Displaying items by tag: numcore

The first Q&A session in 2012 with Outotec's CEO Pertti Korhonen will be held on Monday 26 March, at 2.00 pm (Finnish time). Theme of the session will be the recent Numcore Ltd acquisition.

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OUTOTEC PARTICIPANTS:

CEO Pertti Korhonen, CFO Mikko Puolakka and IR Rita Uotila.

The aim of the CEO's Q&A sessions is to give further clarity on information, which has been made public already earlier. Therefore, the company does not intend to publish separate announcements in connection with these sessions. Outotec has a large international and domestic investor base and gets numerous requests from the capital markets to provide information regarding company's operations. In order to serve the capital market efficiently, and ensure equal access to company-related information, the live webcast is recorded and it is available on demand for future references.

OUTOTEC OYJ

Outotec strengthens its process control technologies by acquiring all shares in Numcore Ltd in Kuopio, Finland. Numcore is a start-up company developing and marketing innovative online process control solutions based on 3D-imaging. With a strong focus on R&D, the company has designed high-tech instruments for process optimization of minerals processing, food as well as pulp and paper industries. The parties have agreed not to disclose the acquisition price.

The acquisition supports Outotec's growth strategy and strengthens Outotec's competitive edge in providing advanced technology solutions. Numcore's technology is already proven in flotation and thickener applications. Furthermore, EIT technology can be utilized in other Outotec's business segments. The acquisition will not have any significant short term impact on Outotec's revenues.

Outotec has a strong position in providing flotation and thickening solutions for the minerals processing industry with over 4,000 installed flotation units and more than 1,400 thickeners in the last 20 years. Numcore's Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) technology can be applied to all new flotation cells and thickeners. It increases metals recovery by optimizing the froth flotation process as well as production efficiency and reliability.

"By combining Numcore's innovative 3D-imaging technology with our leading minerals processing technologies will further strengthen Outotec's position as the forerunner and technology leader and will provide us a significant competitive advantage particularly in flotation and thickening solutions", says Pertti Korhonen, CEO of Outotec.

"For Numcore's development, the equity funding from Finnvera Venture Capital and support from the Tekes Young Innovative Companies programme has been essential. I am happy that Numcore now has the opportunity to utilize resources of Outotec", says Anssi Lehikoinen, CEO of Numcore.

A measurement device developed by Numcore Oy and based on impedance tomography produces a three-dimensional image in real time from the inside of pipelines and tanks used by the process industries. The pulp and paper industry is one segment that could benefit greatly from the technology. Numcore was recently awarded the ATIP 2010 Innovation Trophy in France for the most innovative paper technology company..

In terms of paper industry, Numcore has for now focussed on optimizing the use of mill broke. The dosing of broke is an important stage in the paper manufacturing process, as broke is constantly generated, and fluctuations in dosing, particularly in coated broke, may disrupt the wet-end process.

The measurement device is being used as part of a pilot in a few paper and corrugated board mills and is connected to, in addition to the mills’ own monitoring systems, Numcore’s IT system. The device was realised as a CoreApus flow-through sensor with electrodes that continuously measure the electric conductivity differences in the various phases of the flowing mass.

The 3D image produced by the device can only be generated, however, using inverse calculation, i.e. highly advanced mathematical modelling, which is where Numcore’s core knowledge lies.

“The pilot devices are highly important product development tools for us, as the measuring data they generate allows us to precisely pinpoint the actual correlation between changes in mass flow and specific production problems. This has helped us to develop the modelling such that the data generated by the measuring device can be used to directly regulate the production process and boost its efficiency,” explains Jukka Hakola, Numcore’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

Close inspection of broke dosing

One of the pilot mills is Stora Enso’s Veitsiluoto paper mill in Kemi, Finland, where Numcore’s measuring device has been installed in the broke dosing stage of Paper Machine 5, which manufactures magazine paper. The broke consists of both base paper and coated broke.

“Here we can regulate the refining and total amount of broke as well as the proportion of base and coated paper broke to an extent that the quality of the base paper and the runnability of the paper machine improve,” says Jukka Hautamäki, Process Development Manager, Veitsiluoto Mill, Stora Enso.

He says immense demands are being placed on the measuring device, because the machine’s runnability was already very good.

“Numcore’s technology is simple to use and it was easy to install the sensor in the process. The sensor generates approximately 20 indices, which are displayed on the operator’s monitor and can be integrated alongside other machine parameters in our Savcor Wedge process analysis system. This allows us to seek correlations between, for example, the brightness of a base paper and the degree of refinement in specific broke.”

In the spring, progressive tests involving gradual changes to broke refining will be carried out. The changes will be compared with indices generated by the measuring system, with the quality of the base paper and with the runnability of the machine.

“In the tests, we will work the machine to an extent that we will be able to see what the measurement device actually sees. The tests will be conducted until the end of April, at which time we will be able to see how well the device meets the special demands of our production processes. The ultimate goal is to use the device for automatic broke dosing,” says Hautamäki.

