are building up capacities.

Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and multi-channel IPPGroup, created the category of privately owned B2B print magazines in the country. And by its diversification in packaging, (Packaging South Asia), food processing and packaging (IndiFoodBev) and health and medical supply chain and packaging (HealthTekPak) and its community activities in training, research, and conferences [Ipp Services, Training and Research www.ippstar.org] the organization continues to create platforms for quality information, data, technology insights and events.

India is a large and tough terrain and while its book publishing and commercial printing industry have recovered and are increasingly embracing digital print, the Indian newspaper industry needs to recover its credibility and readership. The signage industry is slowly recovering and shifting to digital billboards. New technologies such as digital 3D additive printing, digital textiles, and industrial printing are coming onto our pages. Trade media will have to adapt with agility to keep up with new business and technical information needs.

India is one of the fastest growing economies in nominal and real terms – in a region poised for the highest change in year to year expenditure in printing equipment and consumables. Our 2025 media kit is getting ready, and it is the right time to recalibrate your role in this dynamic market – to emphasize your visibility and relevance to existing customers and turn potential markets into conversations.

Naresh Khanna – 11 September 2024