Pulp & Paper May/June 2014

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MAY/JUNE 2014

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PULP& PAPER

May/June 2014 Vol. 115, No. 3 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 STORY

11 The Biofuels Pipeline

Canadian companies are laying the groundwork for a wood-based bioproducts sector. The list of avenues under exploration in Canada is impressive: gasification for process heat, pyrolysis for fuel oil, lignin extraction, crystalline nanocellulose, cellulose filaments, C5/C6 sugars, and biomethane.

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FEATURES

9 Target: Water

The significance of water in the global agenda of sustainable development is growing. Our industry is actually at the forefront of water management techniques.

14 Pulp Outlook: Volatile Pricing,

Steady Growth

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IN EVERY ISSUE

16

A View From the Inside

4 Editorial 6 News 10 Opinion: FPAC 10 Opinion: FPInnovations 19 Technology News 21 Classified Ads 22 Bio-Economy

There are several potential causes of dryer flooding, but most of them can be eliminated by proper hardware selection, system design, and maintenance.

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.

The whims of the pulp market have a profound effect on Canadian producers, but growth in paper consumption, particularly tissue, and declining availability of recycled pulp bode well.

16 Trouble-shooting Paper Dryer Flooding:

24

Serving the industry since 1903.

For breaking news, visit www.pulpandpapercanada.com Cover image: Ensyn’s biofuels facility in Renfrew, Ont. Photo: Ensyn

www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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Editorial

Cheers to volunteers A

s a member of the media, I tend to interact with designated corporate representatives, the people accustomed to being in the spotlight. And by the same token, those are the people whose names and opinions make their way to the pages of magazines and newspapers, and onto your local newscast.

But there are many people laboring behind the scenes, both on an ongoing basis and prior to any media announcements or public events. These people contribute their time, opinions and expertise, to little or no fanfare.

Ironically, the better these behind-the-scenes people do their job, the less attention they generally receive.

Not only do volunteers merit thanks, so do their co-workers (who often have to be flexible or pick up extra tasks) and executives (who approve expenses and time spent on committees).

The FPInnovations column on page 10 is about Canada’s contribution to the development of interCindy Macdonald Editor national standards related to the forest products industry. The work of this ISO committee, and others involved in standardization, is not well-known, but it is very necessary and very far-sighted.

Jennifer Ellson of FPInnovations tells us that at the most recent meeting of the ISO/TC 6, Canada was well represented, with seven of the 45 delegates hailing from Canadian organizations.

As the photo below demonstrates, committee work is not always meeting rooms and stale sandwiches. This is the Stillwater Community Advisory Group on a tour of operations. The Stillwater advisory group recently received the Chairman’s Award from the CSA Sustainable Forest Management User Group to recognize its members’ leadership and personal commitment.

The Stillwater committee has worked with local forest companies along the Sunshine Coast of B.C. for more than a decade.

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

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The Stillwater Community Advisory Group on a tour of forest operations

Whether you’ve worked for a week on a presentation, a month on a conference, or years on an advisory committee, I appreciate the effort, and so do many others.

Sustaining member, Pulp and Paper Technical Association of Canada; Member, Canadian Business Press and Audit Bureau of Circulation.

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www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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Industry News AV Terrace Bay doing capital projects prior to dissolving pulp conversion The AV Terrace Bay mill is moving ahead with capital improvement projects and actively recruiting more employees, a local newspaper reports.

A story in the Fort Frances Times said the company is looking for millwrights, engineers, electricians, pipefitters, welders, managers, and other skilled workers to work at the pulp mill and on related projects.

The mill is currently producing kraft pulp, but the owner, Aditya Birla Group, has plans to convert the mill to dissolving pulp production.

Gino Leblanc, who has been with the Terrace Bay mill for 33 years and is also a township councillor there, told the Times various capital projects are in the works.

“We just finished our $5-million mud filter project for the recaust department,” he said. Also in the plans is a mill-wide DCS control system, and an upgrade to the chip and wood-handling system.

“Dissolving pulp will require 30% more fibre for that same tonne of pulp, so we need to be able to handle more fibre coming in,” Leblanc told the Fort Frances paper.

Aditya Birla Group is building a textiles plant in Turkey and most of the dissolving pulp from AV Terrace Bay likely will go there, noted Leblanc.

$450 million modernization for Irving pulp mill Irving Pulp & Paper will invest $450 million in a two-phase modernization program of the company’s kraft pulp mill in Saint John, N.B. The project includes an upgrade to the chip handling system, a new digester and new pulp dryer.

“This investment is a tribute to the everyday skill, passion and dedication of all employees who help sustain world

class forest products operations from our home here in New Brunswick. The pulp mill is a cornerstone for thousands of jobs – from foresters and woods workers to private wood producers, sawmills, paper, corrugated medium and high value tissue products,” said Jim Irving, co-CEO of J.D. Irving, Limited.

The investment announcement came only one day after the government of New Brunswick revealed its new forest strategy.

“We appreciate the commitment of the province to ensure a sustainable wood supply that makes this modernization program possible,” Irving commented.

In the first half of 2014, the company will invest $198 million in a 24-month project to build a new chip screening and handling system as well as install a new pulp digester. The modern new digester will replace the 14 existing digesters at the site. This modernization is expected to reduce air and noise emissions.

A second investment of $250 million will commence with engineering work in the fall of 2014. The project involves installing a modern pulp dryer to replace the existing three dryers on the site. This upgrade is expected to take 30 months with the construction start date dependent on market conditions.

Irving says this is the largest investment in a pulp mill in Canada since 1993, and it involves no provincial or federal government funding.

E&I Engineering of Fredericton, N.B., has been awarded a 12-month contract valued at $1.2 million as part of the Irving Pulp & Paper modernization. The company has previously been involved with a molten sulphur burner upgrade at Irving’s Lake Utopia Paper, as well as a white liquor storage project, a brown stock washing project, and 6.9kV bus replacement at Irving pulp and paper mills.

Correction: Safest Mill Contest 2013 Please take note of a correction to the table of results for the 2013 Safest Mill in Canada contest that was published in the March/April issue of Pulp & Paper Canada.

Following the reclassification of a December 2013 incident, the number of recordable incidents at Weyerhaeuser Grande Prairie changed to 4, so the mill’s total frequency should be 0.98 for 2013.

This means the crew at Resolute Forest Products’ Thunder Bay site took top honors in the B Class, with an incident frequency of 0.94 on 850,544 manhours last year.

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Chinese duty on pulp makes Fortress LSQ plans not viable China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) has made a final determination in its antidumping investigation concerning viscosegrade dissolving pulp produced in Canada, the U.S. and Brazil.

Fortress Paper reports that the final duty imposed by MOFCOM on dissolving pulp imports from the company’s subsidiary, Fortress Specialty Cellulose Ltd., remains at 13%, unchanged from the previously announced interim duty.

According to analyst reports, the final duty applied to Tembec is 13% as well.

Neucel is reported to be exempt from the duty.

The final duty imposed by MOFCOM on dissolving pulp imports from all other unnamed current or future Canadian dissolving pulp producers, which would include the Fortress Global Cellulose Mill at Lebel-sur-Quevillon, Que., was reduced to 23.7%. Despite the reduction, such a duty significantly impacts the economics of converting the FGC mill to a dissolving pulp mill, says Fortress.

Chadwick Wasilenkoff, CEO of Fortress Paper, told Business in Vancouver that the Lebel-sur-Quevillon mill would be economically unviable with this 23.7% duty.

He added that an agreement with the previous owner prevents Fortress Paper from producing paper pulp for eight more years, so the company is exploring options such as energy production and wood pellet manufacture for the site.

Similarly, Paper Excellence changed its plans to convert the shuttered Prince Albert, Sask, mill to dissolving pulp when the duty was announced last fall. The company is now considering fluff pulp as an end product.

Catalyst Paper makes changes to mill leadership Harold Norlund has joined Catalyst Paper as the operations leader for the Port Alberni, B.C., mill, the Alberni Valley Times reports. According the paper, he replaces former general manager Fred Chinn, who transferred to the company’s mill in Powell River, B.C. Norlund brings almost 30 years of experience in operating mills to Catalyst Paper.

