Pulp & Paper Canada November/December 2012 by Annex Business Media

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November/December 2012 Vol. 113, No. 6 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– Fibre for Fuel

12 plentiful Harvest

Canada has enough wood resources to satisfy both pulp producers and the bioenergy sector.

30 uBC biomass system up and running

The University of British Columbia can now get heat and power from a Nexterra/GE gasification system.

FEATURES

11 Fortress working out the bugs

Lofty ambitions for dissolving pulp production at Fortress Specialty Cellulose fell short of their target.

14 rewriting paperWeek Canada

PAPTAC is rescripting its flagship event, putting the emphasis on the industry’s needs from the ground up.

18 Dryer section gets a second wind

Kadant Canada successfully upgrades the dryer section for a vintage newsprint machine at Tembec Kapuskasing.

J-FOR FEATURED TECHNICAL PAPER

Economics of commodity chemicals and fuels from forest biomass: the biorefinery option

The forest biorefinery concept offers the potential for revenues at least as high as the kraft mill it extends and replaces. Tom Browne, FPInnovations 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.

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Cover image: Unloading biomass at UBC. Photo by Don Erhardt

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november/december 2012 PulP & PaPer Canada

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Photo: Don Erhardt

love seeing exposed wood in industrial buildings. It is so wonderfully surprising to see such natural beauty in the midst of all the sharp angles and shiny surfaces of machinery and equipment. Cascades’ plant in Lachute, featured in Dec. 2009 issue, showcases the glory of wood. Inside, the building is visually stunning. So is the new building that houses the University of British Columbia’s CHP bioenergy system. The gasification system is profiled on page 30, but there was no room in that story to give credit to the structure that surrounds the groundbreaking biomass-to-electricity system. Designed by McFarland Marceau Architects, the building was constructed using cross-laminate timber (CLT), a solid wood building material that can be used as a low carbon, renewable alternative to steel frame construction. This is one of the first CLT buildings in North America and will demonstrate the product’s market potential. Cindy Macdonald Moving from solid wood products to waste Editor wood products, I’ve chosen this month to address the question of fibre availability in the face of growing use of pellets and other forms of biomass to generate heat and power. The UBC CHP system is one recent example. Coming on-stream in the next two years, there will also be the conversion of Ontario Hydro’s Atikokan generating station to biomass, and Nova Scotia Power’s new biomass boiler being built at the site of what is now Port Hawkesbury Paper. Not to mention the 1.3 million tonnes/year of pellets we’re exporting overseas. Various experts in the bioenergy sector agree UBC’s Bioenergy Research and Demonthat competition for fibre stration Facility also demonstrates the will not be widespread, benefits of building with wood. and is not imminent. That’s good news, because it suggests that the forest products, pulp and paper, and bioenergy sectors can continue to grow in concert, feeding each other rather than cannibalizing the supply chain.

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

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Industry News Nova Scotia mill restarts as Port Hawkesbury Paper The $33-million sale of the Port Hawkesbury paper mill is complete, and the first paper rolled off the line in October. One year after the former NewPage facility in Nova Scotia shut down, the sale to Pacific West Commercial Corp. was completed on Sept. 28. Two hundred and fifty employees returned to work within days. The mill is restarting under the name Port Hawkesbury Paper. “We have together embarked on the mission to make Port Hawkesbury Paper the highest quality and most competitive producer of supercalendered paper in North America while at the same time being a great place to work, environmentally responsible and a strong contributor to the province of Nova Scotia,” said Ron Stern, owner of Pacific West Commercial. The mill will produce thermomechanical pulp and run the supercalendered paper line, but not the newsprint line. The Nova Scotia government poured $36.8 million into keeping the mill in a hot idle state and supporting the local forest products sector while NewPage Port Hawkesbury was closed. It also promised a financial aid package to the new owners that included: a $24-million loan to improve productivity and efficiency, a $40-million repayable loan for working capital, $1.5 million to train workers, $20 million to buy 51,500 acres of land, and $3.8 million annually, for 10 years, from the forestry restructuring fund to support sustainable harvesting and forest land management. The support package was tweaked at the last minute when the mill purchase threatened to fall apart due to Pacific West Commercial not receiving a favorable advance tax ruling from the Canada Revenue Agency.

Brant family and investment group complete purchase of White Birch BD White Birch Investment LLC has completed the acquisition of the assets of White Birch Paper Company, which includes three Canadian mills: Stadacona in Quebec, Masson in Gatineau and F.F Soucy in Riviere-du-Loup. The sale marks the successful culmination of a restructuring process that has lasted almost three years. Peter Brant, CEO of the new White Birch, said, “I am pleased that the conclusion of the restructuring process, together with significant new investment by the Brant family and the Black Diamond-led investment group, has resulted in a healthier, better capitalized company.” Christopher Brant, president of the new White Birch, thanked the various parties that have helped the company through the restructuring process. “Without the contributions of our dedicated employees, our loyal customers and suppliers, our partners at Black Diamond and the support of the Quebec government, the new White Birch’s future would not be nearly as bright as it is today.” BD White Birch Investment manufactures newsprint, directory paper and paper6

board, with mills located in Canada and the United States, and is the second largest newsprint manufacturer in North America. Black Diamond Capital Management is an independently owned, credit focused alternative investment firm.

Catalyst Paper emerges from creditor protection Catalyst Paper has completed its reorganization and emerged from creditor protection with less debt and lower annual costs. “We entered the reorganization process with a clear objective to put Catalyst on stronger financial footing and we have done so,” said Kevin J. Clarke, president and CEO. “Many parties worked long and hard to resolve balance sheet and cashflow issues constructively and quickly throughout the process. I am very proud of our employees who stayed focused throughout this challenging period. Sales kept our order book strong, operations ran well and, going forward, we intend to capitalize on the momentum generated to compete even more vigorously in the markets for our products.” As a result of the reorganization and related transactions, Catalyst reduced its debt by $390 million, eliminated $80 million of accrued interest and reduced annual

Pulp & Paper Canada November/December 2012

interest expense and other cash costs by approximately $70 million. The papermaker has begun the sales process for two properties -- the Elk Falls mill site in Campbell River, B.C., and its recycled paper mill in Arizona.

Cascades modernizes four folding carton plants, closes Lachute Cascades Inc. has announced a $22-million investment for four of its Norampac division facilities involved in the folding carton and microlithographic segments. The new equipment includes two new state-of-the-art printing presses in the Viau and Mississauga plants, including one capable of printing in up to seven colors and utilizing an ultraviolet drying process. The Winnipeg plant will get a new gluer and Cobourg will see new forming equipment. “These investments are in line with Cascades’ strategy that aims to modernize and improve the profitability of our packaging assets,” says Norampac president and chief executive officer Marc-André

People… • David Lindsay is assuming the role of president and CEO of the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC). Lindsay was most recently a senior Deputy Minister in the Government of Ontario. Catherine Cobden, who has held interim leadership over association the past five months, will now become executive vice-president of FPAC. • Marty F. Pignone will be vice president, paper North America, for Sonoco, effective December 1, 2012. He will have responsibility for Sonoco’s 12 uncoated recycled paperboard mills in the United States, Canada and Mexico. • Joe Nemeth has joined the board of directors of Fortress Paper Ltd. Nemeth has more than 25 years of experience in the pulp and paper industry. Most recently, he was president and CEO of Canfor Pulp Holding Inc.

www.pulpandpapercanada.com

Industry News Dépin. “This is our Group’s most important investment in the folding cartons sector in several years.” With the announcement, Cascades said it will shutter its folding carton plant in Lachute, Que. by the end of Q1, 2013, noting that other Norampac facilities will work with its customers. The company says that about 40% of its 155 employees at the Lachute plant are being offered positions at other Norampac and Cascades plants in the province.

Charges laid in fatal explosion at Terrace Bay Pulp Two companies – Terrace Bay Pulp and a mechanical contractor – and three individuals are facing charges in connection with a fatal explosion at the pulp mill last October. T.J. Berthelot was killed in the explosion. According to CBC.ca, Terrace Bay Pulp and Venshore Mechanical are charged for failing to ensure a tank being worked on was free of an explosive or flammable substance.

The three individuals face similar charges. All are charged under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. A local news site, Chroniclejournal.com, reports that the charges specify the tank was being worked on without “adequate instructions (being) given to a worker performing welding-related work on a cracked tank that normally contains a hazardous substance.” A few months after the explosion, Terrace Bay Pulp became insolvent. The mill was sold in 2012 to Aditya Birla Group, and restarted. The new owner has not been charged.

CeP/CaW merger to go ahead, Coles will lead CeP Delegates to the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union convention voted in favor of forming a new union with the Canadian Auto Workers union (CAW). The merger will create the largest private-sector union in the country, with more than 300,000 members. CAW members voiced their support for the

Natural Resources Canada released in September a tally of the results of the $1-billion Pulp and Pulp & Paper Paper Green Transformation Program. The Green Transformation federal funding was awarded from 2009 to 2012 to improve the environmental performance of Program Results Canada’s pulp and paper mills. Twenty-four companies were allocated credits under the program; 98 project proposals were approved.

