Pulp & Paper Canada September/October 2013

PULP& PAPER CANADA

DISSOLVING PULP OUTLOOK INSIDE CANFOR’S R&D CENTRE PROCESS CONTROL CASE STUDIES

OVER 100 YEARS OF SERVING THE INDUSTRY

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2013

www.pulpandpapercanada.com

REDUCE: Energy-efficient Greenpac start-up REUSE: Atlantic Packaging’s Whitby conversion RECYCLE: Why we need OCC

An Official Partner of the Pulp and Paper Technical Association of Canada

PAP

Pulp an Associa

We help market pulp mills manage energy and optimize their operations We make sure our members—including kraft pulp mills—are well-equipped to reduce production costs and increase productivity. Many Canadian kraft mills have recently installed condensing turbines to generate electricity. The challenge for them was then to find sufficient steam to maximize turbine output and electricity sales, while continuing to meet process demands for heat.

To help our members, we initiated a new project in collaboration with CanmetENERGY to deliver a cost-effective process by which they can analyze and optimize heat and water balances to meet this new demand for steam.

Preliminary steam mapping for one mill has already found several opportunities to substitute warm and hot water for steam when heating process streams from below 50°C , freeing up valuable steam for their turbine.

Discover how FPInnovations’ research revolutionizes the market pulp industry. fpinnovations.ca

OUR NAME IS INNOVATION

FPInnovations is among the world’s largest private, non-profit research centres working in forest innovation. FPInnovations helps the forest industry develop pathbreaking solutions based on the unique attributes of Canada’s forest resources.

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PULP& PAPER

September/October 2013 Vol. 114, No. 5 A Business Information Group Publication PRINT EDITION ISSN 0316-4004 ON-LINE EDITION ISSN 1923-3515

CANADA

OVER 100 YEARS OF SERVING THE INDUSTRY

COVER STORIES

20

8 Atlantic Packaging’s mill conversion 8 Greenpac’s greenfield start-up 20 The increasing significance of old

corrugated containers

34

Don’t throw away good fibre. OCC has value to both the packaging industry and the Canadian economy

FEATURES

13 R&D sets Canfor apart

The pulp maker’s behind-the-scenes competitive edge is a six-person research team that is closely linked to both sales and operations.

24 Wild ride for dissolving pulp

Balancing supply and demand for viscose grades could take another three years.

16

Process control update: seeking stability

Canfor Pulp and Zellstoff Celgar share their experiences with recent process control upgrades. For both mills, the investments have reduced variability of inputs to the digester.

PAPTAC TECHNICAL PAPER

28 Adding a biomass-fired cogeneration

power plant to a natural gas processing plant This type of project could be an opportunity for collaboration between the oil and gas and pulp and paper industries.

Derek McCann, Amec

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IN EVERY ISSUE

4 8 15 15 32 33 34

Editorial Industry News Opinion: FPAC Opinion: FPInnovations

24

Technology News Classified Ads Bio-Economy

MISSION STATEMENT: To promote the pulp and paper industry in Canada by publishing news of its people and their innovations in research, technology, management and financing, as well as forecasts of future trends.

Serving the industry since 1903.

For breaking news, visit www.pulpandpapercanada.com Cover image: Greenpac mill, courtesy of Norampac

www.pulpandpapercanada.com

September/October 2013

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Editorial

Managing highs and lows

T

here are skeptics about the future of the dissolving pulp market, but the experts and owners Carroll McCormick spoke with for his article on page 24 certainly don’t fall under that heading. Despite the glut of capacity caused by too many believers jumping on the bandwagon, several Canadian mills are still planning to invest in the sector. They say dissolving pulp producers will be back in the driver’s seat in 2017.

But what a wild ride this market has proven to be. Can you say volatile? As the price and supply/demand balance for commodity grade dissolving pulp have been fluctuating, Paper Excellence has changed its mind about the conversion plans for its Prince Albert mill twice in 18 months. Fortress Paper is looking for partners to share the risk before beginning the conversion of Lebel-sur-Quevillon. And in China, producers are switching back and forth between dissolving pulp and paper-grade pulp as the market dictates.

This issue also contains coverage of the less volatile packaging grades of paper and board. The Cindy Macdonald Editor built-from-scratch Greenpac containerboard mill and Atlantic Packaging’s converted-from-newsprint linerboard mill are both up and running (page 8).

Completing the loop is a discussion of old corrugated containers (OCC) on page 20. Don’t throw away good fibre is the message from the Paper & Paperboard Packaging Environmental Council (PPEC). Don’t let it biodegrade in landfill when instead it could make new boxes.

The OCC article reminds us and the public to use our fibre resource wisely. It was written for the general public, but since we don’t all work with recovered fibre, I thought it would be interesting to the rest of us as well.

PPEC’s executive director, John Mullinder, has been saying interesting things in his blog, which is strongly pro-paper of course. Recently, he pointed out that deforestation by the oil and gas industry is much more significant than deforestation by forest products companies who actually plant more than they reap.

“Because when you dig into the Canadian details, it turns out that the extraction of oil and gas (the raw materials from which plastics are derived) is responsible for more than double the deforestation in Canada than the forest industry,” he said in his Aug. 20, 2013 blog post at http://www.ppec-paper.com/index.php/blog/.

On the subject of using resources wisely, let me share a few tidbits from Resolute Forest Products’ press release about its second quarter results. The company says it has achieved a 7% drop in operating cost per unit, i.e. delivered cost, equal to US$42/tonne.

Newsprint production costs touched record company lows in the quarter due to lower labor and seasonal steam costs, and the favorable contribution of power sales from the new Thunder Bay cogeneration assets.

So this issue has highs and lows and loops. Sounds like a carnival ride. Enjoy.

Editor CINDY MACDONALD 416-510-6755 cindy@pulpandpapercanada.com Publisher JIM BUSSIERE 416-442-5600 ext. 3606 jim@pulpandpapercanada.com President, Business Information Group BRUCE CREIGHTON Vice President, Publishing ALEX PAPANOU Executive Publisher, Manufacturing TIM DIMOPOULOS

ADVISORY BOARD Richard Foucault Greg Hay Dr. Richard Kerekes Barbara van Lierop Dr. David McDonald Dennis McNinch Dr. Yonghao Ni Bryant Prosser Dr. Paul Stuart Ross Williams EDITORIAL/SALES OFFICES 80 Valleybrook Dr., Toronto, ON M3B 2S9 Phone: 416-442-5600.

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September/October 2013

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Industry News

The first roll of lightweight linerboard was produced at the new Greenpac containerboard mill on July 15.

Greenpac is a corporation created

by Cascades in partnership with the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Jamestown Container and Containerboard Partners.

The construction of the mill was entrusted to Norampac, a division of Cascades. It started-up on schedule July 15. Norampac is also responsible for the management of Greenpac’s operations.

Located in Niagara Falls, NY, the Greenpac mill is considered the most advanced in its category in North America. Greenpac produces a lightweight linerboard, made of 100% recycled fiber, on a 328-inch machine (8.33 meters), with an annual production capacity of 540,000 short tons.

Greenpac was designed for optimal energy efficiency and with many automated operations. The water is treated and reused in order to reduce consumption as much as possible.

In addition, the water treatment system generates gases that are used for steam production, to dry the paper.

“Greenpac is the most important investment in the his-

Atlantic Packaging’s lightweight paper “will be a game-changer” A multi-million dollar upgrade of Atlantic Packaging’s Whitby mill has allowed the company to introduce SmartCorr, a new high-performance, lightweight 100% recycled paper (liner and medium). SmartCorr can be used to manufacture high performance corrugated products that will be lighter, stronger and more sustainable.

According to a story in Canadian Packaging magazine’s May 2013 issue, the rebuild of the Whitby newsprint machine will eventually produce 1,100 tonnes per day of the lightweight, high-performance paper.

The feedstock is 100% old corrugated container (OCC) fibres.

“This new SmartCorr will be a gamechanger in the North American corrugated industry,” Atlantic Packaging’s president, David Boles, told Canadian Packaging.

“Quite simply, this is not the kind of product they can get anywhere else.

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tory of Cascades. It symbolizes the future of this company we founded nearly 50 years ago,” said Alain Lemaire, executive chairman of Cascades’ Board of Directors. “Thanks to the audacity and leadership of the Norampac team, we are realizing a major project that will take our company to another level in packaging.”

Founded in 1964, Cascades produces, converts and markets packaging and tissue products that are composed mainly of recycled fibres.

“We are the only ones to make what I would dare call a truly revolutionary product – at least in the context of a rather stagnant corrugating industry that has so far not really delivered the sort of breakthrough technological innovation that its customers have been demanding in recent years,” says Boles.

“SmartCorr is the first true lightweight recycled paper available in North America – offering customers sustainability and strength characteristics unlike anything available in the market today,” he continues.

Boles says the equipment traditionally employed in a newsprint mill makes it an ideal site for the production of lightweight recycled paper production, “with some upgrades and alterations of course.” (Read the full Canadian Packaging story at http:// www.canadianmanufacturing.com.)

Atlantic Packaging promotional materials state that, in North America, recycled

September/October 2013

Photo courtesy of Norampac

Cascades’ Greenpac containerboard mill starts up on schedule

paper grades typically range from 23 lb. to 69 lb., while ‘lightweight’ grades are considered anything under 35 lb. SmartCorr paper will not only be available as high performance standard paper grades that allow customers to reduce their packaging, they will also be available as high performance grades below 23 lb.

Atlantic Packaging attributes the strength of SmartCorr to several factors: the use of high quality old corrugated containers (OCC) and specialized equipment at the Whitby mill.

“We’ve utilized European technology in the rebuild of our new mill, allowing us to add an organic surface agent to the paper, giving it exceptional strength and performance characteristics,” reads the SmartCorr flyer. “The technology in the Whitby Mill allows Atlantic to manufacture recycled paper using 20 – 30% less fibre, making SmartCorr the most sustainable recycled paper product in North America.” www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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Industry News

Photo courtesy of Norampac

Tembec expansion receives additional loan The Quebec government is contributing a further $17.8 million dollars to the specialty cellulose expansion at Tembec’s Temiscaming mill, in the form of a longterm loan. The provincial government had already promised $75 million in financial aid to the $355-million project.

