Tembec Temiscaming integrated biorefinery By L. Magdzinski EMBEC WAS CREATED in 1973 in Temis- caming, QC, when a determined com- munity, entrepreneurs, and 350 unionized employees purchased a shut down sulfite pulp mill that was considered to be unprofitable. In the quest for survival and profitability and through the innova- tive skills of its personnel, the Temiscaming site exploited the synergy of integrated biomass and by-product utilization to expand to six major busi- nesses incorporating two major bioenergy plants. Tembec has grown to be one of the top 100 Cana- dian companies with over 9,000 employees and over 50 manufacturing units in North and South America and in Europe. Sustainable forest biomass is Tembec’s corner- stone resource. With two corporate sustainable management programs, FOREVER GREEN™ for forestry operations and IMPACT ZERO™ for manufacturing, Tembec is a global leader in forest supply-chain management of environmentally and socially responsible forestry practices. Tembec has signed a historic partnership agreement with the World Wildlife Fund. In 2003, with the planting of 250 million trees, the company received Forest Stewardship Council (FSC™) certification for the Gordon Cosens Forest, the most extensive FSC- certified forest in Canada and one of the largest in the world. Tembec has now achieved FSC certifi- cation for 13 million acres of forestland in Cana- da. The range of FSC-certified products offered by the company is continually increasing and now includes lumber, hardwood flooring, newsprint, paperboard, specialty cellulose pulp, Northern bleached softwood kraft pulp, high yield pulp, lig- nosulfonate, and ethanol. Trees are one of our most valuable resources, with lumber as the principal product. Sustainable tree harvesting ensures minimum soil and water disturbance while guaranteeing that enough nutrients and seeds remain to replenish the forest ecosystem. Harvesting and transportation costs are incorporated into the cost of any biomass as indicated in Table I. Minimizing waste while using forest resources to their full economic potential, trimmings, low-grade wood, and even branches supply the pulp and paper, OSB and particleboard industries. Other residual process materials such as pulping liquor and bark are further used as fuel for process heat and electrical energy. Forest-based companies have traditionally manufactured other products from by-products of the lumber and pulping processes. As an example of an integrated biorefinery, the old Howard Smith Paper Mills plant in Cornwall, ON developed a process to isolate vanillin [1] and then to manufacture ethanol from spent sulfite liquor [2]. Integration continued by using pulp and oxidized lignin [3] in diverse products such as phenolic resins and in manufacture of prod- ucts [4] such as Arborite™ and roofing tiles at the now-closed Cornwall pulp mill. Under Dom- tar, when the Cornwall pulp mill changed to the kraft pulping process, kraft lignin (Tomlinite™) and vanillin production processes [5] were intro- duced. Until the availability of lower-cost phenol from the petroleum in the 1950s, the wood pulp- ing industry was the largest supplier of vanillin in the world. Another example of an integrated forest-based biorefinery is MeadWestvaco’s North Charleston kraft mill complex [6]. Recovered tall oil soap is refined into rosin and fatty acids. Fatty acids are used in paints, corrosion inhibitors and other industrial applications. Rosin is used to make paper size for moisture-resistant paperboard. It is also used to make tackifying resins for inks and adhesives and in the production of synthetic rub- ber. The Charleston facility also makes high value- added products from the lignin isolated for the kraft black liquor. Kraft lignin, a natural polymer that binds the fibres together in wood, is the basis for many specialty chemical products used in dye- ing textile fibres, dispersing pesticides and emul- sifying asphalt. It should not be forgotten that the primary prod- ucts of a sustainable forest are wood-based lumber and construction materials, followed by pulp and paper. Relative commercial values of products based on one dry ton of wood are presented in Table