Valmet, a leading global developer and supplier of technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries, has successfully started up new coating technology, featuring multilayer curtain coating, at Mayr-Melnhof Kolicevo board machine 3 (BM 3) in Slovenia. Valmet’s delivery included a new OptiCoat Layer curtain coater with supply system and a new OptiCoat blade coater. Compared to other curtain coating solutions OptiCoat Layer is compact in size and straightforward to install. This enables lower investment cost and shorter shut-down time. The start-up was very smooth, thanks to the pre-assembly and pre-testing. Mayr-Melnhof has been using curtain coaters from different suppliers for several years. OptiCoat Layer uses slide dye curtain coating, which enables versatile use of coating colour substances and layer thicknesses. The method also provides flawless coating coverage. The supply system includes the necessary degassing equipment. Effective degassing is essential in curtain coating since even the smallest air bubbles affect the stability of the curtain, according to a press release. Technical Mill Manager, Rado Kunavar from Mayr-Melnhof Kolicevo said, “The assembly was finished on time and the start-up was done by just pushing the button. We are happy that the high targets set for this project have been met. The cooperation with Valmet was very good, on an open base during the whole project and start-up phase, preventing all possible disturbances, before they even could occur.” The Mayr-Melnhof Group’s operations are entirely concentrated on the core business areas which are managed in two operative segments MM Karton and MM Packaging. MM Karton is the worldwide leading manufacturer of coated recovered carton board with a growing position in virgin fibre based board.