Tembec first announced plans for the expansion in March 2012. Phase I, originally expected to cost $190 million, involves an upgrade to the mill’s recovery boilers and the installation of a turbine to produce green electricity. The new boilers will also allow an increase in specialty pulp output.

Phase II is a further investment of $120 million to replace the mill’s batch digesters and increase capacity by 30,000 t/y.

The expansion projects were postponed for several months in late 2012, due to construction cost increases.

A story in The Gazette on June 28 says the costs of construction and equipment have risen since the project was first announced, and this is the reason for the additional loan.

Fortress Paper’s co-gen project delayed by second pump failure The co-generation facility at Fortress Paper’s Thurso, Que., dissolving pulp mill is once again experiencing pump problems.

The company reports that the high pressure water pump at its Fortress Specialty Cellulose Mill was re-installed on July 12, allowing the cogeneration facility to operate for 20 days before being shut-down again due to pump failure. The back-up high pressure water pump was then installed on August 5, but “its operation was again unsustainable due to inadequate repairs,” says a press release.

Fortress Paper has placed an order with an alternate supplier for another high pressure water pump.

Control systems event comes to Quebec next spring PAPTAC will organize and host the next Control Systems Conference, in May 2014.

The biennial event focuses on process control and systems engineering for the pulp and paper industry. The upcoming conference will also feature a new format with web access and live coverage of the sessions. www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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It will be held in Quebec City, on May 13-15, at Loews Le Concorde hotel.

The 2014 edition will be co-sponsored

by PAPTAC and three other international pulp and paper industry associations: SPCI (Sweden), PI (Finland) and TAPPI (USA).

Presenters and attendees will come from all major pulp and paper producing countries, so this will be an opportunity to learn what is happening around the world in this field.

Progress report: NS natural resources strategy moving along Two years after the Nova Scotia government launched its natural resources strategy, Natural Resources Minister Charlie Parker says the government is on schedule with almost all of the 32 actions detailed in the strategy document, “From Strategy to Action.”

“The Path We Share” is a 10-year strategy aimed at improving Nova Scotians’ stewardship of natural resources, including biodiversity, forests, parks, Crown land and geological resources. The province launched the strategy in August 2011 with a companion document, From Strategy to Action, which lists 32 priority actions.

According to the government statement, the timelines have been extended on four actions. Reporting on the state of forests and biodiversity, and improved harvest tracking and silviculture programs will be completed in the next six months. Redesigning the integrated resources management process, and evaluating the effects of implementing an annual allowable cut will take an additional 12 months. Details of the strategy’s 32 actions and progress to date are available at novascotia.ca/natr/strategy/.

Buckman consolidates Canadian and U.S. operations Buckman North America is the new company under which the current Buckman Canada and Buckman United States organizations will be brought together. The move is intended to provide synergy to better serve Buckman’s customers.

The new entity will be based out of the Buckman global headquarters in Memphis.

The specialty chemical supplier will also maintain operations at the current Buckman Canada location in Vaudreuil-Dorion, a suburb of Montreal.

Jim Doan will serve as president of Buckman North America, and Pete Tchou-

People…

• Joe Nemeth, a familiar figure in the B.C. pulp and paper industry, will take over as president and CEO of Catalyst Paper on Oct. 1. He has held executive positions in sales, marketing and operations and was, most recently, president and CEO of Canfor Pulp. He is a director of Fortress Paper Ltd. Catalyst Paper manufactures diverse specialty mechanical printing papers, newsprint and pulp.

With three mills in British Columbia, Catalyst has a combined annual production capacity of 1.5 million tonnes.

• Jean Houde will be putting his diversified knowledge of mill operations and management to use on the PAPTAC executive council. Houde is the regional general manager for the Containerboard division of Norampac, a division of Cascades Canada ULC. • Rob Latter is now corporate vicepresident of the Away From Home division of Kruger Products.

Latter first joined Kruger in 1997 as sales manager for the Kruger Packaging division. In 2001 he became vice-president of the Away From Home division. He returned to the Packaging division as vice-president in 2007. ros will be general manager operations.

“When fully operational, this new Buckman North America structure will give Buckman associates in Canada and the United States increased access to technical knowledge, encourage sharing of best practices and enhance abilities to serve our customers,” said Doan.

Doan points out that the transformation to Buckman North America will be seamless from a customer perspective, with no business interruption.

September/October 2013

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Conventional thermocompressors use high-pressure steam to compress and recirculate uncondensed steam in the dryer section. Kadant’s new high-efficiency thermocompressor has been shown to reduce motive steam consumption and increase overall thermocompressor efficiency by up to 25%. Using advanced computational fluid dynamics modeling, Kadant thermocompressors are designed to maximise steam utilisation.

New UniSet™ doctor blade holder delivers robust performance and simple replacement.

The next generation of doctor blade holders features light-weight composite and carbon-reinforced construction integrated with the UniTrak™ T-rail.

The UniSet™ blade holder offers easy removal, replacement, and upgrades to improve doctoring performance. All blade retention and pivoting components are formed and reinforced within the top-plate and tube tray and there are no items to loosen, twist, or fall into the machine.

ErGo™ filtration system removes contaminants while enhancing safety.

Kadant’s innovative ErGo™ filtration system is designed for protecting shower nozzles and process equipment from contaminants while increasing energy efficiency and contaminant removal. The automatic internal backwash barrel filter design features a safety cap allowing rapid filter media access and a “bottomless” barrel for easy cleaning and element removal.

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EcoFill is a unique high filler concept with outstanding performance for significant fiber and energy savings.

Use it with our Compozil system to get the best results: brilliant performance for enhanced paper quality to allow elevated filler content by 5-10 points without sacrificing runnability.

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7/30/13 2013-01-15 6:41:06 PM 16:12 13-09-20 4:11 PM

Industry News

R&D sets Canfor apart The pulp maker’s behind-the-scenes competitive edge is a six-person research group that is closely linked to both sales and operations teams.

In-house research and development at Canadian pulp and paper companies has diminished significantly in recent years with restructuring, downsizing and closures in the industry. In fact, R&D has often been the first casualty of these changes. There are, however, a few bright spots on the horizon. On the Western horizon particularly, we have the Canfor Pulp Innovation Centre, the research arm of Canfor Pulp Limited Partnership (CPLP). Located in Burnaby, B.C., the centre has just celebrated its second year of operation.

Brett Robinson, CPLP’s president, underscores that innovation is a strategic imperative for Canfor Pulp, North America’s largest producer of NBSK market pulp.

The centre closely adheres to the definition of innovation put forth by SRI International, which dictates the “creation and delivery of new customer value that also provides a sustainable return to the enterprise.” As described by its director, Paul Watson, Canfor Pulp Innovation (CPI) “is

assisting the company’s three pulp mills in unique capabilities. One is PulpEye, a senPrince George to implement operational sor system for measuring pulp fibre qualimprovements and enhance product qual- ity on-line. Four PulpEye units are also ity, providing technical support for sales being installed in multiple locations in the and marketing, and exploring new prod- Prince George mills as part of a $9.5-miluct opportunities.” lion project codenamed MIHARI. “HavRobinson speaks highly of the com- ing the PulpEye in our lab significantly Continued on page 14 pany’s innovation arm.

“CPI has achieved the challenging targets we set at its inception, and we are enthusiastic about the future initiatives they will bring forward and the corresponding results they will deliver in this key role in our company.”

Since the centre’s opening, major investments have been made, namely, upgrading the lab pulp refiner and the purchase of new analytical tools.

Scientist Alice Obermajer tests samples in FTIR for troubleThe centre has several shooting a mill problem.

Photo courtesy of Canfor

SAFEST MILL IN CANADA CONTEST Year to date, July 31, 2013

Total Recordable Incidents

Total Hours Worked

Canfor Pulp provides $75,000 grant to B.C. researchers Mill Frequency

CATEGORY A – OVER 80,000 MANHOURS PER MONTH Domtar Inc., Windsor, QC

5

887,243 1.13

Tembec – Kapuskasing Operations, Kapuskasing ON 14

974,271 2.87

Canfor, Northwood Pulp Mill, Prince George, BC

564,675 3.19

9

CATEGORY B – 50,000 to 80,000 MANHOURS PER MONTH Resolute Forest Products, Thunder Bay, ON

3

519,023 1.16

Kruger Inc., Bromptonville, QC

3

361,496 1.66

Resolute Forest Products, Baie-Comeau, QC

4

442,489 1.81

CATEGORY C – LESS THAN 50,000 MANHOURS PER MONTH Resolute Forest Products, Laurentide, QC

0

297,551 0.00

Resolute Forest Products, Kenogami, QC

0

204,483 0.00

Resolute Forest Products, Amos, QC

0

196,311 0.00

www.pulpandpapercanada.com

Dr. Heather Trajano of the University of British Columbia and Dr. Rodger Beatson of the British Columbia Institute of Technology will receive a $75,000 grant under the Canfor Pulp University Grants Program to support their project on recovery of hemicellulose monomers and oligomers from pulp mill waste streams for use as strength additives in paper products.

The award provides $75,000 to support their research over three years.

“Canfor Pulp is pleased to provide financial support for what we see as cutting-edge research that will help us derive value from waste streams in our pulp mills,” said Brett Robinson, president of Canfor Pulp. Robinson presented the award Aug. 28 at a ceremony held at UBC. This is the fourth award issued through the program.

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Industry News

reduces times for pulp testing as part of our weekly monitoring using a pilot-scale refiner, and enables close monitoring of mill calibrations,” explains Watson. “More importantly, we are working closely with PulpEye AB and FPInnovations to develop next generation on-line fibre quality analysis tools, specifically a fibre wall thickness module. MIHARI will set CPLP further apart from our competition, giving us a significant marketing edge.”

