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TA K I N G

STOCK

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Co-Publisher David H. Ramsey Co-Publisher David (DK) Knight Chief Operating Officer Dianne C. Sullivan

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Publishing Office Street Address: 225 Hanrick Street Montgomery, AL 36104-3317 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 2268 Montgomery, AL 36102-2268 Telephone: 334-834-1170 Fax 334-834-4525

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Executive Editor David (DK) Knight Editor-In-Chief Rich Donnell Managing Editor Dan Shell Senior Associate Editor David Abbott Associate Editor Jessica Johnson Associate Editor Jay Donnell

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Production Manager/Art Director Cindy Segrest Ad Production Coordinator Patti Campbell Circulation Director Rhonda Thomas Marketing/Media Coordinator Jordan Anderson

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Advertising Sales Manager David H. Ramsey • (334) 834-1170

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVES SOUTHERN U.S. Kathy Sternenberg • (251) 928-4962 ksternenberg@bellsouth.net Classified Advertising Bridget DeVane • (334) 669-7837 • 1-800-669-5613 bdevane7@hotmail.com MIDWEST USA, EASTERN CANADA John Simmons Mar-Tech Communications 32 Foster Cres.

Whitby, Ontario, Canada L1R 1W1 (905) 666-0258 Fax: (905) 666-0778 E-mail: jsimmons@idirect.com WESTERN USA, WESTERN CANADA Tim Shaddick 4056 West 10th Ave, Vancouver BC Canada V6L 1Z1 604-910-1826 Fax: (604) 264-1397 E-mail: tootall1@shaw.ca Kevin Cook (604) 619-1777 E-mail: lordkevincook@gmail.com INTERNATIONAL Murray Brett Aldea de las Cuevas 66 Buzon 60 03759 Benidoleig (Alicante), Spain Tel: +34 96 640 4165 Fax: +34 96 640 4022 E-mail: murray.brett@abasol.net

IT MAY HAVE SEEMED LIKE A GOOD IDEA AT THE TIME

T

he world’s largest producer of oriented strandboard isn’t holding back on its criticism of United Kingdom electricity produced with wood biomass.

Norbord’s European operation, which has been dogging biomass power for several years, has ramped up its attack in recent months, saying it’s not fair for UK taxpayers to have to foot the bill; that the burning of wood is not a sustainable source of energy but rather creates more carbon emissions than burning coal; that the diversion of wood raw material for this purpose distorts the traditional wood market and drives up prices for timber and residues; and that the wood pellet procurement chain poses a threat to bottomland forests especially in the Southeastern U.S. It’s no secret that our publishing operations also produce Wood Bioenergy magazine, in addition to Panel World, and that we organize back-to-back conferences every two years in Atlanta, Georgia—the Wood Bioenergy Conference & Expo and the Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo. Dozens of exhibitors participate in both conferences. You see many familiar faces at these conferences who have switched from one industry to the other. We tend to view this dichotomy as a family affair.

Norbord’s arguments above are valid, but we’ve all read counterpoints to each one of them. If a government is pushing for renewable energy, shouldn’t it be expected to provide some measure of subsidization at least for a period of time? Shouldn’t the fact that forests have been sucking in carbon for years be figured in the carbon emissions equation? Didn’t the emergence of OSB divert wood raw material away from the traditional pulp and paper industry?

How much timber that’s to be used in wood pellet production is really coming out of bottomland forests?

The arguments on both sides of the fence seem to have lots of merit. We

should know, since we have to straddle that fence.

We do have one concern, however.

As we note in an article on page 8, Norbord teamed up with several organizations and signed a letter to the UK secretary of energy, registering their criticisms and asking that the UK review its bioenergy policy.

The letter is signed by a Norbord officer, as well as an officer from the Wood Panel Industries Federation, which represents several European structural and non-structural board manufacturers, including Norbord. Fair enough. But also signing the letter were representatives of the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Dogwood Alliance.

When I think of the Natural Resources Defense Council and Dogwood Alliance I think of organizations whose mindset is against real forest management and timber harvesting.

We have no problem with Norbord and forest products companies voicing their concerns about wood biomass power. That’s what’s in their best interests. We also understand that signing the dotted line along with preservation organizations in this matter is a temporary political alliance. But it still makes us uncomfortable. We all know that tomorrow these preservationist groups will be signing the dotted line in protest PW of our industry.

RICH DONNELL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Ph: 334-834-1170 Fax: 334-834-4525 e-mail: rich@hattonbrown.com

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(Founded as P l y w o o d & P a n e l in 1960—Our 483rd consecutive issue) VOLUME 58 NO. 2

MARCH 2017

Visit our web site: www.panelworldmag.com

PROJECTS Major Activity

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SUPPLY LINES Dubai Wood Show MEADOW LAKE Tolko Counts On It

TAKING STOCK Strange Bedfellows

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UPDATE The Numbers Are Good

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CLIPPINGS Martco Celebration

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KRONOSPAN Dryer Installation

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59

EVENTS Ligna In May

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COVER: Timber Products Company has boosted production and recovery with an overhaul of both of its lathe lines at Yreka, Calif. Story begins on PAGE 12. (Dan Shell photo)

VENEER DRYING Eight Keys To Success

GEO DIRECTORY Veneer/Panel Suppliers

PANELWORKS Classified Advertising

ANNOUNCEMENT Pelice in 2018

XIN LI DA New Technology

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Panel World (ISSN 1048-826X) is published bimonthly by Plywood & Panel World, Inc., P.O. Box 2268, Montgomery, AL 36102-2268 (334) 834-1170, Fax (334) 8344525. Subscription Information— PW is sent free to owners, operators, managers, purchasing agents, supervisors and foremen at veneer operations, plywood plants, composite products plants, structural and decorative panel mills, engineered wood products plants and allied exportimport businesses throughout the world. All non-qualified U.S. subscriptions are $50 annually; $60 in Canada; $95 (Airmail) in all other countries (U.S. funds). Single copies, $5 each; special issues, $20 (U.S. funds). Subscription Inquiries—TOLL-FREE 800-669-5613; Fax 888-6114525. Go to www.panelworldmag.com and click on the subscribe button to subscribe or renew via the web. All advertisements for Panel World magazine are accepted and published by Plywood & Panel World, Inc. with the understanding that the advertiser and/or advertising agency are authorized to publish the entire contents and subject matter thereof. The advertiser and/or advertising agency will defend, indemnify and hold Plywood & Panel World, Inc. harmless from and against any loss, expenses, or other liability resulting from any claims or lawsuits for libel violations or right of privacy or publicity, plagiarism, copyright or trademark infringement and any other claims or lawsuits that may arise out of publication of such advertisement.

Plywood & Panel World, Inc. neither endorses nor makes any representation or guarantee as to the quality of goods and services advertised in Panel World. Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. reserves the right to reject any advertisement which it deems inappropriate. Copyright ® 2017. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Periodicals postage paid at Montgomery, Ala. and at additional mailing offices.

Printed in USA.

Postmaster: Please send address changes to Panel World, P.O. Box 2419 Montgomery, AL 36102-2419.

Member, Verified Audit Circulation Managed By Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc.

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UPDATE PANEL PRODUCTION, HOUSING UP AGAIN IN 2016 North America structural panel production increased 5% and consumption was up 5.8% in 2016, according to APA—The Engineered Wood Assn.

Structural panel production was 32.595 billion SF, continuing several consecutive years of increase. Production was 27.785 billion SF in 2012.

U.S. companies produced 22.731 billion SF, and Canadian producers recorded 9.864 billion SF, both amounts up slightly over 2015.

U.S. OSB production was 13.922 billion SF and Canada was 7.913 billion SF. U.S. plywood output was 8.809 billion SF, while was Canada was at 1.951 billion SF. U.S. plywood imports from offshore totaled 1.077 billion SF, up 54.5% from 2015.

North American Glulam production was up 2.7%, while I-joist and LVL output were up 6.3% and 6.8%.

U.S. OSB production was 13.922 billion SF in 2016.

Glulam production for the year was 280MMBF. I-joist production was 730.1 million linear feet. LVL production was 71 million cubic feet.

APA also reported that housing starts totaled 1.166 million units in 2016, up 4.9% from 2015. Single-family starts were up 9.3% to 780,900, while multifamily starts were down 3% to 385,500.

APA forecasts total starts to increase to 1.285 million in 2017 (850,000 single family, 435,000 multi-family, and to 1.360 million in 2018 (890,000 single family, 470,000 multi-family).

APA notes that Fannie Mae offers the most optimistic forecast, expecting 1.308 million starts in 2017 and 1.461 million in 2018.

APA also reported that U.S. construction employment rose by 102,000 in 2016, considerably down from 296,000 in 2015, partially reflecting an increased scarcity of skilled construction labor.

Overall U.S. unemployment was 4.9%, down from 5.3% in 2015, marking the lowest annual average since 2007.

Canadian housing starts, including gains in both single family and multifamily, were 197,900, virtually unchanged from 2015. Single family detached starts were 74,090, up 8.8%.

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UPDATE UK BIOMASS COMES UNDER THE GUN An open letter to the UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, Greg Clark, from representatives of several organizations, including OSB producer Norbord, expresses concern with the current policies regarding biomass burning for electricity and asks Clark to remove biomass conversions from the list of CFD (Contracts for Difference)-eligible technologies.

The letter is signed by representatives of the Wood Panel Industries Federation, Friends of the Earth, Natural Resources Defense Council and the Dogwood Alliance, along with Karl Morris, Norbord Senior VP of European Operations.

“To date subsidies awarded to large coal power plants have driven conversion to the use of woody biomass, primarily pellets. But large-scale electricityonly generation from forest biomass is expensive, highly polluting, and poses a major risk to forests and the wildlife that

depends on them,” the letter states.

Carbon emissions from power stations burning wood pellets made from whole trees—even in relatively small proportions—rival or exceed those from fossil fuels for more than five decades, far beyond timeframes relevant for addressing climate change, according to the letter.

“There is now ample evidence, including Government’s own Biomass Emissions and Counterfactual (BEAC) report and calculator, that the wood pellets currently burned in large scale electricity-only UK power plants far exceed government emissions thresholds when the changes to forest carbon stocks are taken into account. However, the emissions resulting from those changes to forest carbon stocks are wrongly assumed to be zero when subsidies are awarded.”

Additionally, the letter states, demand for wood pellets for bioenergy poses a threat to wildlife. “UK imports from the U.S. to meet pellet demand are

being sourced from whole trees in Southeastern forests, home to some of the most biologically-rich wetland forests in North America, known as bottomland hardwood forests.”

Forests are one of the best defenses against climate change because they provide buffers against flooding and the serious effects of storms, according to the letter. “We need to accelerate efforts to protect our forests and improve ecosystem health, not open the floodgates for forests to be burned as fuel for electricity. It is also the time to invest in genuinely clean energy technologies, such as onshore and offshore wind, solar and demand side response and storage, which are more economical and do not degrade forests or increase climate and air pollution.”

The letter says that subsidizing the burning of wood distorts the wood market by providing commercial advantage to bioenergy generators over other wood users. The impact of this is to drive up prices for timber and residues,

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UPDATE which are the feedstock for industries that manufacture wood products that can lock up the carbon for a long period. “If these industries are negatively impacted then large numbers of jobs are at risk. If prices go up customers are more likely to use high carbon alternatives to wood products like gypsum board and steel, resulting in both economic and climate impacts.”

The letter urges Clark to conduct an urgent review of the UK’s bioenergy policies in 2017.

of logs breached the tractor cab and Albritton died in the cab.

The jury found that the cab guard on the tractor was defectively designed and manufactured, and ruled against the alleged manufacturer.

Albritton was driving a 1997 truck.

Other defendant companies either settled out of court or received summary judgment (dismissal).

TRUCK DRIVER’S FAMILY WINS CASE

Winston Plywood & Veneer announced that Jon Pierce now serves as President and is overseeing startup and operation of the company’s new plywood mill in Louisville, Miss.

“I have known Jon as a friend and colleague for many years and can say without hesitation, he’s the right man for the job,” states New Wood Resources CEO Kurt Liebich.

Pierce is a longtime member of Atlas Holdings and New Wood Resources.

In January a Lowndes County (Ala.) Circuit Court jury awarded more than $15 million to the family of a log truck driver killed October 7, 2013.

Driver Jerry Albritton, 50 years old, died when his vehicle failed to manage a curve heading south on County Road 7, running off the road and turning over on the truck’s passenger side. The load

PIERCE LEADS WINSTON PLYWOOD

He was previously president of Olympic Panel Products in Shelton, Wash.

“His (Pierce’s) approach at Olympic was simple; he supported his team by making the safety of every associate his top priority, each and every day. He understands our workplace from the bottom up, having started his career as a project manager over two decades ago.

At each stop in his career, his company has been a stronger, safer and more profitable place than when he arrived,” Liebich adds.

Pierce received his degree in Mechanical Engineering from California State University.

Pierce takes over the Winston Plywood role from Liebich, who had been overseeing the plywood mill since Dr. Richard Baldwin’s retirement in September.

“Winston Plywood is the finest plywood facility in North America. Our future is bright,” states Liebich, who will continue his role as New Wood Resources CEO.

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LATHE SYSTEM INVESTMENTS, NEW CONTROLS UPGRADES GIVE TPC VENEER AN INCREASE IN QUALITY, RECOVERY Recent capital improvements provide better ability to process widely variable log supply more efficiently.

BY DAN SHELL

YREKA, Calif. fter crossing the Oregon-California line headed south, you pass through Yreka with its small sawmill, landscaping fiber operation and Timber Products Co. (TPC) veneer plant, then you go south another 20 miles or so past Roseburg’s Weed facility—and after that the forest products industry thins out considerably, with mills few and far between.

For primary producers in the region, making the most of raw material supply is critical, and Timber Products Co. has made key improvements to its veneer plant here that feeds the company’s high quality hardwood plywood operations in Medford and Grants Pass in Oregon’s Rogue River Valley to the north.

