Monday, April 28, 2025
In order to hit the production “sweet spot” more consistently, MDF panel maker, Pfleiderer, decided to do things differently at its plant in Baruth, Germany. ANDRITZ appreciated the challenge of coming up with a tailor-made solution, featuring a range of new designs that created possibly the most advanced refiner-feeding system in the industry.
In Baruth, near Berlin, Pfleiderer has been manufacturing wood-based panels for almost a quarter of a century, supplying building and decorating materials for homes, offices, healthcare, hotels and restaurants. In that time, it has earned a reputation as one of the leading operators in the MDF business. To make that possible, they use one of the largest refining systems in the industry. Due to continuous growth and Pfleiderer’s determination to maximise the plant’s operating efficiency, they decided to use the latest state-of-the-art innovations from ANDRITZ, to optimize Baruth’s refining system.
That meant changing things up, especially between the plant’s digester and refiner. Baruth wanted consistent chip quality at the digester exit, processed and fed at a consistent rate, so they could run the refiner at a consistent load and speed. At the same time, they also came up with a plan to make the whole new digester discharger/screw feeder set-up easier to access, for quicker maintenance. ANDRITZ responded with a range of tailor-made innovations, featuring a radical change in layout, a built-in third chip-steaming stage, and a new screw design.
After nearly 20 years in operation, Pfleiderer aimed to address operating pressure challenges and prepare the plant for the next generation of industry demands. As part of this upgrade, they sought to replace the digester discharger with a new unit that would better align with their mechanical performance, quality standards, and profitability targets. They turned to ANDRITZ for a customized discharger, precisely designed to help the Baruth plant operate at its optimal “sweet spot.”
As Alexander Held, Technical Services Director, Pfleiderer, explains: “We wanted a new, state-of-the-art digester base unit, designed with diameter and pressure levels to fit our requirements.”
The upgrade required quite a few innovations, and ANDRITZ was glad to contribute. Alexander Held remarks, “We’ve never had a partner before that was so open to non-standard requirements; ANDRITZ really listened and immediately understood our wishes.” Karl Rausseck, Technical Services, Pfleiderer, adds, “The experience from planning phase to final design was very positive – unique. I’ve never seen such a good design.” Florian Grünberger, ANDRITZ Key Account Manager, admits, “Our customers usually run their refining systems for decades. Over such long periods, production capacity, fiber quality and energy consumption requirements can often change. It was great to be able to offer a tailor-made solution for a customer with specific requirements, to adapt to changing production conditions.”
The newly-designed digester discharger works quite differently from the old one. Instead of being a classic drop feeder, the new unit compresses the cooked woodchips via a slightly conical screw set-up, to create chip plugs. These then enter the new ANDRITZ C-Feeder (constant feeder), which slices the chip plugs into small, equal-sized pieces, to ensure a highly-consistent feed volume entering the refiner. Other innovations included a central steam unit, which gives Pfleiderer the option of a third steaming stage, especially for any fiber clumps that may have evaded the two steaming stages inside the digester itself. This helps to ensure less-variable temperatures, and that can actually reduce overall steam consumption.
“We have been using this option since Day 1, right from the startup”, explains Alexander Held, while Christoph Liese, Production Manager, Pfleiderer, confirms, “We have a good steam spread now.”
Need for feed
A new, compact and maintenance-friendly C-Feeder was also manufactured to Pfleiderer’s specific design. This state-of-the-art unit replaced the old twin-screw design with a single screw. Karl Rausseck explains: “I was skeptical, at first. I’ve been working on this digester for more than 20 years, and I was afraid the C-Feeder wouldn’t be able to handle the operating conditions: there can be some big fiber chunks to deal with. But it has turned out to be really solid.” Florian Grünberger understands: “It’s a more complex piece of equipment, so Karl was afraid it would be more sensitive, but in fact, it is very robust.”
CUSTOMER BENEFITS
Homogeneous feeding of wood chips leads to
According to Christoph Schwarz, ANDRITZ Product Manager, “Pfleiderer is a very careful customer, keeping a keen eye out for any difficulties. So from such a high-precision customer, this is very high praise, indeed.”
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