Conveying that technical advantage to

Premium Reinforcement Pulp.

The Centre has a small permanent staff of six and an open innovation platform which enables use of a blend of other resources. According to Watson, “We utilize the extensive knowledge of two world-renowned specialist technical consultants. Our in-house research staff is augmented by a rotating cohort of five co-op students. We also sponsor international institutional and university research on specific projects.”

“We also maintain very close collaboration with the microscopy group at FPInnovations, the University of British Columbia, and other groups when we require more in-depth analytical support for our mills and customers,” he continues.

The Centre further augments its research with the University Grants Program. This is a yearly competition for research funding at UBC and the University of Northern British Columbia in partnership with NSERC, the national research funding agency.

Watson describes the role of this program as one of “widening our research horizon to bring in new ideas and build bridges with the two universities closest to our operations.” Now in its third year of operation, the program has this far awarded more than $200,000.

According to James Olson, director of UBC’s Pulp and Paper Centre, “This is a model program of Technologist Ranbir Heer checks MIHARI console readings in centre with mill readings in Prince George. university-industry partnership Photo courtesy of Canfor on a sustained basis that also connects our students with potential customers is another function of CPI. The future employers.” centre contributes to Canfor’s Technical Looking to the future, Watson sees Marketing Program (TEMAP) to support a growing need for in-house innovation the sales team. In operation since the mid- focused on competitive advantage. “Stay1990s, this program provides information ing competitive in the future will require and seminars to customers on fibre quality, technical excellence along with an intimate processing and the impact on products for knowledge of a company’s entire value possible cost savings. Over the last three chain, from its resources and capabiliyears, more than 60 seminars have been ties, to knowledge of the marketplace. Our given around the world, mainly on the centre is closely linked to both operations subjects of pulp refining, fibre quality, and and sales for this reason and is strongly tissue manufacturing using CPLP’s PRP supported by our executive team.”

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September/October 2013

In brief...

• Have you seen pink hand towels in public washrooms lately?

They are Cascades’ way of showing its support for breast cancer research. Cascades is donating $0.50 per case sold, with a minimum donation of $5,000 to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation®.

Watch for pink hand towels in public washrooms, as Cascades shows its support for breast cancer research.

• The Canadian paper packaging industry’s environmental council, PPEC, has launched a new website specifically focused on paper bags: www.paperbagscanada.org.

• Domtar Corporation will sell its Ariva paper distribution business in the United States to privatelyheld Central National-Gottesman Inc. Ariva’s Canadian operations are not affected by the transaction. The Canadian operations will be consolidated into Domtar’s Pulp and Paper Division as they had been historically, upon closing of the transaction.

Resolute upgrading woodyard at Augusta mill Resolute Forest Products is making a US$30-million investment in the woodyard of its Augusta, Georgia, newsprint mill, the Augusta Chronicle reports.

According to the paper, the new woodyard will process full-length logs, and allow the mill to move away from using waste-paper furnish.

www.pulpandpapercanada.com

13-09-20 4:11 PM

Opinion

Competitiveness and cost reduction: Finding solutions for pulp mills

By Jennifer Ellson, senior communications specialist, FPInnovations

R

ising cost pressures have always been a major concern for the pulp and paper industry and today keeping up with shifting market demands adds additional pressures.

FPInnovations’ scientists and researchers at our Vancouver and Montreal facilities have been developing processes and implementing new technologies to improve the competitiveness of market pulp mills.

The aim of FPInnovations’ Market Pulp Program is to reduce production costs and increase productivity for market pulp producers, including kraft, high-yield pulp and dissolving pulp mills, and help these producers retain their market share in traditional markets while increasing their sales in growing market segments.

Amid the continuing economic uncertainties, member companies are turning to FPInnovations to help boost the competitiveness they need in order to stay ahead. The performance of market pulps

in tissue grades, as well as energy management and optimization in kraft pulp mills, are the major areas that our scientists are focusing on.

For example, FPInnovations is helping member companies understand and enhance the role of market pulps in tissue grades, a growing market area for Canada’s high quality northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK). NBSK is an important part of tissue manufacturing, particularly in high-end products, helping to improve tissue strength and machine runnability, and to balance manufacturing cost with performance. Fibre morphology and chemistry are important factors, and NBSK’s thinner and longer fibres not only provide better strengthening potential, but potentially help with bulk/softness enhancement in creping processes.

Many member company kraft mills have installed condensing turbines purchased with funding assistance from Natural Resources Canada’s Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program. It is challenging to find sufficient excess steam

within the mill to maximize turbine output and electricity sales, while continuing to meet process demands for heat. FPInnovations has initiated a new project in collaboration with CanmetENERGY to help mills develop a cost-effective process by which they can analyze and optimize heat and water balances to meet this new demand for steam.

As part of the collaboration with CanmetENERGY, we are performing case studies to illustrate the tools and methods for optimizing steam usage and management in kraft pulp mills with electricity cogeneration.

By helping Canadian kraft pulp mills become more cost effective and reduce their environmental footprint, FPInnovations is contributing to making Canada’s forest sector more economically competitive and environmentally sustainable.

For more information about FPInnovations’ Market Pulp Program, please contact Gail Sherson, research manager, at gail.sherson@fpinnovations.ca or at 604-225-5800.

Canadian innovation shines on the global stage

By David Lindsay, president and CEO, Forest Products Association of Canada

M

uch has been said about the need for Canadian businesses to foster a culture of innovation as a key condition for Canada’s future success in the global economy. Canadians can now celebrate global leadership in innovation in the forest industry. A Canadian researcher, Dr. Derek Gray, is receiving the prestigious Marcus Wallenberg award from the King of Sweden at a gala event in Stockholm this month.

The award, considered the “Nobel Prize for Forestry”, is being given to Dr. Gray in honour of his ground-breaking work on nanocrystalline cellulose (or crystalline nanocellulose, CNC, as it is now called), during his career with McGill University and FPInnovations.

CNC is being hailed as the latest wonwww.pulpandpapercanada.com

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der material. Why the fuss? Well its applications can be endless – metal and plastic car parts, bone replacement and teeth repair, pharmaceutical and drug delivery, “intelligent” packaging materials, printed electronic circuits on paper, as well as additives for paint, pigments, inks and cosmetics based on its iridescent optical properties. Besides, it has a strength-toweight ratio that is eight times better than stainless steel. Even better, it comes from an abundant natural renewable resource – our forests.

Canada has been in the forefront of research into CNC. The work by Dr. Gray and his colleagues helped result in a ground breaking CNC pilot project at the FPInnovations lab in suburban Montreal and in the opening of a the world’s first CNC demonstration plant, Celluforce, in Windsor, Que., in 2012 that is proving

to be the envy of the world.

This kind of world-leading research and development has been made possible through unwavering vision and dedication to a unique partnership between the forest industry, federal and provincial governments and researchers across the forest sector innovation system. These efforts align with FPAC’s Vision2020 which includes the ambitious goal of generating an additional $20 billion in economic activity from new products and markets.

With continued government help, Canada’s forest products sector can continue to build a global competitive advantage in innovation. Together we can ensure more and higher paid employment and “greener jobs” in forest-dependent rural communities across Canada. And Canada can produce more global-recognized scientific superstars such as Dr. Derek Gray.

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Case Study

Seeking Canfor Pulp and Zellstoff Celgar share their experiences with recent process control upgrades.

The investments have reduced the variability of several key inputs.

STABILITY

By Cindy Macdonald, editor

Z

ellstoff Celgar has implemented a number of process control upgrades that are contributing to more stable operation of the chemical recovery cycle and the digester. Located in Castlegar, B.C., Zellstoff Celgar is a single line kraft mill and producer of renewable power.

The mill received significant upgrades in 1983 and 2012.

It is currently producing 490,000 ADT of pulp and 521 GWh of power, with a goal of increasing pulp production to 540,000 by 2018.

Celgar’s FITNIR Analyzer sampling skid.

Start at the beginning: wood chip analysis Use of the Cook-X control solution from Texo Consulting and Controls, together with the Chip Management System (CMS) developed by the Centre de Recherche Industrielle du Quebec (CRIQ) has allowed Zellstoff Celgar to stabilize digester operation.

Most of the mill’s variation in wood chip moisture and dry bulk density can now be attenuated.

The implementation of the new measurement and control scheme is described in a paper presented at PAPTAC’s PacWest Conference in June 2013, Improved Continuous Digester Controls using Wood Chip Analyzer at Zellstoff-Celgar, by Joe Chircoski of Zellstoff Celgar, and Mario Leclerc and Laurier Morissette of Texo Consulting & Controls Inc. The authors note that modern kraft mills measure almost all key inputs and variables for their process, yet wood chips are largely left unmeasured. In order to obtain an on-line, real-time dry bulk density measurement, they say, you need three different measurements: moisture, volume and mass. Measuring wood chip moisture in real time is challenging because it subjected to several different variables, including color changes and ambient weather.

Zellstoff Celgar chose to use CRIQ’s Chip Management System to provide information for Texo’s Cook-X technology. The authors explain that control algorithms were developed in a collaborative effort with Zellstoff Celgar’s digester operation personnel.

“There was no need to resort to advanced process control (APC) tools such as model predictive control (MPC or any variant) or fuzzy logics to achieve improvement in digester control. The CookX technology is deployed under licence directly into the mill DCS, which is an ABB Bailey Infi90.”

Chip volumetric measurements were installed on each conveyor 16

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Photo courtesy FITNIR Analyzers Inc.

near the discharge of each silo to help stabilize the desired wood chip recipe. A volume control at the chip silos has reduced variability on chip bin level by some 20%, the paper reports.

“The CMS information (temperature, moisture, mass) allows maximizing the flash steam usage, if available, to a maximum of 20,000 kg/hr. Since Zellstoff Celgar exports electric power, this is equivalent to 2.5 MW of extra green power produced from the displaced fresh steam.”

The most noticeable benefit of the new control scheme, say the authors, is a 55% reduction in atmospheric venting of diluted non-condensable gases (DNCG).

