Messer nominated for the entrepreneurs’ award “TRIGOS 2011”
The industrial gas specialist Messer has developed a concept for the “Green Paper Mill” – this is designed to enable all the CO2 produced in paper production to be recycled.
The industrial gas specialist Messer nominated itself for the award TRIGOS Lower Austria 2011 with the “Green Paper Mill” concept. The TRIGOS is Austria’s award for Corporate Social Responsibility. Each year outstanding examples of entrepreneurial commitment are awarded prizes. Helmut Gutenberger from Messer in Austria and Robert Schlatter from Messer in Switzerland have developed the concept of the “Green Paper Mill”. A modular system would permit the use of energy and fresh water during paper production to be decreased while at the same time reducing the emissions in particular of substances which require a certificate, such as carbon dioxide. It is believed that it could be possible to recycle all the CO2 created in paper production.
Industrial gases to combat emissions and power consumption
Operation of a paper mill entails large amounts of different raw materials and significant impacts on the environment. The “Green Paper Mill” concept proffers a solution: The combination of an air separation plant for producing air gases such as oxygen and nitrogen and a paper mill enables large-scale synergies between paper production, power generation and air separation to be utilised, thus reducing the consumption of energy and fresh water and decreasing CO2 emissions and the use of various chemicals. Depending on the parameters required for paper production, it is even conceivable that the air gases produced and the carbon dioxide generated could be completely recycled in the paper production process.
In many industrialised countries the paper industry is one of the largest energy consumers. In particular the milling and grinding processes required for processing the pulp needed to produce paper consume a large amount of energy. The specific power requirements here amount to between 1500 and 2200 kWh per tonne of pulp. This is where one process element of the “Green Paper Mill” comes into play: It can significantly reduce the specific energy consumed during the pulp milling process. Further environmental impacts accounted for in the “Green Paper Mill” concept involve in particular water consumption, emissions of pollutants into the air and waste water, and the use of problematical chemicals.
The TRIGOS is awarded to companies which, regardless of their size, demonstrate the most holistic CSR commitment and implement the best project. The renowned entrepreneurs’ prize is awarded for the categories “Workplace”, “Society”, “Market” and “Ecology”.
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