Value through efficient fibre supply and new pulp mill concepts, Pauliina Tukiainen

Value through efficient fibre supply and new pulp mill concepts

Pauliina Tukiainen, Program Manager

WP Managers: Teemu Teeri, Jari Hynynen, Jarmo Hämäläinen, Herbert Sixta, Tapani Vuorinen, Janne

Vehmaa

25.11.2013

2

Strategic research themes & program coverage

Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy 25.11.2013

Knowledge platform

for new value chains

New growth

opportunities

Radically improved resource efficiency

Intelligent and resource efficient production technologies

Future Biorefinery

Customer solutions for the future

FuBio JR1: Future Biorefinery

EffTech: Intelligent and

resource-efficient production

technologies

FuBio JR2: Future Biorefinery –Joint

research 2

EffFibre:

Value through intensive and efficient fibre supply

EffNet: Efficient Networking towards Novel Products and

Processes

FuBio Cellulose: Future Biorefinery – Products

from Dissolved Cellulose

RAMI: Radical market

innovations

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Value through Intensive and Efficient Fibre

Supply (EffFibre)

• Value through Intensive and Efficient Fibre Supply program focuses on the

competitiveness and quality aspects of forest based raw materials and on

development of radically new energy – and resource efficient production

technologies for chemical pulp.

• The objectives of the EffFibre programme are to

– Improve availability raw material, to improve cost-efficiency of wood

supply value chain, and to increase the utility value of domestic raw

material.

– Develop novel fiber production technologies. The main challenges are

how to utilize the existing pulp mills more profitably and how to respond

to the process modification needs which arise from the new value

chains of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin based products.

Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy 25.11.2013

4 Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy 25.11.2013

EffFibre

Tree breeding

• Traditional tree breeding

– Scots pine and silver birch: up to 25 % increase in volume in experimental stands

– A breeding strategy for decay resistance

– State-of-art understanding of lignin polymerization

• Gene-based research on transgenic trees in greenhouses

– up to 50% higher volume growth compared to control trees

– Field trial – pilot experiment established this summer at the UH campus experimental field

– TECHNOLOGY CAN BE APPLIED TO DOMESTIC AS WELL AS TROPICAL FORESTRY

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Competitiveness through tailored raw materials

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The potential of intensive

management of Finnish

forest resources

• Intensive management

allows increment of annual

removals by over 40 % (85

mill m3)

• Target production level of

energy wood can be met

• 11 mill m3 by recovering

only small-size

stemwood, logging

residues and stumps

• more if pulpwood is

used for energy

Mean annual removals 2010 - 2110

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Profitability of forest

management

• Intensive forest management

improves profitability of forest

management by nearly 50%.

• There is a large variation between

forest centres due to

– differences in climate

– production potential of forest sites

– current structure of forests.

• Intensive management provides

annually over 11 500 jobs (vs. BAU

7600) in

– silvicultural practices

– harvesting

– long-distance transportation

Present values of net incomes

by forestry centers

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Potential export value of forest

industry products

• The potential of intensive

management scenario in

annual export value of

forest industry products is

worth of over 10.6 billion

euros

• BAU scenario produces

export value of ca. 8.5

billion euros

Annual export value potential of forest industry

products 2010 - 2040

EffFibre

Improved productivity and cost effectiveness of mechanized timber harvesting • Intelligent operator tutoring systems and data visualization tools improve

efficiency of wood harvesting

• Visualization of more accurate terrain data helps the harvester operator to plan the strip road network.

• New geographical information - like Terrain Wetness Index - support planning and execution of harvesting

• CAN-bus –based mobility mapping system for harvester to predict soil bearing capacity for the execution of wood forwarding.

• Automatic Tree Map System for harvester

• Potential savings, 40-70M€/year

25.11.2013

EffFibre

Improved productivity and cost effectiveness of mechanized forest regeneration • Automatic planting spot detection system and practices for cost-effective seedling

logistics for continuously operating planting machine.

• Cleaning with uprooting method was identified to be the most cost competitive mechanized concept for the moment. But anyhow, all other mechanized methods reduce manpower requirements compared to manual methods.

• Potential savings, 15 – 20 M€/year

25.11.2013

EffFibre

Concept of High-Yield Chemical Pulping

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Preferred Raw material: Softwood (Pine, Spruce)

FT-OD = Flow-through O-delignification

Herbert Sixta

EffFibre

Two-stage kraft oxygen-alkali pulping process

GGM stabilization and Xylan

solubilization. 7-11,7 % yield

increase

High alkalinity

cooking (HA) 14 12 10 8

50

60

70

T

ot Y

ield

, %

od

w

Lignin, % od pulp

HA-PS

Reference + 11.7 %

Challenge for equipment suppliers

constant EA, high L:S Transfer to

commercial scale

Selective K-removal from 60 to 15

feasible, while preserving yield

advantage from cooking

Novel

CSTR-O-stage

Separation into hemi-rich and

lignin-rich fractions in high yields.

Re-precipitation in O-stage to be

optimized

Utilization of dissolved

polysaccharides

Herbert Sixta

EffFibre

Virtual Chemical Pulping model

• Novel tool for understanding the behavior of wood chips and their constituents in a wide variety of chemical conditions.

• The first phenomenological model for chemical pulping at molecular level

• Molecular level reactions for chemical compounds & structures (lignin and polysaccharides)

• Mass transfer, kinetic and thermodynamic models

• Chip scale mass transfer

• Digester hydrodynamics

• In-depth knowledge on the existing and possible new cooking processes.

• Model enables to explore modifications and development ideas related to chemical pulping.

25.11.2013 Tukiainen

• The results of the pulp mill concepts provide a solid basis for further development towards new industrial solutions, generating value and new business opportunities for the industry.

• Pulp mill concepts

– Two-stage kraft oxygen-alkali pulping process

– New Reinforcement Pulp manufacturing concept (URMAS)

– Sulphur lean concept

– Lignin separation cooking concept

– Energy mill concept (EneMi)

– High yield nucleophile cooking

– H2O2 boosted cooking

• Comprehensive techno-economical evaluations of entire industrial concept cases

• The applied research on unit operations of high kappa pulping paths way to the piloting and industrial demonstration of more effective high kappa pulping technology.

Pulp mill concepts

25.11.2013 Pauliina Tukiainen

EffFibre

Competence impacts & networking

• Annual EffTech/EffFibre/EffNet Seminar

• Over 20 Thematic workshops and seminars organized

• Over 50 International Conference presentations and posters

• 30 scientific publications (peer reviewed)

• 14 MSc thesis finished

• 15 PhD thesis ongoing

• Networking within Finland and expanded international cooperation

– Short and long term research visits

– Student exchange

– The collaboration with research groups

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EffFibre

Impact of the results

Intensive forestry – more efficient production of forest-based raw materials

– Intensive forest management would dramatically improve the profitability of forestry in Finland. Potential for up to 50 per cent increase in harvesting.

– Technological solutions to improve productivity and cost effectiveness of mechanized timber harvesting and forest regeneration.

– New opportunities for tree breeding. Up to 50% higher volume growth.

Modern pulp mill is an efficient biorefinery

– Profitable pulp mills enable renewal: Novel Two-stage Kraft Oxygen-alkali Pulping Process has potential for 7-10% yield increase

– Techno-economical and phenomenon modeling has given tools for developing new pulping and bio refinery process concepts.

The results provide a solid basis for further development towards new industrial

solutions, generating value and new business opportunities for the industry.

25.11.2013 Pauliina Tukiainen

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Acknowledgements

Finnish Bioeconomy Cluster FIBIC Oy 25.11.2013