Background Information

November 16, 2009 - Edmonton, AB

Alberta Research Council sensors achieved:

• The wood species meter is successfully measuring species shifts between pine and spruce.
• Blue stain meters are providing reliable readings for the percentage blue stain in wood chips being received from individual chip suppliers and overall amount feeding the mill.
• Pitch meters are providing evidence of the influence that pitch content has on final sheet strength properties. These meters may ultimately help optimize process purge rates to minimize water consumption while ensuring high paper quality.
• The blue stain meter has the potential for “feed forward” chemistry control for pulp brightening.

The Voith Shoe Press achieved:

• Improved sheet strength by 12.5 percent by promoting bonding in the press section and improved sheet surface finish for printing. This allows the mill to consume larger quantities of beetle attacked wood.
• Improved sheet dryness, from 40 to 46% dryness. This led to steam usage reductions of up to 20%.
• While currently running largely green wood the paper machine is experiencing reduced paper breaks and is able to run faster by approximately 9%.
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Broader MPB Knowledge Gains for the Forest Products Industry:

• Pilot plant knowledge gained on running increased amounts of MPB killed fiber, might provide knowledge to those out east currently dealing with spruce bud worm attacked trees.

The results are being shared with the forest products industry at large. A presentation will be made at the Montreal Pulp and Paper Week Annual Meeting – a complete morning session will be dedicated to the Alberta MPB experience.