The plant operates two veneer peeling, clipping and stacking lines, featuring 4 ft. and 10 ft. lathes, and has made significant investments in both recently, starting with the 10 ft. lathe line in 2013 and the 4 ft. lathe line in 2016.

Working with Altec Integrated Solutions, the plant’s 10 ft. line received a full AC regenerative spindle and tray drives system with Altec Controls. The project includes a tray controls enclosure with an Allen-Bradley Control Logix PLC platform, ABB drives and Baldor motors for the entire lathe line.

Altec returned in spring 2016 and upgraded the 4 ft. line, supplying a com-

A

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Timber Products Co.’s Yreka mill is a key part of the company’s production, feeding plants in Medford and Grants Pass, Ore.

prehensive controls package including an x-y line scanner, lathe controls, lathe spindle and tray controls, clipper controls and an all-electric AC-Servo clipper drive package. Prior to this project, TPC personnel had replaced outdated existing drives with ABB AC regenerative drives on the entire lathe line.

The lathe improvements have led to not only more production but also enabled increased peeling accuracy, consistency and higher overall surface quality characteristics, says Plant Manager Mike Don. “The new controls are much better and give us much more flexibility in controlling the process,” he says, adding that another result is “We’ve seen big increases in the 54 yields coming off both lines.”

At the Yreka facility, 9- and 10 ft.

Douglas fir peelers are the premium logs for the 10 ft. line but the ability to efficiently process a wide range of diameters (5 in. minimum to 43 in. maximum) and all species in its working circle is critical to the plant’s success. The recent improvements on the 10 ft. line, for example, “have enabled us to easily handle the largest wood we get,” Don says, “while maintaining a consistent

maximum sheet speed all the way through to core limit on medium diameter wood.”

The 4 ft. side at Yreka provides 1520% of the plant’s total volume and is a key machine in allowing the plant to efficiently process the smallest component of its log diameter mix. “The shorter lathe with updated controls enables us to deliver more precise thickness control,” says Don, “and it produces our highest quality core material with small live knots for hardwood plywood.”

On both lines, the tray drive and controls upgrades have significantly increased both productivity and recovery rates. With better tray synchronization between the lathe and the clipper, humping and tearing has been minimized.

Enhancing output on both lines is a new Gockel knife grinder from Maverick Machinery. “We have much better product coming out of the grinding room now with the more consistent face and back bevels,” Don says. Knife changes are every two hours generally, every one hour on some items. “With hardwood plywood we’re held to such a high standard that we have to have good surface characteristics and thickness

consistency—regardless of the incoming log characteristics,” Don emphasizes. “Because we apply the same manufacturing quality standards to all peels, our customers, both internal and external, get the benefit, and they value the quality we provide”.

In addition to peeling line investments, the plant has also completed additional capital projects to improve efficiency and productivity.

Boosting the plant’s overall efficiency is a 2014 project that replaced and upgraded an outdated compressed air system with new technology and inhouse designed controls. “It wasn’t a big project, but it was an important one because it reduced our power consumption by 10% in a period of time when our power rates increased by 11%,” Don says.

Also, a 2012 log processing upgrade was implemented in anticipation of block sawing upgrades in the coming years. This project included the installation of an in house designed log singulator and a Barko knuckleboom loader to complement an existing VK Kodiak 36 in. debarker. Once future block sawing upgrades are completed the plant PanelWorld • MARCH 2017 • 13

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Extensive investments to both the plant’s peeling lines feature control systems by Altec Integrated Solutions, which upgraded lathe and tray controls and motors and drives along with help from Timber Products Co.’s in-house construction and maintenance personnel. In the past five years, peeling and clipping improvements along with log merchandising and other plant investments have boosted veneer production and reduced chip output by 23%.

expects to double its productivity in this department and enhance its capability to handle forest thinning logs.

Don is quick to compliment the overall team at Yreka, from woodlands personnel all the way through the back of the mill, for their contributions to the operation’s competitiveness, and also TPC’s ownership, which allows its employees autonomy to run the operation.

“Living up to those expectations brings a stronger sense of ownership of our jobs here,” Don emphasizes. “We’re always challenging ourselves to get better at what we do.”

One big reflection of the cumulative success from multiple projects is a 23% reduction in chip output over the past five years, Don says, adding that such a significant reduction has come about with efforts across all activities on the plant site.

“Beginning with sorting activities in the yard and ending as veneer is loaded onto a truck, we are constantly looking

for opportunities to improve,” Don adds. “Considering the variability of our log supply and using some salvage wood in the process, we’re real proud of what we have been able to achieve.”

RESOURCES In addition to the key role the Yreka veneer plant plays in TPC’s plywood production, the plant is also important to forest health in the region. The facility is located at the confluence of the Cascades, Sierra Nevada and Siskiyou mountain ranges along the OregonCalifornia border. The timber resource in the area is highly variable which presents challenges and opportunities for the company. TPC draws logs from 115,000 acres of SFI certified timberland owned by its affiliate, MichiganCalifornia Timber Company (MCTC).

The TPC veneer plant, along with three other wood-consuming businesses in the area, provide public and private

land managers with important outlets for timber and fiber coming from thinning and other activities to reduce the risk of wildfire.

“We have a tremendously variable resource base,” says Chris Chase, Timber Manager for TPC & MCTC. “Because we don’t have a high density of (forest industry) infrastructure in this region, we have to convert the logs that the local wood basket provides.” He notes doing so requires a lot of log yard and scheduling coordination to make sure logs are sorted for their best respective products.

The facility receives a third of its log supply from Michigan-California Timber Company timberlands, a third from stumpage timber sales (predominantly Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management) and a third from open market sources. These percentages vary depending on market conditions.

For example, the region has been hard hit by forest fires in recent years, and the company has cut back on timber

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New Gockel knife grinder has boosted veneer quality.

Timber Manager Chris Chase, left, and Plant Manager Mike Don

Large log inventory needed to endure snowy, wet winter.

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Peelers are fed to 12 treating vats that are heated with a wood-fired boiler.

from its own timberlands and stumpage sales to make room for salvage logs.

Getting salvage logs to the mill quickly is critical, Chase recounts: “In 2014, we lost nearly 2,000 acres of company timberland to a wildfire. We were the first landowner to start salvage logging and we removed 90 percent of the fire-killed timber within three months of the fire.”

In contrast, federal timberlands affected by the same fire weren’t able to get timber moving to mills until 20 months after the fire, a delay that made some wood unsalvageable and devalued the logs that were harvested. “In just the past three years we’ve had 250,000 acres affected by wildfire in our wood basket,” Chase says. “There’s also been significant timber mortality from the drought, especially on public land.”

Wildfire risk and drought mortality have prompted the MCTC forestry staff to undertake an aggressive thinning program to increase the resilience of their timberlands. The increase in volume from salvage and thinning projects in recent years has enabled the company to increase the number of approved Timber Harvest Plans that they hold. California has the most vigorous Forest Practices Act in the nation and it generally takes about six months to secure THP approval. The company maintains two-years of volume in approved THP’s to enable operational flexibility and ensure that the TPC veneer mill always has an adequate log supply.

Despite the logistical challenges of making room for more salvage logs, Chase says the move is positive in the long run. “We’re strong advocates for forest health, and we have a long-term interest in the productivity of our forests,” he says. “We’re proud of what we’ve done to help other landowners reduce fire risk and increase the productivity of their lands.”

OPERATIONS

The plant plays a key role in regional forest health improvement efforts.

When Panel World visited in early January the region was in the midst of winter weather that included lots of snow, ice and rain. “It’s slowed things down a bit, but we expect it and always carry an adequate inventory going into winter,” Don says, noting that state authorities limit log hauling and woods operations generally from November through April.

The plant operates 12 treating vats that are heated with steam from a wood fired boiler. The lathes at TPC’s Yreka plant are both from Coe, installed in the

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Peeling line upgrades have improved veneer presentation at the clippers.

late 1990s and modified extensively over the years.

The 4 ft. line is headed by a Coe 296 lathe and 790 charger that feeds to a Raute clipper with Ventek scanning system. The stacker is a vintage 6-bin Raute machine with an in-house developed control system.

The 10 ft. line features a Coe 244 lathe with Coe extended core drive, big bar and Coe x-y charger. The Raute clipper runs with Ventek scanning and Elite Automation controls. The vintage 6-bin Raute stacker has been modified multiple

times, and handles 8, 9 and 10 ft. material with in-house control systems.

An auto-strapping line features an Itipac strapper, with conveyors and controls designed and built in-house.

Don is highly complimentary of TPC’s in-house construction, electricalelectronics and maintenance personnel, citing their work on multiple projects, such as smoothly upgrading the drives and motors on the 4 ft. line, enabling a quicker overall project and startup, and the compressed air system upgrade that required creativity and yielded a big

payback in power savings.

“We’re really pleased with our inhouse guys who are experts in their field,” Don says, citing the maintenance department in Yreka’s broad range of mechanical, electrical and controls capabilities.

“We also get a lot of help from the operators with maintenance to keep the lathes in top condition. There’s a lot of dedication from our people, and it shows in their product” Don adds.

Looking ahead, Don says Yreka’s team is seeking better ways to handle random material that’s currently pulled on a green chain. Plus, he’d like enhance the capture of production data utilizing the Itipac strapper as a capture point and use the data to streamline inventory and sales processes.

“There are a lot of challenges to staying competitive, but there are also opportunities,” Don says. “We’re always observing and looking for ways to take the next step.

“It’s critical to ensure each piece of wood is put to its highest value,” Don continues. “It’s a challenge but it’s fun, and it keeps everyone on their toes as we strive to meet our objectives.” . . . . . . . PW

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RAW MATERIAL FOCUS ADDS TO TOLKO VERSATILITY AT MEADOW LAKE OSB OPERATION Tolko’s two OSB plants complement each other in production capabilities, end product offerings.

BY ANDREW SNOOK

MEADOW LAKE, Sask. olko pressed its first board at its oriented strandboard (OSB) mill in Meadow Lake in the fall of 2003, and for the most part has been pressing boards 24 hours a day, seven days a week ever since.

The OSB plant employs about 170, which makes it a major employer for the 5,000-person town of Meadow Lake, which acts as the main trading hub for northwestern Saskatchewan.

This doesn’t include all of the harvesting, hauling and road building jobs related to the logs required to fuel the plant’s need for fiber. And the plant needs fiber—in 2015, the plant produced 640MMSF of OSB. As for the plant’s employees, they come from near and far to make their livings in Meadow Lake. It’s not unusual for some employees to commute from Prince Albert, Sask., which is more than 250 kilometers away. They even have one employee who drives in from a small town in northern Alberta that is about eight hours away from the plant (he stays in town during his shift rotation and drives home for days off).

As a result of the market conditions created by the economic downturn, Tolko was forced to make the hard decision of sizing its OSB capacity to match the market, and shut down its mills in Slave Lake, Alta, and High Prairie,

T

The operation processes primarily aspen logs.

Alta. When the shutdown took place, the Meadow Lake location became Tolko’s one-stop shop for OSB. “As Tolko’s only OSB plant operating in the market, we made a lot of products for a lot of people,” explains Greg Johnston, plant manager for Tolko’s Meadow Lake OSB Division.

“This meant a lot of short runs that can hurt productivity.”

The plant was filling hundreds of different orders on a built-to-order basis.

“If you look at a product as a thickness and a grade, we probably make 20 or 30, but when you parcel that up with different wrapping, edge treatment, package sizes, etc., it multiplies pretty quickly,” Johnston says. “Our role as Tolko’s OSB mill has changed now.”

The change came when Tolko decided to re-open the Athabasca mill in Slave Lake in late 2013. Athabasca’s OSB plant has an 8 ft. wide press and Meadow Lake operates using a 12 ft. wide press, so each plant is better at producing different dimensions.

“The Athabasca plant is good at mak-

ing some products and we’re good at making other products, so there’s an opportunity to optimize both operations,” Johnston says. “[For example], if they were going to make a six-foot wide panel, they would have to throw away two feet; while we would need to throw away nothing.”

In addition to optimizing its OSB operations through the use of the two different presses, Tolko invested approximately $14 million in the Meadow Lake operation in a dry fines screening project.

“To make panels we need to achieve a certain test strength and the strength comes from the big strands that we make,” Johnston explains. “The dry screening project classifies the strand and then sorts it and allows us to control where we put the various sizes of flakes in the panel so that allows us to optimize the construction of the panel and how we apply the resin to it.”

This is a vital step in the OSB process because the resins used in the production phase “spot weld” the strands together, unlike the plywood process,

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Tolko at Meadow Lake has delivered production consistency.

for example, where a veneer is covered in a layer of glue.

“The problem is when you put the full range of stand size in the blender the smaller particles have a lot of surface area for the weight of them and they consume more resin than they need in the blender,” Johnston explains. “So we sort these fines out and put them through a turbo blender, which is a different way to put resin on the small strands…it allows us to reduce our resin consumption and optimize the construction of the board, which allows us to reduce the amount of wood and resin that we have to put in to make the required test strength.”

Tolko worked with the IMAL-PAL Group for the project, which supplied most of the equipment for the upgrades.

CMA Engineering managed the installation.

The biggest advantage of the project was that the company was able to increase efficiencies by 2-3%.

“We spend about $5 million a month on raw materials with wood, wax and resin use,” Johnston says. “So when you talk those large numbers, a few percent off that is big dollars. We have to get the

core of the board up to a certain temperature to get the board to set. The less dense you can make the board, the less mass you have to heat up, and the faster you can run it since the press needs to be closed a shorter period of time.”

FIBER SUPPLY Last year, the log volume consumed at the plant was approximately 900,000 m3, largely made up of aspen. The harvesting operations typically run from June until mid-March.

“One of the wonderful things about OSB is it’s very flexible when it comes to species,” Johnston says. “The woodlands group really deserves a lot of credit both on the contractor side and on the woodlands side. We’ve got contractors that rotate crews in all the way from Atlantic Canada.”