200 MW additional renewable electricity capacity $5.4 million in annual electricity savings Source: Pulp and Paper Green Transformation Program Report on Results, Natural Resources Canada, 2012

www.pulpandpapercanada.com

The Tembec high-yield pulp mill in Matane, Que., is on its way to lower consumption of fossil fuels. The company officially inaugurated in early October a new anaerobic treatment facility which will produce methane biogas and reduce the mill’s reliance on fossil fuels. “This investment means better environmental, energy and economic performance for our Matane mill,” said James Lopez, president and CEO of Tembec. “By substantially reducing operating costs, this project will help assure the competitive position of our high-yield pulp on the global market.”

Fib ber Quallity Anallyzer

electricity generation

Tembec Matane switches to biogas for pulp drying

Introducing the next generation of

Expected results of PPGTP projects:

1.66 million MWh more renewable electricity per year 4.4 million GJ more renewable thermal energy per year 543,000 t/y less direct GHG emissions by Canadian mills 11 million cubic meters less water usage per year 170 t/y less biochemical oxygen demand loading of effluent 5000 t/y less SO mill emissions 2200 t/y less total particulate matter emissions $149 million additional revenue due to renewable

proposal in August. The CEP delegates also re-elected Dave Coles as national president. “We have a significant job to do: we are going to build not only a new union, but a new labour movement,” Coles told delegates after thanking them for their support.

Op pTest Equ uipmentt Inc. Hawkesburry, ON, Canada a

www.optest.com november/december 2012 PulP & PaPer Canada

Industry News

The project has two main components. The first is a new anaerobic treatment facility, which treats effluent and collects methane gas produced by the treatment process. This biogas will be used as fuel in the mill’s pulp-drying process, in place of the light oils currently used. The second component is the installation of a new electric boiler, which replaces a heavy-oil fuelled boiler. These two initiatives together will reduce by approximately 90% the use of oil as fuel sources for the generation of the Matane mill’s various process steam and pulp drying requirements. Both provincial and federal governments contributed funding to the project; $19.7 million from the Government of Canada and $6.3 million from the Government of Québec. Overall, the project represents a total investment of $29 -$32 million. The Matane mill, which has 140 employees, exports its high-yield pulp to the United States, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Korea and China.

SaFeST MIll In Canada COnTeST Year to date, September 2012

Total Recordable Incidents

Total Hours Worked

Mill Frequency

CaTeGOrY a – OVER 80,000 MANHOURS PER MONTH Domtar Inc., Windsor, QC

1,111,247 0.72

Alberta Pacific Forest Industries Inc., BC

820,828 1.46

Catalyst Paper, Crofton, BC

841,256 4.75

CaTeGOrY B – 50,000 to 80,000 MANHOURS PER MONTH Resolute Forest Products, Alma, QC

605,736 0.99

Resolute Forest Products, Fort Frances, ON

623,138 1.28

Resolute Forest Products, Thunder Bay, ON

617,605 1.30

HSPP, Howe Sound Pulp & Paper Corp., Port Mellon, BC

611,185 1.64

Resolute Forest Products, Baie-Comeau, QC

479,540 1.67

CaTeGOrY C – LESS THAN 50,000 MANHOURS PER MONTH Weyerhaeuser Canada, Grande Prairie, AB

402,919 0.00

Resolute Forest Products, Kenogami, QC

289,439 0.00

Resolute Forest Products, Thorold, ON

217,558 0.00

Sonoco Canada Corporation, Brantford, ON

99,866 0.00

Resolute Forest Products, Iroquois Falls, ON

400,341 0.00

PulP & PaPer Canada november/december 2012

www.pulpandpapercanada.com

Opinion

Forest products industry: Join the greenest workforce

By Monica Bailey, Director, Forest Products Association of Canada

ome people seem surprised to hear that the forest products industry is actually hiring. However, after years of cutbacks, the industry has turned the corner and is offering solid careers. The forest products sector in Canada has a green and growing future. Recently, the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) unveiled Vision2020, an ambitious plan to propel the industry forward by improving its environmental performance by 35%, by generating an additional $20 billion in economic activity from new products and markets, and by renewing its workforce by with 60,000 recruits including women, indigenous people and new Canadians. The 21st-century forest products industry requires savvy trailblazers who care about their future, the environment and quality of life. There is no better example than FPAC’s first recipient of the Skills Award for Indigenous Youth, Baillie Redfern. Redfern is a young Métis at the University of British Columbia researching the development of innovative bio-products from balsam fir including pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Creating smart bio-materials from wood fibre is just one of many career avenues available in the forest products industry. In fact, no

matter what part of the business you’re in – on the mill floor as a mechanical engineer, or in the forest as a forestry technician – the jobs are part of the greenest workforce in Canada. That’s because forests are renewable and part of nature’s cycle. The Canadian forest industry has world-class environmental credentials, including the most certified forests in the world, a decrease of more than 70% in greenhouse gas emissions since 1990 and a partnership with environmental groups under the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement. And the list goes on. There is also a long list of jobs to be filled – millwrights, electricians, sales staff, truck drivers, foresters, chemists and more. A major challenge is the need to compete with other sectors for skilled labour. To attract workers, the sector intends to highlight its impressive track record for accommodating work-life balance with flexible work hours, skills training, community life and the ability to have dinner at home without flying off to work-camps. Still, we recognize the need for additional strategies to reach out to women, Aboriginals and new Canadians. Look for a new initiative to be announced early next year, expected in February during a job fair at PaperWeek Canada in Montreal. The forest products industry is on the move and eager to attract new employees!

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November/December 2012 Pulp & Paper Canada

Opinion

Nanotechnology spices up Canada’s pulp and paper industry By Jennifer Ellson, senior communications specialist, fpinnovations

or a number of years, a lot has been said about the future of the Canadian pulp and paper industry and its need to advance into much higher value-added sectors. Indeed, when the business world talks about emerging technologies, it only thinks of the usual suspects: the dazzling IT and aviation industries, and the rapidly evolving pharmaceutical sector are just three examples. But the Canadian pulp and paper industry is on the verge of an unprecedented opportunity to shine in terms of emerging technologies, thanks to nanotechnology. FPInnovations has developed an innovative technology for extracting large quantities of nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) from wood harvested from Canada’s vast forests. This development has led to the inauguration of a one tonne/day demonstration

plant, managed by CelluForce, a 50/50 joint venture between FPInnovations and Domtar. Located on the grounds of Domtar’s Windsor, Que., fine paper mill, it is the world’s first semi-commercial-scale facility able to produce NCC. NCC is a high-value recyclable nanomaterial that FPInnovations’ tests show is non-toxic. It will be used to make a variety of improved products. For a prosperous and sustainable future, the Canadian pulp and paper industry must become a leader in the new bioeconomy, and that is where NCC plays a pivotal role. NCC can be used to form flexible films that are easy to manipulate – the iridescent properties and colours can be controlled, making it possible to advance many applications such as security papers, switchable optical films and UV barriers, sunscreens and cosmetics.

Already, trials integrating NCC into manufacturing processes are taking place through technical collaboration agreements between CelluForce and 15 companies based in Canada, the U.S., Europe and Asia in four sectors: paints and coatings, films and barriers, textiles, and composites. Applications in other industry sectors are also in the offing, such as environmental science, energy, pharmaceutical, food safety and transportation. As can be expected from a country with a rich tradition of innovation, Canada leads in the global race to develop the next generation of cellulose-based materials. NCC is abundant, renewable, recyclable and not harmful to the environment. It is expected to represent a dominant force in economic growth in the coming decades, and should serve as a strategic platform for sustainable development.

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nurture your future. your enVironment. your life. join the Greenestworkforce, join the forest products industry. Finding smart, green, bio-solutions to every day consumer products is just one of many career avenues available in the forest products industry. In fact, no matter what part of the business you work in—on the mill floor as a mechanical

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PulP & PaPer Canada november/december 2012

engineer, or in the forest as a forestry technician—the jobs are part of the greenest industry in Canada. Attend the first annual forest products industry job fair at this year’s PaperWeek event in Montreal, Quebec from February 4 to 7, 2013.

Visit: fpac.ca/Vision2020 and paperweekcanada.ca/jobfair.html

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www.pulpandpapercanada.com 2012-10-30 11:40 AM

Operations

Fortress working out the bugs Lofty ambitions for dissolving pulp production rates at Fortress Specialty Cellulose have been hammered by equipment failures and Mother Nature.

