Voith Paper Assists with Rebuild After Fire at Gelsenkirchen Mill

Heidenheim, Germany 17 March 2008 -- Following a fire in December 2007, Fritz Peters, Gelsenkirchen, had a successful restart of PM 1 on 13 February 2007, thanks to Voith Paper Rolls, Dueren. The PM 1 now shines with new brightness and runs with Voith Paper roll covers, felts, and fabrics. Extensive fire damage prompted planned rebuilds at the drying hood and exchanges of some of the drying cylinders, and a near complete rebuild of the drying section and parts of the press section that were destroyed by the fire.

As soon as access to the building was authorized, Voith Paper Rolls Dueren deployed a mounting crew to begin the clean-up and repair work. Crews dismantled and repaired 120 guide rolls and all felt stretcher and felt guides of the press and drying section. In addition, it was necessary to grind the drying cylinders. Therefore, Voith Paper organized a multinational crew with five mobile grinders in a very short time to assist in the rebuild.

During the course of the renovations, it was determined that the drying cylinders were damaged from the intense heat from the fire and a large amount of the cylinders had leakages. The drying cylinders were dismantled and repaired. Sealing, grinding, and balancing of the cylinders was done in the Voith Paper Service Center Dueren.

Due to the extensive clean-up operations, which were carried out in and at the building, it was not possible to access the building. Nevertheless, all tasks were carried out on schedule through joint efforts of Voith Paper and Fritz Peters.

Voith Paper is a division of Voith and is one of the leading partners to the paper industry. Voith Paper optimizes the paper production process through constant innovations. More than a third of worldwide paper production is produced on Voith Paper machines. Voith has a current workforce of 37,000, sales of EUR 4 billion, and over 270 locations worldwide. It is one of the largest family-owned enterprises in Europe.