Project description

Frövi mill needed a new production unit to produce tall oil of the soap that is a by-product in the pulp industry. Recently, demand for tall oil has increased as you after further refinement can extract biodiesel from it. Citec planned a plant based on a tested, robust technology for a batch-wise cooking of soap and acid solution (either sulphuric acid or residual acid from the bleaching process). The process is controlled with modern automation technology. Soap and acid solution are mixed and are added to a reactor where steam is used for heating.

The batch-wise technique makes it easier to handle variations in quality and soap flow compared to the continuous process. An automatic washing sequence between every batch lowers the risk of congestion and therefore reduces the need for maintenance shutdowns.

Citec's scope

Citec delivered a complete tall oil production plant and were responsible for project management, process planning, calculations, mechanics, electrical and automation, construction, documentation, testing and startup. There are many benefits with Citec’s batch-wise cooking: higher availability of the plant and better control of the process, higher yield of tall oil, better and more uniform quality with low water content, possibility to visually inspect the quality after every batch and lower costs for operation and also maintenance personnel.