By Cindy Macdonald, editor

egacy equipment issues and acts of nature have plagued the ramp-up of dissolving pulp production at the Fortress Specialty Cellulose mill in Thurso, Que. Nine months after the start-up, the mill was still not at full production, due to various planned and unplanned shutdowns. “We had lofty expectations and high hopes because we haddone all the right preparatory work,” said Fortress Paper president Chad Wasilenkoff in an interview in late September. The entrepreneur said he is pleased with the way the conversion from the NBSK process to dissolving pulp was accomplished, but nonetheless, investors are noticing that the company has missed its stated production targets. At one point in early June, Fortress announced the mill had been running at 92% of final targeted capacity for 10 days, and had averaged approximately 83% over the last 4 weeks. But more often than not, stoppages in production have pulled the final output Chad Wasilenkoff down into the 80% range. In the last year, the mill has taken unplanned downtime due to a recovery boiler failure, a water intake pipe break (under a building), a lightning strike that damaged transformers, and a power outage caused by a storm. And then there are the planned maintenance shutdowns, necessary to tweak process equipment and accommodate construction of the co-gen plant on-site. A comprehensive seven-day shutdown was taken in September for a combination of annual maintenance and to complete highvoltage and process tie-ins for the co-gen plant. Wasilenkoff says the construction work on the co-gen project required a shutdown of 2.5 days, so, “we committed to the shutdown to get most of the critical path items out of the way.” The causticizing unit was a particular area of focus during this period. The pulp dryer has also been a source of headaches at the Thurso mill. Modifications and upgrades performed prior to the conversion of the facility to dissolving pulp were not sufficient, Wasilenkoff explains. The dryer was suitable for drying NBSK pulp, but dissolving pulp is more fragile (due to the reduced hemicellulose content), and this fragility amplified the problems caused by a mis-alignment of the dryer. The troubles with the dryer have been addressed and it is running better now, says Wasilenkoff. With the maintenance work completed and co-gen construction on track, the CEO says he’s “looking forward to a few good months to end the year.” www.pulpandpapercanada.com

Investors waiting for evidence Recently, Fortress Paper reported a third-quarter net loss of $18.9 million on sales of $73.0 milion. The company’s specialty papers segment contributed $8.3 million EBITDA, while dissolving pulp generated EBITDA losses of $8.0 million, and security papers had EBITDA losses of $5.6 million. The losses in the dissolving pulp sector are attributed to the recovery boiler issue and the scheduled maintenance shutdown at Thurso, the company’s only dissolving pulp facility at this time. Pulp shipments for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2012, were 30,500 tonnes, compared with 35,700 tonnes the previous quarter. Paul C. Quinn, a forest sector analyst with RBC Capital Markets said in a September note to clients that management “overpromises and under-delivers” at Fortress. “We believe the market will only pay up when Fortress starts delivering.” Share prices dropped from a high of $63 in Feb. 2011 to less than $10 following the release of the Q3 2012 figures.

Second conversion in the works Knowledge gained at the Thurso mill will no doubt be helpful with the company’s Lebel-sur-Quevillon conversion that’s now on the drawing board. In the announcement of its Q3 results in early November, Fortress Paper said detailed engineering and process design were underway for the LSQ conversion, and commitments have been made for major equipment that requires long delivery times. Preengineering work is being undertaken by GLV and KSH Solutions Inc. An on-site workforce is refurbishing the plant and preparing it for winter. Wasilenkoff says the LSQ site, operating as Fortress Global Cellulose, will be making NBSK next year, with about 300 employees. Marco Vielleux, former chief operating officer at Fortress Specialty Cellulose, will be leading the conversion at LSQ, partly because of his experience gained at Thurso. His new title is vice-president, business development and strategic projects, for Fortress Paper. Andre Boucher, who replaced Vielleux as chief operating officer at Fortress Specialty, will migrate to Fortress Global in 18 months or so. A key element of the business plan for the LSQ mill was secured in late September, with the signing of an electricity supply agreement with Hydro Québec for the sale of green electricity. Fortress Global will provide up to 34 MW of green power to Hydro Québec, beginning no later than June 1, 2014, at a price of $106 per megawatt hour. Wasilenkoff says the restart of the cogeneration facility at LSQ and subsequent sale of green electricity will reduce production costs for the site. PPC November/December 2012 Pulp & Paper Canada

Cover Sstory

Canada has enough wood resources to satisfy both pulp producers and the bioenergy sector

n mid-2011, Pulp & Paper Canada reported on the factors affecting competition for fibre between the energy industry and pulp and paper sector. At that point, it was projected that dramatic increases in global demand for wood fibre would outpace supply, due to factors such as increasing global population, rebounding U.S. housing starts, and a dwindling supply of B.C. beetle-killed wood. As 2013 begins, worldwide demand for wood is increasing slowly. But in Canada – then, as now – we have more than enough fibre for both industries to flourish. And, because the raw materials for bioenergy and the pulp and paper industry are generally different, there will be little problem for Canada’s pulp and paper companies to access reasonablypriced fibre over the next few years, experts say. There may be some localized tussles, with lowered availability driving up fibre costs to some extent at times, but these are likely to be limited. “It’s theoretically possible that independent biopower or pellet producers could compete for fibre, if electricity rates paid by utilities for bio-power were significantly increased,” says Jamie Stephen, managing director of TorchLight Bioresources Inc. and a Fellow at the Queen’s Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy at Queen’s University. “However, as it now stands, there is more than enough fibre available – especially in Ontario – to supply bioenergy projects and pulp producers at current prices.” Wood-fuelled bioenergy processes can include pellet manufacturing, biomass boilers or gasification for heat and power, co-firing pellets with coal, pyrolysis or biomass-to-liquid (BTL) fuel technologies. 12

PulP & PaPer Canada november/december 2012

Photo: Don Erhardt

LENTIFUL PHARVEST By Treena Hein

Stephen notes that pulp as a commodity holds significantly higher value right now than do ethanol, heat and electricity. “The only way that significant competition for fibre would occur is if pulp prices dropped significantly (which would lead to mill shutdowns anyways), if market energy prices skyrocketed (transportation fuel, electricity, or natural gas/heat), or if government artificially subsidized a bioenergy industry at a level that gave it a significant competitive advantage over pulp producers in the chip market,” he observes. “This would also mean that bioenergy producers were already fully utilizing lower-cost feedstock such as hog fuel and harvest residues.” Stephen doesn’t believe fibre availability will be a problem “especially when you look at the reduced number of mills in the Canadian pulp industry, the fact that many mills have secured tenure over fibre resources, and the large volume of fibre currently unutilized in the available volume in Ontario. “I think the bigger issue with be low-cost pulp chip availability in B.C., once the mountain pine beetle-killed pine timber harvest drops significantly,” he comments.

Pellets use residue, pulp uses logs Dr. Paul Stuart, a professor in the department of chemical engineering at École Polytechnique in Montreal, and the NSERC design engineering chair in pulp and paper industry process integration, also does not believe the growth of the bioenergy sector is going to drive up the cost of fibre through lower availability – mainly because there is very limited direct competition for raw materials. “Pellets and most biomass heat and power projects www.pulpandpapercanada.com

Cover story

use residues whereas softwood logs go for pulp,” notes Stuart. Dr. Tom Browne agrees. “The current low cost of natural gas and the high cost of hauling large volumes of wood out of the bush requires that bioenergy processes use residues as their main feed,” says the biorefinery program manager at FPInnovations in Pointe-Claire, Que. “These projects will ideally use lower-value wood that cannot easily be made into pulp or paper, or solid wood products. Fibre quality is important to pulp, paper and solid wood industries, but less so for bioenergy production, where energy content and moisture content are key.”

Competition will increase Pellet production is the exception, says Hakan Ekstrom, president of Bothell, Washington-based Wood Resources International. “Pellet producers do have quite stringent specifications for the wood fibre they use, with low acceptance of bark content for example – especially if the pellets are for the residential market,” he says, “Increasingly, pellet producers in Europe and the southern U.S. are competing for the same log that could go to a pulp mill. In Canada, we have not quite reached that point yet since in the Eastern provinces, there is available supply of sawdust and shavings that are less costly than round wood, and in the Western provinces (mainly B.C.), there is still plenty of both residuals and small logs that the pulp mills and pellet manufacturers can use. But times will change and competition will increase.” Softwood is the most common feedstock for pellet production, but Stephen says there’s a strong market for hardwood pellets as well. When the co-firing (coal and biomass) electrical generation facility run by Ontario Power Generation at Atikokan comes online, demand for pellets will be boosted, but he again points to Ontario’s current annual cut being far below the available volume. Most bioenergy projects can use any species or combination of species. Wood-to-electricity projects (boilers) can accept the largest range of feedstocks, notes Dr. Brooks C. Mendell, president of Athens, Georgia-based Forisk Consulting. “These include ‘dirty’ chips (logging residue that contains bark and needles), urban waste material, such as wood pallet scraps and shavings, and sometimes pulpwood,” he says. “Just-opened wood biopower projects prefer clean material to optimize the efficiency of the facility before loosening the raw material specifications, but pellet plants need clean material on an ongoing basis.” However, even though raw materials are mostly not shared, some localized competition for the same fibre could start to

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occur in some areas of Canada. “Neither wood nor residues can be shipped very far economically, so the situation may be very different in two locations as little as 200 or 300 km apart,” Browne notes. “Who wins a fibre auction will depend on who is able to make greater profits.” “If a pellet plant is closer than a pulp mill to the biomass source, if the pulp mill has alternatives, how much government support exists for biomass projects – these may all be factors [in whether location competition for fibre occurs],” adds Ekstrom. “Beetle wood can go to both industries. Asian and European pellet markets will grow and pellet prices will most likely go up, and that may mean that pellet manufacturers may be able to pay more for raw material.”