This is where Michelle Young, Tolko’s woodlands manager for the plant, and her group come into play.

Young leads a team of people responsible for the operation’s long-term forest management plans and annual plans, including where they’re going to log,

doing stakeholder work, getting permits, renewal responsibilities and SFI certification.

“We have about 760,000 cubic meters tenured to us, so then we have to look for the remainder,” Young says.

The Prince Albert forest management area (FMA) is composed of 3.4 million hectares that Tolko shares with seven other industry and First Nations partners.

Young and her team of planners spend about 40% of their time talking to stakeholders, working with them to create plans that will benefit them and the mill.

“It’s a balancing act,” Young says.

“There’s both a softwood and a hardwood user for each piece of land. Wherever we operate we’ve got softwood incidental we send to one of the softwood mills. There’s lots of balancing for us. It takes a lot of coordination between a lot of different people.”

OSB PROCESS Raw logs are stored in ponds until they are moved via a button-top loader onto a forwarding chain until they come to the base of the jackladder conveyor PanelWorld • MARCH 2017 • 21

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system. The jackladder conveydown into nine 4x8 boards and or pulls the logs out of the are sent to stacking bins. water and then drops them into Once the stacking bins are the outfeed conveyor, which filled, the boards are sent to the transports them to one of two paint booth where an edge seal Fuji King rotary debarkers. is added to the bundles. The After the debarking process, bundles then travel to the stenlogs move via a conveyor cil conveyor where the Meadow through a Metal Shark metal deLake OSB logo, dimensions tector and onto the slat conveyor, and piece counts are applied bewhich pushes the logs into a storfore entering the strapping line age bin. and being stored in the compaA Tanguay grapple then ny’s warehouse. picks up the logs and drops To ensure quality, sample them into one of two CAE panels are collected during prostranders, which process the duction runs and are sent to the logs into flakes. The flakes then testing area where testing travel up an inclined conveyor equipment manufactured by to the wet bins.

Metriguard and Instron helps When they are ready to be ensure the product meets APA used, they are sent through the standards and customer expecplant’s two Büttner dryers, tations. which are fuelled by hot gases With a focus on producing generated from burning a comhigh-quality OSB with a quick bination of wet hog fuel and dry turnaround, Tolko’s is ensuring fines from the OSB process in the future success of its OSB the plant’s GTS energy system. Dieffenbacher 12-opening press mill and a bright future for the After hot gases from the heatinhabitants of the Meadow PW ing system enter the dryers, the strand is Lake area. four saws trim and cut the boards into introduced and are tumble-dried as it is three 4x24 boards. The three boards are This article earlier appeared in Canadian moved from one end of the dryer to the then sent through the second-pass saws Forest Industries magazine, which has an article exchange program with Panel World. other. where they are trimmed further and cut After leaving the dryers, the flakes are separated from the gas stream in large cyclones and are fed onto a conveyor and hauled up to the dry bins for use on the forming lines. The flakes from the dry bins are fed onto a weigh scale and into the Coil blender that applies atomized wax and resin onto the surface of the strands. The resinated strands are then conveyed up the top of the forming station where they are diverted to one of four metering bins. Pivot screws are used to allow the flakes to drop evenly into the metering bins to help ensure proper density. The strands are then metered out for the required thickness of the boards being created and are sent to orientation rolls that orientate the direction of the flakes The OSB plant employs approximately 170. into the mat. Four separate bins are used: surface layer bottom, core layer bottom, core layer top and surface layer top.

The flake then travels back onto the forming line, through a metal detector.

The formed up mats are cut into 24 ft. lengths by a flying cut-off saw and placed onto caul screens. The caul screens are then loaded into the loading cage, which can hold twelve 12x24 ft. mats. All the mats are transferred simultaneously into a Dieffenbacher press.

The 12x24 master panels then travel Coordination is key for Tolko’s woodlands team. down to Globe trim lines where the first 22 • MARCH 2017 • PanelWorld

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EIGHT KEYS TO LESS COSTLY AND BETTER VENEER DRYING WITH AN EYE ON THE PAST AND ON THE FUTURE Constant changes in raw material and improvements in drying technologies mean efficient veneer drying must always be earned.

BY DR. RICHARD (DICK) BALDWIN WITH RICH BALDWIN

ou can’t really understand what is going on now without understanding what came before,” Apple co-founder Steve Jobs remarked. Just as this conviction contributed to transforming Apple into an electronic innovation leader and the largest company in the world in terms of market capitalization, a respect for history can also change the fortunes of the veneer-based industry by rediscovering the methods of improved and less costly veneer drying.

John Lutz, a well-known technologist at the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison Wis., remarked four decades ago, “The main objectives of drying veneer are to dry it: (1) fast at minimum cost, (2) flat, and (3) to a uniform moisture content (that is) suitable for gluing.”

Lutz’s remarks summarize the findings of a remarkable effort that occurred during an unprecedented era (19501985) of veneer drying research and discovery; the resulting vintage data still provides a solid foundation for operating today’s veneer drying equipment and processes. The resulting methodologies and understandings developed during those years can remove much of the mystery in drying the newer softwood and hardwood species and log types.

“Y

What then does a mill operating team need to glean from the research literature to make informed operating decisions today? Eight key conclusions are summarized in sequence.

KEY #1: NATURAL VARIABILITY IN WOOD PROPERTIES There are fundamental natural differences in wood anatomy and growing conditions that impact veneer drying. Or as Harry Bartels pointed out more than 50 years ago: “Perhaps as time passes more emphasis will be placed… growing better trees with more uniform mechanical, physical, and chemical characteristics. But even if this becomes practical someday, I suspect we will still have a drying problem because we’ll always have sap and heart moisture differences throughout the same piece of wood, differences between species, and moisture differences between dry deck and pond stored logs. If this isn’t enough, we might throw in growing site quality, elevation, geographic locality, time of cutting, and ‘butt’ blocks versus ‘top’ blocks as effecting moisture content difference in green wood.”

Trees are genetically “better” than five decades ago by certain measures. An increasing proportion of the global peelable timber base is derived from non-traditional veneer species that often are grown under sustainable conditions on tree farms and plantations. However, the variables mentioned by Bartels are still relevant, particularly with panel and billet assembly processes that have become more exacting over time.

As a Forest Products Laboratory Technical Note reminds us: “Water is held in wood under a variable force ranging from a high molecular attraction for that closest to the wood molecules both on and within the cell walls to the comparatively small force of capillary attraction exerted by the cell cavities.” (FPL Technical Note Number 252, 1952) Species-specific data provides valuable understanding. For example, as shown by Figure 1, there are meaningful differences in moisture content between species, between the heartwood and sapwood of the same species, within the same species in different locations, and within the same species harvested at different times of the year.

Fortunately, this useful information is available from a vari-

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ety of foreign and domestic scientific sources in greater scope and specificity than ever before. Certain print sources, such as the Wood Handbook (formerly published by the USDA Forest Service and now published by the Forest Products Society), continue to be available. However, the Internet has become the primary source for many mill operators. The pertinent question or key word has to be sufficiently structured and descriptive to locate the requested information without an overwhelming number of false positive results. Devising useful search terms may be a trial and error process until the correct data is found. The secrets to success are thoughtful definition of the required information, and then creativity and patience.

Old-fashioned networking also is a valuable tool. Even in 2017, not all knowledge is posted on the Internet and reaching out to an expert can be more fruitful than an Internet search.

Whatever the source, identifying and understanding the variability of wood properties among and between species is the first step to devising less costly and better veneer drying techniques.

KEY #2: KNOWLEDGE OF BASIC WOOD SCIENCE Wood is a hydroscopic biomass, meaning it absorbs or purges liquid as conditions change. Wood fiber holds liquid in three forms. A basic understanding of the elegantly simple science of drying thin sections of wood (veneer) is the second key to less costly and better veneer drying.

Wood fiber contains water in three different forms. The first form (“Free Water”) is water that is located within the lumen of individual cells (in other words, the water in the bores of tube-shaped wood cells). The second water form (“Bound Water”) is polar bonded to the exterior cell wall given that a water molecule has an electrical charge that causes an attraction to other molecules with an opposite electrical charge. The third form (“Water of Constitution or Composition”) is an integral part of the wood fiber cell structure. The relative energy required for removing water increases from the first form to the second form to the third form.

The veneer drying process begins with almost instantly flashing off extraneous moisture such as rainwater, water from the peeling process, and any other surface water as initial heat is applied. Concurrently, the Free Water begins moving to the surface. The fiber saturation point (FSP) is reached when all of

the Free Water is depleted. In many species the FSP is reached when the wood moisture content declines to about 25-30% on an oven dry basis (ODB). The loss of all Free Water has little if any effect on strength and physical dimensions.

Eventually, the heat becomes intense enough to break the bond holding the Bound Water to the wood cell surface. As the Free Water and subsequently the Bound Water reach the surface, the water is transformed into saturated steam and subsequently superheated steam (this superheated steam often will be referred to as “air” within this text). Some of the more volatile wood organics now convert to a gaseous state and are swept away by turbulent air in the water that boils to the surface. As the Bound Water is extracted, structural properties typically improve and the veneer sheet progressively shrinks to a greater extent across the grain and to a lesser extent radial to the grain.

Removal of the Water of Constitution is last in the moisture removal sequence. This form of water, just as the other two forms, will evaporate away given sufficient heat and time. Depletion of the Water of Constitution, an integral component of the cell structure, will result in collapse of the cell walls. Residual moisture content (MC) of 2% or less indicates this water has been almost completely removed.

Initial temperatures that are too high as the green veneer enters the dryer, and/or conveying the veneer too slowly within the dryer, will quickly eliminate the cooling effect as water steadily boils to the surface and is evaporated. If the surface temperature of the veneer exceeds acceptable tolerances the wood cells completely break down and then surface inactivation (colloquially known as case-hardening) occurs. The resulting over-dried and brittle veneer is difficult to glue and is easily damaged in handling.

The water removal process appears to be straightforward, but actually is an intricate sequential process as heat is applied and air scrubs the veneer surface. Carroll and Dokken identify natural moisture variation in green wood as creating drying and gluing problems if not resolved prior to panel or billet assembly: “The control of MC variability is the major technical problem in veneer drying. Still, from the point of view of veneer drying it doesn’t matter what the origin of the moisture variability is; it is simply there, and is worse in some species than in others.”

Typically, green veneer from the higher-MC outer sapwood portion of the log is segregated from the lower-MC heartwood for satisfactory drying. However, moisture content within sapwood and heartwood is not constant; in other words, some areas are wetter than other areas. “Higher moisture” areas that naturally occur even in a mixed segregation will cause a certain level of redry, which is defined as veneer that remains too wet for satisfactory gluing without further drying. Ideally the veneer sheets that need additional drying due to wetter pockets are identified at the dryer outfeed.

For example, when Douglas fir veneer is dried to a target of approximately 5 to 7% MC, there may be spots that are still 12 to 22% MC. High moisture, with high defined as exceeding tolerances for the adhesive, will likely result in blows and delamination. Much of the redry veneer, if separated into two or more MC levels and assembled under controlled conditions, can bond satisfactorily after adequate stand time. Stand time, as the hot veneer stack cools down, will facilitate drying the wet spots and equalize moisture content within the veneer sheet. However, even with most satisfactorily dried veneer, PanelWorld • MARCH 2017 • 25

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some moisture equalization time between the dryer and panel/billet assembly makes good sense. Post dryer conditioning materially improves gluing outcomes.

Wet pockets in some tree species also can cause significant drying and gluing problems. White fir, hemlock and redwood are three examples of North American softwood species that, besides the more typical sapwood/heartwood separation, have significant moisture variability. Gmelina arborea, a tropical hardwood with a wood structure somewhat akin to the teak species, has wet spots randomly scattered throughout the log that are particularly difficult to dry with a conventional drying regimen. Figuring out how to satisfactorily dry veneer peeled from some of the newer tree species is a work in progress; the resolution involves understanding the natural variability of wood characteristics as described in Key #1.

date natural constraints in working the land and transportation.

Typically, a Southeastern softwood veneer operation will carry no more than three weeks of log inventory in the summer, and about five weeks in the winter. A West Coast green end operator will normally hold a larger log inventory to buffer inclement winter weather. Other global regions with less-developed cut and haul infrastructure will set optimal inventory levels for local conditions. l Block Handling & Preconditioning Debarking and cutting the log into peeler blocks accelerates the normal aging process of felled timber. The aging process is dependent upon tree species and age of the standing timber.

KEY #3: FASTER LOG AND PEELER BLOCK PROCESSING Certain logs, such as those derived from species like old-growth Douglas fir and many tropical hardwoods, seemingly can be stored indefinitely after harvesting. However, ancient trees comprise an eversmaller proportion of the raw material base for a veneer manufacturer. What then are the veneer drying considerations that play out in harvesting, log storage, and block preconditioning with younger trees and the non-traditional veneer species? The log harvest impacts veneer drying, and a timely log flow from the stump to the veneer lathe is crucial. l Tree Harvesting and Log Storage The passage of time, compounded by relatively warm weather, can create both yield and drying problems as logs are processed into veneer. Typical problems that arise over time include stains, moderate to deep checking, hardening of the wood, and unequal distribution of moisture. The more rapid and evolving nature of the growth and harvest cycle will accelerate the development of these problems.

Short rotation growth/harvest cycles (meaning at least two and possibly five or more harvests during a century) are becoming the norm for the veneer manufacturer. The resulting short rotation logs, or shorter rotation in the case of West Coast (U.S.) softwoods, will begin to deteriorate within days in some cases and weeks in others. The effective operator will minimize the time between felling and peeling even if that means micro-planning the harvesting operation to minimize inventory in the mill log yard. In the planning process, it may become necessary to set aside timber tracts that can readily be harvested during long periods of wet weather.