One of the most important parameters for a hydraulic digester is the liquor-to-wood ratio. The ability to correctly adjust the liquor-to-wood ratio has largely attenuated changes in wood chip moisture imposed by the wood room operating schedule. The moisture level can change by up to 10% in 30-45 minutes at the time of wood room start-up, because of the processing of river logs.

The authors note that it has always been a struggle to maintain both impregnation and digester level, since both level controls are dynamically coupled. Using the CMS information, “a breakthrough was made that allows the level of the impregnation vessel to be maintained at target all the time.” Residence time in the impregnation vessel is maximized.

Likewise, the new control system presents a way for the digester level to be maintained within range. Large variations of 10-15 kg/m3 in dry bulk density can be dealt with within the digester.

Under the previous fixed chip meter operation, the authors explain, the maximum allowable production rate was curtailed to avoid excessive production rate when dry bulk density ran high, resulting in a kappa number range from 35 to more than 40. www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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IT’S IN OUR FIBER TO BE INNOVATIVE

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At Domtar, we always look to the future beyond the horizon. We always want to make things better and we work together to do it. We bring our resourcefulness and creativity to bear for long-term success.

It’s in our fiber. domtar.com

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Case Study

Smoothing out the chemical recovery cycle Since 2012, Zellstoff Celgar has been using a Fourier-Transform Near Infrared Spectrometer (FT-NIR) analyzer to measure the chemical constituents of various liquor streams in the recovery area of the mill. The mill also employs the Caust-X advanced process control system from Texo.

The use of these two tools to reduce variability in white liquor properties is discussed by Irene Coyle, and Shaun Russell of Zellstoff Celgar, and Vivek Rajbhandari, Mario Leclerc, and Laurier Morrissette, Texo Consulting and Controls Inc., in Improving Smelt Dissolving Tank TTA Control at Zellstoff Celgar. This paper was also presented at PacWest 2013.

Smelt dissolving tank process control is part of the Caust-X advanced process control solution from Texo. It aims to stabilize the raw green liquor TTA using a continuous TTA sensor and controller. A TTA saturation algorithm allows the process to run close to the saturation limit of RGL TTA strength.

The results benefit the mill, the paper explains, with a stable and increased white liquor strength at the re-causticizing process.

The existing controls at Zellstoff Celgar use nuclear density analyzers to provide measurements to the density controllers. The operator specifies the target density sepoint for the green liquor outflow, which modulates the weak wash flow into the smelt dissolving tank. To compensate for problems with measuring density, the operator has to make frequent adjustment to the density setpoint based on the TTA lab test.

A parallel TTA controller has been installed at Zellstoff Celgar.

The system provided by FITNIR Analyzers provides periodic TTA measurements of the RGL sample analyzed using FT-NIR spectroscopy technology.

“The TTA soft sensor uses this periodic TTA measurement to update the TTA-density relationship model. The resulting TTA prediction from the soft sensor is robust and reliable and therefore stable RGL TTA control is achieved,” the authors note.

Comparing RGL TTA before and after implementation of Texo’s smelt dissolving tank control strategy, an average increase of approximately 2 gpl in raw green liquor TTA was observed.

The authors say this was achieved due to the ability to run the smelt dissolving process close to the saturation limit for RGL TTA concentration.

Improved control and faster response A more thorough look at Zellstoff Celgar’s recovery control upgrades is provided in the paper Improved Causticizing Control using FT-NIR Analyzer and Caust-X Controls at Celgar Pulp, by Irene Coyle and Shaun Russell of Zellstoff Celgar, Thanh Trung of FITNIR Analyzers Inc., and Vivek Rajbhandari, Mario Leclerc, and Laurier Morrissette, Texo Consulting and Controls Inc. This paper was also presented at PacWest 2013.

Zellstoff Celgar is using a FT-NIR to provide information which is then used to control the green liquor TTA,in the dissolving tank and causticizing areas, and to control the white liquor (WL) causticizing efficiency (CE). The paper notes the following results since commissioning the system: an increase in CE, a reduction in the standard deviation of white liquor effective alkali, production of a more consistent cooking liquor, and 18

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faster response to changing mill requirements.

The installation of an on-line analyzer and advanced process control system in the chemical recovery cycle was seen as a way to reduce the risk of the recausticizing process becoming a bottleneck to production. The paper explains that Zellstoff Celgar asked FITNIR to implement a six-stream analyzer system to provide complete liquor composition determination as well as solids content.

The FT-NIR analyzer from FITNIR measures raw green liquor, weak wash, CGL, causticizer 1, causticizer 4 and WL. The Castlegar mill also uses Caust-X, an advanced process control solution developed by Texo and FPInnovations.

Describing the results, the authors state there has been “a continual improvement in the WL EA with a large decrease in the standard deviation of the product strength. The CE standard deviation has also improved and CE increase with variability reduction by as much as 42%.”

By improving the stability of the RGL at the dissolving tank, they explain, less variability is seen at the outlet of the green liquor clarifier feeding the slaker, and better control of the causticizing process was realized.

The CE improvements that Celgar has observed would have decreased carbonate dead load by 22 kg/t of pulp, the authors calculate. “Since CaCO3 is the dominant dead load in the system and a serious contributor to scale in the digester system, this reduction in dead load will have a direct financial benefit.”

The reduction in energy required to evaporate the water that is associated with the dead load could lead to further savings, the authors state.

They conclude that Celgar’s use of on-line analysis of liquor compositions and advanced controls has achieved improvements in WL EA and CE, and a more stable recaust operation (40 to 50% less process variability). CE improved from 79 to 82%. They believe the combination of the FITNIR analyzer and Caust-X system will enable Zellstoff Celgar to move toward advanced process control of the wood-to-liquor ratio at the digester.

Brownstock wash control yields significant savings Canfor Pulp’s Northwood mill has achieved more stable and efficient brownstock washing as a result of replacing the existing control algorithm at with model predictive control. The experience was described at PacWest in a paper titled Brownstock Washing Optimization Using Model Predictive Control, by Aaron Shields, Dan Laing and Chris Roberts.

According to the authors, “the MPC system was found to be superior to a conventional control system, having much higher utilization, and yielding savings of about $700,000 per year.”

The mill has two production lines manufacturing high-brightness NBSK pulp. Historically, the mill has been recovery limited, so the brownstock washing lines have generally been run to match the evaporator feed rate, the authors explain. A major recovery boiler rebuild in the summer of 2011 included maintenance on the evaporators, increasing their capacity. However, operators still tended to wash to the recovery limit, frequently resulting in very weak WBL. As part of the controls upgrade, each production line added www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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Case Study

a refractometer to measure the solids content of liquor sent to the recovery area. These were calibrated in Baume.

The authors note that the overall project objective was to minimize the total cost of bleaching carryover, soda losses and WBL. It was decided to use solids concentration as the highest level of control. The group also decided to add wash ratio controllers as a middle level of control, to provided feedforward action during production rate changes and to act as limits on the outputs from the MPC. They explain that goal setting in brownstock washing is complicated because some of the controlled and constrained variables may contradict each other. Also, it is necessary to keep tank levels in a reasonable range, but they can be allowed to vary within that range. In the Canfor case, these goals settings are handled using setpoint ranges and priorities.

Since diffuser washing efficiency is higher at lower production rates, an effort was made to maximize the extraction flows by running to a differential pressure constraint. The Canfor team found some success (a slight increase in total extraction flow), but the diffuser operation became much rougher and more prone to plugging. The authors comment that the constraint may have been set too high, at 80 kPa, when it should have been 70 to 75 kPa. “However, at this lower limit, there was little to be gained in extraction flow, so the maximum extraction flow setpoints were reduced to their previous limits.”

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A cost model was developed as part of the control project, and used to evaluate different operating conditions. For example, for the “B” mill, it was found that “for high production rates, the diffuser and decker washers became wash flow limited, and it was economic to bypass them with the excess liquor.”

On the “B” mill, the control system achieved a 45% reduction in solids (Baume) variability. Calculating wash savings after the control system was implemented, the authors conclude the average annual savings for the “B” mill to be about $500,000.

For the “A” mill, annual savings were calculated to be $200,000.

The control system achieved 27% less variability in this situation.

One of the pitfalls of this MPC is that it was not fast enough during major process upsets to completely reject disturbances.

External logic was added outside of the MPC on a few controlled variables, the authors explain. “Adding in external logic to prevent process upsets allowed operators to have confidence in the controls and encouraged long uptime for the strategy.”

The paper concludes: “Through WBL solids control, the MPC has given the mill an excellent handle to optimize the washing efficiency. Running to a more stable and slightly lower weak black liquor strength is saving the mill roughly $500,000 on “B” mill and $200,000 on “A” mill, primarily by reducing bleaching costs and soda losses.”

For these two mills, reducing variability in the process has a positive effect, felt all the way to the bottom line.

PPC

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Cover Story

A The Increasing Significance of

s a significant source of wood pulp fibre, old corrugated containers (OCC) have become an increasingly valuable commodity which benefits both the paper packaging industry and this country’s economy.

David Andrews, executive director of the Canadian Corrugated and Containerboard Association (CCCA), says the importance of OCC to our recycling paper mills cannot be understated. “For both domestic use and export revenue, the supply of recycled wood pulp fibre from collected OCC is critical to corrugated containerboard supply. It impacts the long-term viability of recycling and fibre reclamation processes that bolster our industry’s manufacturing capability.”

On a global scale, the economics of OCC transactions are impressive. A general shortage of OCC coupled with growing demand by the US and China, along with other countries, is making Canadian OCC a viable export commodity. Countries outside North America need it to cost-effectively produce new paper for new board and new containers. Notable is China – the highest among other net-importing countries – which cannot supply its packaging industry requirements with wood fibre from domestic sources.

Robert Lanthier, Norampac’s vice-president of sales, marketing and innovation for the firm’s containerboard and boxboard divisions, observes that China is growing at a very fast pace but their recycling is far behind North America’s.

