International technology group ANDRITZ is supplying major energy-efficient and environmentally friendly pulp production technologies and key process equipment for Bracell's Project "STAR" in the city of Lençóis Paulista, São Paulo state, Brazil.

The mill features two flexible, environmentally friendly hardwood fiberlines for a capacity of 2.6 - 2.8 million tons/year of bleached kraft pulp or 1.5 million tons/year of dissolving pulp, which is used as raw material for the production of viscose. ANDRITZ was awarded this contract in July 2019, and start-up is scheduled for August 2021.

Bracell, one of the largest global producers of dissolving pulp and special pulp, is finalizing its Project Star work to expand the company's operations in Lençóis Paulista, in the interior of São Paulo state. The plant, which is one of the largest and most sustainable pulp mills in the world, will start operating in mid-August 2021, with a production capacity of up to three million tons per year. The project is outstanding due to its sustainable DNA, featuring advanced technology, operating entirely free of fossil fuel, and using renewable raw materials to create biodegradable products.

According to Pedro Stefanini, General Director of Bracell SP, the technologies applied in Project Star aim to make production in the mill even more sustainable. "The project is much more than a pulp mill. It is the future of the bioindustry. Here we will have the largest and cleanest recovery boiler in the world, equipped with state-of-the-art technologies that are not yet used on an industrial scale in the region," says Pedro Stefanini.

ANDRITZ is providing - on EPCC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Civil Construction) basis - four of the six most important process islands in the pulp mill:
*A complete Wood Processing Plant using ANDRITZ's proven technologies.
*An ANDRITZ HERB Recovery Boiler with high steam parameters of 101 bar(a) and 515°C to maximize power generation.
*Two environmentally friendly hardwood Fiberlines, for capacities of 2.6 to 2.8 million t/y of kraft pulp or 1.5 million t/y of dissolving pulp.
*Two innovative EvoDry Pulp Drying Systems for the most energy-efficient pulp drying based on the high-capacity Twin Wire Former technology.
*ANDRITZ is also supplying a Non-Condensable Gas (NCG) treatment system that enables safe and environmentally friendly treatment of all types of diluted or concentrated malodorous gases, thus meeting the strictest environmental and social requirements.