Following this philosophy of rapid turnover of log inventory, several high-volume pine users in the U.S. Southeast and Southern Hemisphere maintain a small log inventory by rapidly moving the timber harvest from the landing to the preconditioning chambers. The hot and humid temperatures that are typical of these regions quickly induce undesirable changes in the log such as rapid log deterioration, blue stain, or color changes. Age, stains and discolorations foreshadow uncertain veneer drying results. For example, blue stain and other molds create wet pockets and/or other anomalies that are more difficult to uniformly dry.

The duty of the mill operator is to minimize log inventory through balancing local conditions with mill needs. West Coast and Southeastern operators have learned to accommo-

The blocks become increasingly more difficult to peel and dry as the wood ages and deteriorates. A peeler block will dry out and check, if not preconditioned and peeled promptly.

Wood acts as an insulator, and green veneer will retain residual heat for an extended period if the log block was preconditioned in a steam/hot water medium. Preconditioning initiates moisture movement and equalization within the wood fiber. To improve veneer drying, the efficient operator will seek out the optimum conditioning cycle for the species being peeled and then consistently heat the peeler blocks to the high end of that optimum range. The elevated wood temperature will trigger an accelerated veneer drying process, particularly if the green veneer is dried within 24 hours (variable with species and ambient temperature) before the heat dissipates.

The Free Water, and sometimes the Bound Water, may already have started migrating to the surface before the veneer enters the hot dryer.

Well-defined, but often subtle, upstream practices aid the downstream drying process. Local conditions may not permit optimally rapid movement of the log from harvesting to processing to peeling. Scheduling green veneer directly into the dryer while the freshly peeled veneer is relatively hot may not always be feasible. However, moving as rapidly as possible within the constraints will maximize dryer production and quality.

KEY #4: EFFICIENT DRYING BEGINS AT THE LATHE Weyerhaeuser Co. built several state-of-the-art plywood mills in the 1960s and early 1970s. These mills incorporated that era’s most advanced drying technology. The author was employed as a staff industrial engineer at the company’s North Bend, Ore. operation. The mill had two in-line peeling

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and drying systems, and a third shorter dryer to process the redry and some green veneer. Utilizing old-growth peelers from company lands in the nearby Coastal Range, a process development team was assembled to identify the “should-be” dry veneer production scheme given the unique peeling/drying configuration at this location.

The green veneer ribbon, produced at each of two lathe lines, was transferred into a conventional downstream tray system. However, the similarity to conventional peeling and drying systems ended there. Instead of the standard setup of clipping the green veneer ribbon into sheets, the long green veneer ribbon was conveyed onto either deck of a double-deck cable transport system that moved the veneer ribbon through a Coe jet dryer. The dry ribbon exited the dryer and was clipped into usable sheets.

The sheets were then graded and stacked for use at the layup line.

The top deck dried the heart portion of the veneer ribbon at a relatively high speed (as measured in FPM). The lower deck ran sapwood, the intermediate heart/sap portion of the ribbon, and some heartwood. Dry veneer suitable for gluing (with a conventional PF resin based glue mix) produced per operating hour was the key performance indicator.

The #2 lathe and dryer line that primarily peeled 1/10 in.

Douglas fir veneer became the focus of the research project.

Foundational data collection included carefully documenting incoming log characteristics, peeling data, veneer dryer settings, and other relevant data. This initial data and a carefully crafted work plan provided the basic elements for the analytical process that followed.

The ongoing work plan measured performance through a variety of trial and error changes. The combination of variables seemed endless. The temperature in each zone, the speed and airflow emanating from the axial fans, the damper position in each section, and a variety of other dryer settings were systematically changed. Correlating cable flow speeds (FPM) with the developing redry volume on each of the two decks was considered the best criteria to judge performance. Using these criteria, the research team defined a baseline of standard settings and then systematically made adjustments to empirically derive settings that optimized output quantity and quality.

The process development team soon found that sometimes the results could be duplicated in later runs, and sometimes they couldn’t. The team eventually figured out that insufficiently identified exogenous variables affected the results; the team finally hypothesized that lathe settings were a possible cause. It was soon discovered that the nominal 1/10 in. peel thickness varied from 0.095 to 0.108 in. with a mean of about 0.102. The team observed that human factors such as lathe operators setting pitch-ways by trial and error, improper grinding of lathe knives, and inconsistent setting of lathe knives impeded a uniform peel.

As the peel quality inconsistencies were systematically resolved, it became possible to predict and duplicate results at the dryer. Plus, an unexpected log recovery benefit was revealed. By reducing the peel variation to less than half of the former range, the peel thickness setting could be reduced to 0.098 in. and still make the required panel tolerance.

We had learned what was obvious with hindsight; namely, that tightly controlled peel quality improves and makes dryer

performance more predictable. The “pre-discovery” top deck cable speed (heartwood portion of the ribbon) of 225 FPM was increased to about 240 FPM (a 6.7% performance improvement). The throughput on the bottom deck increased proportionately. Concurrently, it was discovered that green veneer sourced from other western Oregon green ends also had variable drying rates; and these rates were correlated with the consistency and quality of the peel.

The North Bend plant had a unique veneer peeling and drying process that incorporated innovations of Weyerhaeuser and others during those epic years. North Bend was ideal for the field research that confirmed the interaction of peel quality and veneer drying, and management supported those research efforts. A similar approach to improving peel quality of various peel thicknesses and species, and hence dryer production, has been employed over the decades in a variety of locations in North America and offshore. In each situation, better veneer quality and consistency has measurably benefitted veneer drying efficiency.

KEY #5: CONTINUAL COMMITMENT TO DRY END BEST PRACTICES Carl Erb, APA Gluing Studies Manager, and others later validated the North Bend findings of Weyerhaeuser during APA mill supervisory meetings: “It is important that the dryer be kept full, not only because production is lost when space is left between sheets or full sheets are missed but also because it disrupts temperature balance and heating control. This results in hot spots, cold spots, wet veneer, and over dried veneer. Equally important is strict thickness control at the lathe. A variation of .020 inch in the thickness of 1/10 inch Douglas fir heart can result in a difference of 35% in the drying time. This means that a sloppy peeling operation will cause a false redry rate and production of large quantities of over dried veneer with losses in total dry veneer production.”

Keeping a dryer full, and maintaining peel quality (thickness control) are the very basics of veneer drying. Carroll and Dokken further clarified the task in starkly simple terms: “The basic principle of veneer drying is a simple one: to remove, by evaporation, the moisture found in green wood. The amount of moisture which must be removed is primarily deter-

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mined by the general rule that a glued wood product should be made at a M. C. reasonably close to the average M.C. to which it will be exposed in service. More than that, it must be brought to a level at which the adhesives will function efficiently, since the behavior of water-based plywood adhesives is greatly influenced by the moisture content of the wood being glued… In the end, the problems which arise are gluing problems.”

It is also crucial to understand the role of heat and temperature settings and their impact on the drying process. First, wood will release Free Water when heated, even when totally immersed in water, or at 100% humidity.

“When wood is dried the energy needed to remove the virtually free water or absorbed water is practically the same as that required to evaporate an equal amount of water from an open pan.” (FPL Technical Note Number 252, 1952) In other words, evaporating Free Water from the veneer doesn’t require much time or energy. The operator will work to identify a combination of time, temperature and airflow at the beginning of the drying process that expedites the evaporation of Free Water. Once the Free Water is removed, the next objective is removing Bound Water, the more tightly bonded liquid form.

Water extraction occurs initially adjacent to the surface and then progressively deeper into the veneer. Atherton and Welty concluded in their seminal work Drying Rates of Douglas-fir Veneer in Superheated Steam at Temperatures to 800° F that veneer dryers should be staged so that the hottest gases pass over the wettest veneer to hasten drying. They also recommended that the temperature be progressively lowered by

dryer zone as the veneer progresses with steadily decreasing moisture content through the dryer.

The goal is to identify a temperature gradient that maximizes water evaporation from turbulent airflow at the veneer surface. These researchers found that efficiently scrubbing away water that rises to the surface stimulates the extraction of more water from and between the wood cells, and when water is constantly evaporating from the veneer surface the wood surface temperature stays low enough to prevent extracting the Water of Constitution (usually equal to/or less than 2% MC).

However, when the air is not efficiently evaporating and removing moisture, excess heat builds up. The overheated wood cells collapse and the collapsed cells become a further barrier to moisture movement. Veneer with a case-hardened surface does not easily form a strong glue bond.

Lastly, when an operator has determined the best temperature settings and practices for drying a particular type of veneer, by all means follow those practices. Erb stated: “Solutions from improving condition and operation procedures can result in production increases immediately at very little cost. Increasing capacity through dryer modification or adding new dryer takes longer and is more expensive.”

Bartels unequivocally concurred: “Production management should determine the best method of operating the dryer to provide the highest quality veneer, and insist that such practices be followed on all shifts.”

In other words, insist that the resulting standard operating practices (SOP) for a particular green veneer specification is carefully and thoughtfully followed while practicing the basics of moisture removal.

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KEY #6: TURBULENT SUPERHEATED STEAM, AN EFFICIENT DRYING MEDIUM There is long held belief, some say misconception, that the processing atmosphere within the dryer is actually a damp, humid medium. And that it is necessary to effective and efficient drying to remove all or part of this moisture laden air to facilitate a reduction in veneer moisture content (MC). Not so, the water and other volatiles, activated by heat and capillary flow, merge at the surface of the veneer. A resulting surface turbulence of boiling water converting to a superheated steam is swept away as the veneer passes through the dryer. The superheated steam that is created during the drying process is then sequentially recaptured, reheated and recirculated, or exits the dryer through the dampers, leaking door seals, or other voids in the dryer structure. One source describes “the properties of superheated steam as close to a perfect gas rather than a vapor.”

An earlier study at Oregon State University’s Forest Products Research Lab confirmed that that the interaction of moisture extraction and heated air passing over the veneer surface will convert the atmosphere into a superheated gas when a defined temperature threshold is reached. The drying atmospheres will retain its form as a super-heated gas until a lower temperature is realized by either the resulting gas exhausting into a cooler atmosphere, contacting a cooler surface, or by lowering the dryer temperature.

The Atherton research illustrates the effect of heat (in °F) on moisture content (MC) over time, given a set of conditions.

A range of possible conditions is identified, specifically rela-

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too valuable to be wasted because, when lost to the atmosphere, they are replaced with cooler oxygen laden outside air that has to be heated and converted into superheated steam.

The literature also describes possible pitfalls, such as fires, that more frequently occur within veneer dryers if the dryer is not tight. If the dryer has leaks, replacing the super-heated steam that is low in oxygen with oxygen-laden air from the atmosphere will increase the risk of fires.

Using temperature of 400° F and higher demands a more consistent flow of veneer through the dryers to minimize hot spots. Operating personnel have to be super-vigilant in keeping the dryer full and conveying at the correct speed with operating fans. This will effectively maintain turbulent air at the veneer surface that allows moisture to leave, while keeping the surface cool enough to prevent surface inactivation.

Essentially, it means that understanding the makeup and temperature of the gaseous atmosphere (dryer air-flow) facilitates identifying the most efficient and effective veneer dryer operating modes.

KEY #7: MINIMIZING SOURCES OF HEAT LOSS

tive humidity (RH), wet bulb depression, equilibrium moisture conditions (EMC), and dry bulb temperature. Wet bulb depression is largely determined by actual air temperature (dry bulb temperature) and the amount of moisture in the air (humidity). At 100% relative humidity, the wet bulb temperature equals the dry bulb temperature or the actual temperature of the air; this is measured by thermometer freely exposed to the air but shielded from radiation and moisture.

For example, high relative humidity (about 95%) develops into 100% steam at about 225 degrees Fahrenheit; the resulting heat and temperature can reduce the moisture content (MC) down to 1% or less over time. Erb confirmed this finding: “At 325° F, the equilibrium moisture content of wood in saturated steam is 1%. Saturation is never even approached in a veneer dryer so the wood EMC will always be less than 1%.”

Simpson and Rosen compared data from about 12 studies for drying wood in superheated steam above 212 °F. As Figure 2 shows, the relative humidity of superheated steam decreases as temperature increases. All of the studies show that equilibrium moisture content at 300 °F for wood in pure steam is about 1% to 2%. While none of the cited studies analyze temperatures much above 300 °F, per Figure 3 it appears that equilibrium moisture content steadily approaches 0% at higher temperatures.

The Atherton research indicates that the interaction of time, temperature and allied conditions will predictably convert water into steam. It also indicates that the interaction of moisture and heat will convert the steam into a superheated gas when a defined temperature is reached.

What does this all mean to the veneer dryer operator? It means that the superheated steam (carried by veneer dryer air flow) can be controlled and reused. It means that the resulting dryer gases are

There are several steps to maximizing heat source capture and the associated thermal energy that can be directed to removing moisture from the veneer. First, a consistent supply from the boilers or other heat source must be achieved. A second important step is properly maintaining the doors, seals and fans so as to limit undesirable heat loss. Finally, of equal importance is the mode and means of productively using the heat. The dryer is normally divided into two or more sections (or zones) to better control heat and air-flow. (see Figure 4) Typically, each zone will have a damper through which dryer gases can be released. The first problem to be solved is to find the most efficient damper settings in each zone of the dryer as the veneer drying process is initiated, continued and concluded. A question that has grown in importance, given increasingly stringent air pollution regulations that now almost always require treatment of dryer emissions, is what the practical role of the dampers?

Dryer dampers are designed to release heated air into the atmosphere, or onto further treatment before release. Their use and misuse continues as a source of much misunderstanding and drying inefficiency. Shakespeare’s soliloquy on the human condition “to be or not to be; that is the question” could be adapted as follows to describe the enduring debate on veneer dryer damper settings: “To close or not to close; that is the question.”