“They are creating a widening gap between demand for OCC and domestic availability and the ‘loop’ is turning faster and faster.”

Old Corrugated Containers

By Jerry Scott Mills

Don’t throw away good fibre

Every year it becomes harder to get

“You couldn’t ask for a better paper” than that made from OCC, says Gerry Murray.

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North America is a net exporter of OCC, with the “tiger’s share” of shipments going to China, followed by Latin America – Brazil and Mexico primarily. Composed mostly of scrap cuttings from boxes made of double liner kraft, OCC is the basic material for making corrugated linerboard.

As worldwide demand for OCC increases, so does its world market price per tonne. The resulting global supply situation is summarized by Serges Desgagnes, paper product specialist for Kruger Inc. “Somewhere in the world there’s a shortage of OCC, and every year it becomes harder to get.”

Unlike the situation a few years ago, most of China’s manufactured goods now arrive in Canada already boxed and China wants that used corrugated returned for recycling into new containers. China adds nearly four million new tons of containerboard capacity per year, with 90% of that volume coming from recycled material.

Kruger’s Desgagnes emphasizes why the collection of Canadian www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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Cover Story

OCC for re-use is so important: “The more OCC we can acquire locally, the more raw material we have immediate access to.

That’s why we must ensure that little or no used corrugated gets dumped into landfills. It’s valuable, and we need it for both manufacturing and export.”

He goes on to explain the economics of shipping OCC for Canadian paper packaging manufacturers and their customers.

“Ordered in bulk by recycling paper mills, most of the pricing [for OCC] is FOB point of delivery. If we take a shipment of OCC from Texas, for example, its actual delivered price to our Quebec mill could be doubled due to freight costs. If we can get if from Toronto or Montreal, the cost per tonne is far cheaper.

When OCC is not readily available in Canada, we have to obtain it elsewhere. Essentially that means importing from the U.S., and freight becomes a problem.”

Longer hauls not only add cost but bring environmental concerns into play. Although the carbon footprint of transportation is not easily quantifiable, it is a constant consideration as the thrust of this industry’s effort in OCC reclamation and re-use in new paper and board is based on environmental benefits coupled with cost efficiencies.

Technical hurdle: wax-free coatings According to Robert Lanthier at Norampac, it’s vitally important for the corrugated packaging industry to recycle as much OCC as it can. “Achieving that optimal goal will require wax-free moisture barrier coatings and treatments that permit corrugated containers used for shipping produce in crushed ice to be recycled for repulping and milling into new paper.”

One example of innovative wax-alternatives is Norampac’s new Norshield process. “We want to send as little OCC as possible to landfills. To that end, this company has been working for more than four years developing a new water-based moisturebarrier process,” states Lanthier. “Compared to traditional waxcoated containerboard, the Norshield wax-alternative product is at least 80% effective for packers and 100% effective for OCC recycling by retailers.”

How old corrugated board becomes new paper “There’s a lot more to making paper than meets the eye,” says Joe Zenga, manager of Norampac’s OCC recycling paper mill in Mississauga, Ont. “People generally don’t realize how complex and complicated it is. There’s a lot of science involved in our mill operation and the processes are getting more scientific every year.”

At the ‘wet end’ of the mill, arriving shipments of collected OCC are mixed with municipal water and slowly churned to create a coarse mixture – about the consistency of wet cement – which undergoes mechanical separation to remove all foreign matter.

Once liquified, the slurry can be washed and treated. It is pumped through several filtration stages that remove minuscule particulate matter and any chemical contaminants, leaving a residue of extracted wood-pulp fibres that can be processed and milled into new packaging-grade paper.

Gerry Murray, vice-president of mill operations at Atlantic www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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Packaging’s OCC paper mill in Scarborough, Ont., emphasizes that at the end of the initial reclamation stage, “Wood pulp from recycled OCC comes out as clean, or even cleaner, than pulp made from virgin wood. Those fibres can be controlled to create a sheet of paper.”

After emerging from the pulper head-box, the mixture is composed of 96% water and 4% wood fibre. The fibres are randomly cross-aligned to maximize paper strength, then held in position through the addition of polymers in a process that includes ‘fibrillation’ of individual polymer strands to increase fibre bonding affinity at the cellular level.

Murray, who is a chemical engineer, details the science of the process: “Envision a myriad of little curled microfibres of polymer at the hydrogen-bond level. The polymer strands are fibrillated—vibrated and abraded—until their microscopic fibrils link and stick tightly together, rather like Velcro.”

That induced physical affinity between fibres enhances the strength of the mechanical bonds within the paper sheet. For some applications, starch may be used in place of polymer to enhance bonding strength.

Norampac’s Joe Zenga comments on how fibre orientation affects the performance of the finished paper sheet: “Everyone in this industry is fine-tuning their fibre alignment and basisweight, constantly striving to create lighter weight paper with higher stacking strengths to satisfy our customers’ evolving needs.

It’s a delicate balancing act.”

After the head-box, the wet mixture enters a multi-step drying and rolling process which extracts water from the mix until its moisture content is reduced to less than 8% (92% percent fibre).

When it reaches 50% water and 50% fibre, the sheet becomes strong enough to be conveyed unsupported along rollers, then accelerated to 914 metres (3300 feet) per minute through the dry-end milling processes. To remove most of its remaining water content, the bonded and formed pulp is compressed between hardened-steel rollers. It passes through a serpentine run that heats both faces of the paper sheet simultaneously.

New paper created from recycled OCC is “at least as strong” as paper made from virgin fibre, its performance enhanced by internal polymer bonds. Atlantic’s Gerry Murray describes milled OCC as the perfect paper for corrugating and converting. “Strong, sterile and absolutely clean, you couldn’t ask for a better paper.”

Using our recycled wood fibre wisely and well The Paper & Paperboard Packaging Environmental Council (PPEC) recently called for a ban in Ontario on dumping used corrugated boxes into landfills. PPEC’s executive director, John Mullinder, emphasizes that OCC is far too valuable a commodity to simply waste. “From every aspect including social, economic and environmental, it is an ecological travesty for old used corrugated containers to be buried in landfills rather than “re-harvested” and recycled.”

PPC Freelance photojournalist Jerry Scott Mills has covered the paper packaging industry for more than a decade.

September/October 2013

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Wild ride for dissolving pulp Balancing supply and demand for viscose grades could take another three years.

By Carroll McCormick

A

s commodity dissolving pulp (DP) dropped from 2011’s heady highs of $2,650 on the spot market and contract prices in the $1,500 range, two Canadian mills that planned to get into DP production slid their timelines to the right.

Fortress Paper eased off on its original plan to convert its Lebel-sur-Quevillon mill, which it purchased from Domtar in 2012, to a DP mill. “Due to changing economics and market conditions, there is no assurance that the [Lebel-sur-Quevillon] mill project will proceed to completion as previously planned,” stated Chad Wasilenkoff, CEO, in a May 2013 press release.

By July, however, Wasilenkoff was more upbeat.

“We continue to make progress on finalizing a new financial structure [for Lebel-sur-Quevillon] which will include new equity partners. We hope to be in a position to provide more details on this in September.

At this point we remain confident that an acceptable structure will be found and that the project will continue as planned.”

The plan is to equip the Lebel-sur-Quevillon mill with the capacity to produce 250,000 tonnes a year of DP. Paper Excellence had intended to launch an 18-month conversion of its Prince Albert pulp mill, and begin producing upward of 1,000 tonnes a day of DP by the end of 2012. The company purchased the shuttered pulp mill in April 2011. But then, because of the slide in DP market prices, Paper Excellence

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attempted to renegotiate its non-compete agreement with Domtar (a former owner of the mill) for making paper pulp. In the end, however, Paper Excellence decided to cancel the revised plan to produce marketgrade pulp.

“We had several conversations about the non-compete agreement. We established the fact a couple of months ago that we would go ahead with the conversion and DP production.

“We are now essentially embarking on that process to do what we were going to do a year and a half ago. We have people working on the mill and we are negotiating to bring in major pieces of equipment for the mill,” says Dale Paterson, vice-president operations, Paper Excellence and general manager for the Prince Albert mill.

The mill will be ready to make DP by about the end of 2014. “Now the plan is 650 tonnes a day of production. The reason for this is that at 650 tonnes a day, there are no changes required for the steam plant.

For 1,000 tonnes a day, the steam plant would require substantial changes,” Paterson explains, although he foresees being able to nudge up the output to 700 tonnes a day.

Paterson notes that the Prince Albert mill will be able to produce DP in a continuous process using a Kamyr digester. “This is a first in North America for DP and only the second mill globally that will be able to do this.”

The DP market is growing at an annual rate of between 9% and 12% but high production relative to demand is keeping prices down. “Pricing remains near trough lows at around $875 per tonne delivered to China. Since peak pricing in 2011 prices have declined as new capacity has announced and come online,” Wasilenkoff says.

This is keeping a lot of mills in the red. “We believe that approximately 50% of the global production is losing money at these current prices and thus it is not sustainable for the long term,” Wasilenkoff adds.

“I would bet that all the Chinese mills are losing money at this time. I’m told that their cash costs are $1,000 to $1,200 a tonne,” says Brian McClay, principal consultant at Brian McClay & Associés Inc., a Montreal-based pulp and paper competitive intelligence consultancy.

Photo credit: Thinkstock

Market Trends

www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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ZELLSTOFF CELGAR PROCESS ENGINEER / CONTROLS SPECIALIST

Zellstoff Celgar is North America’s newest and largest single line softwood kraft pulp mill, located in the West Kootenay region of B.C. Celgar is part of Mercer International, which also owns and operates two world class softwood mills in Germany. All three mills continue to invest in their core assets and investigate new revenue streams in the emerging bio-economy to further improve their long term viability.

