Swedish timber processing specialist Valutec has won an order to convert three progressive kilns for Ilim Timber, Russia’s major sawmilling groups and a leading producer of larch and pine sawn timber.
Ilim Timber has production facilities in north-west Russia, eastern Siberia and Germany and the total production capacity amounts to over 2,6 million cubic metres (1.1 million MBF) of sawn timber.
At their sawmill UST-ILIMSK located in eastern Siberia the company today has several 1-zone Valmet progressive kilns.
Talking about the upcoming modernisation of the three kilns, Ilim’s Viktor Melnik commented: “We need to increase our capacity and quality. Valutec came up with an impressive solution. By converting existing 1-zone kilns to modern 2-zone kilns we will gain significantly more capacity and major increase in our drying quality in a very cost-effective way.
“Our plan is to modernize the entire sawmill. If this project works out well the modernization of the rest of the kilns will follow. When we’re ready our capacity will increase significantly,” says Viktor Melnik.
The ‘new’ kilns will be equipped with pressure frames for minimal deformation of the top lumber layers, Valutec's air/air heat recovery system and Valmatics control system, which enables the customer to have full control throughout the entire drying process.