By Graeme Rodden, Executive Editor, Pulp & Paper International magazine
BRUSSELS,
June 30, 2009
(Viewpoint) -
It's been said that anything can be made from lignin except money. However, the Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal (Université de Montreal) is working to change that perception.
It recently had its National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Chair in Environmental Design Engineering extended until March 2012.
The Chair was initially created in 2000, and Paul Stuart has led the work since its inception. The first Chair term focused on the application of process systems engineering and process integration tools to identify cost cutting measure to help improve the pulp and paper industry's competitiveness. "Our work with process integration tools was more embryonic in the first Chair term," Stuart explains. "For example, we were developing a lot of techniques to improve data quality for decision making. The goal of our projects was systems analysis for incremental productivity improvement, for example, to reduce costs and increase production through plant-wide process optimization."
Still, Stuart says, "We were following the industry needs of that time. Now, in the second Chair term, we want to lead industry needs with our program."
The next step
And the main target for the "leading the industry" concerns the issue of biorefining. The second Chair mandate is largely dedicated to evaluating the implementation of forest biorefining, considered by many the most promising transformation strategy for the Canadian forest products industry.
Stuart explains that the second Chair mandate concerns the multidisciplinary design of the biorefinery using process integration tools for decision-making, e.g., life cycle assessment, supply chain management, and advanced cost accounting. This means combining business with technology. For the case of the biorefinery, these design tools are being used to identify and mitigate risks: technical, economic and commercial.
The potential benefits from using process integration tools are not yet well understood, but they will be used increasingly in the future as practical results from case studies are completed. "The advantages of using these tools to examine biorefining opportunities will be recognized as part of that process."
Stuart notes that biorefinery capital cost comes down if there are synergies with existing mills: for example spare cogeneration capacity, and more generally maximizing the potential of the existing power islands. "The main barrier to entry for many forestry companies is cash flow," he adds. "CEOs want to diversify revenues, for example via the biorefinery, but they must be able to mitigate the associated risks."
Commercial partners are essential in helping the Chair reach its objectives. Already, companies such as Norampac, Kruger, White Birch, Tembec and Kruger have contributed financially, but more importantly are intimately involved in the graduate student projects. Mills are the students' laboratories in the Design Chair program. They go to the mills, and see first-hand the problems that need to be solved to successfully integrate research with more practical objectives.
Other Chair partners include National Resources Canada who are active partners in several graduate student projects, as well as OSISoft and 3C who provide state-of-the-art software and training.
In Canada, until now the main thrust in the biorefining sector is towards producing cellulosic ethanol and other basic green products from woody biomass. However, to increase biofuel use in the transport sector and to reach government objectives, second generation biofuels from algae, fungi and other lignocellulosic biomass sources are competing biomass choices.
No magic formula
Stuart cautions that no "silver bullet" solution exists for forestry companies examining the biorefinery; each forestry company should set its own unique biorefinery strategy based on a systematic evaluation. The Chair is thus focusing on identifying "viable strategies that may be employed by a given mill, to maximize margins by manufacturing added-value bioproducts such as biopolymers."
The studies will look beyond the usual mill sources for biorefinery feedstocks. Stuart adds that the "symbiotic" biorefinery considers other possibilities in addition to forest residuals and white wood, such as agricultural and municipal wastes, or energy crops. Using this approach, an expected additional benefit from biorefinery implementation will be to help companies be a low cost provider of biomass carbon in its broad definition to the mill gate, and in doing so, better guarantee access to their biomass resource over the longer-term for the core business.
Stuart claims biorefineries are all about partnerships. "If forestry companies try to grow the biorefinery organically, they may have challenges addressing competitive weaknesses and are probably less likely to succeed."
One problem is capital cost: currently estimated by some at about $200 million plus for a world-scale ethanol from cellulose plant. The other problem is expertise with biorefining processes and new markets, or lack thereof. It's one of the reasons why several partnerships in the sector have already been announced: UPM/Carbona/Andritz; Stora/Neste; Weyerhaeuser/Chevron; Kruger/Nexterra.
The current economic crisis has not really helped the development of the biorefinery. Nor has the drop in crude oil prices.
