Portuguese
LD Celulose S.A., a joint venture between the Austrian Lenzing and the Brazilian Duratex, is setting up one of world's largest dissolving wood pulp mills in Indianópolis, Triângulo Mineiro region. Started in August 2019, the work continues at an accelerated pace for the start of operations in the first half of 2022. When completed, the manufacturing unit will offer approximately 1,100 direct jobs and will move the entire regional economic chain.
With an investment of US$ 1.3 billion and a pioneer in Brazil in a 100% 3D project, the plant is being fully built with the most modern process and three-dimensional engineering systems. “The goal is to add innovation to the entire construction process that currently forms the backbone of LD Celulose, with schematic engineering tools, 3D models and an integrated database covering the design, construction, start-up, Plant operation and maintenance”, explains LD Celulose's project controller, Joni Silva.
For the system implementation, which has nine companies working with the same methodology, domain tools were used for the entire group, and later configurations of their own database were created in which the companies feed their projects. The systems seek advantages in process safety, in addition to anticipating the evaluation of the operation through consistent models before the physical construction, “In other words, we have a project that gives us practicality and greater reliability in what we are actually acquiring and delivering on time and defined costs”, he completes.
“Digital Twin” represents the entire plant in 3D
When it starts operating, the factory will have gathered, in a single database, information from more than 70,000 engineering documents needed over around 50 months between implementation and construction. The cataloged 3D modeling creates the so-called “digital twin”, a virtual representation of the factory that allows anticipating adjustments, evaluating construction and assembly alternatives, optimizing the planning as a whole, in addition to allowing global collaboration for optimization in processes and production using technologies from the whole world. The 3D visualization and all the information available in the database increase the efficiency of the operation, making it possible to track all the specification necessary for the maintenance of the factory.
“The system's database is updated weekly, enabling the validation of the provided information and, if necessary, carrying out quick revisions”, explains Gustavo Dessotti, PMO and system coordinator at LD Celulose.
Large numbers
To meet the schedule as planned, the work currently employs around 6,000 people, divided into two daily work shifts. The huge numbers don't stop there. The amount of cables used would be able to connect Oiapoque to Chuí, in a total of 4,490km. The 26 eucalyptus plantations – raw material for the pulp production– together have approximately 70,000 hectares, including a planting and conservation area. The total area of the industrial park is 150 hectares, the equivalent of 214 soccer fields.
When in operation, the plant will have the capacity to produce 500 thousand tons of dissolving pulp per year, which will be used for the production of clothing, hygiene and beauty products, among others. In addition, the production process will generate around 144 MW of clean energy, with more than 50% of this total being commercialized and distributed in the national energy distribution network.