What You Can Expect

What We Expect

A self starter with initiative Chemical engineering / Process Control degree 5 years experience in pulp/paper or related industry Experience with DCS/PLC systems Knowledge of energy management systems Ability to work independently, and in a team Life-long learning and development

Photo credit: Thinkstock

A collegial work environment with up to date technology A collaborative team of professionals A commitment to personal and professional growth Affordable housing in one of several communities Incomparable family and recreational orientated lifestyle Great pay and benefit package

If you are interested in this exciting opportunity, please send your resume to:

Lisa Antignani I Zellstoff Celgar I lisaa@celgar.com

Deadline is Oct. 25, 2013. Please have “Process Engineer” in the subject line.

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On the positive “People are not doing well now, side, notes Wasilenand it will be worse next year.” koff, “Most of the planned new capacBrian McClay ity is already on-line.

Some of the Chinese mills have swung back to paper pulps for increases for the remainder of the year as now. We believe their cost structure is some new capacity comes online in Q3 between $1,000 and $1,200 per tonne and Q4. This new capacity in intended and thus they need a material recovery to go into higher specialty DP markets in prices prior to swinging back to DP.” as soon as they can transition there, so For example, says McClay, “The Tiger it is a short-term impact. China is the Group’s Huaihua mill was a 400,000 biggest market for DP and for Fortress. tonne-per-year paper pulp mill, but it China continues to invest and add more switched to 300,000 tonne-per-year DP viscose capacity, which will require more production in Q2 2012. It then switched DP going forward. back to paper pulp in Q2 2013.”

“Several previously announced DP projects have been cancelled. We expect Producers will regain that there will be excess DP capacity in 2014 and 2015. After that time we believe the upper hand As some mills close down or switch back that the growth in DP demand will then to making paper pulp, the imbalance cross over and the market will be in tight between production and demand should supply again by 2016, which is approxiredress itself over the next three years, mately when our Lebel-sur-Quevillon mill McClay predicts. According to research will come online with the DP capacity.” conducted by Brian McClay & Associés, the demand/supply rate for all DP grades Canadian capacity ramping up dropped from 90 in 2012 to 86.1 in During this market realignment, Fortress 2013 as a million-tonne world capacity will slowly be ramping up production at increase in 2012 outstripped an increase its Thurso, Quebec, mill, which it purin demand of just 400,000 tonnes. chased from Fraser Papers Inc. in 2010 The near-term outlook is a lot of slim and converted to DP production. Fortress wallets. “People are not doing well now, began producing DP in December 2011, and it will be worse next year,” McClay with a targeted capacity of 200,000 tonnes comments. His company’s research fore- per year in the short term, but digester and casts that new capacity in all grades of evaporator capacity issues punched a hole DP will exceed new demand by roughly in that target. However, says Wasilenkoff, 130,000 tonnes in 2014, but increased “These issues were addressed in our demand will outpace capacity by about May [2013] maintenance 50,000 tonnes in each of 2015 and 2016. shutdown. We have As a result, the demand/supply rate will been ramping up proimprove from 85.4 to 88.3 between 2014 duction since then. We and 2016. are considering adding In 2017, however, when the increase a fifth digester, which in demand will outstrip any increase in would get us to our longsupply by about 450,000 tonnes, produc- term goal of 215,000 ers will be in a position to call the shots. tonnes per year in “There is not a lot of capacity coming in 18 to 24 months.” after 2016-2017. This should mean that The Aditya Birla by the back half of that year, the demand/ Group purchased supply rate would be in the low 90s. Any- the idled Terrace Bay, thing that is in the low 90s would give Ont., pulp mill last year and producers pricing power,” McClay says. plans to invest about $250 Wasilenkoff weighs in with his out- million to convert it for DP look: “We expect stable or very slight production. The target com26

PULP & PAPER CANADA

PPCSepOct2013.indd 26

July/August 2013

pletion date is 2016, with an estimated production capacity of 280,000 tonnes per year.

Aditya Birla has two other Canadian mills that are already producing DP. Although Aditya declined to provide production figures for the mills, Brian McClay & Associés pegs the total DP production at AV Nackawic, in New Brunswick, at 180,000 tonnes a year, and 120,000 tonnes a year at AV Cell, also in New Brunswick.

The two other Canadian players in dissolving pulp are Tembec and Fulida Group Holdings Ltd., the latter of which purchased the Neucel specialty cellulose mill in Port Alice, B.C. in 2011. Tembec produces mostly higher-value specialty cellulose grades at its Temiscaming, Que., facility.

Both companies, according to Paul Quinn, paper and forest products analyst, RBC Dominion Securities, would like to switch more of their production to the higher-value specialty grades. “Specialty DP commands $1,500 - $1,600 per tonne,” says Quinn. “Tembec is trying to get out of producing commodity DP. Neucell is also trying to move some production out of commodity into specialty.”

Paper Excellence also has its sights set on producing some specialty DP at its Prince Albert mill. “Our first goal is to compete on the commodity viscose [market] and then move into the specialty market as well – as high as 50% of production, eventually,” Paterson says.

In the meantime, as Quinn points out, which way the winds will end up blowing for producers will depend a lot on the global economy.

McClay sums up how things are likely to shake out: “The big producers are big believers in [commodity DP] taking more market share from cotton and eventually from polyester as well. They think that $2,700 per tonne or close to that might happen again and that they will do really well for a few years.

“In the meantime, I’m sure some will get out of the business, either close down or go back to paper pulp. This is the nature of the whole pulp business.” PPC

Photo credit: Thinkstock

Market Trends

www.pulpandpapercanada.com

13-09-20 4:11 PM

The Annual Conference of the Canadian Pulp and Paper Industry

2014

FEBRUARY 3 - 7 Montréal, QC, Canada

100

TH

Featured Preliminary Program Highlights:

ANNUAL MEETING

Tracks: Business / Packaging / Tissue / Dissolving Pulp / HR / Bioenergy / Technical

Innovation in Motion

PaperWeek Canada's 100th Anniversary Banquet Tradeshow / Job Fair / Keynote Luncheons ... and much more

Innovation in Motion As we prepare to celebrate the 100th edition of the PAPTAC Annual Meeting (PaperWeek Canada), we invite you to join us and celebrate this impressive milestone, which is a true testimonial of our industry's rich past and exciting future.

The Program Committee is already actively planning one of the most impressive and relevant programs ever, which you can expect will also feature special activities around PaperWeek's 100th Anniversary.

John D. Williams President and Chief Executive Officer DOMTAR CORPORATION

Keynote Speakers

Richard Garneau President and Chief Executive Officer RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS

Please be sure to visit www.paperweekcanada.ca regularly and stay abreast of the program announcements and updates which will be posted in the course of the coming weeks.

We look forward to welcoming you in Montreal!

Greg Hay, Executive Director PAPTAC

Program Committee

Photo credit: Thinkstock

www.paperweekcanada.ca

Yvon Pelletier Program Chairman President Fortress Paper Dissolving Pulp

Patrick Corriveau Co-Chair Vice President Operations Resolute Forest Products

Stéphane Lamoureux Co-Chair GM Region East Kruger Products

BUILDING FOR THE NEW P&P COMMUNITY

My Industry. My Commitment. Our Future.

Hosted by:

PPCSepOct2013.indd 27

13-09-20 4:11 PM

Featured J-FOR Paper Published in:

ADDING A BIOMASS-FIRED COGENERATION POWER PLANT TO A NATURAL GAS PROCESSING PLANT

www.paptac.ca

ABSTRACT

DEREK McCANN Natural gas processing plants typically consume natural gas to generate steam for mechanical power and process heating use. In western Canada, these plants remove hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide and extract hydrocarbon liquids from the incoming raw natural gas.

These plants are sometimes located remotely in Forest Management Areas. Such locations are key to the concept of installing a biomass power plant at a natural gas processing plant. Harvesting of local wood waste to supply this boiler could be economically viable.

A high-pressure biomass-fired power boiler and a back-pressure steam turbine generator would replace the duty of the natural gas-fired power boilers in the gas processing plant. The back-pressure steam turbine would exhaust into the existing steam system. Internal natural gas consumption used for steam generation would be eliminated, imported power would be reduced, and there would be a net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

INTRODUCTION In western Canada, there are several natural gas processing plants. These plants treat raw or sour natural gas and make it “sweet”. They remove hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide and extract hydrocarbon liquids from the raw gas. These processing plants are sometimes located within Forest Management Areas (FMAs).

A typical natural gas processing plant consumes sweet natural gas to generate steam for mechanical-drive turbines and process heat.

It is proposed to install a high-pressure biomass-fired power boiler and steam turbine generator that would replace the duties of the natural gas-fired power boilers and superheater and reduce imported electrical power in the gas processing plant.

A cogeneration plant is proposed where the natural gas processing plant would be the “steam host”.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

There are several project objectives: Use Locally Available Wood Waste - The haulage cost of wood waste is essentially a function of collection radius. With the

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J-FOR

Eliminate In-house Natural Gas Consumption - The in-house natural gas-fired power boilers and superheater would no longer be required. The new biomassfired power boiler would be capable of the full steaming rate on natural gas alone.

This would be available in case there was a breakdown of the biomass handling system.

Reduce Imported Power Consumption The new back-pressure steam turbine generator would generate most of the electrical power required by the natural gas processing plant.

Create an Acceptable Return on Investment (ROI) on Project Capital Using All Available Federal and Provincial Government Incentives for Greenhouse Gas Reductions - For the project to be economically viable, all available federal and provincial incentives for GHG reductions would have to be used.

DESCRIPTION OF EXISTING NATURAL GAS PROCESSING PLANT STEAM SYSTEM

The existing natural gas processing plant steam system is an example of cogeneration in which mechanical rather than electrical power is generated. It includes several

Reduce Greenhouse Gases Due to Natural Gas Consumption - The biomass-fired power boiler would produce low levels of greenhouse gases (GHGs), and natural gas consumption would be eliminated.

Reduce Greenhouse Gases Associated with Local Imported Power Generation Reduction of local imported power would reduce its associated GHGs.

DEREK McCANN

AMEC Vancouver, BC Canada *Contact: derek.mccann@amec.com

Journal of Science & Technology for Forest Products and Processes: VOL.2, NO.2, 2012

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PPCSepOct2013.indd 28

natural gas processing plant located within a Forest Management Area, the collection radius would be minimized.

