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PCC Production in China
On June 2nd, 2010 IMERYS Pigments for Paper produced their first full scale, plant batch of PCC in China. The new joint-venture PCC plant (formed with Tiger Forest and Paper Group) is on the site of the Yueyang Paper Company in Yueyang, Hunan Province, a subsidiary of Tiger Group. Yueyang Paper has recently installed two paper machines that have a combined 400k ton capacity to produce copy and LWC paper. Yueyang Paper is keen to produce paper of the highest quality to compete in both the domestic and export paper markets. This requires PCC which would improve the opacity, brightness and bulk of their paper. Tiger Forest and Paper Group decided that they needed an experienced supplier of PCC that could meet their needs. IMERYS was chosen to form a joint venture with one of Tiger’s subsidiaries, Antai Trading Company, to supply the high quality PCC needed to support their expansion plans. Plant design, construction and commissioning was supported by key groups in the Pigments for Paper team. Global support from engineering, carbonate processing, and technical service personnel was enlisted to supplement to local IMERYS China team for the project. The Yueyang Project team and all supporting members overcame many difficulties along the way. This was the first developmental capital project in the paper group after the 2008 financial crisis. In addition the plant construction and commissioning was to be delivered in a record breaking 10 months after project approval. The valuable on-the-ground experience gained during this project will make Imerys a stronger team and even more capable of dealing with future growth projects in the Asia region. The JV, Yueyang IMERYS Antai Minerals Company, is managed jointly, in the spirit of partnership, by both IMERYS and Antai personnel. Wang Ruihua, General Manager from Antai is the acting General Manager. Stone Shi, previously the plant manager of our Changshu plant in China producing wet ground calcium carbonate and having a kaolin makedown facility, transferred to Yueyang as the Operations Manager for the new JV. In total, there are 23 members within the new IMERYS team in Yueyang.
IMERYS Pigments for Paper
2010/08/11 03:35
Yueyang Background Story In 2010, Asian printing and writing paper production growth is forecast to accelerate to 6%, translating into 2.5 million tonnes of additional output. China will contribute more than half of the increase (1.33 million tonnes) due to the installation of several new machines. RISI is projecting growth within China of 19,387 million tonnes of new capacity within the printing and writing sector over the next 15 years. Tiger Forest and Paper Group is a state-owned enterprise in China and is a controlling stakeholder in Yueyang Paper. Yueyang Paper is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Yueyang Paper currently has a production capacity of 780,000 metric tonnes per year of CWF, UWF, LWC and Newsprint. This makes it one of the largest paper producers in China. The Group's principal activities are the manufacturing and selling of paper, paper products and chemical pulp from wood and reed. The main products are pigment finished offset paper, offset newsprint, bright and coloured newsprint, surface sized newsprint and slightly coated newsprint. Other activities include export of products and technology and import of materials, measuring equipment, machinery equipment and technology for production use.
About PCC
The second raw material, carbon dioxide, is the most important of the greenhouse gases. It is mainly created by burning fossil fuel in a power boiler. A PCC plant is connected to the power boiler stack from where the purified flue gas can be used in the manufacturing process. The amount of carbon dioxide used in the process is the same as that released in the calcination of the limestone. This means that the carbon footprint of the whole process is basically a function of the energy used. The calcium hydroxide and the carbon dioxide react together in a carbonator tank, forming the desired PCC crystal shape and size. The production process is flexible and the same plant can often produce several crystal types for different end uses.
The PCC Production Process Limestone 20-80mm
PM
Precipitated Calcium Carbonate, is a man made mineral chemically similar to GCC, Ground Calcium Carbonate, but different in shape.
Calcining
Unlike most of the other IMERYS products, PCC is manufactured and not mined. At the heart of the process is precipitation where PCC particles are formed in a carefully controlled environment in a carbonator tank under vigorous mixing (see diagram right).
Board of Directors
CaO
900 - 1200 ºC
CO2
Slaking
Water
CO2 + Air General Manager
Finance Director
Operations Manager
Maintenance
Shift Leaders & Workers
QC&Tech Services Manager
QC Shift Staff
Accountant
Purchasing & Logistics Officer
Industrially, PCC is produced from two main raw materials, quick lime (CaO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) gas. Quick lime is calcium oxide, which has been produced by burning limestone (CaCO3) at extremely high temperatures of about 1000 °C. This calcination process removes carbon dioxide and all organic impurities from the limestone and transforms it into a reactive substance. In a PCC plant, calcium oxide is first converted to calcium hydroxide (milk of lime) by mixing it with water in a slaker.
“Lime Milk” –15 weight-% Ca(OH)2
Carbonising
PCC ca 16.5% torrh.
13.2% Ca(OH)2 Low solids needed to produce the right crystal form and to avoid high viscosity
Screening To remove unreacted limestone and Ca(OH)2 aggregates.
Exoterm reaction –1700 kƒ/kg CaO
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