For over 70 years, generations of Alimak industrial elevators have been tried and tested in the most challenging industrial environments the world over. Since 1966, this extensive portfolio of successful industrial applications for Alimak products has included the harsh conditions specific to the pulp and paper industry.
Modern paper processing and manufacturing facilities commonly involve several distinct processes. Firstly, cooking wood chips to produce pulp, then cleaning, bleaching, dewatering and drying. In the process of forming the paper itself there are also a series of finishing processes applied depending on its intended qualities and use. All of this means that today’s paper mills rely on practical, hard-wearing vertical access solutions to ensure production continues at optimum capacity and efficiency while a safe working environment is also maintained consistently. Easy to operate and reliable vertical access is paramount in achieving appropriate inspections and preventative maintenance tasks at key stages of the production line.
An Alimak industrial elevator has been selected for this critical part of the infrastructure at the largest production line for bleached softwood pulp, SCA’s Östrand pulp mill in Timrå, Sweden. As part of an expansion project which doubled the facility’s production capacity to 900,000 tonnes, a new ALIMAK SE 700 FC industrial elevator was installed outdoors to facilitate necessary access to the boiler up to 25 times each day. The robust stainless-steel construction of the elevator car and the landing doors ensure a tough, enduring solution while the rack and pinion design sites the drive unit on top of the car itself, allowing for a self-supporting galvanised steel mast rather than an elevator shaft or separate machine room.
Also in Sweden, the Skoghall mill produces packaging board, coated kraft back, and white top liner with a capacity of 550,000 tonnes each year. No fewer than four Alimak industrial elevators have been installed over the years as vertical access requirements have developed. Two bleaching towers of 50 and 56 metres in height are also serviced by larger stainless steel Alimak elevators built on rack and pinion technology which are capable of lifting 1,000kg and 1,200kg respectively.
The comprehensive vertical access system is completed by a fourth Alimak elevator serving the green liquor filter building. This ensures all vertical access needs across the plant and processes are provided for, delivering minimum downtime and the best possible levels of productivity.
Get in touch to find out more about how an Alimak industrial elevator can be tailored to the needs of numerous challenging industrial environments.