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ca

rn s. ss

ed al in

tll vas od ns

-

Featured J-FOR Paper TRADITIONAL AREA CONTRIBUTIONS back-pressure mechanical-drive turbines driving pumps and one condensing mechanical-drive steam turbine driving a compressor.

Saturated high-pressure (HP) steam is generated at 2500 kPa(g) using natural gas-fired power boilers and a sulphurplant waste heat boiler. Saturated lowpressure (LP) steam is consumed at 380 kPa(g). A natural gas-fired superheater is used to provide the HP steam supply to the condensing steam turbine.

The steam system is shown in Fig. 1.

SELECTION OF INLET STEAM CONDITIONS FOR THE STEAM TURBINE GENERATOR

TABLE 1

Variable / Alternative

Units

A

B

C

Inlet Steam Pressure

kPa(g)

6,200

8,600

10,340

Inlet Steam Temperature

°C

454

482

508

Exhaust Steam Pressure

kPa(g)

2,600

2,600

2,600

kg/h

Steam Flow

kg/kWh

Theoretical Steam Rate

14.8

10.8

9.3

%

80

80

80

Actual Steam Rate

kg/kWh

18.5

13.5

11.6

Mechanical & Electrical Efficiency

%

95

95

95

Overall Efficiency

%

76

76

76

MW

7.8

10.6

12.4

STG Output

It is proposed to install a “topping” backpressure steam turbine generator (STG).

In this arrangement, the steam turbine exhaust pressure would essentially match (allowing for pressure drop) the pressure in the processing plant’s HP steam system. Therefore, the inlet pressure to the steam turbine generator must be somewhat higher than 2500 kPa(g). To select the STG inlet conditions, a comparison was performed for three alternative cases; the results are shown in Table 1.

Overall efficiency is the product of the isentropic and the mechanical and electrical efficiencies.

152,000 152,000 152,000

Isentropic Efficiency

Alternative C was selected because it had the highest power generation output.

The economics of scale usually favour the largest plant. However, the cycle efficiencies of the three alternatives are somewhat similar.

Mechanical-Drive Turbines

At the natural gas processing plant, there are several mechanical-drive turbines, but no steam turbine generators. In pulp mills, mechanical-drive turbines are often replaced by electric motors because they are inefficient compared to steam turbine generators. For this potential project,

nt acal

m

Comparison of STG inlet steam conditions.

replacing the various mechanical-drive turbines (MDTs) in the processing plant was considered. The overall efficiencies of the existing turbines were evaluated; the results are shown in Fig. 2.

It was found that small drives (~1000 HP) had low overall efficiencies (<50%).

This is the case with fan drives on power and recovery boilers in pulp mills. However, large drives (>6000 HP) had good overall efficiencies (>70%). (A modern steam turbine generator has an overall efficiency of ~80%, depending on its size).

Because there are many large drives in the existing processing plant, converting them would provide little benefit. Based on this, it was decided not to consider changing the mechanical drives.

Cogeneration Gross Cycle Efficiency

Cogeneration gross cycle efficiency can be defined as: Gross Cycle Efficiency = (E+H) x 100 F

Fig. 1 - Natural gas processing plant—existing steam system.

J-FOR

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PPCSepOct2013.indd 29

where

E is gross power output, H is net process heat, F is fuel energy (HHV basis),

and

H = QOUT – QIN,

where

QOUT is total heat exported

and

QIN is total heat returned.

Journal of Science & Technology for Forest Products and Processes: VOL.2, NO.2, 2012

September/October 2013

PULP & PAPER CANADA

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Featured J-FOR Paper

Biomass Cogeneration Options

There are two biomass cogeneration options: • Maximum cycle efficiency using a back-pressure turbine generator; • Maximum power using a condensing steam turbine generator.

The two options were found to have the energy characteristics shown in Table 2.

The biomass fuel is assumed to have a moisture content of 35% (wet basis).

The condensing STG option would permit power export, but at a higher capital cost than the back-pressure STG option. It was decided to pursue the backpressure STG option.

Proposed Biomass Power Plant

The proposed biomass power plant would include: • A biomass-fired power boiler operating at 10,340 kPa(g) and 508°C • An electrostatic precipitator to limit particulate matter emissions • A biomass handling system • An ash handling system • A back-pressure steam turbine generator • A new de-aerator • A new make-up water treatment plant • Piping tie-ins to existing systems • Electrical tie-ins to existing systems • A new boiler and steam turbine building.

Fig. 2 - Mechanical-drive turbines—overall efficiency.

INTEGRATION OF THE NEW BIOMASS POWER PLANT AND THE EXISTING NATURAL GAS PROCESSING PLANT STEAM SYSTEM Fig. 3 - Integration of new biomass power plant into the existing natural gas processing plant.

TABLE 2

Energy characteristics.

STG Option

Units

Back- Pressure

Condensing

MW

12.4

42.4

%

74

24

Generation Cycle Efficiency

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Energy Impacts of the Proposed Biomass-fired Power Plant

The energy impacts of the proposed biomass-fired power plant are shown in Table 3.

Journal of Science & Technology for Forest Products and Processes: VOL.2, NO.2, 2012

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PPCSepOct2013.indd 30

The integration of the new biomass power plant and the existing natural gas processing plant steam system is shown in Fig. 3.

September/October 2013

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Featured J-FOR Paper TRADITIONAL AREA CONTRIBUTIONS

TABLE 3

Energy impacts of the proposed biomass-fired power plant.

Parameter

Existing Plant with Existing Biomass Increment Plant Power Plant 15.5 16.5 +1.0

Units

Electrical Load

MW

Generation

MW

0

12.4

+12.4

MW

15.5

4.1

-11.4

Imported Load

Annual Natural Gas Consumption 10 SCM/a 6

Annual Biomass Consumption

BDt/a

100

0

-100

0

241,500

+241,500

The plant electrical load will increase due to the biomass power plant auxiliaries.

The imported electrical load has dropped significantly. Natural gas consumption has disappeared.

includes the following components: • Capital recovery cost • Fuel cost • Operations and maintenance cost.

Greenhouse Gas Reductions

These costs are usually evaluated on a $/MWh basis.

The capital recovery cost depends on the amount of capital debt, the interest rate, and the repayment period. It is usually expressed as a percentage of the project capital cost. The capital cost of a biomass-fired power plant is significant compared to other types of power plants.

Therefore, the capital recovery cost would be significant.

The fuel cost would include the costs of harvesting and transporting the biomass. Biomass fuel costs are strongly influenced by the radius of the collection area. Biomass fuel has high moisture content, which results in low cogeneration cycle efficiency. A greater quantity of wet biomass than of dry biomass is required to produce the same steam flow (because

The following greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were considered: • Carbon dioxide (CO2) • Methane (CH4) • Nitrous oxide (N2O).

These were totalled as CO2 equivalent using global warming potential (GWP) [1].

The annual reductions are summarized in Table 4.

The imported-power GHG emissions intensity was assumed to be for Alberta (see [1]), which has several coal-fired power plants. The other GHG intensities used can be found in Reference 1.

Economics of Biomass Power Plants

The total cost of generated electricity TABLE 4

Units

Annual Natural Gas GHG Emissions t CO2eq/a

Baseline Future Reduction 218,585

0

218,585

t CO2eq/a

0

7,180

(7,180)

Annual Biomass Harvesting GHG Emissions

t CO2eq/a

0

4,735

(4,735)

Imported Power GHG Emissions

t CO2eq/a

129,030 34,130

94,900

Total

t CO2eq/a

347,615 46,045

301,570

Annual Biomass Boiler GHG Emissions

J-FOR

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PPCSepOct2013.indd 31

UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY FOR COOPERATION BETWEEN THE OIL AND GAS AND THE FOREST INDUSTRIES

This project could provide a unique opportunity for cooperation between the oil and gas and the forest industries. A forest industry company could provide the biomass, and an oil and gas company could act as steam host. This arrangement could provide economic benefits to both companies while significantly reducing GHG emissions for the common good.

REFERENCES

GHG annual reductions.

Parameter

boiler thermal efficiency drops with increasing biomass moisture content).

The operations and maintenance cost would include labour and materials.

Economics of scale would apply; a large plant would have lower total power costs than a small plant. Consequently, it can be difficult to make small biomass power plants economically attractive.

One method to improve the project economics is to obtain as many GHG reduction grants as possible from the federal and provincial governments. These grants can be of critical importance in determining the viability of a project. It would also help if the generated power could be sold as “biomass” power because biomass power can be sold for more then $100/ MWh. This is higher than the price of power from traditional fuels.

Most projects require an internal rate of return (IRR) of 18% to be economically viable. Current low natural gas prices (~$3.00/GJ) mean that it is difficult to make a project viable.

1.

Calculation Tools for Estimating Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Pulp and Paper Mills, Version 1.1, July 8, 2005, NCASI.

Journal of Science & Technology for Forest Products and Processes: VOL.2, NO.2, 2012

September/October 2013

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Technology News Automation for biomass burning will integrate with existing control system

LED fixtures rated for high-temperature applications

Dialight’s high temperature, high bay range of LED light fixtures now includes 17,000-12,000 lumen variations rated for ambient temperatures up to 70°C. These luminaires are designed specifically for use in hot climate regions and in high temperature industrial applications such as steel mills, pulp and paper plants or blast furnaces.

Dialight’s high temperature LED high bays maintain their full lumen output up to 70°C and offer reliable photometric performance, long life and energy efficiency where other lighting solutions typically start to experience reduced performance at 45°C. The LED high bays carry a five-year full performance warranty and are L70 rated for 100,000 hours at 25°C – significantly longer than the traditional HID typically found in industrial applications – so maintenance needs are vastly reduced.

Dialight, www.dialight.com

Nanotechnology-enhanced doctor blade line

Kadant announces the global launch of its nanotechnology-enhanced composite doctor blade line. The nanotechnologyenhanced resins allow the composite resin matrix to be manipulated on a molecular scale to produce high-performing, wearresistant doctor blades.

