Evaluation of future pulp mill concepts: Reference model of a modern Nordic kraft pulp mill

This study defines a reference model of a modern Nordic kraft pulp mill. The model comprises a single-line mill with wood handling, continuous cooking, two-stage oxygen delignification, ECF bleaching, pulp drying, seven-stage evaporation with tall oil recovery, recovery boiler, recausticizing, bark-fired lime kiln and condensing turbine. The design capacity of the reference mill is 2000 adt/day. Estimated variable production costs including revenues from by-products are ∼260 €/adt for softwood pulp and ∼210 €/adt for hardwood kraft pulp. The estimated total direct investment cost of the greenfield mill is ∼€770M for a softwood mill and ∼€720M for a hardwood mill. Total production costs are ∼540 €/adt for softwood and ∼480 €/adt for hardwood. Production costs are most sensitive to investment costs and wood price. The reference mill (Future Pulp Mill Concept, FuPu) model could be used for the evaluation of future pulp mill and biorefinery concepts.