UPM Starts up New IR/Air Coater Drying System at German Mill

UPM Nordland Papier, Dörpen Lower Saxony, Germany, has started up a new Solaronics Bekaert (Armentières, France), infrared/air drying system as part of the rebuild of its Coater 1. The turnkey rebuild involved replacement of the existing electrical infrared and air drying systems supplied in 1988.

The new configuration consists of UniDryer® V2 units combined with new air dryers for the non contact drying of the coated paper. After each coating head, there is a new UniDryer V2 followed by a high performance air dryer that are linked by a Solaronics Bekaert energy recovery system. The objective of the project was to maintain the existing quality of coated wood free grades while reducing energy consumption.

This new configuration has significantly reduced installed power due to the replacement of electricity by gas and due to the high efficiency achieved with the high performance air dryers and Solaronics Bekaert energy recovery system link.

UPM consists of three Business Groups: Energy and Pulp, Paper, and Engineered materials. The company employs some 24,000 people and has production facilities in 16 countries. Its annual sales exceed EUR 10 billion.

UPM Nordland Papier in Dörpen is one of the world's largest producers of uncoated and coated woodfree fine paper, with an annual capacity of 1.4 million metric tons.

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