“We have to keep our mill in a continuous improvement-type mode, whether it’s www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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Industry News

G

reenpeace and Resolute Forest Products have stepped up their public relations battle again, with the environmental group staging a display on Mount Royal in Montreal, and the forest products company defending itself with information about forestry practices in the Boreal region.

On March 18, Greenpeace activists decorated the Mount Royal cross to look like scales of justice, with one side displaying the logo of Resolute Forest Products, and the other representing the Boreal forest, its communities and wildlife.

“Today we’re seeking to restore a healthy balance in the Boreal by standing up for the future of the forest and against Resolute’s destructive logging practices,” said Nicolas Mainville, Quebec director for Greenpeace Canada. The group alleges that Resolute “is responsible for logging in First Nations’ territory without consent and destroying critical caribou habitat.”

Resolute responded with a statement countering Greenpeace’s allegations. “We are disappointed that Greenpeace chose to break the law and deface a public monument earlier today in Montreal. The fact is that Greenpeace’s allegations about Resolute are just not true.”

The statement continues: “Greenpeace

has even acknowledged making untrue statements about the company and has issued a retraction. Since then, they have persisted in promoting misinformation concerning Resolute.”

Groups representing Quebec’s forest industry denounced the demonstration.

“Our industry has clearly committed to the responsible use of a renewable resource that is widely available across our territory.

Moreover, collaboration between our businesses, environmental groups and Aboriginal nations is often cited as an example,” remarked André Tremblay, CEO of the Quebec Forest Industry Council (QFIC).

“Deplorably, Greenpeace has relied on practices from the past to denounce one of the sectors that has made the greatest efforts in the environmental area over the last 20 years,” he added.

Claude Dupuis, president of the Fédération québécoise des coopératives forestières, lamented the extent to which Greenpeace is disconnected from the reality of forests and the people who work in them. “This blanket outburst belittles all workers in the sector as well as Quebec’s forest regions.”

A few days after the Mount Royal stunt, Resolute Forest Products launched the Boreal Forest Facts website (www.BorealForestFacts.com), providing a new infor-

in quality or reducing our impact on the environment or the cost of manufacturing,” Norlund told the Times.

Catalyst recruited Norlund from Port Angeles, Washington, where he was the executive vice-president of operations for Nippon Paper Industries.

tion throughout North America.

This year’s projects include improving wildlife habitat management, mitigating impacts on wetlands, and conserving indigenous cultural features.

FPInnovations’ funded project will create a national best management practice guide for field practitioners to mitigate the impact of forest roads on Canadian wetlands.

NCASI Canada will use the funds to help ensure survival of young caribou by using new scientific methods to study nutrition in forest stands.

In New Brunswick, the Fundy Model Forest is also receiving a grant. This project provides a unique opportunity to study the effects of forest harvesting 20 years postharvest at a site where initial biodiversity studies were started in 1992.

SFI Inc. is an independent, nonprofit

Three Canadian conservation projects receive SFI funding FPInnovations, NCASI Canada and the Fundy Model Forest are among the organizations receiving grants for conservation projects from The Sustainable Forestry Initiative® Inc. SFI has awarded more than $400,000 to 10 conservation projects as part of its 2014 Conservation and Community Partnerships Grant Program.

These projects support efforts towards continuous improvement in sustainable forest management and forest conservawww.pulpandpapercanada.com

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Photo Greenpeace

Greenpeace stunt aimed at Resolute Forest Products

Greenpeace activists decorated the Mount Royal cross in Montreal to criticize Resolute Forest Products’ actions in the Boreal forest.

mation source highlighting the company’s ongoing efforts to promote sustainable forest management in Canada’s Boreal forest. organization that is responsible for maintaining, overseeing and improving the internationally recognized Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI®) program.

Terrace Bay Pulp fined $275,000 for fatal explosion More details about the blow tank explosion that killed one worker at Terrace Bay Pulp Inc. in 2011 emerged as the company had its day in court on April 4. The company pleaded guilty to failing to take reasonable precautions, and has been fined $275,000 by the Ontario provincial court.

The explosion at the kraft pulp mill occurred on October 31, 2011, while a hairline crack in the wall of a steel blow tank was being welded by workers employed by a subcontractor. An investigation conducted by the Ontario Fire Marshal’s Office confirmed the explosion originated within May/June 2014 PULP & PAPER CANADA

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Industry News the tank as a result of existing hazardous substances being ignited.

The explosion caused the top section of the tank to be driven upward into the steel beams supporting the roof of the facility, creating a 30-foot hole in the roof and a debris field with a radius of about 300 feet.

T.J. Berthelot, an employee of Terrace Bay Pulp who was involved in cleaning the tank, was killed and the other workers required medical attention.

An investigation by the Ontario Ministry of Labour confirmed that welding repairs

Briefly •D omtar has appointed Michael D. Garcia to the position of president of Domtar Pulp and Paper. Garcia will oversee the operations of a network of thirteen mills in the U.S. and Canada.

• Al Ward of Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries will be a keynote presenter at the TAPPI International Conference on Nanotechnology for Renewable Materials, held on June 23-26, 2014, in Vancouver.

•C ascades Inc. is closing a Swedish coated boxboard plant, Cascades Djupafors, due to weak market conditions.

• Daniel Archambault, executive vicepresident of Kruger Inc., has been reelected as chairman of PAPTAC for 2014.

• Fortress Paper Ltd. has been granted a deferral on its upcoming principal payment under its $102.4 million project financing loan with Investissement Quebec relating to its Fortress Specialty Cellulose Mill.

• Resolute Forest Products Inc. has announced a US$105 million upgrade to its Calhoun, Tennessee, pulp and paper mill, including the installation of a modern continuous pulp digester and other wood chip processing equipment.

For more details on these stories, visit www.pulpandpapercanada.com.

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to the tank had been allowed to proceed before the tank had been rendered free of any hazardous substances.

The ministry’s investigation also concluded that reasonable precautions relating to the planning and co-ordination of activities in preparing for the welding work on the tank were not taken by the mill.

Terrace Bay Pulp Inc. pleaded guilty to failing to take reasonable precautions in the circumstances and failing to ensure a tank was drained and cleaned or otherwise rendered free from any explosive, flammable or harmful substance before repairs or alterations were made.

In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25% victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.

A few months after the explosion, Terrace Bay Pulp Inc. ceased production and became insolvent. The mill was sold in 2012 to Aditya Birla Group, and now operates as AV Terrace Bay.

Falling Canadian dollar is credit positive for pulp and wood products A depreciating Canadian dollar is generally credit positive for Canadian companies, says Moody’s Investors Service. The industrial sectors that are benefitting the most from the Canadian dollar’s decline to $0.90 are exploration and production and market pulp and wood products, according to the Moody’s report “Canadian Dollar Depreciation is Credit Positive for Most Canadian Companies.”

The depreciation is also credit positive for metals and mining companies and credit neutral for natural gas and oil pipelines. It is credit negative for some transportation companies, including Air Canada, whose revenues are denominated in Canadian dollars, but which buys fuel priced in U.S. dollars.

“Part of assessing the impact on a company is reviewing exposures to U.S. dollardenominated costs, debt and equipment purchases, all of which increase with the depreciation of the Canadian dollar,” says Bill Wolfe, a Moody’s senior vice-president.

While it adversely affects these parameters, Wolfe says that a depreciating Canadian dollar positively affects cash flow when sales are U.S. dollar-denominated and costs are incurred in Canadian dollars.

This benefit is most pronounced for Canadian market pulp and wood products companies.

The weaker Canadian dollar moves Canadian producers to the low end of the global production cost-curve, enabling them to better compete with pulp manufacturers in Europe, Latin America and the U.S., says Moody’s.

NB forest plan prompts investment, criticism The New Brunswick government’s forest management strategy resulted in immediate investment announcements by the Irving forest products companies, but drew criticism from certain quarters for not being sustainable.

Putting our Resources to Work, a Strategy for Crown Lands Forest Management is expected to lead to the harvesting of an additional 660,000 cubic metres of softwood on Crown land. The new allocation under the strategy will bring the timber objective of the province to about 3.9 million cubic metres of spruce and fir from Crown lands. The hardwood objective will remain at 1.8 million cubic metres.

