The Energietransitie Papierketen is an industry-wide innovation initiative. The goal is to achieve an energy saving of 50 percent throughout the supply chain by 2020. Van Houtum is a participant in a project that focuses on reducing dryer energy consumption. The results are promising: the new dryer hood reduces gas consumption substantially.

As a producer of hygienic paper, we acknowledge our responsibility for preserving the environment. Consequently, we strive to achieve optimum energy efficiency in all operational areas. Our production manager/energy coordinator, Ronald Kok, is enthusiastic about the innovation initiative that has been launched by  trade association Royal VNP  and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs: “The goal of this ambitious initiative is to halve the amount of energy consumed to produce each end product by 2020. This applies to the total paper supply chain: from forestry cultivation and the used paper sector up to and including the end-users.”

Five different research programmes have been set up in order to achieve this goal: energy management, energy-neutral paper, the paper supply chain of the future, biorefining and ‘waterless production’. “The first programme is the most relevant in our situation”, says Ronald. “Energy management focuses on achieving immediate and accelerated energy savings in the supply chain. The programme encourages you to view energy as an integral component of your operational management; so you analyse your processes and machines as part of a greater whole. Monitoring your energy consumption helps you to detect where energy savings can be made.”

For example, the results indicated that applying modern techniques to our tissue machine could improve its performance in terms of energy efficiency and capacity. Further research was required to determine the exact improvements. A project was set up for this in March 2008. An important aspect of the project was to exchange best practices on an industry-wide scale. Van Houtum teamed up with three other companies to identify the most energy-efficient solution. They were supported in their efforts by the VNP, a number of suppliers and a specialised consultant. “The project was primarily intended to gather knowledge in order to request quotations for a detailed design. We investigated a number of possible modifications using simulation models. Ultimately, the knowledge that we gained in this process led us to select the current dryer hood design.”

The new dryer hood was installed in mid-August. That was quite an event: the roof had to be partially dismantled before a crane could be used to remove the old hood and install the new one. “The team did a fantastic job”, says Ronald. “The project approach worked well and helped us come to the right decision. This was after all a substantial investment and not something that could be done on a ‘suck it and see’ basis.”