Programme report

1. Intelligent and Resource-Efficient
Production Technologies
Programme Report 2008–2010

3. Programme Report 2008-2010
“Intelligent and
Resource-Efficient
Production Technologies”
(EffTech) Programme
Antti Asikainen
Jari Hynynen
Teemu Teeri
Tapani Vuorinen
Marjo Määttänen
Risto Ritala
Heikki Kälviäinen
Lasse Lensu
Erkki Hellén
Juha Lipponen
Janne Poranen
Pauliina Tukiainen

4. Content
5 Foreword
6 Introduction
12 Less is more
– intelligent and economical wood supply
26 New value chains of Finnish forest industry
utilizing domestic wood
40 Functional genomics of wood formation
Towards knowledge-based breeding of wood
52 Virtual pulp bleaching (VIP)
66 Short pulping
76 New process design methodology to reduce capital employed
and to improve flexibility (POJo)
96 Image-based measurement methods for quality in pulping
and papermaking (QVision)
114 Re-engineering paper (REP)
130 Drainage and web formation
138 Future paper and board making technologies (TuPaKat)
Copyright Forestcluster Ltd 2011. All rights reserved.
This publication includes materials protected under copyright law, the copyright for which is held by
Forestcluster Ltd or a third party. The materials appearing in publications may not be used for commercial
purposes. The contents of publications are the opinion of the writers and do not represent the official position
of Forestcluster Ltd.Forestcluster Ltd bears no responsibility for any possible damages arising from their use.
The original source must be mentioned when quoting from the materials.
ISBN 978-952-92-9269-1 (paperback)
ISBN 978-952-92-9270-7 (PDF)
4

5. Foreword
The forest industry has experienced one of the biggest structural market changes in
its history in the past decade, and nowhere more so than in Finland. A number of
the forest sector’s key paper products have reached a stage of permanent decline in
their life cycle, and the paper sector is facing strong pressure to both come up with
new products and applications and to improve the cost and capital efficiency of its
existing products and assets.
These external pressures have widened and opened the industry’s research
strategy, research processes, and resource structures. One of the key structural
shifts has been the creation of Forestcluster Ltd – the Strategic Centre for Science,
Technology and Innovation for the Finnish forest cluster. The preparation and
implementation of research programmes within Forestcluster Ltd has focused on the
entire value chain. The EffTech programme is a prime example of this approach as
it was drawn up jointly by players representing the whole value chain, from forest
to printing house. This has had a refreshing and revitalising influence on the
programme’s content and on the work of the research community.
EffTech was the first programme launched by Forestcluster Ltd. The goal of the
EffTech programme was to produce knowledge for radically new solutions. This sets
the bar high regarding the usability of research results, yet the rewards of success
are all the richer for it. The programme received strong support from all Forestcluster
shareholders, including funding. In addition, Tekes the Finnish Funding Agency for
Technology and Innovation is a major funding party of the programme. Tekes has al-
so been active in steering and inspiring the programme participants towards setting
and attaining its high goals.
The fruits of these efforts will only be materialized when the results are directly
utilized by the industry or further developed in application projects. I therefore urge
all parties to explore the obtained and reported results carefully and to leave no stone
unturned in the search for innovative uses and applications.
Raino Kauppinen
Stora Enso Oyj
Chairperson of Programme Management Group
5

6. Introduction
Abstract
The Intelligent and Resource-Efficient Production Technologies (EffTech) Programme was
launched by Forestcluster Ltd (the Strategic Centre for Science, Technology and Innovation
for the Finnish forest industry cluster) in 2008. The goals of the programme are to improve
the competitiveness of the Finnish forest cluster by developing radically new energy- and re-
source-efficient production technologies and by finding ways to reduce the capital intensiveness
of the cluster. EffTech is divided across three work packages (WPs) based on focal areas of the
programme: Raw material availability, Modelling and measurements, and Processes and
processing. The programme portfolio for the first two years included ten research projects
with a total budget of EUR 11 million, as well as three consortium projects with a total budget
of EUR 8 million.
6

