Extensive modernization in record time

What makes the project exceptional is its delivery time: the entire project, from order to delivery, was completed in just five months. Demolition, installation and commissioning were executed in only 12 days.

Lunawood manufactures heat-treated timber at its mill in Kaskinen. The mill has an annual production capacity of 67,000 cubic meters. Due to the high demand for the products, the planned downtime of the mill and the power plant was to be kept as short as possible.

“Production downtime usually lasts 7 to 14 days, depending on the scope of the maintenance work. The market pushes us to perform the necessary maintenance and repair work as efficiently as possible,” says the Lunawood Mill Manager Jari Viitasalo.

The energy needed for Thermowood production is generated by a bio heating plant delivered by KPA Unicon in 2001. The modernization of the heating plant became topical as the plant’s energy balance changed.

Thanks to the modernization, the overall efficiency and energy effectiveness of the heating plant improved. At the same time, the plant’s life cycle was extended by approximately 10 years.

“The technology in the 20-year-old plant is not at the end of its lifespan, so the partial renovation was profitable,” says Esa Kukkonen, Sales Manager at KPA Unicon.

Well begun is half done

The modernization was carried out in two phases: a separate, smaller delivery was made in February 2021 and the main project was carried out in November. During the spring delivery, the hot oil pipelines were replaced and the oil pumps were renewed.

Larger changes were made during the autumn delivery: the heating plant’s economizer was renewed; a steam generator was added to the plant and the flue gas fan was moved outside the boiler room. Connecting the new pressure equipment to the old system required changes in the flue gas ducts as well.

“At the same time, the plant’s automation and control systems were rebuild. In addition, acoustic cleaners were added to the hot oil system and pneumatic cleaners to the new economizer,” says Kukkonen and continues:

“Soot blowing had long been one of the plant’s challenges, because without a continuous soot blowing system, the boiler had to be run down for a boiler tube cleaning.”

The main design of the contract began in June and material purchases were made at a rapid pace so that the manufacturing of the equipment could begin in early August. The construction phase began in September and the plant went into operation in the first week of October. The completed project was handed over to the customer on November 15th.

The tight schedule and global shortage of materials challenged not only KPA Unicon but also its suppliers and subcontractors, as well as the customer itself, Lunawood.

“A special thanks should be given to them all – they took on the challenge of a tight schedule and we were an extremely good team,” Kukkonen praises.