Stuart says that if one looks at the industry since the fourth quarter of 2008, capital expenditures have dropped off. "Executives are reacting quickly to difficult times. Companies live on cash flow these days as they seek to manage debt; the industry is responding to the economic times."
"Will our economic times affect biorefinery development? Perhaps. There are other big questions also such as the farm lobby, the price of oil, and energy security. However global warming will not go away. It is the most important environmental issue of our times, and this could present a unique environmental and business opportunity for our industry, if it responds. Preparedness and timing will be critical."
Noting that the economic crisis and the reduced cost of oil has not hastened development of alternative energy sources, Stuart believes that these factors are temporary blips. "Oil prices will go up again. We have pricked the surface of the globe looking for oil, and I don't think that there will be more Saudi Arabias."
Another part of the equation concerns competition for resources from wood pellet manufacturers. "There is a question of optimization of resources, for example whether to use biomass for wood pellets or ethanol," Stuart adds.
Need to transform sustainably
He says Europe faces an estimated 20% shortage in biomass for green energy and other needs, and is looking toward North America to fill that shortfall. Therefore, there is a short-term opportunity for pellet makers. But, Stuart says, the question is whether North America is better to have a few employed at pellet plants and export a commodity product, or "Do we want to transform our forestry industry sustainably?" Many companies are looking at pellets, ethanol and other transportation fuels, or added-value chemicals. Stuart adds, "If we are looking at saving forestry companies for the longer term, we can't afford to use a short-term vision. Here is where government policy should play an important role, to encourage the use of biomass in the right ways for the longer term - which may favor the production of added-value chemicals."
The press release accompanying the announcement of the renewed NSERC Chair did not mince words: "With ongoing layoffs affecting thousands of workers in the Canadian forestry industry, it is not clear whether the Canadian pulp and paper industry, once a jewel of the national economy, will be able to survive."
Stuart says that Ecole Polytechnique feels privileged that the Design Chair has been renewed during these challenging times. It is a big opportunity, and represents a big responsibility for the Chair to help identify new biorefinery strategies for the forestry partners. "We need to understand the issues the industry faces, but not from inside our ivory tower. The secret to success is applying our core expertise and skills in the Design Chair to the actual situation of the mill, and identify strategies that meet the complex industry needs."
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The Ecole Polytechnique Design Chair seeks to identify and design promising forest biorefinery concepts, considering the rapidly-changing body of knowledge that is emerging. Selecting the biorefinery is not simply a question of understanding new process technologies, but also involves market/commercial factors and social impacts. If successful, forestry companies will transform their core business. This complex context is obviously a pretty big challenge for new graduate students entering into the unique Design Chair program at Ecole Polytechnique. Educating and training high quality design engineers, and increasing design education and training for all engineering students ,is a major objective of the Design Chair. Stuart seeks to equip his graduate students to become future industry leaders with the design tools and decision-making ability that they need to increase productivity and quality in the industry.
The Chair addresses this ambitious objective by developing a “practical set of product and process design methodologies suitable for systematically exploring biorefinery opportunities in retrofit to pulp and paper mills that generally minimize risk, whose strategic implementation involves existing mature supply chains”. And, perhaps more importantly, these methodologies will take into account “culture and other barriers to biorefinery implementation.”
There are five separate research focus areas within the Chair program: biorefinery product and process design; process optimization; supply chain management and life cycle assessment; water and energy use reduction; biorefinery process simulation.
The students in each of these focus areas interact closely to answer questions such as:
• Under what conditions is cellulosic ethanol manufacture a competitive biorefinery solution for Canadian forestry companies?
• What other biorefinery products should forestry companies manufacture, and what are the risks associated with the biorefinery processes needed to produce these products? New biorefinery products might enter existing value chains, while at the same time support the traditional pulp and paper core business areas, and ensure production flexibility for maximizing margins.
• How can forestry companies achieve a long-term competitive advantage through a unique supply chain, developed during implementation of the biorefinery?
• Under what conditions is the biorefinery environmentally favorable, when considering a cradle-to-grave product perspective, and how should this information be considered when evaluating the sustainability of biomass-based processes and products?
• What “hidden costs” might there be when implementing the biorefinery in retrofit to existing mills? This involves evaluating biorefinery integration and impacts on, for example, the wastewater treatment system and power island. |
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