Valmet delivers LignoBoost XS plant for Mercer Rosenthal in Germany
Valmet will deliver a LignoBoost plant for Mercer Rosenthal Lignin Center in Thuringia, Germany. The plant will extract kraft lignin from pulp mill black liquor. The extracted lignin will be used for developing various bio-based materials, which can replace fossil raw materials.
“Mercer is investigating lignin utilization for biobased products as one of the alternate pathways towards utilization of side streams beyond biomass energy. With Valmet’s Lignoboost pilot plant installation on-site Mercer Rosenthal will further build its solid lignin knowledge and will allow partnerships for product development. Valmet and Mercer Rosenthal have a long-lasting cooperation. As an example, in 1998, the mill was rebuilt to become Germany’s first kraft pulp mill,” says Wolfram Ridder, Vice President Business Development, Mercer International Inc.
“LignoBoost XS™ has been developed for customers who want to enter the lignin business and start the production in smaller scale to enable full scale application development with future lignin customers. The plant offers Mercer the possibility to study different lignin qualities and their use in value-adding products. We have put special focus on designing the plant for safe and easy operation,” says Hanna Karlsson, Manager for Valmet’s Ash and LignoBoost Technology.
Technical information
Valmet’s delivery includes a demonstration-scale lignin extraction plant, LignoBoost XS™ with a capacity of around 350 tonnes/year. The LignoBoost XS™ is a module-based installation enabling streamlined engineering and faster delivery. The Mercer LignoBoost XS™ plant is adapted both for hardwood and softwood kraft lignin extraction. The plant is fully automated and is designed for safe and easy operation.
About Mercer
Mercer is one of the world’s largest producers of market pulp and a growing leader in the solid wood products space. The company has facilities in North America, Europe and Australia. In 2021, the company’s total revenues were USD 1.8 billion. Today the Mercer Rosenthal mill produces about 360,000 tonnes of elemental and total chlorine-free NBSK pulp per year along with 410,000 MWh of green electricity and the capacity to produce 6,000 tonnes of crude tall oil per year.
