Empower y Stora Enso firman un contrato para el mantenimiento de la nueva biorrefinería en la planta papelera de Sunila

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La empresa finlandesa Stora Enso (http://www.storaenso.com/) está llevando a cabo varias modificaciones para transformar su planta papelera de Sunila (Kotka, Finlandia) en una biorrefinería integrada. Y para llevar a cabo los trabajos de mantenimiento de las nuevas instalaciones, ya ha depositado su confianza en Empower (http://www.empower.eu/) al firmar un contrato para la realización de estas tareas durante varios años. Se trata de la continuación natural de la cooperación de ambas empresas en la planta de Sunila desde el año 2011 y de la que el director de la instalación dice estar extremadamente satisfecho.

Las operaciones de transformación de la planta tienen que ver con el aprovechamiento de la lignina que será extraída del licor negro y quemada para reemplazar el 90% del gas natural empleado actualmente y reducir el balance global de emisiones de dióxido de carbono. Además, se espera valorizar la lignina a través de aplicaciones en el sector de la construcción y de la automoción. Por ejemplo, como alternativa para reemplazar a los fenoles utilizados en adhesivos de tableros o a los polioles empleados en espumas. Stora Enso ha estado investigando en el campo de la lignina durante más de una década y quieren ser pioneros en el desarrollo de aplicaciones comercialmente viables de este material.

El montante de la inversión asciende a 32 millones de euros. Aunque no se construirán nuevos edificios, se montarán nuevos equipos en el área de la planta requeridos para el aprovechamiento de la lignina. El arranque de la biorrefinería está planificado para principios del año que está a punto de entrar y Empower se encargará de las operaciones de mantenimiento. La unidad de extracción de lignina supondrá desafíos específicos que permitirán ampliar su expertise en el campo de los bioprocesos. 

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