According to CBC News, the amount of Crown land that is off-limits to the forest industry – such as old growth forest and deer wintering habitat – has been reduced to 23%, from the traditional level of 30%.

Green Party Leader David Coon said the decision of the Alward government to permit 21% more clearcutting on Crown land this year will be ruinous for both rural communities and wildlife. “The long-term timber objectives of the Alward forest plan will dramatically increase herbicide spraying and convert much of the remaining natural forest on Crown lands to plantations,” according to the Green Party leader.

Also in the CBC News story of Mar. 13, Roberta Clowater, the executive director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society in New Brunswick, called the new policy “regressive.”

“It’s really important that the people of New Brunswick understand that the government is taking away more than a quarter of the amount of our public land that used to be specially managed to conserve wildlife and rivers and fish,” said Clowater. “And they’re basically giving it over to increased logging and much more clear-cutting.”

PPC www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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Industry News

WATER

TARGET: T

he significance of water in the global agenda of sustainable development is growing.

While producing pulp and paper requires large amounts of water, the industry is actually at the forefront of water management techniques, according to Kemira. The global chemical supplier estimates that water used in paper industry processes circulates approximately 30 times.

Ulla Gytel, a specialist with Kemira, points out that it is possible to continue to develop water reuse to a very high degree.

Water reuse is one method of reducing water consumption while at the same time improving energy efficiency and harnessing other natural resources. When the same water circulates longer in the process, the amount of water that needs to be taken in, decreases. Because the water that goes into an industrial plant is always treated, less water consumption also means less need for treatment. At the same time, decreased water consumption in industrial processes decreases environmental impact. Wellmanaged water circulation is also energy- and cost-efficient.

On World Water Day this past March, Cascades reiterated its objective to reduce water consumption: the packaging and

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tissue manufacturer is committed to reducing its discharge of effluent to 10.6 m3 per tonne of saleable product by 2015.

In 2013, its effluent discharge was 12.5 m3 per tonne, compared with the Canadian pulp and paper industry average, which is 61 m3 per tonne (Forest Products Association of Canada, 2011).

The Quebec company has been investing in finding methods to reduce its water consumption for a long time. Léon Marineau, vice-president of environment at Cascades, collaborates with all the plants, implementing projects with a view to reducing water consumption. In the coming months, a number of plants plan to implement new projects, including a water tower, a filtration system for clarified water and a flotator machine. “In all, these projects will result in estimated water savings of more than 1 million m3 per year. This is a significant step forward for us, and adds to our already positive results,” said Marineau.

In addition to its internal measures, Cascades is participating in the development of an international method (WULCA – Water Use in Life Cycle Analysis), which aims to incorporate water into the life cycle analysis.

Also on the international stage, the World Business Council on Sustainable Development has developed tools to help companies better understand and manage their water-related challenges, and communicate effectively what they are doing about them.

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To order: Contact us at publications@fpinnovations.ca Quebec: 418 659-2647 Vancouver: 604 222-5743 Montreal: 514 630-4100

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Opinion

Canada Leads the Way in Standardization

By Jennifer Ellson, senior communications specialist, fpinnovations

W

ith the transformation of the Canadian pulp and paper sector towards a sunrise industry underway, FPInnovations is putting a significant effort into strengthening standardization. This endeavor is aimed at supporting the industry’s move towards growth markets such as tissue/towel, bioenergy and bioproducts, and at capturing the opportunities created by increasing our focus on sustainability.

Canada has a long history of involvement with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee 6 on Paper, Board and Pulps (TC 6). Canadians have been playing a significant role since its inception in 1947, including holding the TC 6 Secretariat since the 1980s, and FPInnovations has been at the forefront of representing the Canadian pulp and paper industry in standards activities.

In fact, at the 25th meeting of the ISO/TC 6 in April in Delft, Netherlands, Canada was well represented with seven experts from FPInnovations, industry and government. A total of 45 delegates from 13 countries were in attendance. Two major proposals put forward by Canada in the previous ISO/TC 6 meeting – one pertaining to nanocellulose and another on the mechanical stability of paper – were reviewed and accepted.

A task group headed by FPInnovations researcher Jean Bouchard has been established to coordinate the development of ISO standards on cellulosic nanomaterials within ISO/TC 6 and to collaborate with the committee on nanotechnologies. These standards will ensure that nanocellulose-based materials produced worldwide can be tested according to internationally approved standards.

An ad hoc group, led by FPInnovations consultant Maurice Douek, has been created to develop an ISO standard specifying the requirements for the mechanical stability of paper. This standard should open up opportunities for high-yield pulp (HYP) producers, resulting from more use of HYP in traditional woodfree paper grades.

The ISO/TC 6 is engaged in providing a clear roadmap on developing guidelines and standardization in the field of paper, board and pulps, including terminology, sampling procedures, test methods, product and quality specifications, and the establishment and maintenance of appropriate calibration systems.

Its goals include developing new standards that are scientifically and technically relevant, and ensuring that the standards do not discriminate against products or specifications, which could create trade barriers and be detrimental to foreign exports.

PPC

A Green Contributor to Canada’s Energy Future Catherine Cobden, executive vice-president, Forest Products Association of Canada

A

nyone who thinks wood energy simply means tossing another log on a crackling fire might be surprised to know that Canada’s forest products industry is a green energy powerhouse. It produces the equivalent of three nuclear reactors of electricity.

The vast majority of this is green energy, mainly using by-products from manufacturing processes that might otherwise have gone to waste.

A recent Canadian Energy Innovation Summit held in Toronto focused on the need to develop a diversified Canadian energy strategy to help drive economic development and job creation while improving our environmental performance.

As both a major user and producer of green energy, the forest industry has already taken on this challenge by adopting innovations resulting in both economic and environmental benefits while providing Canada with a source of renewable bio-energy.

The forest industry is the second largest industrial energy user in the country, representing about 20% of all industrial energy consumption. But what makes the sector unique is that mills now produce 80% of this energy demand from their own operations and are aiming for complete self-sufficiency.

Energy is a major component of the cost structure for the industry. The industry has made billions of dollars’ worth of investment, driven by the desire to both improve the sector’s competitive position and to substantially reduce greenhouse gas 10

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emissions. Both have been accomplished.

The adoption of energy technology in more than 80 existing manufacturing operations has had a dramatic results: elimination of the use of coal, a 95% reduction in the use of oil, and a reduction of greenhouse gases by 62% since 2000 across Canada.

These fuel substitution strategies have reduced our energy costs by more than one third.

Embracing bioenergy has been an important step in a journey of transformation for the forest products industry. The sector believes the path forward is about finding new ways to serve new markets and create new products made from wood fibre. In fact, our confidence led FPAC to unveil “Vision2020” last year with three aspirational goals. By the end of the decade, we want to generate $20 billion of new economic activity through new innovations and new markets; further improve our environmental footprint by 35% and hire 60,000 new recruits, including women, Aboriginals and new Canadians.

The forest products industry knows it can’t stand still as the world continues to evolve with game changers such as the “Apple” revolution and 3D printing, the development of emerging economies and the International Energy Agency predicting a tripling of the global renewable energy supply. The forest sector is doing its part to adapt to this evolving reality and intends to do more – but we can’t do it alone. The answer is collaboration. By working together, we can ensure a prosperous future and make Canada a smart global leader in energy development.

PPC www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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THE

BIOFUELS

PIPELINE C

anadian companies are laying the groundwork for a wood-based biofuels sector. This pipeline may never deliver ethanol for passenger cars but it can heat businesses, fuel fleets of trucks and airplanes, and power industrial processes.

Several commercial and near-commercial opportunities for liquid and gaseous wood-based fuels are being explored by pulp and paper companies. Cutting edge mills are diversifying from their core product into co-products that make novel use of wood fibres, exploit the chemical backbone of lignin, or capture the energy value of waste wood.

In Canada, Kruger, Domtar, Resolute Forest Products, Alberta-Pacific Forest Products, and AV Group have all taken steps to join the bio-products market. They are keeping Canada at the front of the pack in the global forest industry.

The list of avenues under exploration in Canada is impressive: gasification for process heat, pyrolysis for fuel oil, lignin extraction, crystalline nanocellulose, cellulose filaments, C5/C6 sugars, and biomethane.

