VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland manages a research facility in Jyväskylä, in which a number of major industry players – Kemira included – are involved.
Designed to provide realistic papermaking process conditions that go beyond what conventional laboratory-scale test equipment can offer, the facility was commissioned a few years ago and is now being extended to enhance its capabilities to give the industry more potential to respond to the growing challenges that it is facing.
The intention is to fill the gap that normally exists between the laboratory and pilot plants by adding a press section and comprehensive sampling and analysis systems to the existing forming unit. The expanded facility is due to come on stream in January next year.
Metso Paper was the fi rst company involved in the initiative and was joined soon after by Kemira, Tamfelt, and UPM, with Metso Automation being the latest addition. Industry organization, Forest Cluster Ltd., and Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, are also involved. The result is a partnership that spans all the key areas of papermaking.
A more dynamic and sustainable industry
Christine Hagström-Näsi, CEO of Foretst Cluster Ltd., an innovation company set up to promote networking across the Finnish forest products industry and one of the facilitators and funding sources of the Jyväskylä facility, sees it as an important step forward.
“Working with VTT and Tekes, we wanted to create a broad-based platform – both for its core participants, as well as small and medium-sized specialist companies brought in om individual projects – that can really deliver more than the sum of its parts. And deliver results that will benefit the industry as a whole in these challenging times. And by challenging I don’t only mean in an economic sense, I’m also talking about sustainability. As an industry, we need not only more efficient and more sustainable processes and products, but also better resource usage,” Hagtröm-Näsi says.
A unique opportunity
There is a strong tradition in Finland of companies and research institutions cooperating on joint projects and programs, and the Jyväskylä research environment is an excellent example of what this type of partnership can offer, according to Mikael Svedman, Vice President, R&D and Technology in Kemira’s Paper segment.
The real driver here is the fact that the partners involved have got all the bases covered: machinery, automation, chemistry, and fabrics, felts and belts. The fact that we’re all leaders in our fields means that we can bring the best know-how in all of them to the table as well.And because everyone represents their own very distinct fi eld, there’s no danger of anyone stepping
on somebody else’s toes.”
“The scope of the environment is unique anywhere in my experience and gives us all access to an advanced platform that can help address both today’s challenges and help us brainstorm tomorrow’s. While it’s located in Finland and the participants are Finnish-based companies, we see it very much as a global resource. Things we learn and develop here will certainly be applicable elsewhere, and we can bring issues we encounter worldwide to Jyväskylä to work on,” Svedman continues.
“The biggest plus will probably be at the concept stage, when the partners can combine their expertise to brainstorm things like novel raw material mixes, reducing energy and water usage, novel paper chemistry and seeing how changing one set of systems or parameters, such as a system’s chemistry, impact the rest of the chain.
Making the most of a mature market
“To have brought together so many players in the value chain, with so much expertise, is quite an achievement,” says Pekka Hurskainen, Vice President, R&D at UPM’s Research Center. “And it’s one that we believe has the potential to make a real contribution to our research effort and our application work as well. Having VTT behind the whole thing is also a big advantage. We’ve worked with them a lot over the years, as we have with the other partners that are involved.”
“We’ll also be able to bring in other partners, such as smaller specialist companies, on specifi c issues, such as measurement technologies, for example – both when working with the group as a whole or in smaller combinations.”
“Papermaking is a mature business and developing the processes it uses to give world scale producers like us greater productivity, equivalent or better properties with lower-grade input, and more overall added value for users and converters is essential – especially in today’s economic climate.”
Critical mass
“We’ve worked with all the other partners on various projects and at various times, and this gives us a very solid foundation for making the most of what the Jyväskylä facility will be able to offer,” says Metso Paper’s Hannu Korhonen, who is their Vice President, R&D, Paper and Board Machines.
“What makes this initiative particularly exciting is the critical mass of know-how it brings together, and this is something that also ups the stakes in terms of our ambition level. Working with the right people to push new ideas ahead – and push them ahead rapidly where that’s possible – is increasingly important today.”
“This very much parallels the way we work internally in Metso, with our paper and automation people. This internal cooperation has reinforced our conviction that however great the hardware, it’s the entire process that needs to be optimally managed in papermaking. The Jyväskylä initiative will bring even more expertise
into play to make this happen.”
“Speed was the main focus of attention for machine manufacturers say 10 years ago, but we’re more interested in cost efficiency, flexibility, and capital costs – just as our customers are. Modularity, for example, is something that has a lot to offer in the future, we believe, together with the ability to achieve high quality using different types of raw material inputs and lower amounts of energy through things like hybrid designs.”
Improving everybody’s performance
“The overall industry will benefi t from an initiative like this, I believe, as well as the
partners themselves and our customers,” says Reima Kerttula, CEO at Tamfelt.
“We’re all interested in quality and efficiency, and we’re all working on those things individually, and will continue to do so. But coming together under a common and clearly defi ned umbrella like this should give us additional leverage to build a stronger foundation for the papermaking industry.”
“The ultimate success of our products in the fi eld – whether you’re talking about forming fabrics, press felts and belts, or dryer fabrics – is intimately linked to the machine they’re running on, the chemistry they’re involved with, and the specifics of the mill environment they’re used in. And now we can work with experts in all of these other areas within the framework of a single initiative to improve everybody’s performance.”
Text: Peter Herring
Read the full article in Kemira Solutions magazine 1/2009. The theme of the issue is tissue paper.