In any discussion about closing vent stack dampers, the following statements reflect common beliefs. First, “The moisture has to get out of the dryer to efficiently dry the ve-

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neer.” Or second, “We have the RTO (or RCO) to process the exhaust gases, we need to keep the dampers open to provide enough air flow to make the pollution control system work properly.” One operator even removed the internal walls that separated the three sections (zones) in the super heaters, and opened the dampers with the purpose of improving the flow of heated gases to the adjacent RCO and, in doing so, compromised air circulation and heated efficiency within the dryer.

The pioneering researchers of the 1960s had much to say about the role of dryer dampers. Stanley Corder, an Oregon State University researcher, completed a landmark study with several key takeaways: —“Intake of air into a veneer dryer is not necessary for drying, since at 300 °F., equilibrium moisture content of wood is about 1 percent, even when the drying medium is entirely water vapor (or superheated steam).”

—“The simplest and least costly method of reducing inflow of air is to close the dampers on the vent stacks as tightly as practical. The limiting factor on damper closure is the point at which drying gas begins to come out the ends of the dryer.”

—“Special attention might be given to consideration of a seal where veneer enters and leaves the dryer to minimize flow of air at these critical points.”

George Flanagan, then General Manager of the Elk Lumber Co. plywood mill in Medford, Ore., commented two years after Corder’s study: “The advantage of forcing the vapors out of the ends of the dryer is that this forces the oxygen out and inhibits combustion inside the dryers, thereby permitting a higher temperature with

less fires. This method of operation uses less steam and increases the production through the dryer at the same time, since you are not taking in a lot of air at room temperature and heating it up to 350 degrees to 400 degrees and then exhausting it to the stacks. We feel that this method of operation increases the efficiency of our dryers from fifteen to twenty-five per cent.”

Corder’s and Elk Creek Lumber’s findings were validated

by Erb’s 1975 APA/DFPA Technical Report: “There are two reasons why veneer will actually dry faster when the humidity is raised by closing the dampers. First, less heat is lost from the dryer and average temperature through the dryer will be higher. Second, wet air carries more heat and transfers heat faster than dry air so increasing the humidity increases the rate of veneer heating at the same temperature. Veneer that is heated more rapidly is dried faster. Add to this the reduction in surface inactivation, dryer fires, fugitive emissions, cost of pollution control equipment and operating cost and it is easy to see that repairing air leaks and closing dampers is just plain common sense.”

If closing the dampers is “just plain common sense,” why then is “to close, or not to close” still an enduring controversy? Or is it something that is “out of sight and out of mind”?

There are a variety of possible reasons.

First, closing the dampers will cause more of the dryer gases to escape through the leaks that usually exist around the doors, particularly on the high-pressure side of a jet dryer, and both ends of the dryer. Unchecked, these gases flow untreated into the mill and the atmosphere.

“Severe air leaks and open dampers are usually found in combination. If there are severe air leaks, a closed damper will

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cause copious amounts of smoke to be expelled into the mill creating comfort problems. To reduce the smoke in the mill, the damper is opened.” (Franich, 1980) Second, as a safety measure the dampers are designed so that they can’t be closed completely. However, if not properly maintained and kept clean of pitch, the dampers can make an airtight seal. In the event of fire the sudden pressure change following rapid release of a copious quantity of cold water on hot surfaces from the typical deluge fire suppression system has been known to literally blow the ends out of a poorly maintained dryer.

Third, some air pollution control systems are designed to function with a continuing supply of drying gas flow from the dryer/s. If this flow is reduced below a certain level the pollution controls will not perform properly or comply with air pollution abatement requirements.

Finally, closing the dampers runs counter to decades of conventional thinking and requires dryer tenders and other operating veterans to appreciate that the conventional method of dryer operations is not optimal. The comments of another operator during the Corder/Elk Creek era may mirror the current thinking of others in today’s generation: “This level of operation requires more sophistication in control than we presently have.” (Weyerhaeuser internal correspondence, Coos Bay Region, January 30, 1967) For some, the most feasible solution is to rebuild or replace dryer equipment with newer technology that relies less on damper controls. New dryer design innovations are starting to emerge from leading industry suppliers of new equipment and rebuilds. When adopted, these newer innovations may end the enduring controversy of “to close or not to close.”

example, the air-flow in zone No. 1 may be left to right, and the next zone would be right to left. Fans are usually located on the exhaust side of the zone. This is an early generation dryer, with only a few reportedly continuing in service. l Jet Dryers The air-flow blows perpendicular to the veneer flow, with the air-flow configuration the same throughout the entire dryer (namely, the fans are all on the same side). The air is blown across the top plenum chamber of the dryer (super heater), down the supply side, and into the jet tubes. (See Figure 6 for a schematic of an original Coe M62 jet dryer) The top and bottom jet tube impingements on each deck intensely focus the air flow at right angles against the top and bottom of the moving veneer surface. Moisture is simultaneously swept away on both sides as a superheated gas. l Basic Elements of Air Circulation Systems There are three essential elements to the air circulation system: (1) the fan system, (2) the air distribution system, and (3) the aiming and striking (impinging) of heated air onto the veneer surface. Typically, one or more of these essential elements can readily be upgraded on a veneer dryer.

Fans Upgrading motors, fans and associated components can yield a rapid return on money spent. The author of an industry Technical Report observed, “Even though new fans and motors are very expensive, it is less costly than a new dryer.”

The first-generation jet dryers were all equipped with axialflow (propeller) fans; these propeller fans are neither markedly high volume nor high pressure. Centrifugal fans, mounted hor-

KEY #8: OBTAINING THE UTMOST AIR CIRCULATION EFFICIENCY Field research emanating from the 1950-1985 era found that increasing a dryer’s air velocity yields a greater proportional effect on actual drying efficiency than increasing temperature. The type and character of the resulting air flow are typically classified according to three air circulation systems comprising longitudinal flow, cross flow, and cross-flow impingement. The latter system, used in jet dryers, is far and away the most efficient of the three, although a goodly number of longitudinal flow dryers remain in service (see Figure 5).

Air circulation systems are briefly described as follows: l Longitudinal Flow Dryers Air circulation is parallel to the veneer flow. Contingent upon dryer design, air-flow may either be with or against the veneer movement. Large centrifugal fans provide air-flow at the exhaust end, one on either side of the dryer zone. These fans will typically be situated at the exhaust end of a zone with two possible exceptions. The first exceptions are oil-fired dryers and oil-fired dryers converted to gas that have the fans in the middle of the dryer. The second exceptions are a few large single zone dryers that may have a second set of booster fans halfway down the dryer to increase air velocity. l Cross Circulation Dryers The air-flow blows across the flow of veneer as it is conveyed through the veneer dryer. A cross circulation dryer is constructed in zones, typically about eight to 16 or 20 sections long, with two sections per zone. The airflow direction alternates from one zone to the next. For

Figure 5 Figure 6

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izontally, were incorporated in a later generation to increase both static pressure and volume air moved.

Centrifugal fans should be as concentric as possible with the cone, and the cone should extend into the fan throat approximately one inch. Improper alignment and positioning can reduce fan efficiency by more than 50%. Also consider the ongoing operating problem of a fan not operating properly.

A dead fan, or one running backward, can reduce the static pressure in a 4-section zone by 30%. Surprisingly, fan problems were encountered in the vast majority of mill calls and can be critical.

Malfunctioning fans are a common problem, particularly in a jet dryer because of their large size and high quantity. It’s typically not straightforward to detect defective jet dryer operation in a hot and often dimly-lighted mill environment. A simple solution is to spray paint a line (white or bright color) across the radius of the belt pulley to make detection easier when observed in sequence with adjacent fans. A dead fan, one slipping on the pulley, or a fan running backward is easily spotted when periodically checked.

Air Circulation Air within a dryer flows through the path of least resistance. Failure to maintain a tight outer skin, correct damper settings, and effective infeed and outfeed seals can short-circuit the results of any mechanical or design improvements.

Earlier veneer dryer literature repeatedly reminds the reader of the need to maintain the outer shell as tightly as possible.

Dryer doors fitted properly (properly grouted), a well-aligned frame to prevent structural deformation, correctly aligned fans, well-engineered jet tubes (in the case of a jet dryer), and dampers closed as far as possible are some of the basics of controlling air flow. Dryers “age” and often deteriorate rapidly depending upon the level of maintenance. Over the years periodic rebuilds of veneer dryers have become a more common occurrence, but probably not “common enough.”

The longitudinal flow dryer has an uncomplicated air-flow distribution system. Correct positioning of the shears that direct the air-flow is essential. The cross-circulation systems, particularly with the air impingement feature of jet tubes, direct the air flow through a series of relatively sharp an-

gles and then impinge the flow in an abrupt 90 degree turn onto the veneer surface. Allowing substantial quantities of air (dryer gases) to travel through the dryer without impinging on the veneer surface is a common problem, especially in older jet dryers.

Most jet dryers have flap seals on the supply side that block the space between the bottom row of jet tubes and the floor.

These seals are often hinged (or removable in some way) to facilitate cleaning the dryer. However, they must be in good condition and in place so that the air is forced into the jet tubes. Jet dryers will also often have devices to attempt to proportionately direct the air-flow into the jet tubes from top to bottom. These devices must be kept in place, and replaced after unplugging a dryer or periodic cleanup and maintenance.

Directing the Air Flow onto the Surface of the Veneer Deflector baffles serve the purpose of directing air-flow onto the veneer in a longitudinal flow dryer, and to an even greater extent in cross circulation dryers (particularly jet dryers).

“The most common problem found in jet dryers, especially older ones, is that

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substantial amount of air travels through the dryer without impinging on the veneer surface. When this occurs, the top lines are starved and the bottom lines have a maximum amount of air. The result is excess wet from the top line (often 75% is marked wet) and severe overdrying and surface inactivation from the bottom (none marked wet).

This is an extreme condition, but not uncommon.” (Franich, 1980) There are three rows on the face of a jet tube in newer jet dryers versus only one like in the early models. This increases the volume of air impinging upon the veneer surface by increasing the points of impingement. There must be sufficient static pressure on the supply side of the jet tubes so that the volume of superheated steam is supplied equally across the veneer surface.

Over the years, a number of orifice configurations have been devised and marketed. Often these newer configurations substitute for the older one-row impingement configurations, or even earlier three row designs. It is not uncommon to operate a dryer with two or more orifice and tube designs as worn

or bent tubes are periodically replaced.

A specific model or configuration of a jet dryer model is engineered to use a specific tube/impingement configuration.

An intended tube design change usually means that the air flow systems needs to be re-engineered to make certain that the system is correct for the orifice tube configuration. Haphazard substitution of fans may deliver a slightly larger total volume of air (due to the reduced static pressure); often this causes an air imbalance that results in uneven drying and a greater proportion of redry.

CONCLUSIONS Common threads weave their way through the literature on the subject of veneer drying. First, in prior decades rigorous research was commonly undertaken to validate or refute industry rules-of-thumb, beliefs and assumptions. However, given that most researchers retired from the industry many years ago and the evolution of the wood basket, inefficient practices still exist 40 and more years later in spite of the considerable improvement in design and technology of drying equipment.

Second, there likely is a wide range of opportunities available to operators to meaningfully improve drying efficiency. Improvements in dryer equipment design, technology and operating practices are important, but equally critical in dryer efficiency are the pre-drying practices.

Finally, a thorough maintenance program that represents a joint effort between maintenance staff and the operating team is essential and will keep dryers in peak operating condition. A comprehensive and collaborative effort is the keystone to translating research findings into achievable action steps to produce less costly and higher quality dry veneer.

PW Dr. Richard (Dick) Baldwin draws on more than five decades of executive, supervisory and hourly experience in the veneer and plywood industry. He has authored eight books on plywood and veneer-based manufacturing practices, operations management, maintenance and forestry issues. His most recent book, released in 2016, is “Plywood And Veneer-Based Products.” He can be reached at dbaldwin@ocinvest.com. For specific detail on literature cited in this article, please contact the author.

COMING IN MAY

LIGNA PREVIEW

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NEW INSTALMEC DRYER INSTALLATION HAS SEVERAL INNOVATIONS AT KRONOSPAN P’BOARD MILL nstalmec has recently supplied a 60 t/h dryer for the Kronospan particleboard mill at Burgos, Spain. When it comes to the efficiency of drying technologies for the wood-based panel industry, Instalmec has developed excellent solutions over the years due to its continual investment in innovation since 1979.

It is important to highlight the incredibly short timeline for manufacturing and delivery of the dryer: just eight months from the order confirmation, including the time for dismantling an existing dryer. The startup of the new dryer occurred at the end November, beginning of December 2016, perfectly

I

Kronospan modernization at Burgos includes a new Instalmec dryer.

Low pressure drop cyclones offer energy savings, less wear.

on time with the schedule.

In order to speed up manufacturing and assembly, the dryer was designed to be assembled on site; in fact many portions of the dryer were welded directly there.

The drying capacity of the dryer is 60 t/h. The main rotating drum has a diameter of 7.4 m and a length of 32 m.

The capacity of the burner is 45 MW. The main ventilator of the dryer has

a capacity of 1200 kW. For such a big dryer normally a much powerful ventilator would be required, but Instalmec managed to install a less powerful ventilator which absorbs only 940 kW, allowing considerable savings on energy consumption.

In addition to the dryer, Instalmec installed a battery of six LPD cyclones, patented by Instalmec, characterized by very low wear (these cyclones are

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PROJECTS

highly resistant to wear due to an pollutant emissions, and keep innovative working concept dethe gas moisture close to saturaveloped by Instalmec) and a low tion point in order to avoid the pressure drop, together with little risk of fire. In addition, an ideal energy consumption. mixture of air-dust (due to a The main technological innovaspecially designed injector) fation of the dryer is a combustion vors a better combustion, with chamber that solves the problem significant reduction of the of vitrification, ensuring a longer emissions in atmosphere. life span. An automatic fresh air Another important innovation control system ensures that the of “the smart dryer,” as Instalmec temperature in the chamber is high refers to it, is that it dries fine enough for a good combustion, but wood particles less than coarse not sufficiently high for melting particles, hence coarse particles the silica. The entire system is mowill have a lower humidity with nitored by temperature sensors respect to fines, and this innovatiwhich prevent the vitrification of Combustion chamber technology is key to new dryer. on is particularly important during silica, thanks to the fact that silica pressing of the panels, because it never reaches its melting temperature. guarantees the continuous functioning prevents the bursting of the panels due to The special design of the combustion of the plant and therefore it is no longer different humidities of the wood particles chamber allows the settling of higher necessary to stop the plant for maintenduring pressing. quantities of silica at the bottom of the ance and cleaning operations.

