2017 International Forest Industries Magazines October November 2017 | Page 22

Technology, the process engineers
(and Söderhamn Eriksson/USNR’s
agent) out of New Zealand, to
review our plans and ensure a
smooth machine installation.”
“Another challenge was the
isolation factor,” said Vimlesh.
“It takes almost 2 months for
shipments to reach Fiji from
Sweden.” As if these challenges
weren’t enough, a major cyclone
hit the island in the middle of the
project. “Despite these factors, and
the time zone difference between
Fiji and Sweden, the project was
implemented on time,” said
Vimlesh.
Results
The new mill has a capacity of
350m3/day, however it is currently
being run at a daily average of
180m3 to ensure sustainability
of the island’s forests. As a
result of the new equipment,
timber recovery has increased
significantly. The new line also
offers greater flexibility and can
handle larger diameter logs.
For Söderhamn Eriksson/USNR,
this was a unique and challenging
project. Lars Lindvall comments,
“We knew this project was going to
have significant challenges, but we
were pleased to be able to outfit
this operation with state-of-the-art
equipment that will serve Tropik’s
interests for many years to come.”
Logs are rotated at the 750E log turner
bed. The side rollers have spikes
to hold the log’s rotated position
securely while feeding into the
cutting tools. The infeed offers
side shift capability of ±30 mm
and follows the path defined by
the sawline optimizer to achieve
accurate opening faces on both
sides. Spiked rolls firmly secure
and feed the logs into the chipper
canter unit.
The Chipper Canter with
CombiSpiral discs was chosen
because it produces first class pulp
chips, and boards with smooth
sawn faces and proven dimensional
accuracy. With a wide variety of
accessories, it can be customized
for log or cant breakdown,
straight or sweep sawing and for
production speeds up to 150 m/
min.
The process: Sawing
The quad bandsaw maximizes
production and performance with
thin kerf saws. It is designed for
high product accuracy at feed
speeds up to 120 m/min. Two to
four sideboards are separated at
the board separator, and dropped
onto the edger conveyor.
The cant is turned 90 degrees
and conveyed to the Cant Feeder
435 which positions it in front of
the second chipper canter; it is
centered, side shifted and skewed
for the most accurate curve sawing
following the cant’s natural shape.
The curve sawn cant enters
the single arbor circular saw with
4 shifting saws and the option to
mount additional saws on the outer
shafts. Side and center boards
are sent to the green chain. Side
boards are manually separated and
sent to the optimized edger.
The process: Edging
The cant is processed through the 2500 Chipper Canter upstream of the
circular saw
The Catech 400 edger line
includes an S-shaped unscrambler,
transverse scanner with conveyor,
edger infeed and 3-saw edger,
edgings separator, and board
outfeed. The edger line offers
high speeds and top recovery with
optimized wane control, and a split
saw for processing wide boards.
The install
One of the challenges we faced
was integrating new equipment
into an old facility with in-place
infeed and green chain. “The
costs of moving everything would
make the project commercially
unviable,” said Faiz Khan, Fiji
Pine’s Executive Chairman. “To
increase our chance of success, we
engaged the services of Skookum
20 International Forest Industries | OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2017
A flitch is fed into the Catech edger machine