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Celgar Pulp Co. has raised its bleached softwood kraft market pulp production capacity from 185,000 tpy to more than 420,000 tpy with the final startup of its expansion last month. (All figures are in metric tons, bone dry b.d.! on the fiber line.)
Jim Browne, mill general manager, explained that the Castlegar, B.C., mill has no backward integration into the forest, relying instead on a chip supply from area sawmills. "Our solution was to develop three main lines of product," he says, "thin-walled, thick-walled, and a blend of the two." Pulp is supplied from nine different species, ranging from the thin-cell-walled Western red cedar to thick-walled Douglas fir and Western larch.
Thin-walled pulps have historically been used for hospital draperies and other applications demanding thin, porous fibers. Pulps from thick-walled species go into high-quality groundwood-containing grades. Blends generally go into fine papers, both coated and uncoated.
The company's Celstar bleached product kraft line, for example, is a blend of seven species. Used in fine papers, coated and uncoated printing grades, tissue, and specialty papers, it claims a balance of high burst, high tear, and 88 + ISO brightness. Included in the mill's bleached and semibleached pulp lines are custom blends made to individual specifications, with 70 to 90 ISO brightnesses.
Celgar is jointly owned by Stone-Consolidated Inc., CITIC B.C. (a subsidiary of China International Trust & Investment Corp.), and the most recent partner, Venepal Canadian Investments Ltd. (a subsidiary of C.A. Venezolana de Pulpa y Papel of Venezuela). The mill faced a major environmental upgrade with the initial change of ownership in 1986, while at the same time, it was realized that chip availability from area sawmills could sustain a doubled production rate. An existing well-trained work force, taking advantage of the efficiencies of new pulp mill technologies, could improve productivity in the highly competitive bleached softwood kraft pulp market.
Expansion/modernization options included upgrading the existing mill, building an entirely new mill, or a combination of the two. The latter course was selected, weighted to the new-mill option.
In 1989, a group of employees was called out from regular mill duties to serve as mill liaison with a consulting engineering firm. They were divided into four areas: project management; chip fiber line and chemical...