Valmet EVO 64 Fiber Preparation System Commissioned on S. Kijchai Line 3 in Thailand

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 9, the EVO 64 Defibrator fiber preparation system supplied by Valmet to S. Kijchai Enterprise PCL's Line 3 in Thailand completed installation and commissioning and produced its first medium-density fiberboard (MDF) panel. The on-site commissioning team has completed equipment startup and operator training, and the project is currently in the equipment parameter optimization and capacity ramp-up phase. This system is the 13th Defibrator system Valmet has put into operation in Thailand.

The equipment commissioned this time is a second-generation Valmet EVO 64 Defibrator, installed in the front-end fiber preparation section of S. Kijchai Line 3 to process wood chips and other fibrous raw materials into homogeneous fibers required for MDF production. Valmet confirmed the order for this equipment in October 2024 and included it in its new orders for the third quarter of 2024; the contract value was not disclosed at the time. This order was also S. Kijchai's first purchase of a Valmet EVO 64 system.

The EVO 64 belongs to Valmet's second-generation Defibrator equipment. Its structure was re-optimized based on the previous generation in terms of the refining machine housing, rotor alignment, wood chip feeding and preheating steam control, and it adds functions such as automatic control, PLC and HMI remote connectivity, and online bearing and vibration monitoring. Valmet's published EVO series equipment data shows that, compared with other similar systems, its specific energy consumption is reduced by at least 10%, while operating consumption is lowered by reducing the use of fresh water and steam in the fiber preparation process.

S. Kijchai mainly uses rubberwood as raw material to produce MDF, with products targeting furniture manufacturing and other wood substitute material applications. After the commissioning of this equipment was completed, the first panel came off the line. Valmet's startup team subsequently withdrew from the site, with follow-up technical support shifting to remote mode, and local Thai personnel arranged to visit the plant 2 to 3 times per week to track equipment operation and production line parameter adjustments.

Line 3 has not yet completed capacity ramp-up. Valmet and S. Kijchai will continue to adjust the operating parameters of the EVO 64 so that the fiber preparation system matches the subsequent panel production stages and the production line is raised to full-load operation. Equipment startup, first panel production, on-site training and subsequent optimization constitute the continuous implementation milestones in this project's transition from installation and commissioning to formal production.

Valmet has previously deployed EVO 64 equipment in multiple MDF projects in Southeast Asia. In 2024, the Mekong MDF plant in Vietnam commissioned an EVO 64 Defibrator and ChipWash wood chip washing system, with a fiber preparation capacity of 45 tons/hour, corresponding to an annual plant capacity of more than 400,000 cubic meters. The S. Kijchai project uses the same series of EVO 64 equipment, but this official disclosure did not provide the hourly processing capacity corresponding to Line 3.