Blurring the line While competition for fibre is expected to eventually increase between the bioenergy and pulp and paper sectors, further blurring of the line between the two industries will be the bigger shift. Feedstocks such as hog fuel and harvest residues (typically not used for pulp production) are often used at pulp plants to provide process heat and produce electricity in an on-site combined heat and power (CHP) plant. “The pulp and paper industry is already the largest CHP player in the country, which the Green Transformation Program has helped make happen,” Stephen observes. “However, I think Canadian companies could increase their utilization of harvest residues.” He notes that there has been strong encouragement from government (e.g. the receiving license in B.C.) to further utilize this resource of energy production. “The Tembec mill in Temiscaming is a good example that produces a variety of products with the goal of overall mill value maximization,” Stephen says. “Bioenergy can literally grow in concert with pulp and paper.” Mendell agrees. “The pulp and paper sector is best positioned to grow and leverage wood bioenergy opportunities through CHP projects and through enhancing their own on-site use of wood for energy,” he says. “In the U.S., 75% of the existing wood-sourced electricity is generated within the forest products industry.” Bruce McIntyre, the partner who leads the forest, paper and packaging practice at PwC, also agrees. “The biomass energy sector offers another opportunity to add value to the fibre from forests,” he says, “which should help improve the economics throughout the supply chain, in Canada and beyond.” PPC

November/December 2012 Pulp & Paper Canada

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rewriting PaperWeek PAPTAC is rescripting its flagship event, PaperWeek Canada, putting the emphasis on the industry’s needs from the ground up. Among the multiple events that make up PaperWeek Canada 2013, there will be aspects that tackle the human resources issue, sessions that concentrate on the industry’s transformation, speakers that talk about larger business issues, and sessions that remain true to the tradition of technical papers focused on mill operations. Plus the trade show, the group luncheons, and the evening receptions. PAPTAC is making every effort to see that the four-day affair is relevant and pertinent to mill personnel. “That’s the idea of the program committee, which is formed of industry leaders. We asked them: what are your key preoccupations and concerns? What do your people need to get out of this event?” explains Greg Hay, PAPTAC executive director. “A lot of time has been put into what we want the program to address.” The program committee for 2013 consists of Martin Lorrion, vice-president, manufacturing, Domtar; Yvon Pelletier, executive vice-president, Tembec; Roger Gaudreault, corporate director science & innovation, Cascades; and Marie Dumontier, consultant and advisor. The theme of industry transformation continues to be a big

part of this annual meeting. The International Forest Biorefinery Symposium runs concurrent with PaperWeek, and a full day of the PaperWeek schedule is given over to present the groundbreaking research of the eight R&D networks that make up FIBRE. A key element that’s new to PaperWeek Canada for 2013 is the emphasis on the future workforce. There will be national job fair, with the opportunity for meetings with potential employers. FPAC is partnering with PAPTAC for this event. “We’re going beyond the industry for participants,” says Hay. PAPTAC will approach school boards, CEGEPs, trade schools, universities, high schools. In addition to the packed agenda of conference sessions and keynote speakers, PaperWeek Canada will once again include a trade show. Coffee breaks and evening receptions are held on the trade show floor, giving attendees an opportunity to maximize their time at PaperWeek. The annual gathering will be held at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth in Montreal, from Feb. 4-8. For an up-to-date schedule and details about accommodations and registration, please visit www.paperweekcanada.ca.

Taking the lead:

CeO Q&a

Three of the pulp and paper industry’s top executives will be making keynote presentations at PaperWeek Canada. John D. Williams of Domtar will provide the opening keynote speech on Tuesday, Feb. 5, with a presentation on the state of the industy. Alain Lemaire of Cascades and James Lopez of Tembec will be speaking about sustainability and industry transformation. As a preview of what you can expect to hear, Pulp & Paper Canada asked these two CEOs for their opinions on those issues. Sustainability has been a core value for Canadian pulp and paper companies for many years now. What is your company’s most significant achievement in the realm of sustainability? Lemaire: Since its beginnings in 1964, recycling paper and cardboard has been the very essence of Cascades. At the time, very few paper-making companies were using recycled fibres to produce paper and cardboard: most of was made from wood. It took a lot of time and patience to 14

Alain Lemaire

convince our clients and consumers that our products were just as high-quality as those made from virgin fibres. Our ideas were certainly forward-thinking, and our commitment and perseverance paid off, with most of our competitors following suit and launching their own production using recycled fibres. While our greatest accomplishment is having contributed to saving millions of trees, we have also played a role in changing consumption patterns, moving toward a more sustainable use of our natural resources.

PulP & PaPer Canada november/december 2012

John D. Williams

James Lopez

Lopez: Tembec is widely recognized by environmental groups as a global leader in sustainable forest practices and woodlands conservation. A dozen years ago we realized the relationship between forestry and certification was going to resemble the relationship between corporations and auditing – third party certification organizations would watch over the practices of forestry companies, just as third party auditors watch over the financial practices of corporations. We also expanded our corporate mindset to integrate the notion www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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that “what’s good for the environment is also good for our company.” Finally, we built sustainable relationships with all players – environmentalists, local communities, First Nations – because we knew we could not make good things happen on our own. Tembec was the first large public forest products company in Canada to make the commitment to seek Forest Stewardship Council certification on all forest management units, in 2001. We now have FSC certification on all our forestlands, and FSC Chain-of-Custody certification. Interestingly, Corporate Knights in Canada just published a proposal that called for an Oil Stewardship Council, modeled on the Forest Stewardship Council. Do you think Canadian companies are making sufficient progress toward the new uses of wood fibre that will drive the transformation of the industry? Lopez: The industry can always do more, but at Tembec we’re making one of our industry’s biggest investments in years at our Temiscaming, Qué., facility – focused on green electricity and specialty cellulose processed from wood fiber. We’re the world’s second leading producer of specialty cellulose, used as a component of products in pharmaceuticals, personal

care, packaged foods and other growth industries. Specialty cellulose and green electricity are stable, higher-margin businesses that counter the more cyclical side of commodity forest products. Temiscaming is also the site of the pilot plant for our new cellulose fiberbased biocomposite material. It is strong as spruce but more flexible, and hard as oak but much lighter. Potential applications include panels in trains and other mass transit vehicles, bridge components, and even truck beds. It is an environmentally friendly product based on renewable resources. Lemaire: Canada’s forest industry is slowing down, mainly because of a decrease in demand for certain products. Even though Cascades uses only a very small amount of raw materials (virgin fibre), it is still concerned with the health of the forest industry, as it is nonetheless the source of our recycled fibres. Cascades gives a second life to more than 3 million tonnes of recycled paper per year, producing products with a high content of recycled fibres. Cascades is part of the Innovative Green Wood Fibre Products Network, an initiative of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, whose objective is to create innovative and ecological products from wood fibre. Several other groups are also

2 nd

working toward finding solutions to the problems at hand as well as implementing innovative measures to ensure the financial health of the pulp and paper industry. Despite the fact that research has intensified over the last five years and the number of inventions has grown (technical success), the rate of innovation (commercial success) is still very low. In other words, the Canadian industry must increase its capacity and effectiveness in terms of innovation to regain its competitive edge over emerging countries. Are you taking any special measures to address the looming skilled trades shortage facing the industry? Lemaire: For the past several years, we’ve been dealing with a shortage in the skilled labour force, and we’ve noticed a decreased interest in the pulp and paper industry among students. The industry has been hurt by dozens of plant closures that have made the headlines. On the other hand, we need to evaluate the number of retirees and the growth of our industry sectors, and adjust accordingly. Instead of waiting for someone else to take care of the problem, we are taking action. This year, Cascades took the initiative and, together with other industry players including Kruger and Domtar, organized a campaign to stir up interest in the pulp

With higher and hire expectations. Lumber • Pulp • Paper • Specialty cellulose Tembec is second in the world in production of specialty cellulose – used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, packaged foods and other growth industries. We’re strengthening that business with one of the largest investments Canada’s forest products industry has seen in years. And we’re looking to hire people who aim high across Canada.

tembec.com/2nd

Pulp & Paper Canada November/December 2012

www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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and paper industry. Together, we painted a picture of the industry’s needs, as well as the work conditions offered by each of the companies. The project was a success: two groups of 18 students are currently enrolled in a training program. Cascades also formed a committee to attract new university recruits, who will fill other key positions within the corporation.

try association, is working on an awareness campaign showcasing the economic contribution of our industry, and demonstrating it has a great future. Nationally, FPAC is working on recruitment, specifically, and on positioning the industry as a global leader. At Tembec, we are highlighting our focus on growth businesses like specialty cellulose and green electricity, and our

leadership in sustainable forestry. On the recruiting front, we are actively pursuing people who see the appeal of working in one of the very few industries built on a truly renewable resource – the forest. We are looking for skilled people, with strength of character, who are ready to participate in the ongoing transformation of an exciting global industry that offers meaningful opportunities. PPC

Lopez: We are addressing it now. Our industry competes globally, so we need people who are world class. And we need to do a better job of telling our story, to attract great talent. We must show people that forest products is a sunrise industry based on a renewable resource, to counter the misperception this is a sunset industry. CIFQ, Quebec’s forest products indus-

PAPERWEEK AT A GLANCE MONDAY, FEB. 4 FIBRE Day - R&D presentations Roundtables for mill managers, paper machine superintendants, finishing superintendants and maintenance personnel. Welcome reception and awards presentation

