The autonomous region of Guangxi in the People’s Republic of China is directly on the South China Sea and in the west borders on Vietnam. The area has a subtropical climate and offers ideal conditions for growing eucalyptus trees. The pulp and paper manufacturer Asia Pulp & Paper, or APP, has been taking advantage and processing the wood of eucalyptus trees for about ten years directly in the region into pulp. In the south of the province, APP opened the new board mill in the city of Qinzhou, with the BM 1 board machine supplied by Voith. The company produces high-quality ivory board on it, coated four times in a basis weight range of 180 – 350 g/m². It is exclusively pulp from virgin fibers that is used as the raw material. The board is suitable for all current printing processes such as flexographic, offset and rotogravure and is primarily sold in Asia.

Innovations for new dimensions. The maximum design speed of the Guangxi BM 1 is 1,400 m/min. It produces 1,200,000 metric tons of ivory board annually with an uncut web width of 8,100 mm. The BM 1 has a few special features, such as a suctioned forming board to prevent the stock from jumping on the Fourdrinier wire and suctioned hitch roll that counteracts the high centrifugal forces at the diversion points of the paper web. The DuoFormer D II was newly developed. With it the dewatering capacity was clearly increased and a high level of screen running stability was achieved. The unique concept of the Triple NipcoFlex press in which three shoe presses are used in series is also innovative. It thus succeeds in maximizing the dry content of the web after the press with a closed web run and at the same time optimizing board characteristics with minimal use of raw materials. The concept of pre-calendering before the coating machine, with which a very high level of board end smoothness is achieved, is also innovative.

Voith developed and built the Guangxi BM 1 according to the One Platform Concept. Also included in the delivery were the chemical preparation, the wet end process, automation of the entire process and system engineering.//