Major savings possible

Another pilot mill is Powerflute Savon Sellu Oy in Kuopio, which manufactures corrugated board. There, Numcore’s device measures the mass flow from the mixing tank.

“Thanks to the measuring device, we have already noticed that certain changes in mass flow clearly correlate with breaks that happen later on in the process. If we can determine as early as possible that there is the risk of an impurity in the process which will later on lead to a break, we are more efficiently able to regulate the process and thus avoid the break,” says the mill’s Operations Manager, Martti Laatikainen.

According to him, the mill is particularly concerned with changes in the amount of broke and variations in the amount of fines in the pulp.

“If the device helps us to find out the causes of breaks, it would bring us major annual savings. For that reason we were happy to take part in the development work for the measuring device,” says Laatikainen. /ins

SPCI World Pulp & Paper Week
Hall A, Stockholm
International Fairs, Sweden
17-19.05.2011
Numcore Oy Stand: A24:20

It is now possible to use measurement devices based on impedance tomography to create real-time 3D images from inside the pipelines and tanks used by the processing industries. One significant application for this technology, spearheaded by the Finnish company Numcore Oy, is concentration plants in the mining industry.

The technology opens up entirely new possibilities to control flotation processes, an important component in the concentration process of minerals. In simplified terms, the principle of flotation is to blow bubbles of air into a mixture of ore, water and chemicals, whereby the mineral particles cling onto the bubbles. Mineral-carrying froth is generated as the bubbles rise up to the surface and are collected from there.

“Problems emerge if the froth cannot carry the load of mineral particles or the process otherwise becomes disturbed. The froth bed then disappears, and restarting the process wastes valuable time,” says Jukka Hakola, Numcore’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

With Numcore measurement devices, the size and quantity of air bubbles and the solid matter content of the froth bed can be monitored by means of electric conductivity distribution.

“If the solid matter content and bubble size in the froth bed changes, and solid matter starts to gather under the froth, this can cause the froth to become rigid or to collapse. When this situation can be predicted, the problem can be solved by changing the operating parameters.

Real-time characteristics are a key functionality in this technology; in other words, the system continuously provides the operator with factual data on what is happening in the flotation cells, for example the location of minerals and the bottom surface of the froth bed.

“Because it has not been possible to look inside tanks, controlling a mineral concentration process has largely been based on experience-derived know-how. Now that operators can ‘look’ inside the process, it is possible for them to maintain an optimal mix all the time,” says Hakola.

In co-operation with the industry

According to Hakola, measuring as such does not create added value, rather the results should be used to control the operation. Therefore Numcore has, in close co-operation with a few key customers, developed measurement technology to better serve every-day work.

The company’s close partners include Outotec, a global supplier of mineral processing and metallurgical plants, and especially in the initial phase, the Geological Survey of Finland’s Outokumpu Mineral Processing Laboratory.

“At the moment, our sensors are in use at two concentration plants, where we have been able to see in practice which parameters need to be controlled and how we can really numerically prove the benefits that can be achieved for the customer. Our goal is to intervene in any upcoming problems at such an early stage that the process can go on without disturbances.

Numcore measurement technology is currently in test use at Inmet Pyhäsalmi Mine Oy’s copper and zinc mine at Pyhäsalmi, among others. According to Seppo Lähteenmäki, Processing Mill Manager, the system has provided accurate information on the condition of the froth bed, and the technology has functioned reliably.

“We have tested the device for a few months, and it has provided clear benefits for those operators who have received operator training for it and actively monitored the data provided by the system. The device appears to be so useful, in fact, that we are seriously considering buying it after the test period,” he says.

Help from mathematical modelling

Depending on the diameter of the pipeline or tank, Numcore measurement devices are realised either as a flow-through sensor or as a probe-type sensor for installation inside large pipelines or tanks.

By supplying a weak alternating current to the electrodes of the sensor, it is possible to measure conductivity differences between the phases, for example for liquids, inside pipelines and tanks, as different substances show different conductivity values. The actual image is created by means of inverse calculation, however, and this is where Numcore’s core know-how lies.

“Our CoreApus flow-through sensor lends itself for analysing material flows inside pipelines of less than one metre in diameter. Because processing tanks are generally larger than this, we have developed the probe-type CoreHydra sensor which can analyse a larger area of the tank. With several sensors, one can even analyse a large tank or cell,” says Hakola.

Both sensor types can accurately measure interfaces between liquids and solids, but CoreApus is also applicable for imaging rapidly flowing liquids for example in pulp and paper mills.

“The biggest difference compared to previous systems is that now you can analyse why and how something is happening in the process, and how you can prevent an event if necessary. We focused on making the system easy to use to enable real-time and on-site corrective measures rather than relying on, say, laboratory samples.”