Enlarging the vision of biofuels The iconic imagery of a gasoline pump attached to a tree isn’t likely. Warren Mabee, a biofuels expert from Queen’s University, has concluded that ethanol cannot be competitively produced from trees in North America.

Nevertheless, Donald Smith, BioFuelNet Canada, suggests that in the new bio-economy, biofuel should be the focus, with other bioproducts as co-products of the biofuel production.

Mabee and Smith were among the experts speaking at PaperWeek Canada, which had several bio-economy presentawww.pulpandpapercanada.com

PPCMayJun2014.indd 11

Innovation

By Shaun Leslie Turriff

tions and was co-located with the Inter- Commercial success in Ontario national Forest Biorefinery Symposium.

Developments since PaperWeek wrapped DeWitt Patterson, AMEC, explained up point to the growing importance of biothat investment in biofuels plays an impor- fuels in the emerging bio-economy. Pyrolytant role in hedging against future oil price sis is emerging as a competitive means of fluctuations, an important consideration producing so-called “drop-in”, or advanced, for the airline industry. A movement away biofuels. These fuels, unlike ethanol, can be from oil has also prompted recent news used in existing transportation and refining that the U.S. Navy has successfully devel- infrastructures. oped a means of producing a hydrocarbon Ensyn is undertaking a $4-million fuel from seawater. expansion to upgrade its existing producThe development and profitability of tion facility in Renfrew, Ont., to a dedicated biofuels are still closely tied to matters of biofuels facility with enhanced production policy, as shown by the recent debate in capacity of 13 million litres/year of a liqthe U.S. over the upcoming renewal, and uid biofuel. Ensyn uses its Rapid Thermal possible weakening, of renewable fuel Processing (RTP®) technology, a pyrolysis standards (RFS2), and in comments by process, to produce RFO™ for sale as heatspeakers at PaperWeek 2014 who criti- ing oil or as a refinery feedstock for produccized Canada’s policies, including Sten tion of gasoline and diesel in an application Nilsson and Mabbee. Nilsson also noted known as refinery coprocessing. CRIBE, a that political will towards a world bio- provincial research corporation, will invest economy is eroding in Europe.

Nilsson, a consultant with ForEthanol from trees may not est Sector Insights AB, argued for the necessity of a fundamental be viable, but biofuels from change to our patterns of production and consumption. wood can heat businesses, However, several presentafuel trucks and planes, and tions by government offices suggest that Canadian policy is power industrial processes. headed in the right direction, despite the dire warnings. The success and continued funding of the IFIT up to $1.5 million to the expansion project. program is one such indication.

Ensyn’s Renfrew plant has recently Two other presentations also spoke to been qualified under the U.S. renewable the future potential of biofuels. Patrice fuel standard, RFS2, and the company has Mangin, UQTR, reported on studies con- signed a five-year deal with Memorial Hoscerning mobile pyrolysis units, to produce pital of North Conway, New Hampshire, easily transportable bio-oil at the site of to supply heating oil, displacing 100% of harvest, saving substantial feedstock trans- Memorial’s petroleum heating oil. portation cost. Julie Barrett, NRCan, disRenfrew’s qualification under RFS2 has cussed the potential for using dead fall in accelerated customer demand from U.S. clibioenergy production, after it has become ents. Ensyn expects that sales of RFO from unsuitable for pulping.

Renfrew to U.S. customers will qualify for May/June 2014 PULP & PAPER CANADA

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Innovation

Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) under the RFS2 program, enhancing contract economics.

Ensyn’s Renfrew facility has been in operation since 2006, applying Ensyn’s RTP® thermal conversion process to convert cellulosic, non-food biomass to liquids. Commercial operations to date have focused on the production of specialty chemicals and heating fuels for certain applications.

“This project represents a critical step in our biofuels development process,” said David Boulard, president of Ensyn Technologies. “Although Ensyn has had commercial operations for many years, and while the Renfrew facility has served us well as a commercial merchant facility for contract production and business development, Renfrew will now serve as our first commercial facility dedicated to biofuel production and will allow us to accelerate the development of market demand.”

Ensyn is also developing additional projects in the US and in Brazil. Ensyn’s

Ensyn’s pyrolysis facility.

model is to partner with fiber owners in the development of their biofuel projects.

In Brazil, Ensyn has partnered with Fibria Celulose SA, the world’s leading market pulp producer. Fibria has announced the location of the first Brazilian project, at their 2.3 million ton/year mill in Aracruz.

Photo: Ensyn

In addition, Ensyn is developing its rollout plans in a strategic alliance with UOP, a Honeywell company. UOP, through Envergent Technology, its joint venture with Ensyn, provides Ensyn’s RTP conversion facilities to Ensyn’s projects, with performance guarantees, and UOP also supports

Bioproducts a focus at PaperWeek

M

any presentations at PaperWeek Canada and its affiliated International Forest Biorefinery Symposium covered potential options for the future bio-economy.

An interesting presentation by Mariana Royer, BioForXtra, introduced the possibility of forest product extractives. Extractives, which are chemical compounds such as terpenes and polyphenols, can easily be removed before other processing without affecting yields downstream. Used in the pharmaceutical, nutrition, and cosmetics industries, the potential combined market for these chemicals is very large, and is expected to grow. Royer emphasized the need to build bridges between the forest products industry and the chemical industry in exploiting these value-added chemicals.

Christina Rueda, University of Cantabria, estimates that the conversion of sugars obtained via membrane separation from a sulfite process into furfural could have a payback period of one to three years. Similarly, Sudip Rakshit, Lakehead University, examined the fermentation of poplar sugars into xylitol.

Charles Chunbao presented on using lignin to produce polyurethane biofoam, with promising results, although the quality of the biofoam is not yet high enough to make it a replacement product.

Fatma Mechmech, INSAT, examined the production

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of butanol, a potential biofuel for jet engines, using wood hydrolyzate and alfalfa juice.

Pedram Fatehi, Lakehead University, looked at the NSSC process and the potential for integrating a biorefinery process using the spent liquor, currently a waste product.

Sourour Ben Cheikh examined the use of syngas in an integrated biorefinery, which remains a viable option for replacing fossil fuel use and for the production of coproducts. Cedric Briens, Western University, looked at the production of biochar, a replacement for activated charcoal, using a new form of reactor, and Murray Thomson, University of Toronto, focused on the potential for using bio-oil directly in burners and engines.

Discussing high level market drivers and challenges, Roger Gaudreault of Cascades said during PaperWeek that the bioeconomy is becoming increasingly relevant, addressing environmental concerns and a growing world population. Gaudreault stressed the need for an innovative mindset among industry and government leaders, as well as cooperation and partnership with the oil and gas industry, whose knowledge and infrastructure are vital to the future of the bioeconomy.

Innovation and partnership with other industries, especially the oil and gas and chemical industries, was also a central message delivered by Sten Nilsson, Forest Sector Insights AB.

www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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Innovation

Ensyn in the commercial development of refinery coprocessing opportunities.

Another pyrolysis project was recently announced by a consortium in Finland.

Valmet, UPM and Fortum have partnered to develop transportation and heating fuels, as well as high value bio-liquids, from woody biomass. The five-year development project will use a catalytic pyrolysis technology called LignoCat to upgrade bio-oil.

Valmet is also involved with the Gothenburg Biomass Gasification Project in Sweden. This pilot project aims to gasify forest product residue into high quality biomethane to be mixed with natural gas and supply gas-powered transportation vehicles.

The combination of gasification and methanation is a world first. (See page 22 also).

But wood-based biofuels remain a risky business. Several advanced biofuels startups in the United States are nearing, or have just begun, commercial production.

KiOR is one of these, making advanced biofuels via pyrolysis from various non-food feedstocks including woody biomass. In March, the company announced it may not be able to continue business as a going concern due to losses. It later secured financing from an investor for a few more months while the company works to secure further financing and keep its doors open.

Wood-based chemicals also secure investment One of the bioproducts success stories at PaperWeek this year was an update by Bruno Marcoccia, Domtar, about its commercial scale demonstration plant that produces and sells lignin under the trade name Bio-Choice™. Using Valmet’s LignoBoost™ system, Domtar’s Plymouth, N.C., pulp mill is currently manufacturing commercial quantities of lignin on a continuous basis, with a goal of 30,000 tons/year.

