U.S. Pulp and Paper Mills Plan More than 90 Major Boiler Projects

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Pulp and paper mills across the U.S. have plans on the drawing board to spend nearly $1.1 billion to build new boilers, perform major rebuilds, or carry out extensive maintenance repairs. Industrial Info has identified more than 90 capital and maintenance projects that range in value from $750,000 to $285 million, including the addition of a steam turbine generator.

Projects include both black liquor recovery boilers and power boilers that utilize biomass, oil and natural gas, and, in some instances, a combination of several fuels. Examples of the types of projects being proposed are a third-level air system replacement on a recovery boiler; several package boiler additions; economizer and superheater replacements; double-walled tube replacements; and burner conversions.

Of the 94 projects that Industrial Info has identified, 19 are scheduled to begin construction by the end of 2012 and have a combined expenditure of $542 million. There are 59 boiler projects with a scheduled kick-off date in 2013 and an aggregate value of $473 million. Fourteen projects valued at just more than $80 million have a kick-off date of 2014 or later.

Several of the proposed projects involve biomass boilers. In South Carolina, plans call for the replacement of two coal-fired boilers with a 300,000-pound-per-hour boiler that will burn natural gas and biomass. Construction is under way at a mill in Maine to utilize Alstom suspension firing technology in a 500,000-pound-per-hour boiler; the project is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2013.

Over the next 24 months, mill owners plan to start up 11 new boilers. The largest of all the new boilers is a 650,000-pound-per-hour unit that is being supplied by Andritz, with construction scheduled for completion in September 2013.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.