II for comparison. The use of valuable wood resources for fuel or as a source of other products such as ethanol is generally not economically feasible. In processes requiring dry biomass, drying costs can quickly over- come any economic value represented by wood or forest-based residues. L. MAGDZINSKI Performance Development Associates 4247 Esplanade, Montreal, QC H2W 1T1 T Abstract: Guided by its internal programs Forever Green™ and Impact Zero™, Tembec inte- grates FSC™ certified forestry feedstock into bioenergy, biomaterials, and bioproducts in an eco- nomically disciplined manner. Residues from lumber operations feed the production of specialty cellulose pulp. Using chemical and biological transformations, the associated waste streams are pro- cessed to produce modified lignin, ethanol, and anaerobic biogas, adding value to the main lum- ber and pulp products. A working example is presented of value-driven and innovative biopro- cessing on an industrial scale at the Temiscaming complex. biorefining 44 • 107:6 (2006) • PULP & PAPER CANADA T147
Transcript
Tembec Temiscaming integrated biorefineryBy L. Magdzinski
EMBEC WAS CREATED in 1973 in Temis-caming, QC, when a determined com-munity, entrepreneurs, and 350unionized employees purchased ashut down sulfite pulp mill that was
considered to be unprofitable. In the quest forsurvival and profitability and through the innova-tive skills of its personnel, the Temiscaming siteexploited the synergy of integrated biomass andby-product utilization to expand to six major busi-nesses incorporating two major bioenergy plants.Tembec has grown to be one of the top 100 Cana-dian companies with over 9,000 employees andover 50 manufacturing units in North and SouthAmerica and in Europe.
Sustainable forest biomass is Tembec’s corner-stone resource. With two corporate sustainablemanagement programs, FOREVER GREEN™ forforestry operations and IMPACT ZERO™ formanufacturing, Tembec is a global leader in forestsupply-chain management of environmentally andsocially responsible forestry practices. Tembec hassigned a historic partnership agreement with theWorld Wildlife Fund. In 2003, with the planting of250 million trees, the company received ForestStewardship Council (FSC™) certification for theGordon Cosens Forest, the most extensive FSC-certified forest in Canada and one of the largest inthe world. Tembec has now achieved FSC certifi-cation for 13 million acres of forestland in Cana-da. The range of FSC-certified products offered bythe company is continually increasing and nowincludes lumber, hardwood flooring, newsprint,paperboard, specialty cellulose pulp, Northernbleached softwood kraft pulp, high yield pulp, lig-nosulfonate, and ethanol.
Trees are one of our most valuable resources,with lumber as the principal product. Sustainabletree harvesting ensures minimum soil and waterdisturbance while guaranteeing that enoughnutrients and seeds remain to replenish the forestecosystem. Harvesting and transportation costsare incorporated into the cost of any biomass asindicated in Table I. Minimizing waste while usingforest resources to their full economic potential,trimmings, low-grade wood, and even branchessupply the pulp and paper, OSB and particleboardindustries. Other residual process materials such
as pulping liquor and bark are further used as fuelfor process heat and electrical energy.
Forest-based companies have traditionallymanufactured other products from by-productsof the lumber and pulping processes. As anexample of an integrated biorefinery, the oldHoward Smith Paper Mills plant in Cornwall, ONdeveloped a process to isolate vanillin [1] andthen to manufacture ethanol from spent sulfiteliquor [2]. Integration continued by using pulpand oxidized lignin [3] in diverse products suchas phenolic resins and in manufacture of prod-ucts [4] such as Arborite™ and roofing tiles atthe now-closed Cornwall pulp mill. Under Dom-tar, when the Cornwall pulp mill changed to thekraft pulping process, kraft lignin (Tomlinite™)and vanillin production processes [5] were intro-duced. Until the availability of lower-cost phenolfrom the petroleum in the 1950s, the wood pulp-ing industry was the largest supplier of vanillin inthe world.