The dryer installation is a part of a chamber, while an automatic, continuInstalmec’s combustion chamber is major modernization of the facility PW ous system for the extraction of the siliable to meet environmental emission begun in 2015 by Kronospan. ca and unburned particles in the comstandards. Instalmec seeks to diminish Article submitted by Instalmec, instalmec.it. bustion and in the separation chambers the process gases in order to reduce

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PROJECTS XIN LI DA INSTALLS SWISS COMBI BELT DRYER FOR P’BOARD PRODUCTION he Chinese particleboard industry has invested in a new drying technology. The first owner of a belt dryer in an all new particleboard line is Xin Li Da Wood Industry Co., Ltd. based in Chiping, Shandong province.

China’s developing particleboard market inspires producers to try new ways of processing their wet material.

In order to obtain best product quality in terms of moisture content, color as well as particle surface properties, Xin Li Da decided to be the first particleboard producer to use a belt dryer. Although the whole particleboard line was already planned, they changed their mind in terms of the drying technology shortly before the planned startup date of the production line. Other reasons why Xin Li Da chose to use a belt dryer are an existing heat source, low dust, VOC and odor emissions.

Another major reason is process safety—a low risk of fire and explosion because no direct heat source is needed and because the drying process works at low temperatures.

SWISS COMBI was chosen to provide the belt dryer, which SWISS COMBI has installed in more than 100 sawdust and wood chips dryers, mainly for the wood pellet industry. After tests on existing SWISS COMBI dryers, important and process relevant changes of the layout were made. The contract was signed with both parties being confident the dryer can achieve the required <2% final moisture content for all particles at the dryer outlet.

SWISS COMBI belt dryers—in most cases—come with a two layer system in

T

Chinese producer went with Swiss Combi belt dryer.

order to achieve longer residence time of the wood flakes as well as an increased thermal and electrical efficiency of the drying process. To achieve <2% final moisture content, the residence time and therefore the second layer has been extended to almost the whole length of the dryer. This not only allows Xin Li Da to achieve lower moisture content but also keep the high thermal efficiency of the drying process. Although it is very inefficient to evaporate the last bits of water from a biomass material, SWISS COMBI found an easy and affordable way to even increase the thermal efficiency. This comparison is based on a particleboard belt dryer against a drum dryer as well as a single layer belt dryer used for pellets with much lower requirements of product quality.

Xin Li Da has the opportunity to receive low pressure steam from a nearby CHP plant. The steam is used for the drying as well as for the production process.

Because ambient air needs to be heated to 110°C only, the wood flakes are treated very gentle and it is also possible to return the condensate at a temperature not more than 20°C above ambient air temperature. This brings energy extraction from steam to a very high efficiency.

A quick timeline was also crucial to Xin Li Da’s decision, including a short delivery time and short installation period: Six months and one week after the effective date of contract, the first particleboard was produced. A week later, the whole particleboard production line started continuous 24 hour production.

Commissioning took place during rough weather conditions with -14°C outside air temperature. This has been a good test for the equipment to show its reliability and capacity under difficult conditions.

A belt dryer for 18 t/h of water evaporation is an interesting investment. To achieve an even further decrease of investment costs, voluminous parts were organized by the client in order to profit from local prices as well as lower freight costs. SWISS COMBI provides engineering and design services for those parts as well as all the mandatory lists of components for the MCC and PLC system.

During the project, including the contract closing, SWISS COMBI worked with Changzhou Qingshan Energy Equipment Co., Ltd. Qingshan in this case acts as partner for sales, project managers as well as supplier of certain components such as the control system or the energy supply system. Qingshan Energy Equipment was a very reliable partner with all of the required knowledge of the Chinese market and of the logistical challenges involved between the client and suppliers.

Xin Li Da looks forward to years of safe and reliable production of particleboard for an increasing demand over the whole People’s Republic of China. Further projects are planned and SWISS COMBI is convinced that additional particleboard lines will be equipped PW with its belt dryer.

Article submitted by Swiss Combi; swisscombi.ch

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PROJECTS MC TECHNOLOGY ASSISTS COLUMBIA FP

Columbia Forest Products installed a Raute Moisture Volume Analyzer.

Although the veneer dryer is seen as just a big box that requires massive quantities of energy to heat, the drying process is the lifeblood of the production process as it directly impacts the quality and quantity of finished product.

Wet veneer is not usable. Over dried veneer is costly and inefficient. The sweet spot exists in the 5-10% moisture content range (depending on the finished product), where the veneer is still flexible but won’t cause dangerous blows.

Some current methods to getting to the correct FMC (Final Moisture Content) are rife with inaccuracies that lead to miscalculations. Moisture pockets inherent in natural wood can considerably alter the average moisture content. Older sensors cannot accurately measure moisture under 10%, leaving a large error margin. Surface measurements do not take into consideration the moisture throughout the density of the veneer.

When the values used to manage drying are averages, there is a lot of room for error. An incorrect average can lead to more time in the dryer, causing cellular damage and brittle veneer that cannot be used and is wasted. Moreover, you have to anticipate and consider the wet veneer error margin in order to mitigate over dry.

This necessitates running the veneer through the dryer again, an expensive proposition that mostly just damages veneer.

These were the considerations Columbia Forest Products in Klamath Falls, Ore. weighed when they were looking for ways to get more recovery from their production line. Raute helped them identify three compulsory areas that needed improvement in order to get substantial gains from the drying process. 1. More accurate moisture detection. 2. Greatly diminish re-dry. 3. Eliminate over-dry.

“We were able to pinpoint a number of areas where we could make significant improvements in recovery, raw materials, and cost savings,” says Andy Frei, Corporate Engineer, Columbia Forest Products.

The latest analyzer from Raute, the MVA (Moisture Volume Analyzer), requires no contact, and measures the total moisture throughout the veneer, including the veneer density. Moisture content is detected within 0.5% accuracy. Raute also uses moisture mapping, and not only plots areas of variable moisture content, but considers the percentage differences when calculating dryer speed requirements.

After veneer sheets leave the dryer, they are run through the MVA to accurately detect moisture content and the sheets with a higher average are sandwich stacked for moisture equalization. This virtually eliminates the need for expensive re-dry, as well the risk of wasteful over-dry.

“To get the best recovery, while utilizing the least amount of expensive drying resources, it is crucial to get the most accurate moisture detection before and after the veneer goes into the dryer,” says Martin Murphy, Senior Vice President of Raute North America.

COASTAL BENEFITS FROM WESTMILL ICCP

Westmill supplied a new dryer and upgraded two others at Coastal FP in Chapman, Ala.

After 24 months of continuous operation, Westmill’s Impressed Current Cathodic Protection (ICCP) system installed at the Coastal Forest Products plywood plant in Chapman Ala. has been found to have virtually eliminated any corrosion of the protected dryer structure. With Westmill’s ICCP system connected, the dryer has an electrical potential of 0.827 volts making the steel unable to donate electrons back to ground.

During Westmill’s inspection, measurements taken from the reference electrode verify that the dryer has not lost any electrons over the past 24 months and is still registering under the 10 gram “margin of error” limit of the instrument. A visual inspection confirms that the whole dryer remains in brand-new condition.

“Under 10 grams of steel loss in 24 months is truly amazing, especially when it is not uncommon to see dryer housings and frames needing replacement in under 20 years,” says Westmill owner and President Mike Crondahl, after hearing this report. “It’s like having a never ending insurance policy on your dryer silently protecting your asset 24-7.”

The ICCP system starts protecting the dryer the moment the system is activated. Even if your equipment has existing rust and corrosion, it’s not too late to protect the steel from further corrosion.

It will not reverse the damage, but it will absolutely stop further damage, Crondahl adds.

A piece of bare iron left outside and

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exposed to moisture will rust quickly. It will do so even more quickly if the moisture is corrosive in nature such as from saltwater or from the chemicals and minerals naturally found in wood tannins and moisture that evaporates from veneer. The rate of steel corrosion is accelerated by an electrochemical process in which water droplets create a voltaic cell upon coming in contact with the metal, and oxidizing the iron. This process does not discriminate with stainless steel with it also being susceptible to the damaging effects of this electrochemical process, just over a longer period of time.

Westmill’s ICCP system forces the protected structure (the veneer dryer) to become the cathode. When connected to Westmill’s proprietary anode material located inside the dryer, the technology can vary the current to the anode to achieve the exact amount of protection required to virtually stop electrochemical corrosion from taking place.

“ICCP is not experimental, it is a proven technology,“ Crondahl says, noting it has been successfully used for decades protecting large structures such as steel pipelines, storage tanks, offshore oil platforms and metal rebar in concrete buildings, structures and bridges. In short, the protected structure becomes cathodic, thus suppressing the electronic migration of metal and virtually eliminating corrosion altogether from occurring. This is critical to providing effective and extremely long-term protection to susceptible structures.

“ICCP is a very economical method of maintenance free corrosion protection over your equipment,” Crondahl says.

“The ICCP system provides guaranteed long-term structural protection ensuring reduced downtime of your equipment.”

PAVLOVSKIY BUILDS EAST OF URALS Eighty percent of the Russian wood resources can be found east of the Ural Mountains. Nevertheless only 20% of the wood harvested in Russia comes from this region while a highly modern wood-based materials industry has established itself primarily in the west of the country. This is changing with the construction of a MDF plant by the Russian timber group Pavlovskiy DOK approximately 2,000 km to the east of the Urals.

The plant is built not far from Novosibirsk, close to Barnaul, an administrative center and important transport hub.

The construction work in the nearby city of Pavlovsk has already started and the planning activities of the equipment suppliers are in full swing. The main production equipment, ordered from Siempelkamp, will be loaded with innovative technology and backed by energy-saving systems. The plant will be equipped with an optimized sifter concept for fibers, the new drive technology Ecodrive as well as with the resinsaving Ecoresinator.

With innovative pressure distribution plates, an extended cylinder bed and many new equipment features, the press will operate virtually isobaric and will manufacture boards for a product range from 2.5 mm to 40 mm.

The Belgium Siempelkamp subsidiary Sicoplan is responsible for the complete planning of the plant including the front-end area of the production line. The Siempelkamp scope of supply consists of a sifter, resin blending system, forming and press line including a 9 ft. ContiRoll continuous press Generation 8, with prerequisites for a possible future extension, cooling and stacking line, automatic intermediate storage, sanding line, and cut-to-size line. Siempelkamp will also supply the automation and drive technology with Prod-IQ control technology, which allows professional trending, commission evaluations as well as laboratory data and downtime management.

Siempelkamp subsidiary Büttner Energie- und Trocknungstechnik will supply the fiber dryer and energy plant. A 50 MW solid fuel firing system will generate the thermal energy for the processes and the building. This concept makes the location entirely independent from fossil fuels.

The installation is scheduled to start in the fourth quarter of 2017; the first board is forecast to be pressed in summer of 2018.

YEKALON, VANACHAI ORDER PRESSES Yekalon-Jiufngyuan Panels, Inc. and Vanachai Group Public Limited from Thailand decided to expand their MDF/HDF production lines with the help of Siempelkamp. Among other

products, both manufacturers produce laminated wood-based panels for the building and interior sectors.

Yekalon ordered an 8th Generation 9 ft. x 33.8 m ContiRoll continuous press.

The scope of supply will also include a flash tube dryer by Büttner as well as a fiber screen made by Siempelkamp’s subsidiary CMC, the resin dosing system with Ecoresinator, and the compactor including a mat preheater. The finishing equipment for the order includes a diagonal saw system, a cooling and stacking line as well as an automatic high-stack storage system. Siempelkamp’s process control technology Prod-IQ will manage all production-related processes.

The special feature of this plant is the equipment package for high-speed thin board production including a compactor which provides additional compression in front of the press. Material lumps and other impurities are destroyed by the compactor.

The Thai Vanachai Group ordered a complete forming and press line for MDF/HDF with an 8 ft. x 25.5 m ContiRoll press of the 8th generation. The scope of supply for the finishing line includes a cooling and stacking line and an automatic storage system. As in the case with Yekalon, the production line is designed for high-quality thin board production. The objective is to manufacture boards with a thickness starting at 1.0 mm.

Both companies plan to produce an annual capacity of 250,000 m³ MDF/HDF after the startup of the new Siempelkamp lines. The installation start at Yekalon is scheduled for summer of 2017, at Vanachai for fall of 2017.

RETOOLED DRYER MAKES ITS MARK Coastland Wood Industries wanted to obtain a state-of-the-art drying system when it contracted with USNR to outfit its recently acquired dryer with the most efficient technology available.

In January 2014, Coastland contracted with USNR for the retrofit of a used Coe Model M72 veneer dryer it had purchased from closed Tackama Forest Products, located at Fort Nelson, BC. Coastland had installed a new lathe in the Nanaimo peeling plant in 2013, and part of the plan for that expansion in-

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cluded expanding the drying capacity at Delta. Manager Dave Powers noted that the “bones” of the dryer at Fort Nelson were good, so they decided it made sense to relocate and retrofit it for Delta.

Coastland Wood Industries, based on Vancouver Island at Nanaimo, BC, manufactures Douglas fir veneer and roundwood cores. The company operates four facilities along the coast of British Columbia. The drying facility at Delta dries and grades the veneer, and operates as the company’s distribution center where green veneer is either shipped direct, or dried before shipping to market.