Tuesday, Feb. 5 Job Fair Technical Sessions Trade Show Networking Reception

Wednesday, Feb. 6 Job Fair Business Sessions Technical Sessions Biorefinery Symposium Trade Show Networking Reception

Thursday, Feb. 7 Business Sessions Technical Sessions Biorefinery Symposium

www.pulpandpapercanada.com

WE ARE A COMPANY OF FIBER

At Domtar, we aspire to be the leader in innovative fiber-based products, technologies and services, committed to a sustainable and better future. Because we’re not just a fiber company, we’re a company of fiber. domtar.com

november/december 2012 PulP & PaPer Canada

Rebuild

Dryer section gets a second wind Tembec’s Kapuskasing mill enlisted Kadant Canada for a dryer section upgrade on PM4. The vintage newsprint machine now has higher productivity and better energy efficiency.

he drying section is often a significant drawback for older newsprint and wood-containing specialty machines, sometimes limiting production speeds, causing profile problems and wasting energy. Tembec found this was the case on PM4 at its Kapuskasing, Ont., mill, which produces standard newsprint and bulky grades. The dryer section of the 220inch trim machine dates back to 1946 and has been updated several times. The current steam and condensate system required high maintenance costs to maximize equipment reliability and performance. Furthermore, the mill staff wanted to solve production limitations, improve profiles, make the steam and condensate system easier to control and, at the same time, realize significant energy savings. Those goals were achieved conclusively with a steam and condensate system rebuild provided by Kadant Canada. The project was concluded in January, 2012. The precise planning and execution of the project by the mill and Kadant team impressed Doug Beemer, paper mill superintendent, who said, “This is one of the best capital projects during my time at this mill. It is the model in terms of safely completing a project on-time and on-budget. Now, our speed is up and efficiency is much improved.”

By Mark Williamson machine steam and condensate system after an initial audit. The PM4 system audit similarly involved a detailed analysis and simulation of the drying system, including drying and condensing rates, heat transfer efficiency, and the steam and condensate handling system. This study comprised nuts and bolts issues like piping design, valves, instrumentation and system control. The recommendations included: • Replacing all rotary syphons with Kadant stationary syphons and PTXTM steam joints. The new syphons would allow effective condensate removal at much lower differential pressure and correspondingly lower blow-through steam rates. Dryer flooding would be eliminated.

• Installing Kadant Turbulator® bars on all dryers to generally increase heat transfer through the dryer shells, reduced crossdirectional heat transfer variations and thereby improved sheet moisture profiles. • Reconfiguring the steam and condensate system to eliminate the need for highpressure steam by converting the existing thermocompressor system, which used 250 psig motive steam, to a three-section cascade system which now uses only 35 psig low-pressure steam. • New instrumentation and electronic controllers to replace the pneumatic controls.

Payback in less than one year The project was justified by a return on investment of less than one year as calculated by mill staff. The mill hoped to run PM4 consistently at 2800 fpm or higher on all grades. This would lead to a lower production cost per ton. High bulk grades were previously limited by drying capacity and production speeds varied between 2700 and 2750 fpm. The elimination of the high-pressure motive steam for the thermocompressor

Not an off-the-shelf solution As you can imagine, a rebuild on an oftenmodified dryer section is not an off-theshelf task, so the mill first enlisted the help of Kadant to do a thorough steam and condensate system audit and make recommendations as to how those limitations could be lifted and energy could be saved. Several years before, Kadant had engineered a successful rebuild of the PM5 newsprint 18

All rotary syphons on PM4 were replaced with Kadant stationary syphons and PTX steam joints. The new syphons allow effective condensate removal at much lower differential pressure and correspondingly lower blow-through steam rates.

Pulp & Paper Canada November/December 2012

New steam piping and control valves for the cascade system were engineered by Kadant. www.pulpandpapercanada.com

Rebuild

would free up extra steam energy for electricity production in the steam turbine, thereby replacing some external power purchases. Energy would also be saved by using less condensate for the moisturizing profiler as the moisture profiles improved. The maintenance cost for the existing syphons was also a major factor since the wear and tear of many years caused numerous failures which lowered speeds, affected machine efficiency and resulted in maintenance costs of more than $100,000 per year. The experience with new syphons on PM5 has been positive since minimal maintenance has been required.

On an older machine, details are important The project preparation work, such as piping tie-in points, was done during several scheduled machine shutdowns in 2011 and the final installation took place during a three-day maintenance shut in January 2012. Innovative and customized engineering and a high degree of teamwork were required to pull off such a complicated

www.pulpandpapercanada.com

project on an old dryer ponents were pre-assemsection with limited access bled for efficient in-place space for staging on the final installation. drive side. Denis Duguay, Just to make sure everyTembec’s project manager, thing fit properly and in a sums up some of the key time-efficient way, a trial requirements: “The projinstallation was planned, ect was done on a vintage fitting the new components machine which had a lot of on two dryer cans. Once changes, some of them not any bugs in the design and documented. We had to do installation procedure were a lot of pre-engineering worked out, the team was and that was an awesome The project scope also includ- ready for the final instaled new instrumentation and task. Even minute details electronic controllers lation on the rest of the like the length of nuts and dryer cans. The mill staff bolts were important. Small details can gives credit to this “dress rehearsal” as an slow you down and even a $20 piece of essential way to ensure a successful on-time equipment can make or break the success and on-budget project. of a project.” Duguay credits Kadant’s innovative Improved drying rate, engineering regarding the design of a no steam wastage unique bracket for all dryers that fastens The results of the dryer section rebuild the new steam joints to the original dryer have been realized quickly after start-up. frame. “The bracket design was the main Saleable paper was made soon after. All thing that helped us,” says Duguay. Since evidence points to a more responsive dryaccess and staging space was limited, coming system which makes the most of the

november/december 2012 PulP & PaPer Canada

Rebuild drying energy and is free of the former drying limitations. With the new stationary syphons and cascade control system, the differential pressures are now regulated precisely to about 3 psig, compared to 8 to 10 psig with the former rotary syphons. “The periodic flooding problem has gone away,” reports Denis Payant, PM4 superintendent. He also notes the improved stability of the drive load, indicating a lower

volume of condensate in the dryer cans. The drive load is now 9% of total load capacity compared to more than 12% when dryer flooding would occur. Less blow-through steam is indicated by the low use of cooling water in the condenser. “We are not wasting steam. The steam vent valves do not open and we have tons of vacuum now. As a result, we are able to run the first steam section at minus Denis Payant, PM4 superintendent: “We are not wasting steam. The steam vent valves do not open and we have tons of vacuum now.”

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Pulp & Paper Canada November/December 2012 5618 C FPInn__Pulp&Paper_4,5x7,5_Magazine_FInal-2.indd 1

5 psig,” says Payant. This allows a gentle ramp up in dryer surface temperature and avoids dryer wraps. The drying rate for the dryer section has been improved considerably and is now closer to the industry norm for newsprint. This is achieved with a lower average steam temperature. The machine operators are enthusiastic about the control of the new steam and condensate system and the visibility they now have into how it works. “We have learned a lot about our steam system. Now we know what is happening on the machine,” says one operator. The energy of the high-pressure steam formerly used in the dryer section has been shifted to the turbine generator where it can produce extra electrical energy. The offset in power costs is estimated to be almost $90,000 per year.

Improved potential for machine The improvements in papermaking operations have also been noticed. The spread of the CD moisture profiles is less, indicating more uniform heat transfer though the dryer cans. The drying capacity restrictions of the former system have been eliminated, allowing for higher production speeds. The speed is now set at 2800 fpm for all grades and a new record speed of 2813 fpm has been set. While the final numbers for the ROI are not in yet, it looks like a good success story from preliminary indications. Doug Beemer sums up the mill’s thoughts: “The potential of this machine is now awesome.” The former drawback is now an asset. PPC Mark Williamson is an experienced writer for the pulp and paper sector, with an engineering background.

11-11-01 9:35 AM

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The world is critically dependent on petroleum. New oil supplies are expensive: they are located in remote areas or require extensive processing. As concern grows over the eventual exhaustion of inexpensive, light, sweet crude, the search is on for alternative sources of hydrocarbons. Coal is dense and easily transported. Supply is well over 100 years at current consumption rates [1]. Coal can be converted to liquid hydrocarbons and from there to petro-chemicals, via gasification and Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis processes. This pathway is economically advantageous when coal supplies are cheap and plentiful. There is an increasing interest in converting biomass to chemicals and fuels currently produced from petroleum. Many analyses describe wholesale conversion of biomass into a single commodity product, whether power, fuels or platform chemicals. This paper compares potential gross revenues per tonne of wood to the revenues from Kraft pulping, where 2.4 oven-dried metric tons (odmt) of wood are consumed to produce a ton of bleached pulp worth about $850, or about $340/odmt of wood consumed. 1 The forest biorefinery concept, where wood is disassembled and maximum value is obtained from each component, will prove more resilient and offers the potential for revenues at least as high as the Kraft mill it extends and replaces. Commodity chemicals and fuels will be part of the process but will use residues from higher-value applications, as feed.