According to Dr. Michael Draper, research and development manager at Kadant UK, “The results from mill trials in Asia, Europe, and North America, as well as our own laboratory testing, have exceeded our expectations with respect to nano-blade performance and operating characteristics. The advances in matter manipulation, from microtechnology to nanotechnology, have allowed us to further enhance the performance of our doctor blades on the toughest applications, including stickies removal from lead-in paper dryers, hard-rubber wet-end rolls, and critical positions on press rolls.”

The nanotechnology-based doctor blades have increased stiffness, increased resistance to chipping, improved interlaminar bonding, and a lower coefficient of friction compared to conventional blades. As a result, roll surface cleaning is improved and doctor blade life has been shown to increase significantly compared to that of conventional blades. The highperformance doctor blade results in fewer blade changes and the potential for reduced operating costs while enhancing overall doctoring and machine efficiency.

Kadant Canada, www.kadant.com

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PULP & PAPER CANADA

PPCSepOct2013.indd 32

Continuous monitoring of biomass feedstock moisture content

Emerson Process Management now offers an integrated solution that enables biomass-fuelled power plants to continually monitor feedstock moisture content and adjust the combustion process for better efficiency. The new solution, which combines a biomass fuel moisture sensor with Emerson’s Ovation™ expert control system, can help reduce maintenance costs as well as boost net yearly MWh production.

The traditional method of controlling the combustion process is by monitoring the flue gases and adjusting the combustion air to give the best efficiency. However, rapidly changing fuel quality and boiler characteristics can make maintaining optimum conditions difficult.

Emerson’s new integrated solution continuously monitors fuel for moisture content as it is being fed into the combustion chamber. The Ovation system uses this data to adjust the combustion air to match the characteristics of the fuel based on the master set-point output (MWe steam or pressure), boiler response and the thermal cycle overall. This enables the plant to react much more quickly to changes in fuel moisture content, maximizing combustion efficiency.

Suitable for new or existing installations, the system comprises a small skid that takes biomass fuel from the transport system, measures its moisture content using microwave technology and returns it to the transport system.

Emerson Process Management, www.EmersonProcess.com

September/October 2013

ABB will supply a System 800xA automation solution to SCA Ortviken for their new biofuel plant for handling and grinding pellets and combustion of wood powder in two biomass boilers, including equipment for cleaning flue gases. The new plant will also be able to deliver district heating to the local utility, Sundsvalls Energi AB. The automation will control and monitor the entire plant, including the safety systems. Existing wood, pulp and energy systems will be utilized and integrated with ABB’s System 800xA automation. The system will handle a complex process with very high security requirements.

By adding new features such as fuel handling and burner control to the existing system, operators will be working in a familiar environment that ensures a safe and smooth transition.

ABB, www.abb.com

Portable valve actuators enhance safety

Large valves used in the paper and pulp industries can be safely operated with Smith Flow Control’s EasiDrive portable valve operating system, says the company.

EasiDrive’s reaction device transmits torque onto the valve body and away from the operator, making it one of the safest valve operating systems available.

EasiDrive is a cost-effective alternative to a dedicated valve actuator. Paper and pulp plants often use manually operated valves with high operating torques. These can require hundreds of hand wheel turns to open and close or are just difficult to operate.

Typical pulp and paper applications can include large sluice gate valves, valves with stem extensions and valves operated by gear boxes with a high number of turns.

Site demonstrations are available.

Smith Flow Control 859-578-2395, www.smithflowcontrol.com

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Bio-Economy

Stora Enso upgrading Sunila mill to produce lignin Stora Enso has decided to invest EUR 32 million in building a world-class biorefinery at Sunila Mill in Finland, which will reduce the CO2 emissions of the mill by replacing up to 90% of natural gas consumption with lignin extracted from black liquor. The company considers this the first step towards a new business selling lignin to external customers. Stora Enso is developing new applications in which lignin provides added value as a natural polymer.

“The investment in Sunila Mill will accelerate Stora Enso’s transformation into renewable materials company. The first applications will be in, for example, the building, construction and automotive sectors, where lignin offers sustainable alternatives for phenols in plywood glues and other wood-based panels, and polyols used in foams. Other applications are also under development, thus creating a solid platform for growth for sustainable alternatives to fossil-based products,” says Juan Bueno,

EVP, Stora Enso Biomaterials Division.

The investment includes a lignin extraction plant and dryer, lignin dust burners in the lime kilns, and a packing line. Production is scheduled to start up during the first quarter of 2015. The investment is expected to generate annual sales of EUR 80 million in 2017. The technology also has the potential for future scalability at other Stora Enso pulp mills.

Sunila Mill has an annual capacity of 370,000 tonnes of softwood pulp.

New tool helps communities assess biomass potential

Co-author and CEA executive director Dale Littlejohn says a biomass district heating system (DHS) could resolve both problems by generating energy from harvested trees and undergrowth, rather than wasting this resource in controlled burn offs.

Littlejohn says FIRST Heat does not negate the need for a detailed DHS feasibility study, but it provides proof of whether the concept could work. He believes that for many rural B.C. communities, it could.

“This easy-to-use spreadsheet contains a vast library of different forest types, conditions and management data created from our study of three distinct B.C. eco-climatic regions (the North Interior, the Kootenays and the Shuswap) around the communities of Burns Lake, Invermere and Sicamous. It creates a short-cut for communities who can input local data to estimate capital costs, potential energy savings, the sustainability of biomass supply, and impacts on forest health and soil fertility.”

For example, the tool suggests that using wildfire-abatement biomass to fuel a DHS in an area like Sicamous could more than halve the heating bills of local residents (by replacing electricity, propane or heating oil) while paying for itself over 25 years and keeping the money in the local economy.

With a required capital investment of $5.5 million, the plant could create more than 50 fulltime jobs, and reduce GHG emis-

sions by 10,000 tonnes/year, with little or no degradation of the local ecosystem.

Results will vary by community, forest type, and the size of heating systems considered.

A new online tool will help rural communities in British Columbia determine if debris left by local wildfire prevention work can provide a sustainable and economically beneficial source of fuel for clean energy production.

Details of the Fire Interface Rural Screening Tool for Heating – FIRST Heat – are contained in a new white paper from the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS), a collaboration of B.C.’s four research-intensive universities. The paper, Fire in the Woods or Fire in the Boiler?, was produced by PICS-funded researchers from the University of British Columbia and two NGOs, the Community Energy Association (CEA) and the Wood Waste to Rural Heat Project.

Wildfires in B.C. are becoming increasingly common due to global warming’s byproducts of hotter, drier summers and mountain pine beetle affected, dried-out forests, and due to the increasing population of people living in the wildland-urban interface, according to the report. Rural residents also face higher energy rates than those in the Lower Mainland, and more than 60% of B.C. has no natural gas supply.

Some 57 B.C. communities are off both the electricity and gas grids, and have to bring fuel in.

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September/October 2013

INEOS Bio produces cellulosic ethanol at commercial scale INEOS Bio’s Indian River BioEnergy Center is now producing cellulosic ethanol at commercial scale. This is the first commercial-scale production using the company’s gasification and fermentation technology for conversion of biomass waste into bioethanol and renewable power.

The facility in Florida has already converted several types of waste biomass material into bioethanol, including vegetative and yard waste, and citrus, oak, pine, and pallet wood waste. It will have an annual output of eight million gallons (24 kta) of cellulosic ethanol and six megawatts (gross) of renewable power.

“We are delighted with the progress made by our team at Vero Beach,” said Peter Williams, CEO of INEOS Bio and Chairman of INEOS New Planet BioEnergy.

“They have successfully addressed the challenges of moving a new technology to large production scale for the very first time.”

He added, “All that we have seen so far validates the technical and economic viability of the technology.” www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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Pneumatic Conveying Systems Pneumatic systems designed by Jeffrey Rader®, a brand of TerraSource™ Global, overcome the challenges of wood chip conveying, whether from bark or sludge to dust problems and more.

• High Pressure Systems

• Low Pressure Systems

• Fuel Feed Systems

• Digester Charging Systems

• Dust Control Systems

• Vacuum Conveying Systems

Pneumatic conveying can efficiently move chips, bark, and RDF bulk material over a long distance, elevate it in a short distance, or inject woody material directly into a boiler.

• Ruggedly built rotary valves, cyclones, wear back elbows, ducting and blowers • Made for tough, high-pressure, high-volume and abrasive pneumatic conveying applications

Screening and Processing Systems and Equipment • RDS Scalping Screens • DynaGage™ Thickness Screens • RaderWave™ Fines Screens • DynaYield™ Chip Conditioners • Air Density Separation (ADS) Systems

• Rates up to 1,000 TPH

Phone: (864) 476-7523

§ Email: sales@jeffreyrader.com § Web: www.terrasource.com

The brands comprising TerraSource™ Global (Gundlach Crushers, Jeffrey Rader, and Pennsylvania Crusher) are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Hillenbrand, Inc. (NYSE: HI) © 2013 TerraSource™ Global. All Rights Reserved.

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Handling a World of Materials

13-09-20 4:11 PM

It isn’t enough to protect water systems in the mill.

Protect the ones outside too.

Busan® 1215 provides maximum deposit control protection for both your equipment and the environment, combining smart monochloramine chemistry with proprietary feeding equipment.

Good for the planet.

Busan 1215 provides superior microbiological control – fighting biofilm, reducing organic deposits, and disinfecting stock and water circuits. Yet it has: • No free chlorine • No strong oxidant • Little or no reaction to organic or chemical demand

Good for the bottom line.

Busan 1215 can improve wet end efficiency, product quality, and machine efficiency, so your mill can: • Reduce consumption of additives • Reduce holes and sheet defects due to microbiological activity • Improve runnability

discover just how powerful sustainability can be.

Find out more. Contact your local Buckman representative, or visit us online at buckman.com.

©2012 Buckman Laboratories International, Inc.

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13-09-20 4:11 PM