The major market for Coastland’s dry veneer is the LVL industry, but it also feeds the hardwood and softwood plywood segments. Until recently, the company’s Delta drying facility operated three dryers—two with longitudinal design, fueled by natural gas, and one a re-dryer.

As part of his research prior to acquiring the Tackama dryer, Powers visited his colleague Doug Webb, manager of Thompson River Veneer Products (TRVP), in Kamloops, BC. The TRVP operation is also a veneer drying facility, operating a Coe dryer that was equipped with Automatic Dryer Exhaust Control (ADEC), Cooler Pressure Balance, and other advanced features.

Powers was impressed with the dryer’s efficiency and cost-effective operation, and decided that was what he needed for the Delta facility.

Powers comments, “ADEC is new to the Coastland operation. The other two dryers we have are longitudinal dryers, and this one is the first jet tube dryer we’ve installed. I was interested in the efficiencies of the jet tube design, as well as the efficiency of the ADEC system.”

USNR’s contract for this dryer project comprised erecting a wet end seal section that is integral to the ADEC system, as well as a Cooler Pressure Balance control system. The ADEC system requires a single point discharge into a customer-supplied pollution control system for dryer emissions control.

The ADEC system automatically controls the total dryer exhaust volume.

This allows it to maximize thermal efficiency of the dryer, keeping heated air inside the unit and exhausting the vol-

ume of fugitive emissions.

Cooler Pressure Balance minimizes heated dryer air from entering the cooling section, and vice versa. This not only improves efficiency by reducing heat loss, but helps reduce pitch buildup inside the drying and cooling sections.

The PLC system controls the operation of the dryer’s main fans, drive tower,

PROJECTS

zone temperatures, ADEC single point exhaust, Cooler Pressure Balance, veneer temperature, and the dryer feeder and unloader.

On his satisfaction with the dryer’s operation, Power says, “I know the dryer is efficient, and overall my gas usage is down.”

Power goes on to explain, “I can tell

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PROJECTS

by the damper position on the dryer that we are putting less flow out into the atmosphere. It typically runs at about 20-30% (open). That demonstrates the efficiency of the dryer. Depending on the design of your dryer and its damper controls, those exhaust ports may be open and all your heat is going out the stack. This design actually has a damper on that one exhaust port. It’s keeping the steam and heat inside the dryer, and only exhausting to about 30%.”

Balancing the exhaust output with Coastland’s pollution abatement system was one challenge that was dealt with through painstaking tweaks to the ADEC fans. The other challenge was interfacing the ADEC components to the existing dryer that took engineering, construction and startup efforts.

Powers is satisfied with the results: “It’s doing everything I envisioned it would do. We’re hitting the production numbers that I expected, and it’s giving me efficient, balanced drying.”

NEW CPS+ PRESS MAKES FIRST BOARD Only 17 months after Dieffenbacher unveiled its new CPS+ continuous press at Ligna 2015, the first plant with a CPS+ press has been successfully put into operation. After a seven-month assembly period, the first board was produced according to plan on October 1, 2016 at Kronospan’s new particleboard plant in Bjelovar, Croatia.

Only two weeks after first board production, Koronospan increased production to three shifts, citing the reliability of its CPS+ press. Kronospan has also said it is extremely satisfied with the project.

Dieffenbacher began development of the new generation of presses in 2014. One ambitious goal was to improve the thickness tolerances of manufactured boards. Due to the modular frame with its new arrangement of press cylinders, the CPS+ ensures perfectly even distribution of pressure

when pressing the board. For Dieffenbacher customers, this provides consistently high product quality and low raw material consumption.

The new thermoactive roll plates ensure that the mats can be heated at an earlier stage. The CPS+ press also offers improved accessibility for servicing. Its clear distinction between the supply side and the maintenance side enables faster and more convenient press maintenance.

The CPS+ has all the advantages of the original CPS model, proven over decades of service. These advantages include the variable double joint press infeed, thermal expansion of the frames— which allow product changeover on the fly without interruptions—and the Parallel Press Gap System (PPS), which stops the mat “breathing out” between the cylinder banks.

Two CPS+ project commissions in Thailand will take place in the first half of 2017. Dieffenbacher has sold 11 plants featuring the new CPS+ press.

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S U P P LY

HEXION PROMOTES ALNESS TO SENIOR VP Hexion Inc. named Mark Alness as Senior Vice President, Americas Forest Products. Alness’ expanded responsibilities include all operations and commercial activities in North and South America for the forest products business within the Forest Products Resins Div. Alness previously served as vice president, North America Forest Products, a position he has held since 2006.

Alness joined Borden Chemical Inc., a predecessor company of Hexion, in 1978 and has held increasingly larger roles during his career, all of which were focused on engineered wood products. Alness holds a bachelor’s degree in Forest Products Engineering from the University of Minnesota. He will remain located in the company’s Seattle, Wash. office.

“Mark’s promotion and expanded duties reflects his decades of proven leadership within Hexion and he is uniquely qualified to take on this newly created role,” says Craig Morrison, Chairman, President and CEO. “Under Mark’s leadership, we look to continue the strong growth within our forest products business that we’ve delivered over the last several years. We remain committed to delivering innovative solutions to our forest products customers by leveraging the strong commercial and operations team that we’ve built in North and South America.”

STEINEMANN USA REPORTS GROWTH Steinemann Technology USA continues to grow its business, product and support offerings in all areas of sanding requirements. In recent years, Steinemann Technology has developed an abrasive belt line and platen inserts specifically geared to the composite panel industry.

“We saw a very clear need for a company to be able to deliver a more comprehensive and complete approach to our customers’ needs and requirements in the sanding arena,” says Dan Murphy, President of Steinemann Technology USA. “Combining our expertise in both sanding machines and abrasives allows our customers a more complete solution to their sanding needs. Panel manufacturers have enough to worry about, so we take the added responsibil-

LINES CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY SUPPORTS DUBAI WOOD The Middle East’s biggest wood and woodworking machinery trade show is set to break records. The 12th edition of Dubai International Wood and Wood Machinery Show will feature 300 exhibitors from 100 countries March 7-9 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

Organizers reveal an optimistic outlook for the timber industry, following a recent report from Deloitte that highlights AED 7.34 trillion GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) construction projects in the pipeline, with Saudi, UAE and Qatar taking the top three leads.

Dawood Al Shezawi, CEO, Strategic Marketing & Exhibitions, organizer of the Dubai Wood Show, says: “The Dubai Wood Show grows in strength each year. We are excited to welcome exhibitors and visitors from America, China, Italy, Malaysia, Canada, Sweden and Turkey and from the GCC. The exhibition has become a major platform for the regional and international wood and woodworking industries and customers in the Middle East to meet and source their requirements from global suppliers of high quality wood products and accessories.”

A key component of the upcoming show is the first Middle East ATIBT (International Technical Tropical Timber Association) Conference in Dubai. This major timber conference will discuss timber legality, future of tropical forest, human resource development and logistics & transportation.

Participants will also share new technologies and renewable products, display sustainability solutions in the timber industry, and request governments, civil society, and the private sector to Dubai Wood Show is scheduled March 7-9. act as one in safeguarding forests as the most important resource.

The 2017 edition will occupy an area of 15,000 sq m offering the latest timber products and tools and a chance to learn from leading international experts and woodworking industrial specialists.

Visitors can see live demonstrations of wood carving, turning, scroll work, fine woodworking, gourd art and pyrography at the three-day show.

The previous edition of Dubai Wood Show attracted 8,000 trade professionals from 98 countries and 260 local and international exhibitors. The top five visiting countries were UAE, Kuwait, Pakistan, India and Oman. Participating exhibitors included 500 brands, suppliers and manufacturers. ity for complete sanding line support.”

Over the past several years Steinemann has seen it business continue to grow and has added several key personnel to meet the needs of the panel market. “All of our service and application engineers undergo extensive factory training on both the technical aspects of the machine and abrasives, providing the industry’s leading expertise in sanding requirements,” Murphy adds.

Steinemann’s sanding machines are ideal for all substrates such as particleboard, MDF, plywood, OSB, laminates and other materials.

SIEMPELKAMP TAKES OVER PALLMANN Siempelkamp Maschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH has increased its stake in Pallmann Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG, with headquarters in Zweibrücken, Germany, to 75%.

In the range of services offered by the Siempelkamp Group, Pallmann plays an important role as the specialist for size-reduction technology and preparation systems.

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LINES by a reorganization of the management of Pallmann Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. Stefan Wissing, to date spokesman of the management of Siempelkamp Maschinen und Anlagenbau GmbH, was appointed spokesman of the management of Pallmann. At the same time, Wissing is responsible for the entire service business of the Siempelkamp Group.

At the end of 2016, Dr.-Ing. Hans Fechner and Dr. Claus Maack stepped down from the management of Pallmann.

For 2017 many challenges are on the Pallmann agenda, including a focus on

the process of fiberizing raw materials to fibers used in MDF production, the milling of raw materials to strands and flakes for particleboard and OSB production as well as the agglomeration process used in the production of insulation material where wood-plasticcomposites made of wood flour and plastics or fiber-plastic-composites containing natural fibers from hemp or cork are produced. The company will also focus on the recycling of old tires.

Zweibrücken is home to 120 size reduction machines in the in-house research and development center. With this equipment the team focuses on process improvements, further development of machines, and testing new developments.

CLIPPINGS MARTCO CELEBRATES OAKDALE’S 10TH

RoyOMartin’s oriented strandboard manufacturing plant in Oakdale, La. celebrated its 10th anniversary of operations. Construction began in 2005 on the Allen Parish OSB facility, which continues to be one of the largest of its kind in North America. Its first southern yellow pine OSB panel was pressed on January 31, 2007, with the official plant-opening coming three months later on April 23, 2007.

WEINIG HOLZ-HER CANADA PICKS REID Brett Reid is the new Vice President Sales & Operations at Weinig Holz-Her Canada Inc. Reid has many years of experience as general manager; his previous position was with a big market player in the solid wood and tools sector.

“We are sure to have found in Brett Reid an outstanding market expert, who will allow us to advance Weinig HolzHer Canada on its path to continued positive development,” comments Weinig Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Gregor Baumbusch.

Pallmann refiner system

Left to right, RoyOMartin Chairman Jonathan Martin; Director of OSB Manufacturing Marty Neiswender; Vice President of OSB and Corporate Safety Director Terry Secrest; President, CEO and CFO Roy O. Martin III; and OSB Business Safety Manager Robert Ryder with the 2016 Health, Safety, and Environmental Chairman’s Award presented to the Oakdale (La.) OSB plant team during the 10th anniversary celebration of operations at Oakdale.

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Taking part in the celebration festivities were RoyOMartin Chairman Jonathan Martin; President, CEO and CFO Roy O. Martin III; Senior Vice President and COO Scott Poole; and Vice President of OSB and Corporate Safety Director Terry Secrest. They reminisced about accomplishments and about what they had learned during startup and throughout the previous decade.

They also thanked OSB team members for their contributions toward the RoyOMartin corporate values of operational excellence and commitment to customers and each other.

To conclude the ceremony, Jonathan Martin presented his 2016 Health, Safety, and Environmental Chairman’s Award to the entire Oakdale OSB team in recognition of their superior achievement in those areas. Employee attendees then enjoyed a fellowship luncheon.

Regarding the special occasion, Secrest stated, “Over the past 10 years, the RoyOMartin Oakdale OSB team has taken a first-class asset and made it into a world-class organization that is admired across the industry. Through innovation and a continuous-improvement mindset, the facility has out-produced its original design capacity by 15%. The entire OSB team continues to demonstrate its commitment to working safely, operating at top efficiency, and satisfying customers every single day.”

RoyOMartin is currently constructing an OSB plant in Corrigan, Texas.

STRICKLAND TRANSFERS INTO TOP WOOD JOBS Mike Strickland of Michael Strickland & Associates, LLC has decided to retire and Top Wood Jobs is taking over his business.

Strickland began his recruiting business in 2003 and has provided candidates to many of the leading companies in the wood products industry. He began his career in the wood products industry in 1972 as an hourly operator and advanced to the position of plant manager. He held management positions with many companies in the wood products industry including Bruce Hardwood Flooring, Coastal Lumber Co., Georgia-Pacific, Willamette Industries and Champion International.

Strickland helped grow the industry through his plant management and rePanelWorld • MARCH 2017 • 53

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CLIPPINGS

cruiting efforts over the years.

Strickland has turned over his business and connections to George Meek of Top Wood Jobs, LLC. Strickland wishes to thank all of the companies and individuals that he has worked with during his time at Michael Strickland & Associates, LLC. George Meek and Top Wood Jobs, LLC can be reached at 360-263-3371; www.topwoodjobs.com.

ROSEBURG TAPS CRIBB AS SALES DIRECTOR Roseburg named Ashlee Cribb as Sales Director for Roseburg’s Solid Wood Business. The newly created role will consolidate the reporting of the sales organization, giving the business a single point of focus on sales, just as it has on manufacturing.

In this structure, Director of Manufacturing Bob Jewell, Director of Sales Ashlee Cribb, and Director of Marketing Mark McLean report to Steve Kill-

gore, Senior Vice President of Solid Wood Business. Gary Pittman, Pat Lynch and Mike McCollum, the business directors for lumber, plywood and engineered wood products, respectively, report to Cribb.

Cribb held several roles at GeorgiaPacific. Starting out as the marketing manager for wood adhesives, she progressed through the organization, holding the senior roles of wood adhesives business manager and vice president of the industrial packaging business. In the industrial packaging role she had profit and loss responsibility and managing the commercial organization as well as 11 manufacturing sites. Prior to Georgia-Pacific, Ashlee spent several years with Monsanto Chemical and Imerys Performance Minerals, where she was responsible for marketing and product innovation.

Cribb holds an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

EUROPE GROWTH WILL BE MODERATE European Commission expects economic growth in Europe to continue at a moderate pace, as recent labor market gains and rising private consumption are being counterbalanced by a number of hindrances to growth and the weakening of supportive factors. European Commission expects GDP growth in the euro area at 1.5% in 2017 and 1.7% in 2018.

