Mondi Syktyvkar commissions a new crude tall oil plant

Project will produce around 40,000 tonnes of crude tall oil annually with a focus to be sold to the petrochemical, road construction, paint and coating sector

Mondi, global leader in packaging and paper, has commissioned a crude tall oil plant (CTO-plant) at its Syktyvkar pulp and paper mill. The new equipment allows processing of all sulphate soap generated as a by-product of the pulp production process in the mill. As a result of this investment, the mill will be able to produce up to around 40,000 tonnes of crude tall oil annually.

The new CTO-plant produces softwood and hardwood tall oil obtained through sulphuric acid treatment of sulphate soap which is a by-product of the pulp cooking process. Softwood tall oil is used at Mondi Syktyvkar to mitigate pitch deposits at the digesters, while hardwood tall oil is sold to external companies dealing in petrochemical, road construction, paint and coating. In recent years, tall oil has been intensively used for biodiesel fuel production primarily in Scandinavian countries.

The state-of-the-art equipment allows for automation and online control of almost all parameters of the process and makes it possible to perform continuous production of tall oil.

“The CTO-plant was built as part of the Horizon strategic investment programme aiming at eliminating bottlenecks in pulp and paper production processes, as well as responding to the mill’s increased production capacity. Processing of by-products of the pulp production process has become one of the outcomes of the roadmap as the old plant could no longer manage growing pulp production volumes.” – Klaus Peller, Managing Director of Mondi Syktyvkar

To properly maintain the new CTO-plant the staff have undergone specialist training. To further leverage the production potential of the new CTO-plant, additional equipment will be commissioned including a 600 m3 sulphate soap storage tank, a dispatch unit with a new bridge to load oil into rail tank cars and tank trucks as well as an additional storage tank to ensure the necessary stock of tall oil. Works for these projects are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2020.