Marcoccia said that the lignin removal is the first stage of a multifaceted project.

The next phase is the fermentation of C5/ C6 sugars derived from low-cost available feedstocks into value-added products.

Marcoccia was careful to mention the importance of Domtar’s partnerships in this venture, with roughly 20 sponsored sub-projects and a sizable grant from the USDA-DOE Biomass Research Development Initiative.

Domtar’s careful integration at the www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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Coal to biomass conversions – a materials handling challenge

A

s renewable energy continues to gain popularity among some power producers in the United States, several power plants are being converted to use biomass. Some municipalities, utilities, private developers, and coal-powered electrical generating plants are prioritizing a biomass conversion as their primary fuel source since they are able to make use of existing assets and a well-established means of distribution.

Bruks has supplied equipment to several converted plants now producing power in California and Virginia. These plants introduced more than 100 MW of biomass power over the past two years, requiring a substantial amount of woody biomass. DTE and Dominion Energy, where the conversions were implemented, opted for high-capacity, fully-automated designs in their wood yards.

There is a distinct difference between handling coal as compared to wood waste. A typical power plant can consume upwards of 500,000 tons of “green” wood chips on an annual basis. Receiving, processing and storing this volume of wood can be challenging, and requires a drastic change from typical coal yard operations.

The new, state-of-the-art wood yards include truck dumpers, conveyors, screens, hogs and stacker reclaimers. This equipment is not a novel idea, however, the installations capitalize on years of engineering practices for handling true “wood waste” materials. In most cases, material classified as “wood waste” is nonuniform in size and is quite often contaminated with non-desirable materials. The wood yard design must overcome these characteristics, providing uninterrupted material flow to the processing system.

The most significant impact of changing feedstock is the actual space required for a biomass system as compared to a coal system. The typical wood yard can consume upwards of five acres of real estate as compared to a coal yard that can often be as simple as a single silo and contained on one acre or less.

A biomass-fuelled facility also needs to receive biomass by truck, and then store and recover the bulky and wet material. The biomass is screened before sizing it to the boiler’s requirements. The biomass must be delivered at consistent rates for base-load power generation. Modifications to the boiler, ash-handling system, exhaust gas processing, and many other changes are also required.

– Contributed by Bruks, www.bruks.com Plymouth site (which had available black liquor due to a bottleneck and a change of pulp grade) and choice of LignoBoost as a pathway (robust and commercially available technology), along with the importance of partnerships, echoes many of the strategies that theorists and analysts have been discussing for the past few years with regard to developing bioproducts.

Kruger and FPinnovations spoke at PaperWeek Canada 2014 about a new bioproduct, cellulose filament (CF), and the construction of a demonstration plant at Kruger’s Trois-Rivières location. Kruger sees CF as having potential both within the pulp and paper industry as a cost-saving strength additive, and in other industries, such as thermoplastics, thermosets, adhesives, non-wovens, and coatings.

A key point in FPInnovations’ presentation was the very short time scale of this program, influenced by their funding partner, IFIT. The project has gone from lab to demo scale in only four years, a clear sign, according to Jean Hamel of FPInnovations, that innovation is key to the future of the bioeconomy. Kruger also highlighted the importance of a grant from NRCan, under the IFIT (Investment in Forest Industry Transformation) Program. Speaking later, Jean-François Levasseur, NRCan, discussed IFIT’s successes, including 14 projects in Canada. The IFIT program was renewed in the most recent federal budget.

Clearly, the “forest biorefinery,” which five years ago was an academic construct with a dizzying array of possibilities, is beginning to take shape in Canada. PPC May/June 2014 PULP & PAPER CANADA

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Market Trends

Pulp outlook: volatile pricing, slow growth Growth in paper consumption, particularly tissue, and declining availability of recycled pulp, bode well for Canadian market pulp producers.

By Cindy Macdonald, editor

T

he vagaries of the pulp market have a profound effect on Canada’s pulp and paper market. We are second only to Brazil in terms of production capacity for market pulp. So if pulp pricing is becoming even more volatile, as Brian McClay suggests, the reverberations will be felt through the Canadian industry.

McClay is principal of Brian McClay and Associates, a competitive intelligence consultancy based in Quebec. His presentation at PaperWeek Canada 2014 examined global trends affecting supply and demand for market pulp.

To frame the situation for attendees, McClay reminded everyone that market pulp (i.e., pulp sold on the open market) and dissolving pulp are a US$40 billion business. Market pulp accounts for about 16% of global paper furnish, integrated pulp accounts for 29% and 51% of paper furnish comes from recycled fibre.

And finally, he noted, the pulp market is export-driven; about two-thirds of market pulp has to cross an ocean to get to its customer.

Pulp is a global commodity China continues to be the most influential buyer in the international pulp market.

That country’s paper industry recorded a net increase in paper and board output of 65 million tonnes from 2002-2012, and 85% of it was not integrated to pulp production. China currently buys 30% of the world’s market pulp.

McClay expects a price correction in both softwood and hardwood markets in 2014. After that, there is additional capacity coming onstream for both hardwood and softwood, and he expects NBSK prices to rise slowly until they reach about US$850/tonne in 2017.

Bleached eucalyptus pulp has been enjoying demand growth of 9%/yr for the past decade, McClay explained, while Canada’s strength, NBSK, is growing at 1.3%.

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According to McClay, market pulp the U.S., E.U. and Japan has declined, and demand growth will be 3%/yr in the long these countries already have high recovterm – 4% for hardwood kraft, 2% for ery rates. The recovery rate in the U.S. is softwood kraft.

72%, Europe 77% and Japan 81%. There is Among the capacity shifts anticipated more usage of specialty papers, food grade in the next few years is AV Terrace Bay’s papers and composites, which are not as conversion to dissolving pulp in 2016, easily recovered. And the marginal cost of which will remove 350,000 tonnes of collection is rising as we dig deeper into NBSK from the market. Paper Excellence’s the waste stream.

Prince Albert, Sask., site will add 350,000 As growth slows in the supply of recovof fluff pulp when it begins operations in ered paper, and quality declines while 2015. Sodra in Sweden and Ilim Group costs rise, the gap between paper producin Russia have also announced significant tion and recycled fibre supply will grow. new NBSK capacity.

Market pulp can fill in that gap and gain But most new pulp capacity will be market share, said McClay. hardwood. Numerous million-tonne hardwood kraft mills are anticipated for South Price discrepancy widens America, and a two-million tonnes-per- Reporting on the 2013 fourth-quarter year mill has been promised in Indonesia activity of the global forest industry, Wood

by APP. Resource Quarterly notes that softwood McClay noted that paper is still a grow- pulp prices remained strong in the quaring market overall. By 2030, he explained, ter due to low inventories and steady there will be two billion more consumers demand. Hardwood pulp prices were kept in the world. Globally, tissue is expected in check due to higher inventories and to grow at about 4.5%/ expectations of yr. Demand for printexpanded supply.

MARKET WOOD PULP 16% ing and writing grades NBSK prices have is flat, with packaging steadily trended NON-WOOD PULP 4% and specialty grades upward for almost showing some growth.

18 months, while Good news for CanaHBKP prices have INTEGRATED/AFFILIATED da: McClay expects stayed flat. The WOOD PULP growth in toweling price discrepancy 29% products, which genbetween the two erally make heavier major pulp grades use of NBSK fibre. has been unusually high the past six Recover paper months, reports Wood Resource also affects RECYCLED PAPER PULP Quarterly. pulp market 51% There are some indiThe group also cations that the indusreports that global try may have reached market pulp proa peak in recovered duction for 2013 paper volumes. As was about 3.6% GLOBAL PAPER FURNISH. McClay explains it, higher than in the SOURCE: PPI, BRIAN MCCLAY & ASSOCIATES graphic paper usage in previous year. PPC

2012

www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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Market Trends

Rise in profits hints at Canadian forestry sector turnaround

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anadian forest and paper companies are turning the corner and returning to profitability, according to PwC’s Global Forest and Paper Industry Net Earnings Summary for the quarter ending December 31, 2013.

This survey of public companies shows that most Canadian companies achieved generally positive results in the fourth quarter, particularly when compared to 2012 performance. For example, the net earnings of nine selected Canadian western-based companies increased from $10.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2012, to $48.3 million in Q4 2013. The net earnings of four eastern-based companies went from red to black, improving from a loss of $57.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2012 to earnings of $7.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2013.