LARGE-SCALE, SINGLE-PRODUCT PLANTS Liquid transportation fuels

The South African firm Sasol is a world leader in FT processes, producing 7.5 Mt of synthetic fuels from coal in 2006 [2]. Several authors have stated that the economies of scale of existing coal-to-liquids (CTL) plants imply that a hypothetical FTbased biomass-to-liquids (BTL) plant will require a feed of 5 Mt/y of biomass [3,4]. A 5 Mt/y plant will generate about 1.2 billion litres per year of synthetic hydrocarbons. Assuming a plant gate sale price of $0.65 per litre, revenues are $156 per ton of wood consumed. The optimum economic plant scale for a BTL plant will be different from a CTL plant, due to the distributed nature of biomass. Wright and Brown [5] present an economic analysis for an FT-based BTL plant showing that while operating costs (exclusive of feedstock costs) go down with increasing scale, feedstock costs for a distributed feed such as biomass

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go up due to increased collection radius.

in the interest of lower feedstock costs.

Capital and operating costs can be scaled by means of the following equation:

Power generation: At 3964 MW installed capacity, Nanticoke, ON is Canada’s largest coal-fired generating station. It produces between 20 and 24 billion kWh per year [6]. At a theoretical thermal efficiency of 35%, this requires approximately 11 million tons of coal. The equivalent wood supply, at 18 GJ/t, is

where the capital or operating cost C, of a plant of scale M, is calculated from a baseline plant of cost CO and scale MO by means of a scaling exponent n. Operating and capital costs for a Canadian BTL plant operating on softwood were estimated from data in [5] using n = 0.6. Biomass demand was based on a fuel yield of 235 l/t, estimated from Choren’s published data. Figure 1 shows the cost structure for Canadian softwood. The impact of biomass collection costs at large scales is clearly overwhelming; smaller-scale plants will suffer from reduced economies of scale 1

All dollar figures are $CDN, worth $US 0.85 at the time of writing. All tonnages are odmt.

TOM BROWNE

FPInnovations 570, boul. St-Jean Pointe-Claire, QC, Canada H9R 3J9 *Contact: tom.browne@fpinnovations.ca

Journal of Science & Technology for Forest Products and Processes: VOL.1, NO.1, 2011, published by PAPTAC (www.paptac.ca)

www.pulpandpapercanada.com

november/december 2012 PulP & PaPer Canada

Featured J-FOR paper THIS MONTHâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S FEATURED J-FOR PAPER aromatics, which have received relatively little attention. The increased availability of lignin as a byproduct of cellulosic fermentation processes creates opportunities, as the structure of lignin is aromatic. However, upgrading the complex mixtures obtained will require cracking, reforming and separations technologies, as well as a concerted effort to identify uses for all the various components.

Fig. 1 - Cost per litre for FT-Diesel as a function of harvesting, capital and other operating costs. Capital costs are financed over 25 years at 5% interest rate. The sustainable harvest is 55.6 t/km2. Collection radius increases quickly as plant size grows, driving feedstock costs up. The minimum cost of about $0.93/litre occurs at a plant size of about 300 million litres, requiring 1.3 Mt/y of wood.

12.6 million tons. At a more realistic heat to power ratio of 12.3 MJ/ kWh, or about 1450 kWh/t [7], the fuel requirement is 15 Mt. Revenues are $145 per ton of wood consumed assuming a feed-in tariff of $100/MWh.

Mt of platform and bulk chemicals are produced [9] while the balance goes to liquid fuels. On an energy equivalent basis, 10% of the consumption for chemical use in Rotterdam represents 30 Mt/y of biomass.

Shipping 15 Mt/y to Nanticoke is not feasible when revenues are only $145/t consumed. While a range of 40 standalone plants of 100 MW each, distributed across the North, might seem reasonable at first glance, it is unlikely that the electrical transmission grids exist in forested areas to move this amount of power to markets in the South. Furthermore, the capital and operating costs for these distributed plants will be significantly higher than for a large centralized plant, even if no transmission lines need to be built.

Like many such parks, the chemical complex in the Port of Rotterdam reduces much of this feedstock to six basic platform chemicals: the olefins ethylene, propylene and butylene, and the BTX family of aromatics (benzene, toluene and xylene).

Bulk or platform chemicals: Bulk chemicals from biomass were evaluated by van Haveren et al. [8] in the context of existing material flows through chemical parks in the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. They predict that 10-15% of fossil-based bulk chemicals produced in these parks will be replaced by bio-based chemicals over a ten-year horizon. The chemical cluster surrounding the Port of Rotterdam consumes of the order of 95 to 100 Mt of crude oil per year; about 12

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22â&#x20AC;&#x192;

Bio-ethylene, chemically identical to conventional ethylene but produced from biomass, can be produced by dehydration of ethanol. Braskem [10] converts lowcost Brazilian sugar cane-based ethanol to ethylene by this process; given current fermentation yields and costs, it is unlikely that bio-ethanol from ligno-cellulosics can compete. Braskem claims to be able to produce a bio-propylene from sugar cane, and pathways to bio-butadiene and biobutanediols exist. These products can thus be made from sugar cane at a lower cost than from wood. The pathway to bio-olefins, being dominated by sugar cane-based ethanol, is worth looking at in terms of bio-

Prices for these chemicals can be volatile. Benzene was $US 1.25/gal ($376/t) in March 2009 [11], but had been as high as $4.00/gal in the preceding 12 months. Toluene at the same date was $US 1.65/gal ($500/t), mixed xylenes were $US 2.00/gal ($600/t) and p-xylene was $910/t. With as-yet unknown yields, revenues per tonne of biomass cannot be estimated, but will be some fraction of the market prices and are unlikely to be significantly higher than Kraft pulp. Small-scale, multi-product plants

Commodity plants scaled to typical forest biomass supplies may be too small to be economically viable, while plants at an economically-sensible size will face large feedstock costs. Furthermore, in the absence of significantly higher effective prices for fossil fuels, the revenues per ton of wood consumed are inevitably going to be lower for commodity chemicals and fuels than existing products such as Kraft pulp. This is independent of plant scale. An alternative pathway is the biorefinery process, where a smaller plant is used to generate a wider range of highvalue products. Here, products of sufficiently high value must be found to overcome poor economies of scale; fuels, power and bulk chemicals are low-value products, generated from low-value residues arising from high-value products. This point cannot be made too strongly: the existence of low-cost residues for energy applications implies the existence of high-value primary industries generating those residues. Lower feedstock prices, due to smaller scales and shorter haul

Journal of Science & Technology for Forest Products and Processes: VOL.1, NO.1, 2011, published by PAPTAC (www.paptac.ca)

Pulp & Paper Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x192; November/December 2012

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Featured J-FOR paper THIS MONTH’S FEATURED J-FOR PAPER distances, will further improve the picture. Rather than generating a bio-chemical that provides a molecularly identical replacement for the petroleum-based equivalent, a better approach will be to identify novel products which take advantage of the unique characteristics of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. If novel products can be identified with new functionalities which are not achievable with fossil resources, competition on a price basis with fossil fuels becomes less challenging. One such product, that is not novel but is seeing resurgence in interest, is dissolving pulp for rayon applications. The rapidly growing Asian textile market, combined with poor cotton harvests in recent years is making wood-based rayon attractive once again. The long-term prognosis for cotton, which requires high-quality agricultural land and plenty of increasingly scarce water, is poor, and it can be argued that this trend is likely to continue, especially if a choice must be made between cotton and food crops. Long term dissolving pulp pricing in the $1000 to $1500 per ton range is a reasonable expectation and would exceed historical Kraft pulp prices by a significant margin. Recently there have been several conversions of idled hardwood Kraft pulp mills to dissolving pulp; the economics have been described in [12], which demonstrates the benefit of viscose production and of high-value uses of the sugar streams removed in the process. In this example, sales of sugar-based chemicals, lignin and viscose-grades of pulp result in revenues of $456 per ton of wood consumed, substantially better than the classic Kraft pulp mill. Tables 1 and 2 illustrate this point. A large part of the revenue improvement is due to the conversion to dissolving pulp; intermediate benefits can still be obtained by extracting lignin without this conversion. Other products that can be obtained from wood, with list prices rang-

J-FOR

TABLE 1 Revenues from a hypothetical hardwood biorefinery, based on modifying an existing kraft mill consuming 2041 t/d of wood [12]. An additional 1182 t/d flows to chemical recovery and effluent treatment systems.

Product

Volume Unit Price

Sales, M$/y

Furfural

51 t/d

$1200/t

$21.4

Lignin Products

51 t/d

$750/t

$13.4

Dissolving 755 t/d Pulp

$1100/t

$291

Total

$326

TABLE 2

Comparison of revenues per ton of wood consumed

Dissolving pulp, sugars and lignin sales [12]

$456

Kraft pulp, $825/t, 42% yield

$340

FT-Diesel, $0.65/litre, 235 l/t

$156

Power, $100/MWh, 1450 kWh/t

$145

commodity chemicals or fuels however, is likely to bring in less revenue per ton of wood consumed than the pre-existing Kraft mill. The biorefinery concept, where wood is disassembled into its constituent parts and maximum value obtained from each component, will prove more resilient and offers the potential for revenues at least as high as the Kraft mill it extends and replaces. The conversion of hardwood Kraft pulp mills to dissolving pulp for viscose applications is one such example. Many other chemicals originally made from wood, lignin-based resins for panels, for instance, were replaced in the immediate post-WWII era by substitutes made from $20/bbl oil. It is worth considering if other former uses of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin should also be revived in this new era of $100/bbl oil. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work is possible through integrated research along the entire forest sector value chain at FPInnovations in partnership with Natural Resources Canada. Wenli Duo, David Muter, Mark Ryans, Doug Singbeil and Vic Uloth contributed to this report. REFERENCES

ing from $500 to $2000/t, have been described elsewhere [13-17].

