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Canfor Pulp invests $10 million in pulp quality monitoring, innovation centre

Canfor Pulp has announced three major new investments related to innovation in pulp production: installation of advanced pulp quality monitoring systems at three B.C. mills, an in-house innovation lab, and support for research activities at two…

Canfor Pulp has announced three major new investments related to innovation in pulp production: installation of advanced pulp quality monitoring systems at three B.C. mills, an in-house innovation lab, and support for research activities at two British Columbia universities.

Joe Nemeth, president and CEO of Canfor Pulp Products Inc., which owns 49.8% of Canfor Pulp Limited Partnership (CPLP), announced $10-million in investments at a ceremony opening the new Canfor Pulp Innovation Centre in Burnaby, B.C.

CPLP is the largest producer of market kraft pulp in British Columbia, and the third largest in the world.

Nemeth stated that innovation “is the cornerstone of globally successful companies. This major investment of more than $10 million is aimed at securing our future as a global leader in pulp.”

The Canfor Pulp Innovation Centre will have an annual operating budget of $2 million, a 6,400 sq. ft. laboratory, and a staff of nine. Key equipment items in the centre are a pilot refiner for simulating paper mill treatment of pulps, and extensive, advanced technical instruments for testing pulp and paper.

Another initiative is a set of partnerships with government in collaboration with equipment suppliers to implement advanced sensing technology in all three of CPLP’s Prince George mills. CPLP’s investment of $8 million in these technologies will include the Metso Quality Vision System, the Eurocon PulpEye and two sensors developed by FPInnovations in Vancouver. The FPInnovations sensors consist of a patented fibre wall thickness measurement sensor and a specialized wood chip sensor.

This comprehensive initiative in sensing technology is supported by matching funding of $2.4 million from Natural Resources Canada and $2.1 million from the BC Ministry of Forests, Mines and Lands. It will provide CPLP with unique capabilities for monitoring the quality of its fibres on-line and thereby provide information to adjust operations and

maximize pulp value recovery from the sawmill-produced wood chips it uses.

Complementing CPLP’s in-house research, Nemeth also announced the company’s commitment to a new research grant program: a collaboration between CPLP and the University of British Columbia and the University of Northern British Columbia. The program will provide a total of $225,000 over the next three years to university faculty for novel research projects in areas relevant to CPLP’s mandate.