The mills
The leading global producer of bleached eucalyptus pulp, Aracruz operates the largest and most advanced pulp mill in the world. Located in Barra do Riacho in the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo, just 1.5 km from its private port terminal (Portocel) and 70 km from Vitória, the Aracruz manufacturing complex is composed of three production units (Fiberlines A, B and C) that make optimized joint use of the same infrastructure and logistics for transportation and exports.
Fiberline A, divided into two production lines with production capacity of 450,000 tons/year, was inaugurated in 1978.
Fiberline B, also had two production lines producing 550,000 tons/year when it started up in 1991, at the time raising Aracruz's overall production to 1,000,000 tons/year.
In 1997 Aracruz carried out a major modernization of Fiberlines A and B, increasing the capacity of the complex to 1.3 million tons/year (550,000 tons/year by Fiberline A and 750,000 tons/year by Fiberline B).
Fiberline C, with 700,000 tons/year capacity, was inaugurated in August 2002, raising Aracruz's total pulp production even further - to 2,000,000 tons/year. Its innovative construction process made it possible to complete the project in record time.
Barra do Riacho Unit has currently nominal capacity to produce annually 2.3 million tons of bleached eucalyptus pulp.
Aracruz is self-sufficient in electric energy: it produces 170 MWh, the equivalent to the residential consumption of a city of 600,000 inhabitants.
At Aracruz, the main equipment comprising the pulp production process is as follows:
- 2 debarking lines
- 3 recovery boilers
- 8 chippers
- 3 digesters
- 4 oxygen delignifying lines
- 5 bleaching lines
- 5 driers
- 7 baling lines
- 1 chemical plant for generating chlorine dioxide and sulfur dioxide.
| Main stages in the pulp production process | |
|---|---|
| STAGE | OBJECTIVE |
| Wood Handling Patio | Prepare the wood chips for the pulpmaking process. Prepare biomass for the generation of steam. |
| Cooking | Remove the lignin from the wood using white liquor (NaOH + Na2S). Separate the wood fibers for producing pulp. |
| Purification and Washing | Remove the uncooked fibers and impurities in the pulp. Wash the pulp to reduce the loss of chemicals in the bleaching process. |
| Oxygen delignifying | Remove the lignin content of the pulp fed into the bleaching unit and send the dissolved lignin back to the recovery system. |
| Bleaching | Bleach the pulp coming from the delignifying process with O2, in order to attain the level of whiteness required by the market. |
| Drying and Baling | Remove water suspended in the pulp, in order to maintain humidity content at 10%. Prepare the bales of pulp for storage and transportation. |
The three manufacturing lines operate within strict environmental control standards, with constant investments being made in programs and technology to monitor emissions, air and water quality and the proper disposal of wastes.
Updated on February 7th, 2008