The pacesetters will be Ireland (2017: 3.6%), Romania (3.9%) and Poland (3.4%), while Sweden (2.4%) and Spain (2.3%) after an excellent 2016 are expected to see their growth slow down in 2017.

Germany and France are showing moderate growth, with growth figures around the EU average and Germany faring slightly better.

Private consumption is set to remain the primary engine of growth through to 2018, supported by expectations for employment to continue growing and wages to pick up slightly.

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CLIPPINGS HATTON-BROWN PARTNERS WITH WOOD INDUSTRY SUMMIT Hall 26 will once again be home to the Wood Industry and fielding questions from the audience.

Summit during Ligna 2017 in Hannover, Germany and HatThe main themes at the Wood Industry Summit 2017 ton-Brown Publishers is once again an official partner of the include: Summit. Hatton-Brown Publishers is affiliated with Panel Tuesday, May 23: Forestry 4.0: Vision or Future?

World, Timber Processing and Wood Wednesday, May 24: Development Bioenergy magazines. and Infrastructure to Ensure Sustainable The Summit made a very successful Forestry debut in 2015, with international cusThursday, May 25: Forest Fires – tomers achieving an investment volume Prevention, Detection and Firefighting of some €30 million. As an internationFriday, May 26: Fleet Management al meeting place for the primary industo Optimize the Logistics Chain from try cluster, the Wood Industry Summit the Forest to the Factory features innovative solutions for harExhibition stands located next to the vesting and processing and for integratforum will provide an ideal networking ing the various stages of processing. environment for exhibitors and visitors.

The Wood Industry Summit will be held The Summit is divided into three adjacent wood-based panel machinery Forum participation is free of charge areas: an exhibition, a forum and a exhibitors in Hall 26. for visitors and delegations, and admatchmaking hub. Every day from vance registration is not required.

Tuesday, May 23, to Friday, May 26, the forum of the Wood Ligna will be held May 22-26 at the Hannover Exhibition Industry Summit will highlight a topic of current internation- Grounds. It’s organized by Deutsche Messe AG and German al interest in the industry, with experts from Germany, Aus- Woodworking Machinery Manufacturers’ Assn. tria, Canada, Russia, Sweden and Spain giving presentations Contact Anja Brokjans, anja@brokjans.com.

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EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES JOHN GANDEE

FOREST PRODUCTS RECRUITING SINCE 1978

Management Recruiters of Houston Northeast

The Jobs You Want — The People You Need

gcopeland@mrihouston.com • www.mrihouston.com

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Veneer Lathe Service - All makes, models and peripherals for all end products.

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Call or Write: Walter Wysocki 8109 County Line Rd. • Armstrong Creek, WI 54103 Phone & Fax (715) 336-2351 Email: wysockicts@gmail.com 2037

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VENEER/PANEL SUPPLIERS

DIRECTORY ASIA

AUSTRALIA/OCEANIA

■ Poland

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WOODWORK CO., LTD. Taiwanese Enterprise in China

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FEQ TEAK LUMBER – Rough & Random Sawn OR Even Qtr Sawn on Edge or Face Teak Decking S4S - QTR - 9mmx36mm; 10mm x 48mm or any size required Thickness 3/4 to 12/4 Phone: +91 755 246 1243 • Fax: +91 755 246 8197 Website: www.mpveneers.com Email: exports@mpveneers.com

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LEGNOQUATTRO S.P.A.

WOOD VENEER DYEING FACTORY Bird’s Eye Maple, Movingui, Similpear, Carbalho, Wengé, Cherry, Burls, Anegré, Kotó, American Walnut, Lacewood, Etimoé, Poplar Head Office & Factory: Factory: Via Brunati, 7 Via Provinciale, 19 20833 Birone 22060 Novedrate (CO) di Giussano (MB) ITALY tel. 0039-31-790246 fax 0039-31-791705 Email: legnoquattro@legnoquattro.it Web site: www.legnoquattro.it

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VENEER/PANEL SUPPLIERS DIRECTORY

NORTH AMERICA

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A new “Dimension” in Veneer & Plywood

Dimension Plywood Inc.

■ British Columbia

6670 - 144th Street, Surrey, BC V3W 5R5 Plant: (604) 572-8968 Fax: (604) 572-6608

Producers of high quality fine face veneers.

Specializing in species indigenous to the West Coast. We manufacture Music grade solids and veneers. We also offer custom slicing, cut-to-size and log breakdown.

Fir • Hemlock • Spruce • Pacific Maple (Figured and Plain) • Alder Western Red Cedar

Knotty Idaho White Pine Western Red Cedar Red Alder Clear White Pine & Ponderosa Pine Clear Vertical Grain Douglas Fir, Hemlock, & Cedar

P.O. Box 339 Post Falls, Id. 83877 208-773-4511 FAX 208-773-1107 email: info@idahoveneer.com

■ Indiana Amos-Hill Associates, Inc.

■ Ontario

A FULL SERVICE PLYWOOD & VENEER COMPANY WE OFFER: Short turnaround time, In-house veneer mill—ROTARY, FLAT CUT, RIFT and QUARTERS, Custom pressing capabilities, Architectural specified plywood jobs, Huge veneer and core inventory, Over 100 natural species and engineer veneers in stock, All sizes and thicknesses–6'x4' to 5'x12', Internal logistics for fast on-time deliveries

Quality Veneers Manufacturers of Decorative Hardwood Veneer Domestic and International Markets Species include: Walnut, White Oak, Red Oak, Hard Maple, Cherry and Birch “Quality is the Lifeblood of our Business” 112 Shelby Ave. ◆ P.O. Box 7 Edinburgh, IN 46124 Phone: 812-526-2671 ◆ Fax: 812-526-5865 E-mail: info@amoshill.com Website: www.amoshill.com The mark of responsible forestry FSC Supplier: SCS-COC-002445 * SCS-CW-002445

Dimension Hardwood Veneers, Inc.

Rotary & Sliced Veneers 509 Woodville Street • Edon, Ohio 43518 Main Office - Tel: 419-272-2245 • Fax: 419-272-2406 www.dimensionhardwoods.com FSC-C041275

Reserve your space today.

Call Melissa McKenzie 800-669-5613

Producers of fine veneer for the global market, since 1892

Cherry Maple White Oak Walnut Hickory Red Oak Exotics Indiana Veneers Corporation

Contact us: Birchland Plywood-Veneer Ltd. TeL: 705-842-2430 • Fax: 705-842-2496 Visit www.birchlandplywood.com to view our “Live Log Program”

Reserve your space today.

Call Melissa McKenzie 800-669-5613

Custom Architectural Plywood & Doors 415 Industrial Blvd. • New Albany, IN 47150 Tel: 812-944-6491 • Fax: 812-944-7421

1121 East 24th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46205 Tel: [317] 926-2458 Fax: [317] 926-8569 Url: www.indianaveneers.com Email: sales@indianaveneers.com

Manufacturers of Fine Face Veneer Machinery 2801 Roosevelt Ave. P.O. Box 18310 Indianapolis, IN 46218 Email: capital@capitalmachineco.com Website: www.capitalmachineco.com

■ United States ■ Georgia

NORSTAM VENEERS, INC. Proud to announce we have the “Newest Veneer Mill in the World” MANUFACTURER OF QUALITY HARDWOOD AND SOFTWOOD VENEERS

Green & Kiln Dried Hardwood Lumber

Locate veneer & plywood products and services w o r l d w i d e .

P.O. BOX 32 HWY. 135 BUS: 812.732.4391 MAUCKPORT, IN 47142 FAX: 812.732.4803 EMAIL: info@norstam.com

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VENEER/PANEL SUPPLIERS DIRECTORY RSVP is proud to offer

■ Mississippi

Universal Veneer Mill Corp.

a full line of imported and domestic veneer that includes burls, crotches and highly figured woods. If you would like more information pertaining to these products or others we offer please contact us directly or visit our website.

Manufacturing and Sales Sliced Harwood Veneers Custom Cutting Available 1776 Tamarack Road Newark, OH 43055 Ph: (740) 522-2000 Email:

4920 N. Warren Dr. • Columbus, IN 47203 Ph: 812-375-1178 • Fax: 812-375-1179 www.RSVPveneer.com

info@universalveneer.com

MAGNOLIA FOREST PRODUCTS, INC. DISTRIBUTORS OF SYP Plywood & Lumber OSB Cut to size

1-800-366-6374

www.magnoliaforest.com

Locate veneer & plywood products and services w o r l d w i d e .

Terry, MS J.I.T. & P.I.T. Nationwide

■ Oregon

Architectural Paneling, Door Skins, Custom Cabinet Package and Furniture Plywood ● Panel sizes up to 5' x 12' ● 4', 5' and cross-grain sanding capability ● Veneer manufacturing to 14' lengths ® ● FSC Certified ● NAUF products available ●

2323 Cross Street ● Eugene, Oregon 97402 Sales: (541) 461-0767 ● Fax: (541) 461-0738 Email: sales@westernpanel.com web site: westernpanel.com

■ Ohio ■ Pennsylvania

■ Kentucky A new “Dimension” in Veneer & Plywood

Dimension Hardwood Veneers, Inc.

Rotary & Sliced Veneers 509 Woodville Street • Edon, Ohio 43518 Main Office - Tel: 419-272-2245 • Fax: 419-272-2406

Dimension Plywood Inc.

Custom Architectural Plywood & Doors 415 Industrial Blvd. • New Albany, IN 47150 Tel: 812-944-6491 • Fax: 812-944-7421 www.dimensionhardwoods.com FSC-C041275

Locate veneer & plywood products and services w o r l d w i d e .

■ Minnesota

■ Vermont

BUFFALO VENEER & PLYWOOD CO. Quality Plywood, Six decades strong!

Stock Panels Counter Front Panels All Thicknesses and Cores NAF, FR and MR Availability Domestic and Imported Veneers CARB P2 Certified

North America’s largest manufacturer of fancy face rotary veneer.

Offering FSC certified veneer products in Red Oak, Hard Maple, Birch, Ash, Tulip Poplar, Basswood in Stock Panel & Cut-to-Size Lay-ons as well as unspliced veneer .4mm thru 1.5mm thickness

Plain sliced Alder and Aromatic Cedar faces and flitch stock are regularly available.

Also offering domestically produced FSC Mixed Credit/CARB Phase II Compliant Aspen platforms - both long grain & cross grain dimensions in a variety of thicknesses.

501 6th Ave. NE - Buffalo, MN 55313 Tel: (763)682-1822 Fax: (763)682-9769 Email: sales@buffaloveneerandplywood.com Website: www.buffaloveneerandplywood.com

Contact Sales at 802-334-3600 • Fax: 802-334-5149

www.cfpwood.com • 324 Bluff Rd. • Newport, VT 05855

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EVENTS MARCH

OCTOBER

1-4 • Delhiwood 2017, India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida, India. Call+91-80-4250 5000; visit delhi-wood.com.

1-3 • Composite Panel Assn. Fall meeting, Hyatt Regency, Savannah, Ga. Call 703-724-1128; visit compositepanel.org.

7-9 • Dubai Woodshow, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Call +971 4 39 23232; visit dubaiwood show.com.

14-18 • Wood Processing Machinery & Intermob Fair, Tüyap Fair Convention and Congress Center, Istanbul, Turkey.

Call +90 212 867 11 00; visit intermobistanbul.com/en.

APRIL

APRIL 2018

5-7 • IWPA 61st World of Wood Annual Convention, Hotel Nikko, San Francisco, Calif. Call 703-820-6696; visit iwpawood.org.

13-14 • Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE), Omni Hotel at CNN Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 800-669-5613; visit pelice-expo.com.

9-11 • American Wood Protection Assn. annual meeting, Encore at Wynn Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nev. Call 205-7334077; visit awpa.com.

Listings are submitted months in advance. Always verify dates and locations with contacts prior to making plans to attend.

30-May 3 • Composite Panel Assn. Spring meeting, Grand Fiesta Americana, Los Cabos, Mexico. Call 703-7241128; visit compositepanel.org.

MAY 7-9 • Hardwood Plywood & Veneer Assn. Spring Conference, Marriott Vancouver Pinnacle Downtown, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Call 703-435-2900; visit hpva.org.

22-26 • Ligna: World Fair For The Forestry And Wood Industries, Hannover, Germany. Call +49 511 89-0; fax +49 511 89-32626; visit ligna.de.

JUNE 14-16 • Forest Products & Machinery Equipment Exposition, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 504-4434464; e-mail: egee@sfpa.org; visit sfpaexpo.com.

JULY 19-22 • AWFS Fair 2017, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV. Call 800-946-2937; visit awfsfair.org.

SEPTEMBER 12-15 • FMC China 2017: Furniture Manufacturing & Supply China 2015, Shanghai New International Expo Center, Shanghai, China. Call +86-21-33392048; email martin.du@ubm sinoexpo.com; visit fmcchina.com.cn/en-us.

Check us out online at

panelworldmag.com

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This issue of Panel World is brought to you in part by the following companies, which will gladly supply additional information about their products.

ADVERTISER Altec Integrated Solutions Argos Solutions Atlantic Combustion Products Berndorf Band GmbH Corvallis Tool Custom Engineering Dieffenbacher GmbH Dolbeau Oxygene FMC China Gockel America Grecon Grenzebach Maschinenbau GmbH Hashimoto Denki Hexion Imal S.R.L Instalmec Interzum Lundberg Matthews International Meinan Machinery Works Metriguard Mid-South Engineering Pal S.R.L PDI Price LogPro R & S Cutterhead Manufacturing Raute Wood Samuel Packaging Systems Group Sherdil Precision Siempelkamp Gmbh Southern Environmental Spar Tek Industries Sweed Machinery Swiss Combi Taihei Machinery Works USNR Westmill Industries Willamette Valley Woodtech Measurement Solutions

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