Another example of an integrated forest-basedbiorefinery is MeadWestvaco’s North Charlestonkraft mill complex [6]. Recovered tall oil soap isrefined into rosin and fatty acids. Fatty acids areused in paints, corrosion inhibitors and otherindustrial applications. Rosin is used to makepaper size for moisture-resistant paperboard. It isalso used to make tackifying resins for inks andadhesives and in the production of synthetic rub-ber. The Charleston facility also makes high value-added products from the lignin isolated for thekraft black liquor. Kraft lignin, a natural polymerthat binds the fibres together in wood, is the basisfor many specialty chemical products used in dye-ing textile fibres, dispersing pesticides and emul-sifying asphalt.
It should not be forgotten that the primary prod-ucts of a sustainable forest are wood-based lumberand construction materials, followed by pulp andpaper. Relative commercial values of products basedon one dry ton of wood are presented in Table II forcomparison. The use of valuable wood resources forfuel or as a source of other products such as ethanolis generally not economically feasible. In processesrequiring dry biomass, drying costs can quickly over-come any economic value represented by wood orforest-based residues.
L. MAGDZINSKIPerformance DevelopmentAssociates4247 Esplanade,Montreal, QCH2W 1T1
T
Abstract: Guided by its internal programs Forever Green™ and Impact Zero™, Tembec inte-grates FSC™ certified forestry feedstock into bioenergy, biomaterials, and bioproducts in an eco-nomically disciplined manner. Residues from lumber operations feed the production of specialtycellulose pulp. Using chemical and biological transformations, the associated waste streams are pro-cessed to produce modified lignin, ethanol, and anaerobic biogas, adding value to the main lum-ber and pulp products. A working example is presented of value-driven and innovative biopro-cessing on an industrial scale at the Temiscaming complex.
biorefining
44 • 107:6 (2006) • PULP & PAPER CANADA
T147
PULP & PAPER CANADA • 107:6 (2006) • 45
FIG. 1. Tembec Temiscaming, QC: Complex of six manufac-
The long history of the innovative useof bioprocesses and by-product manufac-ture at the Temiscaming complex sets thestage for ongoing R&D activity into otherwood-derived products. Many differentcomponents are available in kraft and sul-fite cooking liquors shown in Table III.
In Temiscaming, the sulfite pulpingprocess produces high purity cellulose.Tembec’s Specialty Cellulose is used as afeedstock in, among others, dairy prod-ucts, food thickeners, pharmaceuticals,explosives, coatings, artificial sponges,photographic films, laptop screens, tex-tiles, and pet food. Tembec Cellutionsproduces over 400,000 tons of SpecialtyCellulose pulp annually.
During the sulfite pulping process,the lignin molecule is broken down intosmaller segments and dissolved in waterby sulfonation. Lignosulfonates are usedas binders in animal feed, limestone,and fertilizer, as surfactants and disper-sants in textile dyes, cement concrete,wax and asphalt emulsions, and alsotransformed into carbon black. Tembecproduces and markets 80,000 metrictons of ARBO™, sodium, ammoniumand calcium lignosulfonate each year.These modified natural polymers areboth non-toxic and non-hazardous, alsofinding uses in boiler water treatment, infruit flotation and in sealing gaskets forfood containers. Wood hemicellulosesare transformed in the sulfite pulpingprocess, allowing fermentation toethanol. Currently, Tembec produces 18
Biomass Cost (CAN$)
Approx. biomass energy content: 18GJ/T Drying Cost: 19GJ/T water removedWhole wood for lumber (bone dry basis) $ >150/THomogeneous biomassForest pulpwood, agriculture crops $80-160/TForest / agricultural residues (bark, sawdust, straw, corn stover) $40-90/TProcess residues (wood pulping liquor, lignin, sludge) $0-60/THeterogeneous biomassIndustrial or municipal sludge (heterogeneous) $(–30)-0/TUrban biomass $(–30)-0/T
TABLE I. Dry wood and biomass as feedstock cost1.
Lumber & Sulfite pulp Kraft pulp & Only fuel Energy oilwood chips & energy energy ethanol equiv.
$500 $400 $350 $160-220 $160
TABLE II. Approximate commercial value (Can$) / T dry wood (operational and
capital costs not deducted).