“This quarter was a pivotal time for Canadian forest and paper companies. After a long period of recovery, these results provide optimism for the industry moving into 2014,” says Bruce McIntyre, leader of PwC’s Forest, Paper and Packaging industry practice in Canada. “In addition

to improving market conditions, Canadian manufacturers have also benefitted from a weakening Canadian dollar.”

Furthermore, US housing starts continued their steady recovery with about 18% growth in 2013. Although severe winter weather conditions throughout eastern North America slowed housing construction in December, prices for structural building materials remained strong in the last quarter. Softwood pulp prices also remained strong. Newsprint prices remained steady through the quarter.

“Forest and paper companies should leverage these positive results from the last quarter to help position the industry for future growth. However, industry executives are still concerned about the possibility of tough times ahead due to a variety of economic and business risks as reported in PwC’s 17th Annual Global CEO Survey. A key area of focus is adapting more quickly to changing technology,” adds McIntyre.

PwC Canada delivers assurance, tax, consulting and deals services.

PPC

We innovate to help you improve your mill’s day-to-day operations FPInnovations improves your competitiveness through technology by: • Reducing production costs and increasing productivity • Retaining market share in traditional markets and increasing sales into growing market segments • Developing additional revenue streams such as energy, biochemicals and biomaterials Discover how FPInnovations’ research revolutionizes the market pulp industry. fpinnovations.ca

OUR NAME IS INNOVATION Follow us

www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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Operations Sponsored Technical Paper

TROUBLE-SHOOTING PAPER DRYER FLOODING: A VIEW FROM THE INSIDE

By Mike Soucy, P.Eng., Kadant Canada Corp.

P

aper dryers can experience periodic problems with flooding. A “flooded” dryer is one that has an excessive amount of condensate in it. The condensate may be in a non-rimming condition, in which case the drive load can be relatively high; or in a rimming condition, in which case the heat transfer rate will be relatively low.

In normal operation, the rate at which condensate is being evacuated from a dryer matches the rate at which condensate is forming in the dryer. “Flooding” occurs when condensate is being evacuated from the dryer at a rate less than the rate at which steam is condensing in the dryer. A flooded dryer has an excessive amount of condensate in it and begins to recover from a flooded condition when the evacuation rate exceeds the condensing rate.

Steam-heated paper dryer operation In a conventional paper dryer, steam is supplied to the dryer through a rotary joint. The steam transfers its heat to the inside surface of the dryer shell and the shell transfers the heat to the paper passing over its outer surface. The steam condenses as it loses its heat to the dryer shell and the condensed steam is removed from the dryer by a syphon.

The condensate that remains in a dryer cylinder may be in any one of three states of behavior. These states depend primarily on the rotational speed of the dryer cylinder and the amount of condensate in the dryer. At slow speeds the condensate will form a puddle at the bottom of the dryer cylinder. This state is called the puddling or ponding state. As the dryer speed increases, the trailing edge of the condensate puddle extends over the horizontal centerline of the dryer cylinder and 16

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the condensate falls back to the bottom of the dryer. This second condensate state is called cascading. The third state occurs as speed is increased further and the condensate forms a rimming layer all around the inside surface of the dryer shell. Dryers can flood with the condensate in any of these three states.

Identifying flooded dryers A flooded dryer can be identified by one or more of the following symptoms: • The dryer drive loads are much higher than normal for the current operating speed.

• The dryer framework is swaying in the cross-machine direction.

• Operating dryer steam pressures have increased or the dryer section cannot maintain the target sheet moisture content.

• The flow rate of condensate observed in the sight flow glass has decreased or stopped.

• A felt-driven dryer is rotating at a speed that is lower than the rest of the dryers.

• The dryer surface temperature is lower

than normal for the machine operating at that dryer steam pressure and dryer speed.

To confirm the dryer is flooded, the following actions can be taken: • Visually inspect the condensate sight glass on the condensate outlet. This is the most reliable way to verify flooding has occurred.

• Increase the section differential pressure and monitor the separator tank level and the level control valve position. If both parameters increase and stay above the long term trend for several minutes, then flooding is most probably occurring.

• Check the dryer drive loads with the dryer draws for the operating conditions. If both are in accordance with the historical trends and the drive load is high, flooding is most probably occurring. On some occasions, one section can be pulling the preceding section, causing a higher drive load than normal, hence drive loads cannot be interpreted in isolation as evidence of flooding.

Figure 1. A rotary syphon pick-up shoe submerged in condensate. www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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Operations Sponsored Technical Paper

Figure 2. Operating differential pressure.

Figure 3. Flood recovery differential pressure.

Causes of dryer flooding

is high, but not high enough to lift the condensate all the way to the center of the dryer, then the condensate will not flow out of the dryer.

The minimum differential pressure required to lift a solid column of condensate up a rotating syphon pipe to the dryer axis depends primarily on the dryer speed. This operating differential pressure and minimum flood recovery differential pressure is shown as function of dryer speed in Figures 2 and 3.

The most common type of stationary syphon for high-speed

The type of syphon and its design can have a significant effect on the removal of condensate from the dryers. With both rotating and stationary syphons, the condensate inside the dryer must be lifted up the syphon pipe to evacuate it from the dryer.

If the tip of the rotating syphon becomes submerged in condensate as illustrated in Figure 1, only condensate will flow into the syphon pipe and the differential pressure must be high enough to lift the heavy condensate. If the differential pressure

Renewable Liquid Fuels & Chemicals from Cellulosic, Non-food Biomass Ensyn produces advanced cellulosic biofuels for use as renewable heating fuels, and as refinery feedstocks in the production of gasoline and diesel.

Over 37 million gallons produced to date.

Capacity expansion underway in Renfrew, Ontario and in other projects in Canada, the US and Brazil.

Strategic alliances include UOP, a Honeywell company (technology) and Fibria Celulose S.A. (production of fuels in Brazil).

Ensyn Corporation ensyn.com info@ensyn.com 613-248-2257

www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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Operations

shoes are particularly prone to erosion.

•U ndersized syphon pipes. The horizontal and vertical syphon pipes may be too small for the current operating conditions.

If so, higher operating differential pressures will be required, perhaps resulting in inadequate steam system control.

• I mproper orifice plate size. If the condensate orifice plate is too small, the pressure drop will be higher than expected and the dryer will not drain at the normal operating differential pressure.

• I mproperly sized thermocompressor. If the thermocompressor is undersized, it cannot generate sufficient differential pressure and recirculate the blow-through steam.

Recovering from flooding Figure 4: PTX® steam joint and cantilevered stationary syphon system.

machines is the cantilevered stationary syphon shown in Figure 4. Modern cantilever stationary syphons have been designed with rigid supports so the stationary syphon can withstand the impact forces of the rimming condensate without vibration or failures.

Unlike rotating syphons, a stationary syphon does not lift the condensate against centrifugal force. If the stationary syphon shoe has a “scoop” contour, it can use the momentum of the rimming condensate to force the condensate out of the dryer. If the dryer speed is high enough, the condensate may be evacuated from the dryer even if the differential pressure is zero.

Stationary syphons also greatly reduce the susceptibility of paper dryers to flooding. Although dryers with stationary syphons are much less prone to flooding, flooding can still occur in dryers with stationary syphons.

Most problems with dryer flooding are related to either the steam supply and condensate drainage control system or with mechanical/installation problems. Some of the more common issues leading to dryer flooding are highlighted below.

• Incorrect differential pressure indication. If the indicated differential pressure is higher than the actual differential pressure, the dryers may flood even though the differential pressure appears to be adequate.

•T emporary loss of differential pressure. This problem is most common on high-speed machines operating with rotating syphons. If there is a loss in differential pressure, the condensate will cover the clearance between the syphon and the shell. If the differential pressure is restored, but is not above the flood-recovery differential pressure, then the condensate will not be removed from the dryer.

•C onventional syphon shoe design. Some older design syphon shoes did not have a “scoop” contour. These syphon shoes can be more susceptible to dryer flooding and often require higher operating differential pressures.

