ABB has officially opened a new global research and development (R&D) center for the pulp and paper industry in Dundalk, Ireland.
The new multi-million-dollar ABB Dundalk R&D Centre is at the heart of ABB’s automation and digital offering for the sector and will be home to the ongoing evolution of the ABB Quality Control System (QCS). New ideas and products will be piloted and managed into the suite of applications for improved quality in the complex world of papermaking, where manufacturers often struggle to balance ever-changing variables to produce paper to customers’ particular specifications. This will include solutions for measuring, adjusting, optimizing and controlling quality as the paper web makes its way through the paper machine to form the end-products, including paper and board.
ABB’s vision for the center is to develop solutions that respond to global trends and can meet the sustainability goals of the rapidly evolving industry. A new QCS, for example, has the potential to reduce annual waste (production losses) by two percent or more per paper machine. This can impact a mill's sustainability goals by also reducing annual emissions for each machine by the same two percent, or 1.1 kt CO2, using the assumption of 57 kt CO2 emissions for a typical paper/board/tissue machine.
This project is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland.
“This is a very welcome investment in Louth and the wider region, and is an endorsement of the area as an excellent place for businesses to thrive and grow,” said Dara Calleary T.D., the Minister for Trade Promotion and Digital Transformation. “ABB’s new center here in Dundalk will support technology advancement in the pulp and paper industry with the creation of up to 30 new highly skilled jobs to the area. “The new R&D facility will provide an exciting space for innovation to help papermakers in areas such as waste reduction, reducing emissions including finding new ways of reaching sustainability goals. The Government is hugely supportive of any new innovations that help us reach our goal of protecting the future of our planet. Thanks to ABB for their continued investment in Ireland. Congratulations to all the team, and I wish you the best with this exciting new chapter.”