Water Flow m3/d 16,000COD: IN kg/d 183,600COD removed 65%Gas Production: as CH4 Nm3/d 39,382Gas Production: as biogas Nm3/d 58,779Gas [CH4] % 67%Gas [H2S] % 1,5 - 2,0%
i Rydholm, S.A. 1965. Pulping Processes. Interscience Publishing, New York.
TABLE III. Components of Kraft and sulfite cooking liquors (Rydholm, 1965)1.
biorefining T148
million litres of ethanol a year. The Temiscaming site makes good use
of its mixed biomass waste by burning it ina co-generation boiler, generating steamand electricity, supplying the site with mostof its energy requirements. The boiler han-dles over 400 tons per day of dry biomassconsisting of bark, wood waste, and sludgefrom the environmental treatment plant.
The Temiscaming site also cleans someof its wastewater streams by convertinghigh-concentration organic contaminantsin a new anaerobic digester. The newanaerobic plant, partially funded byTEAM, started operating in January 2006,treating wastewater containing over 183tons per day of dissolved organic materi-als. As shown in Table IV, the anaerobicplant is capable of producing enoughmethane to replace a majority of the site’snatural gas demand that includes pulpdrying. In addition, an innovative biologi-cal scrubbing process of the anaerobicbiogas stream removes hydrogen sulfidecontamination by converting it into ele-mental sulfur. The elemental sulfur can,in turn, be converted into bisulfite that isused in the pulping.
As long as it makes economic senseand does not detract from the main valuebusinesses of lumber and pulp, Tembec
will consider other integrated processes inthe future.
Temiscaming has shown that down-stream integration of waste streams and by-products into non-traditional productsmight be a value-adding proposition. Thesite has also demonstrated that lateral inte-gration of site services and bioenergy is ben-eficial to satellite paperboard, High YieldPulp, and PF resins production. Tembecremains on the lookout for other potential-ly profitable integrated synergies based onwood, fibre, cellulose and their by-productsto establish new growth for the future.
REFERENCES1. Hibbert, H. and Tomlinson, G.A. “Vanillin Manu-facture” Canadian Patent 374898, 1938.2. Tomlinson, G.A. “Manufacture Of Ethyl AlcoholFrom Sulphite Residual Liquor” Canadian Patent450163, 1948.3. Cambron, E.A. “Thermosetting Lignin ContainingResin” Canadian Patent 630127, 1961.4. Arborite Company History: http://www.arborite.com/ en/company_presentation.asp5. Marshall, H. B. And Vincent, D.L. “Production OfSyringealdehyde And/Or Vanillin From HardwoodWaste Pulping Liquors” Canadian Patent 1040216, 1978.6. MeadWestvaco Corporation, “Sustainbility Report”Stamford, Connecticut, 2002.
Reference: MAGDZINSKI, L. Tembec Temiscaming Integrated Biorefinery Pulp & Paper Canada107(6): T147-149 (June, 2006).Paper presented at the 92nd Annual Meeting in Montreal, QC, Febru-ary 6-10, 2006. Not to be reproduced without permission of PAPTAC. The manuscript was received onJanuary 16, 2006. Revised manuscript approved for publication by the Review Panel on March 22, 2006.
Résumé: Dans le cadre de ses programmes internes Verts HorizonsMC et Impact ZéroMC, Tem-bec intègre d’une manière économiquement disciplinée des matières premières forestières certi-fiées FSCMC dans la bioénergie, les biomatériaux et les produits biologiques. Les résidus des activ-ités d’exploitation forestière alimentent la production de pâte de cellulose à usages spéciaux. Àl’aide de transformations chimiques et biologiques, les flux de déchets associés sont utilisés pourproduire de la lignine modifiée, de l’éthanol, et du biogaz anaérobie, ce qui ajoute de la valeur auxprincipaux produits du bois d’oeuvre et de la pâte. Nous présentons un exemple pratique du bio-traitement novateur axé sur la valeur à l’échelle industrielle au complexe Temiscaming.
