Inland Paperboard and Packaging

Situation

Inland Paperboard and Packaging’s pulp and paper mill in Rome, Georgia was experiencing liquor (the industry term for the liquid in this process) temperatures running about 10°F lower than normal in the vessels and piping used in the mill’s recausticizing process. In addition, the #2 paper machine was unable to use the steam from its flash steam system/condensate receiver because the unit was undersized for the quantity of steam it was required to handle. An analysis found that many of the mill’s tanks and lines were uninsulated. It also determined that a total lack of insulation was responsible for the lack of receiver capacity.

Over the years, most of the insulation had been stripped from the vessels and piping. Consequently, the average liquor temperatures were running between 180°F and 185°F. Normal liquor temperatures for most Southern Mills are about 10°F higher. In addition, any insulation that had been in place on the flash steam system was removed and any additions to the system had not been insulated. None of the 150 psig steam headers were found to have insulation.

Using 3E Plus^® to Calculate Savings

The 3E Plus^® program was used to calculate the potential savings possible with the application of insulation and a recommendation was made to re-insulate all of the tanks and pipe lines involved in the recausticizing process. An additional recommendation called for insulation to be installed on the flash steam system and the 150 psig steam headers in order to minimize the condensation of steam within the system.

Results

The 3E Plus^® program calculated that the addition of insulation would increase the liquor temperature by 10°F. An increase of 10°F on liquors would result in a steam reduction of about 9,000 lbs/hr. The mill operates 24 hours per day, 355 days per year. If steam is valued at $3.00/1000 pounds, then the savings per year would be approximately $230,000.