Presentation: Reducing Energy and Water Usage at Verso's Androscoggin Mill

The goal at Androscoggin Mill going forward is to continue to increase throughput of fiber and paper while seeking ways to reduce steam and water use. These new objectives are focused on achieving corporate sustainability mandates while remaining cost competitive in an ever tightening market.

Verso's journey started with development of a scheme to analyze, at a systemic level, the patterns associated with the generation and consumption of both steam and water. Prior to this work these scarce and expensive resources had been managed and optimized as they have been for years - within each unit operation. The development of this new, 'mill-wide' schema enabled our teams to better manage these very complex interrelationships.

Today the mill has moved beyond monitoring and is using these data to forecast steam demand by grade and paper machine. These demand models are used as inputs to optimally operate the entire mill to maximize water usage and energy efficiency. Currently this demand forecast is made 7-10 days into the future. These mill-wide models for water and energy balances give everyone a 360 degree view of utility demand and supply. The results have been outstanding. Several projects have improved the mill's overall water usage and energy efficiency.

Attend this talk to learn how Verso will achieve their goals by leveraging the benefits of future data capabilities in the PI System.