As the leading developer and world leader in continuous lumber dry kilns, Valutec has delivered more than 1,500 continuous kilns to sawmills around the world.
Valutec commissioned North America’s first TC continuous kiln at Pleasant River Lumber’s Moose River site in Jackman, Maine, 18 months ago, and the second TC kiln was commissioned at Pleasant River’s site in Dover, Maine, in April 2020.
“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 at Moose River.
Pleasant River recently invested in another Valutec TC kiln for the company’s third sawmill in Enfield, Maine.
“We received quotes from other suppliers, but in the end it wasn’t a difficult decision. We are really happy with the TC continuous kilns at our sawmills in Dover and Jackman, and wanted to continue working with Valutec,” said Jason Brochu, co-owner of Pleasant River.
Valutec TC kilns offer low energy consumption, high flexibility, and superior capacity. The kiln operator can create the ultimate drying process with unlimited freedom to mix dimensions with minimal moisture content variation and reduced risk of checking. Annual capacity can reach 125 million board feet with target moisture contents down to around 12-18 percent.
The principle of continuous dry kilns is based on the timber package being fed lengthwise 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.
Valutec TC kilns are equipped with Valutec’s control system, Valmatics 4.0, which has an integrated simulator that enables simultaneous optimization of capacity, quality, and energy consumption.
“The leap in technology has fundamentally changed the way of working at many sawmills,” said Ingo Wallocha, managing director of Valutec Wood Dryers Inc. “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.”
The Valutec TC kiln has quickly become a favourite among sawmills around the world. During the past year Valutec has sold and installed TC kilns in North America, Central Europe, Scandinavia, and Russia.
The startup of Pleasant River’s TC kilns did not go unnoticed. Before the Corona virus outbreak, several sawmills sent representatives to Pleasant River to take a closer look at the Valutec TC kilns. The response from the visits was overwhelming. Today, Valutec TC kilns are being installed at JD Irving and Grand Lake Timber in Canada and Hampton Lumber Company in Warrenton, Oregon, for commissioning this fall.
“I can honestly say that whoever sees the Valutec TC kiln at Moose River probably won’t buy another kiln again,” said Ingo. “Whenever I talk to the guys at Moose River or Dover, I’m really proud to hear that they’ve had the best experience with our kilns.”
Valutec was chosen to deliver eight TC kilns to Russia’s ULK Group. The company is investing more than 400 million Euros in one of the country’s biggest sawmill investments in modern times. The ambition is to have one of the world’s largest and most modern sawmills with an annual capacity of more than 425 million board feet of sawn timber when completed in 2023.
“That ULK chose Valutec for this state-of-the-art project proves that our solutions are a good match for sawmills all over the world,” said Robert Larsson, CEO of Valutec Group
“Our mission is to facilitate an increased use of wood products in every customer market. We are honored to help ULK optimize their drying process, which we know makes a big difference on every sawmill’s bottom line.”
Leading up to the decision, ULK carried out a comprehensive comparison of major kiln suppliers and visited many reference installations.
“Our ambition is to build the world’s most modern sawmill, and to do so we must 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.”
Valutec released the Valmatics 4.0 control system 18 months ago. It allows sawmills around the world to automate and optimize 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.
“We knew that the market had a demand for an automated control system, but the response has been better than we could imagine,” said Ingo. “In 18 months, we’ve already sold over 500 Valmatics 4.0 systems.”
Valmatics 4.0 is the only control system on the market that combines simulator technology with adaptive control. It enables drying optimization based on capacity, quality, and energy consumption.
With Valmatics 4.0, 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 control system does the rest. This frees up time for more important operations, such as saw planning, quality control, and sampling.
For more information about Valutec, visit www.valutec.ca or contact Ingo at (416) 640 7478 or ingo.wallocha@valutec.ca.