•E roded syphon shoe. Syphon shoes can erode. If the tip of the shoe is eroded away, the shoe becomes ineffective in removing condensate and dryer flooding results. Gray iron syphon 18

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When flooded dryers are identified, several actions can be taken to restore condensate flow and get the dryer back to normal operation.

• Increase the dryer group differential pressure by increasing the differential pressure set-point. This will cause steam being vented to the atmosphere or to a condenser, if one is installed.

For rotary syphons, the differential pressure set-point must be increased to above the flood recovery differential pressure.

• Continue checking the condensate sight glasses installed on each suspect dryer. Condensate evacuation commences when the syphon operating differential pressure equals the syphon flood recovery differential pressure. Condensate will then be visible and flowing freely through the sight glass. This flow will gradually change from a continuous stream of condensate to a pulsating atomised mixture as condensate evacuation is restored.

• Continue to monitor the separator level and the level control valve position. Maintain the elevated differential pressure until both measurements return back to the long term trend values before reducing the differential pressure to the normal value.

This operation could take from 5 to 15 minutes before the separator tank level reaches its original set-point.

• A reduction in the steam pressure of the master group controlling the sheet moisture or an increase in machine speed will be confirmation that the dryers have recovered from their flooded state and are evacuating condensate normally.

• Shell and sheet temperature measurements should be taken to confirm that all dryers are functioning correctly.

There are several potential causes of dryer flooding, but most of them can be eliminated by proper hardware selection, system design, and maintenance. If the root cause cannot be immediately identified, an audit of the dryer section can be performed to determine the cause. Simulation trials can also be conducted at Kadant’s Research Centre in Three Rivers, MI, if further help is needed to identify the conditions under which the dryer floods and the operating parameters required to prevent flooding from occurring.

Mike Soucy is president of Kadant Canada Corp.

www.pulpandpapercanada.com

14-05-07 4:41 PM

Technology News Refiner plates contribute to higher strength

Voith now offers a complete line of Pluralis refiner segments to meet specific needs.

The Pluralis product line offers purposeoriented refining for nearly all types of raw materials and paper characteristics. There are six refiner plates in the Pluralis Line.

The LEIPA Georg Leinfelder GmbH paper mill in Schwedt, for example, uses Pluralis

IF for refining recycled fibers and confirms improved strength values with the same increase in freeness. IF is ideal for pulp mixtures with up to 30% long fibers. The Pluralis Line also contains a refiner plate for more heavily contaminated recycled raw materials that can also process pulp with longer fibers well and a plate for 100% short fiber pulp or pulp and paper mills that work in an integrated fashion.

The Pluralis line can not only be used in all Voith machines, but also for many disk refiners in third-party machines.

According to Voith, the Pluralis segments offer improved strength values and energy savings of up to 30% compared with conventional refiner plates.

Even the wet web tensile strength can be increased enough to reduce breaks in the paper machine, reports Voith.

Voith Paper Inc., www.voith.com

Composite tubes increase boiler lifetime

Sandvik Materials Technology will show visitors to its stand at PulPaper 2014 how to increase boiler lifetimes with composite tube solutions that yield excellent corrosion properties and superior resistance to stress corrosion cracking.

A significant advantage of the composite tubes developed by Sandvik is that they are suitable for applications where conditions outside and inside the tube require differing material properties that cannot be met by a single material.

In composite tubes, two different alloys are metallurgically bonded together to achieve good thermal transfer properties. One alloy is used to withstand corrosion, while the other is often an approved pressure vessel material.

Timo Peltola, global product manager, composite and boiler tubes, for Sandvik, explains that the composite tube is optimized for black liquor recovery boilers, syngas coolers, waste heat boilers and waste-to-energy boilers.

Materials on display will include SanicroTM 67/4L7 premium composite tube, relied upon in severe conditions for black liquor recovery and other boiler applications.

The product’s key attributes include superior anti-corrosion properties and longer lifecycles due to higher chromium levels and a low working-hardening rate.

These qualities make the grade more resistant to stress corrosion cracking and general corrosion than standard 304L/4L7 composite tubes.

Sandvik Materials Technology, www.smt.sandvik.com

Wood hogs, sizers, hammermills – development center has it all When the U.S. office of Jeffrey Rader, a brand of TerraSource Global, relocated from Woodruff, S.C., to Hillside Park in Duncan, S.C., in 2012, a plan was put in place to create a single facility for all TerraSource Global material tests, demonstrations and product development.

Cellulase enzyme boosts production rate for pulp, paper

Dyadic has launched a high-performance cellulase enzyme product designed to enhance paper and textile quality, while improving the economics of manufacturing processes.

Fibrezyme® G4 has shown to reduce energy requirements and increase production rates for pulp and paper manufacturers. In addition, says Dyadic, Fibrezyme® G4 enhances and restores fiber strength and increases inter-fiber bonding in paper-making applications.

Fibrezyme® G4 operates under wide pH and temperature ranges allowing for improved integration into a variety of pulp and paper and textile manufacturing processes.

Dyadic International, Inc., www.dyadic.com www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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“Our expectations are that this facility will become a global resource,” said Tony Lubiani, vice-president of forest products.

“To date, we have had clients from China, Russia, Poland and Chile, as well as the U.S. and Canada, visit the demonstration and development center.”

While the DDC remains a work in progress, more than two dozen trials have been performed in the new lab. “We are looking forward to the upcoming opportunity to evaluate the Gundlach, Jeffrey Rader and Pennsylvania Crusher brands against each other. This will help us to do a better job for future customers’ applications and point us in the direction for new product development projects,” says Bryan Lanham, director of product

development for TerraSource Global.

Adjacent to the DDC, a 1,800 square feet training center is also available for sales, customer testing meetings and conferences.

TerraSource Global 864-476-7523, www.terrasource.com

Greenfield mill opts for Sulzer pumps and mixers

Sulzer products are used extensively in Suzano’s new Imperatriz greenfield pulp mill in Brazil. The plant was inaugurated in March 2014.

About 400 pumps and mixers were supplied by Sulzer to the plant. The scope of Sulzer’s supply also included testing, packaging and installation supervision along with commissioning and technical support after the operation startup. Valmet was the key technology supplier for the pulp line.

The pump package contained double suction pumps type Z22, AHLSTAR and BE process pumps, submersible pumps (types ABS XFP, ABS AFP and Scavenger), Salomix and Scaba agitators as well as medium consistency pumps.

Imperatriz, Suzano’s sixth manufacturing plant, will have a production capacity of 1.5 million tons of pulp per year for export.

Sulzer products cover most of the processes in a pulp and paper plant, including water and wastewater applications.

Sulzer Pumps Canada 514-333-7760, www.sulzer.com May/June 2014 PULP & PAPER CANADA

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Technology News

SUPPLIER NEWS Voith partners with Canfor Pulp for tissue research

Andritz to supply the world’s largest recovery boiler

Andritz has received an order from OKI Pulp & Paper Mills to supply the world’s largest recovery boiler for OKI’s new kraft pulp mill in Indonesia. Start-up is scheduled for the second quarter of 2016.

The order value amounts to approximately 120 million euros ($183 million Canadian).

According to Andritz, the total capacity of its High Energy Recovery Boiler (HERB) is about 50% higher than of any other recovery boiler in operation today worldwide, reaching a black liquor firing capacity of 11,600 tons of dry solids per day. The maximum daily green electricity production of the boiler is equivalent to the average daily electric power needs of a European city of one million inhabitants.

The boiler will feature state-of-the-art solutions for optimizing power-to-heat ratios by operating at higher pressures and temperatures than conventional boilers.

This allows pulp mills to maximize their environmental-friendly power generation, states Andritz.

Andritz, www.andritz.com

Screen rotor enhances efficiency, energy reduction

Aikawa Fiber Technologies (AFT) has introduced a new screening rotor – a critical component inside every pressure screen – that increases capacity, improves stability, and offers up to 30% in energy savings, compared with AFT’s existing rotor designs.

This new GHC2™ rotor builds upon the success of the more than 1800 GHC rotors already in operation by replacing the standard rotor elements with a new, patent-pending PowerWave™ design.

PowerWave has a unique waveform surface on its leading edge which accelerates

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Voith Corp. and Canfor Pulp have entered into a technical cooperation agreement that makes Canfor Pulp the exclusive supplier of NBSK pulp to be used in the pilot paper machine at Voith’s Sao Paulo Tissue Innovation Center.

