42 | Advertisement Promotion: Valutec
GLOBAL SUCCESS FOR VALUTEC TC KILNS
CONTINUOUS
exclusively use suppliers who are technology leaders,” said Artem Samuhin, deputy general director for development of ULK Group. “Valutec was the kiln supplier offering the most modern, efficient solution. In the end the superior capacity and flexibility of the TC kilns, boosted by the Valmatics 4.0 control system made it an easy choice.”
Above: Fred Haigis. Lumber Yard Supervisor Moose River
As the leading developer and world leader in continuous kilns, Swedish Valutec has delivered more than 1,500 continuous kilns to sawmills around the world. During the past years there’s been a clear trend in the sawmill industry, with sawmills around the world investing in the new generation of TC kilns from Valutec, helping the company to reach out to new markets. Today Valutec has delivered TC kilns to all major softwood markets.
THE TC KILN Valutec is the only company offering TC kilns. A kiln type that comes with distinguishing features such as low energy consumption, high flexibility and superior capacity. It gives the operator the possibility to create the ultimate drying process with unlimited freedom to mix dimensions, minimal moisture content variation and reduced risk of checking.
The principle is based on the timber package being fed length-wise through zones in which the air circulates laterally across the drying channel. This enables the separate regulation of the climate in different zones according to a schedule that comes very close to the ideal schedule of a batch kiln. “The leap in technology has fundamentally changed the way of working at many sawmills,” said Robert Larsson, Valutec’s
CEO. “Higher flexibility creates significant advantages, particularly when it comes to planning. Competition is extremely tough in the sawmill business, where margins are tight. So, customers in this sector rely on high efficiency and quality.”
FIRST NORTH AMERICAN TC In October 2019, Valutec commissioned North America’s first TC continuous kiln at Pleasant River’s site at Moose River in Jackman, ME and the company has already ordered another two kilns.
“It does a great job, in a lot less time than we’re used to and puts out a much better product,” said Fred Haigis, lumber yard supervisor, Moose River.
“The installation process was smooth without any major issues. And when we saw one of the kilns in our mill for the first time we knew we made the right decision,” claimed Jason Brochu, owner of Pleasant River Lumber.
RECORD DEAL TO RUSSIA Valutec was also chosen to deliver eight TC kilns to Russia’s ULK Group. The company is investing more than €400m in one of the country’s biggest sawmill investments in modern times.
“Our ambition is to build the world’s most modern sawmill, and to do so we must
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HASSLACHER FIRST IN AUSTRIA In April 2021 Austrian Hasslacher Group, one of the world’s leading producers of glulam and cross-laminated timber (CLT), invested in TC continuous kilns from Valutec. The deal meant that the well-known timber industry group becomes the first in Austria to own the ground-breaking lumber kiln. “We want to increase the drying capacity at our sawmills in Preding and Sachsenburg and saw that TC kilns were right for us. They offer a combination of high capacity and flexibility, without compromising on quality,” said Michael Fercher, CTO at Hasslacher Group.
NEW CONTROL SYSTEM Eighteen months ago Valutec released the control system Valmatics 4.0. It allows sawmills around the world to automate and optimise drying in all types of lumber kilns. High process quality is guaranteed by simulators programmed with data from hundreds of thousands of measurements that enable the calculation of drying processes with unbeatable accuracy from beginning to end. The new Valmatics 4.0 means modern TC continuous kiln functions can be put to full use. All the kiln operator needs to know is the incoming and desired outcoming moisture content – the system does the rest. This frees up time for more important operations such as saw planning, quality control and sampling. ■
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