The small scale of forestry operations, compared to petroleum plants, will force the industry to consider markets that might be considered niche by petroleum players but still feature reasonable volumes. A few 1 to 10 Mt/y markets would be attractive niche markets, especially if they represent higher value than larger volume bulk products.

2. 3.

CONCLUSION

The existing Canadian hardwood Kraft pulp mill is an endangered species. Competition with modern mills running on eucalyptus in warm climates has proven very difficult, with several mills shutting their doors as a result. Conversion of these hardwood mills to

http://www.worldcoal.org/coal/ where-is-coal-found/index.php, visited July 13, 2009. http://sasol.investoreports.com/sasol_sf_2007/html/sasol_sf_2007_2. php, visited June 15, 2009. Bridgewater, T., “Gasification progress for liquid fuels from biomass” Synbios II proceedings, Stockholm, Sweden (2007). Guenther, A., “BTL – Biomass to liquid technology and renewable products – the thermo-chemical route” Synbios III proceedings, Gothenburg, Sweden (2009). Wright, M., and Brown, R.C., “Establishing the optimal sizes of different kinds of biorefineries” Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, 1:191-200 (2007). http://www.opg.com/power/fossil/ nanticoke.asp, visited June 12, 2009.

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November/December 2012 Pulp & Paper Canada

Featured J-FOR paper THIS MONTH’S FEATURED J-FOR PAPER

9. 10.

11.

Wiltsee, G., “Lessons learned from existing biomass power plants” NREL, Golden, Colorado, U.S.A (2000). Available online at http://www.nrel. gov/docs/fy00osti/26946.pdf. Van Haveren, J., Scott, E.L., and Sanders, J., “Bulk chemicals from biomass” Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, 2:41-57 (2008). http://www.portofrotterdam.com/ mmfiles/facts_figures_tcm26-20072. pdf , visited June 10, 2009. http://www.braskem.com/site/portal_braskem/en/sala_de_imprensa/ sala_de_imprensa_detalhes_7983. aspx , visited June 10, 2009. Chemical Week, CW Price Report, p.49, March 16/23 (2009).

12.

13.

14.

Browne, T.C., “An economic analysis of energy, fuels and chemicals from forest biomass” 3rd Nordic Wood Biorefinery Conference preprints, Stockholm, Sweden (2011). Mao, H., Genco, J.M., van Heiningen, A.R.P., and Pendse, H. J., “Towards economic evaluation of a hardwood biorefinery using the ‘near-neutral’ hemicellulose pre-extraction process” Biobased Materials Bioenergy, 2:1-9 (2008). Mao, H., Genco, J.M., van Heiningen, A.R.P., Zou, H., Luo, J., and Pendse, H., “Technical economic evaluation of a northern hardwood biorefinery using the “near-neutral” hemicellulose pre-extraction process” TAPPI Engi-

www.paptac.ca

15.

16.

17.

neering, Pulping and Environmental Conference preprints, 2088-2139, Portland, OR, U.S.A (2008). Axegård, P., Backlund, B., and Tomani, P., “The pulp mill based biorefinery” presented at PulPaper Conference, Helsinki, Finland (2007). Donmez Cavdar, A., Kalaycioglu, H., and Hiziroglu, S., “Some of the properties of oriented strandboard manufactured using kraft lignin phenolic resin” Journal of Material Processing Technology, 202(1)-3:559-563 (2008). Baker, F., “Carbon fibres from renewable resources” presented at the 6th World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing, Montreal, Canada (2009).

PAPTAC's JOB ANNOUNCEMENT SERVICE! The “Job Announcement Service” section of PAPTAC’s Website provides members priority access to local and national job offers in the pulp and paper industry. This section is updated as soon as a new job announcement is submitted to us. Simply click on the job posting you are interested in to read the details, and directly send your resume to the contact person.

You wish to post a job offer on PAPTAC’s Website? This feature is another benefit for PAPTAC Sustaining Members and Member mills, which have the opportunity to post as many job offers as they want for the time they need. Send us all the information at tech@paptac.ca in order to update the section with the position you need to fill. If you are not a PAPTAC Sustaining member but you wish to advertise a job offer, contact us to know more on terms and fees.

PAPTAC NEWS

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PulP & PaPer Canada november/december 2012

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Technology News moisture and fibre weight sensor allows precise control ABB recently launched its new High-Performance Infrared and Fibre Weight (HPIR-FW) sensor that provides precise, high resolution moisture and fibre weight measurement. The HPIR-FW sensor directly measures the most critical parameters of MD and CD control using a single sensor module, allowing tissue makers to precisely control two of their most expensive costs – fibre and energy. The ABB HPIR-FW sensor measures fibre weight, web moisture and web temperature simultaneously, with just one infrared instrument. Its simple and proven design delivers safe and reliable performance. Importantly, the HPIR-FW sensor measures without radiological isotopes and the many regulations associated with them. “The HPIR-FW sensor helps tissue makers meet today’s profitability and sustainability challenges because it gives them the ability to respond more quickly and flexibly to global customer demand,” says Steven St. Jarre, global sales and marketing manager for ABB Quality Control Systems. aBB, www.abb.com

Motion Canada’s operations are strategically located to serve you. With 3 major distribution centers, 9 repair centers and over 50 local branches, we are committed to keeping industry in motion. Our local sales and service specialists are experts in application and technical support, providing the parts and the know-how you need to stay up and running.

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phosphorus control system can reduce chemical costs Hach Co. is taking the guesswork out of the chemical phosphorus removal process. Its new RTC101 phosphorus control system provides real-time control of chemical dosing that helps maintain consistent phosphorus levels in effluent waters. While some facilities adjust their chemical dose based on flow or by setting a fixed dose rate, being able to quickly adjust for loading changes can significantly lower chemical costs. With inconsistent phosphorus levels in the effluent, the volume of sludge produced can also increase. “Before we installed the RTC101 system, we maintained an average ferric chloride dose of about 12.5 gallons per hour,” says one utility foreman from Wisconsin. “After installation, the average feed dropped to 5.55 gallons per hour, saving us just over 50% in ferric chloride costs.” “What makes the RTC101 so efficient in optimizing phosphorus levels is its pre-programmed algorithms,” explains Bob Dabkowski, applications development manager, at Hach. Hach Co., www.hach.com www.pulpandpapercanada.com

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november/december 2012 PulP & PaPer Canada

Technology News rebuild with sizer boosts mechanical properties The Thai Kraft, Wang-Sala mill in Kanchanaburi is one of the largest liner board mills in Thailand. Its PM6 specializes in the production of cover paper for packaging with a basis weight ranging from 125 g/m² to 335 g/m². Allimand, a French paper and board machine manufacturer, rebuilt the machine in May 2012 with the aim of

improving the quality and mechanical characteristics of its paper. This order mainly entailed the installation of a starch deposit station on PM6, followed by a new eight-dryer post-dryer portion. The main objective of this installation was to carry out the starch deposit and therefore obtain better bursting and “ring crush test” characteristics while keeping the same original raw material.

AdityA BirlA Group

Allimand installed an SC-Sizer, a deposit system by film transfer, allowing the dry deposit and starch consistency levels to be adapted in order to optimize the sheet characteristics while maximizing energy saving by reducing sheet rewetting. Allimand carried out a turnkey installation including the installation of the SC-Sizer, post-dryer part and hood, the relocation of the calender and existing reel, and the delivery of the starch preparation system, plus the engineering of the steam and condensate system. nordic engineering Inc. 404-708-2982, www.allimand.com

micro rotating union delivers air to rotating shafts

A US $40 billion corporation, the Aditya Birla Group is in the League of Fortune 500. It is anchored by an extraordinary force of over 133,000 employees, belonging to 42 different nationalities. It has three pulp mills in Canada located in Atholville & Nackawic in New Brunswick and in Terrace Bay in Ontario. We are currently recruiting for highly competent professionals, who are looking for challenging assignments with huge growth opportunities. You can view our Company profile on our website at www.adityabirla.com.

1. technical Manager (terrace Bay mill) Engineer with over 15 years of relevant experience in Process Design and Plant Operations of Pulp Mills. Knowledge of Dissolving Grade Pulp is preferred

2. production Manager (New Brunswick mill) Engineer with over 15 years of relevant experience in Production and Maintenance of Pulp Mills.

3. lead process Engineer (terrace Bay mill) Chemical Engineer with over 10 years of relevant experience in Process Design of Pulp Mills. Knowledge of Process Design software such as Hysis or Aspin is preferred

4. Senior Electrical Engineer (terrace Bay mill) Electrical Engineer with over 10 years of relevant experience in electrical maintenance of Chemical plant.