“We are delighted to enter into this cooperation with Canfor Pulp, whose fibres are renowned worldwide for superior strength and quality,” said Thomas Scherb, general manager of the innovation centre. “Running these uniquely fine and flexible long fibres on our new ATMOS and NipcoFlex T technologies, we have already identified significant quality and cost improvements for our customers.”

Sean Curran, vice-president, sales and marketing, Canfor Pulp, says the cooperation with Voith will allow the company further develop its value proposition for Canfor premium NBSK in tissue and related products. “The growing market demand for superior strength and softness products, coupled to production cost management, confirms that the leading edge technologies developed and piloted by the Voith tissue group are the perfect technical match for our fibres.”

Voith says its Tissue Innovation Center is the most technologically-advanced tissue R&D center in the world. Canfor Pulp operates its own Innovation Centre in B.C., which maintains a global network of partnerships through its Open Innovation Program.

Canfor Pulp, www.canforpulp.com Voith Paper Inc., www.voith.com

Colorants price increase

Paper chemicals supplier Kemira will implement a price increase of up to 25% for selected paper colorants in the Americas. The adjustment will be implemented immediately or as the existing contracts allow. The price adjustment is a result of increases in all major cost drivers including raw materials, energy and transportation.

The company states that it has continuously rationalized operations and reduced fixed costs, but has now reached the point that a price increase for selected colorants is necessary.

Kemira, www.kemira.com the pulp suspension. This strengthens the suction pulse and creates “microvortices” which keep the screen cylinder’s apertures clean to improve throughput and runnability.

According to Mathieu Hamelin, AFT’s product manager for rotors, milldocumented performance of the GHC2 rotor shows a capacity increase up to 20% compared to the standard GHC rotor.

“When capacity is not an issue and energy savings are more important, the power consumption of the GHC2 can be lowered by 30% compared to the GHC simply by reducing the tip speed,” Hamelin says.

“When compared to conventional rotors from other manufacturers, energy savings up to 60% may be possible.”

Aikawa Fiber Technologies 819-562-4754, www.aikawagroup.com

New headbox delivers layered structure for containerboard

Dong Il Paper Manufacturing Co. Ltd has successfully started up its containerboard machine in its Wolsan mill in South Korea after a wet-end rebuild in January 2014.

Valmet contributed a new two-layer headbox and vacuum-assisted forming board for the middle ply. The rebuild increases the end product quality and enables the mill to produce four-ply containerboard with help of Valmet’s new

innovative headbox technology. This is the first implementation of Valmet’s OptiFlo headbox with Aqua layering technology.

“We have already seen the potential of the technology on how strength properties can be improved. Unlike with conventional technologies, a rapid starch feeding response can be measured when starch is fed through Aqua layer; in both cases 15% compression strength (RCT) improvement is achieved, but the needed amount of starch is almost 30% lower with Aqua technology. Even in chemically challenging process conditions, the technology enables great results,” reports Jin Doo Kim, vicepresident, Dong Il Paper.

Valmet’s OptiFlo headbox with Aqua layering technology makes it possible to produce a two-layer sheet with very good layer coverage using only one headbox and forming unit. The Aqua layering technology was developed for the most challenging stratified solutions where layer purity is a key feature.

In containerboard grades, this type of layering provides further possibilities to adjust the quality and strength properties.

It enables the use of different furnish qualities, cheaper raw materials and functional additives between layers while giving flexibility to develop improved end products.

Valmet Corp., www.valmet.com www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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Valmet-supplied gasification plant at GoBiGas (Gothenburg Biomass Gasification Project) will produce biomethane gas by gasifying forest residues and wood pellets. The biomethane is similar to natural gas and will primarily be used in the transport sector. The new plant is first of its kind in the world.

Johanna Lindén, Valmet’s director of Scandinavia, Energy, explains the advantages of the chosen technology: “The indirect gasification generates high-energy gas with high heating value that can be mixed with natural gas. This makes it possible to replace a lot of today’s fossil transportation fuel by fossil-free fuel in gas-powered vehicles.”

The biomass is gasified in a process called indirect gasification, developed by the Austrian company Repotec. Valmet is

handling the engineering work for the gasification plant in Gothenburg with a license from Repotec.

Gasification takes place in a separate reactor and heat is transferred from a combustion chamber by circulation of hot bed material, i.e. indirect gasification. Biomass is fed into the gasifier where, on contact with the hot bed material, it undergoes thermochemical decomposition. After the cleaning and methanation, the gas is imported to the natural gas supply and is used in Göteborg Energi’s power plant.

Because of the high quality, the biomethane can be fed to the existing distribution grid, where it is mixed with natural gas. Valmet says combining a biomass gasification plant with a methanation plant is unique in the world.

Lafarge cement operations will test torrefied biomass as substitute for coal

commercial biocoal facility in B.C. This is just the first step in deploying torrefaction technology in B.C.”

A commercial demonstration of the use of biomass-based solid fuels instead of coal at cement plants or coal-fired utilities in British Columbia has received funding of $1 million from the BC Bioenergy Network.

BC Bioenergy Network, a provinciallyfunded organization supporting the bioenergy sector in British Columbia, will support Diacarbon Energy Inc.’s demonstration of its Torrefaction Bioreactor Technology.

Diacarbon will produce a renewable and sustainable biocoal derived from wood residuals that will displace coal used by Lafarge Canada’s cement operations in B.C. The total project investment is $9 million.

The project involves the establishment of a fully automated torrefaction facility which will process wood residuals. Torrefaction, the process of heating biomass materials at elevated temperatures in the absence of oxygen, results in transforming wood into a material possessing the energy value and processing characteristics of coal, with a significantly lower carbon footprint.

Jerry Ericsson, president of Diacarbon, announced that this new technology follows several years of technology and product development in B.C., where a trial demonstration plant has been in operation. “We are proud to be building the first Canadian 22

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AV Terrace Bay will test method to extract sugar from biomass CRIBE is partnering with GreenField Specialty Alcohols to test and develop a biorefining technology that could be applicable to pulp mills.

The project will take GreenField’s patent pending equipment – a modified twin screw extruder used to extract and recover clean sugars – and apply it in a pulp and paper mill demonstration project at two mills, one of which is AV Terrace Bay Inc., in Terrace Bay, Ont. CRIBE is providing up to $1.3 million in funding to this project to leverage a total project cost of almost $2.7 million.

This project has two phases. Initial testing will be done at Greenfield’s facility in Chatham, Ont., with “streams”, i.e. wood chips and by-products of the pulping process such as sludge and white water, to be partially provided by AV Terrace Bay Inc. In phase two, a portable version of the modified twin screw extruder technology will be installed for testing in situ at the AV Terrace Bay mill.

“GreenField is most appreciative of CRIBE’s support to advance and accelerate the development and commercial deployment of its extruder technology; and is

Photo: Valmet

Biomass gasification plant serves transportation sector

The GoBiGas gasification plant in Sweden is the first to combine a biomass gasification facility and methanation plant.

pleased and excited to partner with CRIBE to adapt this technology for applications that will benefit the pulp and paper industry,” said Barry Wortzman, vice-president of business development, GreenField Specialty Alcohols Inc.

Ensyn planning commercial-scale production of biofuels in Ontario Ensyn is undertaking a $4-million expansion to upgrade its existing production facility in Renfrew to a dedicated biofuels facility with production capacity of 13 million litres/year. The site produces a liquid biofuel that can be used as a heating fuel and as a feedstock for the production of gasoline and diesel. CRIBE, a provincial research corporation, will invest up to $1.5 million to the expansion project.

By enhancing its existing facility in Renfrew, Ensyn will have a fast-to-market option for delivery of its petroleum-replacement liquid biofuel produced from forest residues to heating oil customers in Quebec and Northeastern United States.

The capacity increase is being carried out in order to meet immediate demand for Ensyn’s biofuel, RFOTM, from clients in Canada and the US. On March 7, Ensyn announced that it had signed a five-year contract with Memorial Hospital of North Conway, New Hampshire, for the supply of RFO to be used as a heating fuel, replacing petroleum-based fuels.

PPC www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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