5. logistics Coordinator (terrace Bay mill) Coordinator with over 5 years experience in the outbound distribution of pulp, specifically rail, truck and ocean freight.

Interested candidates please email your updated resume to Ms Marilyn Fischer, Human Resources, Terrace Bay, Ontario at marilyn.fischer@adityabirla.com.

PulP & PaPer Canada november/december 2012

The Montalvo Corporation has developed a unique Micro Rotary Union (MRU), a tiny mechanical rotating device that is designed for machinery which requires a constant flow of air during rotation. The Montalvo MRU, one of the smallest rotary unions available, is made of rugged stainless steel with a carbon seal and aluminum body. It can operate at speeds of up to 7,000 RPM with a maximum air pressure of 75 psi. The unit has low friction resistance, ideal for start-ups with delicate web materials The Montalvo Corporation 207-856-2501, www.montalvo.com

steam trap lowers maintenance costs TLV’s FS5H QuickTrap® is designed for drainage of superheated or high pressure steam mains, equipment, and turbines up to 650 psig and 800ºF. TLV’s stainless steel, two-bolt QuickTrap provides a universal strainer connector with optional blow down that enables steam trap replacement in minutes without disturbing the piping. TlV Corp. 704-597-9070, www.tlv.com

www.pulpandpapercanada.com

It isn’t enough to protect water systems in the mill. Protect the ones outside too. Busan® 1215 provides maximum deposit control protection for your equipment and stewardship of 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.

Technology News FOCuS On BearInGS lube oil flowmeters equipped with transmitters

Cost effective automatic lubrication The latest generation of SKF System 24 automatic lubricator s provide a reliable, easy to use, and cost effective way to deliver a continuous supply of quality lubricant to plant machinery components. Improvements to the previous system include: - no tool required to set up the unit; - easily detachable batteries; - improved dial readability; - redesigned top ring for better grip; - deactivation mode, useful during maintenance. By removing the need for manual lubrication practices, the end result is continuous and optimal lubrication of machine components. System 24 is suitable even in applications subject to high levels of contamination, or in demanding, hard to reach, remote, and hazardous areas

(the device is ATEX certified). The units’ ergonomic and easy to read dial allows the dispense rate to be set by hand, without the need for special tools, over a user-selectable time period of one to 12 months. And thanks to the comprehensive SKF DialSet computer program, iOS and Android apps, the correct SKF System 24 settings for the application can be quickly and easily determined. Typical applications where the SKF System 24 can be used include: - applications in restrictive and hazardous locations; - bearing housing lubrication; - electric motors; - fans and pumps; - conveyors; - cranes. SKF Canada 416-299-1220, www.skf.ca

Video demonstrates proper mounting of bearings MRO parts distributor Motion Industries has released a video demonstrating a bearing mounting procedure on the “MiHow2” channel. The video, “Mounting a Tapered Bore Spherical Roller Bearing on an Adapter Sleeve”, can currently be seen online at www.mihow2.com. SKF, one of Motion Industries’ key suppliers, provided their expertise for the demonstration.

The instructive video series’ goal is to share practical industrial applications that viewers can adapt in their own facilities. “We are very pleased with the positive response from the MiHow2 videos, and are confident that this release will be a hit as well,” said Randy Breaux, Motion Industries’ senior vice-president of marketing, product management and strategic planning. “We are happy to have SKF’s invaluable participation in this segment of the series. Proper mounting of bearings is vital in our industry, and SKF did a great job of explaining the importance of preventive maintenance while conducting the actual demonstration.” Motion Industries 800-526-9328, www.motionindustries.com

PulP & PaPer Canada november/december 2012

Three variable area lubrication meters produced by Universal Flow Monitors now have compact, noncontact magnetically coupled transmitters instead of potentiometers that can easily wear out. The three meters for circulating water and lubrication oil are designed to be more durable and less costly than the products that Universal Flow Monitors and its competitors have offered in the past, according to the company. The lube oil flowmeters are available with optional alarm switches for protecting machinery and minimizing downtime in event of flow failure. These meters monitor the rate of oil flow to keep gears, bearings, drills and mills functional in the processing industries. The meters provide flow indication to assist in problem diagnosis and respond immediately if flow goes too low. Mechanical flow switches can be wired to trigger equipment shutdown for protection against machinery damage. The SN and MN Series of lubrication meters have a combination aluminum/nylon body. Internal moving parts are stainless steel. universal Flow Monitors, Inc. 248-542-9635, www.flowmeters.com

Bearings last longer in demanding conditions SKF has raised the performance bar for its full line of SKF Explorer self-aligning roller bearings. These bearings now have improved wear resistance and extended service life, particularly under difficult operating conditions. The upgraded bearings combine the clean, homogenous high-quality steel used in the original SKF Explorer bearings with an improved heat treatment process. Tests measuring the upgraded bearings against original SKF Explorer bearings show that the new generation provides almost twice the service life when used under poor lubrication conditions, or under contaminated operating conditions. SKF Canada 416-299-1220, www.skf.ca

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November/December 2012 Pulp & Paper Canada

Bio-Economy

uBC biomass CHP system provides renewable heat and electricity for campus exterra Systems Corp., the University of British Columbia and GE celebrated in September the successful completion of the energy-from-renewable-waste combined heat and power (CHP) system located at UBC’s Vancouver campus. GE’s Jenbacher gas engine will produce 2 MW of clean, renewable electricity that will offset UBC’s existing power consumption, enough to power approximately 1,500 homes. The Nexterra system will also generate 3 MW of thermal energy, which is enough steam to displace up to 12% of UBC’s natural gas consumption. This will reduce UBC’s greenhouse gas emissions by up to 5,000 tonnes per year. Officially named the “Bioenergy Research and Demonstration Facility (BRDF), the system has completed a comprehensive testing program for reliability, capacity and emissions, and has successfully connected to the grid. “This exciting facility targets a major challenge facing society – the need for new, clean energy solutions that work at a community scale,” says UBC President Stephen Toope. Using Nexterra’s proven gasification technology platform and innovative gas clean-up and thermal cracking solution, the system converts locally-sourced waste wood into a clean, reliable gas that is suitable for use in a high-efficiency, industrialscale gas engine to produce heat and power. According to Nexterra, the system will deliver electrical efficiencies that are 25% higher than traditional methods for producing biomass-based electricity at this scale.

Photo: Nexterra

A local fuel supplier delivers urban wood waste to the BDRF two or three times a day.

“For innovative technologies to have a real impact, they need to be commercialized and used in the market,” said Dr. Vicky Sharpe, president and CEO of Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC). “Nexterra’s CHP system is taking a big step in that direction today.” The BDRF requires about 12,500 bonedry metric tonnes of locally-sourced urban wood waste per year – or approximately 50 tonnes per day. The feedstock for the UBC project is a variety of wood waste including tree trimmings from the City of Vancouver, wood trimmings from furniture and other wood manufacturers, and clean construction and demolition debris. The fuel is sourced from a local aggregator, and delivered to the site by truck, averaging 2-3 trucks per day. Once emptied into the fuel handing area, the biomass is screened for oversized and non-woody material, dried if required, and then gasified

PulP & PaPer Canada november/december 2012

to produce a synthesis gas called syngas. This syngas is then burned in an oxidizer to produce steam/hot water to heat the UBC campus and/or the syngas is cleaned and conditioned to an engine grade fuel that is fired directly into a GE Jenbacher engine to produce electricity. The start-up of the system represents the culmination of more than four years of product development work and collaboration with GE’s Gas Engines business. The total combined cost of the UBC BRDP is about $26 million. Funding support this project was provided by: Natural Resources Canada and Western Economic Diversification Canada; BC Innovative Clean Energy Fund and the B.C. Ministry of Forests, Mines and Lands; Sustainable Development Technologies Canada (SDTC); the BC Bioenergy Network; and FPInnovations. “With this project, Nexterra, UBC and GE have advanced the industry’s clean energy efforts significantly, thereby solidifying the Canadian expertise in green energy,” said Jean Hamel, pulp, paper and bioproducts vice-president, FPInnovations.

www.pulpandpapercanada.com

February 5-6, 2013 Montreal, QC

JOB FAIR The Forest, Pulp and Paper industry will have to ﬁll up several thousands of positions in the coming years. Whether it is for mechanics, engineers, researchers, electricians or equipment operators, opportunities are numerous for anyone willing to work in this evolving sector.

‘‘Within the next 2 years, we will have many key positions to be ﬁlled in administrative, technical and engineering ﬁelds. Most of our needs are located in the Quebec province, especially in Gatineau; and at our sites in ON, BC and NL.’’ Kruger inc. ‘‘We expect to be recruiting several hundreds of new employees in the next 4 years for positions in maintenance, E&I, production/operations, power & recovery in areas such as Matane, Kapuskasing, Temiscaming, Bearn, etc.’’ Tembec www.paperweekcanada.ca/jobFair.html

Organized by

PAPTAC

In collaboration with FPAC fpac.ca/Vision2020

Some photos courtesy of FPAC

‘‘Based on recent statistics obtained from our sites in Canada and the US, we anticipate that our 2012 – 2015 recruitment needs will range somewhere between 2,500 and 3,500 positions or 25-30% of our entire workforce.’’ Resolute Forest Products