7. 1. Background 2. Management of
The Finnish forest cluster published its
the programme
research strategy (‘Finland – the leading
forest cluster by 2030’) in October, 2006. The first phase of the EffTech programme
The strategy outlined the future R&D was led by a Management Group (MG)
priorities for promoting profitable de- comprising representatives from both in-
velopment of the industry as a whole. dustry and academia. The EffTech proj-
In 2007, Forestcluster Ltd was founded ects were divided into three Work Pack-
with the main task of implementing the ages (WPs) and WP Managers were ap-
national research strategy. Forestcluster pointed to coordinate work between the
focused the cluster’s research activity in projects and WPs. The research tasks
three key areas based on their strategic within the projects were performed un-
impact and on the potential for added value der the leadership of Project Managers,
generation through cooperation between and projects were reported to the MG by
Forestcluster owner companies. The cho- Work Package Managers. The execution
sen areas were: Intelligent and resource- of EffTech was coordinated by Programme
efficient production technologies, Future Manager Pauliina Tukiainen of VTT.
biorefinery, and Future customer solutions. The main tasks of the Management
The EffTech programme was the first Group have been to supervise the prog-
research programme launched by Forest- ress of the programme with respect to
cluster. The Forestcluster owners, togeth- the objectives of the national forest clus-
er with representatives from research or- ter research strategy and the EffTech pro-
ganizations, defined the research themes gramme plan, and to assess the scien-
and key targets of the programme as well tific progress and techno-economic fea-
as the evaluation criteria for project pro- sibility of the results. In 2009, the MG’s
posals at the workshop. Based on the main tasks included mid-term evaluation
outcomes of the workshop, Forestcluster of the programme, organization of the
issued a call for research projects for the EffTech Workshop and discussions with
EffTech programme in spring 2008 and the shareholder companies of Forestclus-
over 30 project proposals were submit- ter Ltd in order to harmonize the EffTech
ted to Forestcluster as a result. The For- programme with the companies’ research
estcluster Research Committee prepared strategies and to define the most impor-
the structure, contents and targets of the tant focus areas for the coming three-
programme, and ten projects were finally year period. In 2010, the MG re-focussed
selected for inclusion in the EffTech pro- the EffTech programme and the prepara-
gramme portfolio. tion of programme proposals for the pe-
riod 2010–2013.
7

8. The EffTech Management Group had divided into three work packages (WPs)
the following members: based on the focal areas of the pro-
• Raino Kauppinen, Stora Enso, gramme: Raw material availability, Mod-
Chairman elling and measurements, and Processes
• Lars Gädda, Forestcluster Ltd and processing (Figure 1).
• Jyrki Huovila, Metso Paper The objective of WP1 (Raw material
• Erkki Hellen, VTT, WP3 Manager availability) was to increase the availabil-
• Jari Hynynen, Metla, WP1 Manager ity and supply of high quality raw materi-
• Mika Hyrylä, UPM-Kymmene al from Finnish forests. WP1 consisted of
(Timo Koskinen until June 2009) three projects, each focusing on raw ma-
• Jukka Kejonen, Myllykoski terial availability but addressing the prob-
• Juha Mettälä, Tamfelt lem from different perspectives, applying
• Olavi Pikka, Andritz different methods and addressing differ-
• Ismo Reilama, Metsä-Botnia ent time horizons. The Less is More proj-
• Risto Ritala, TUT, WP2 Manager ect aimed at resolving wood supply issues
• Petri Silenius, Kemira through more efficient use of existing la-
• Kenneth Sundberg, Ciba bour and machine resources. The focus
• Pauliina Tukiainen, VTT, Programme of the New value chains project was on
Manager finding new end-product oriented, profi-
• Mikko Ylhäisi, Tekes table and environmental friendly forest
industry value chains based on domestic
wood supply. The Functional genomics of
wood formation II project objective was
3. Programme portfolio to identify the key genetic determinants
and goals responsible for wood development in for-
est trees with the aim of utilising them
The goals of the of the first phase of the in forest tree breeding to control wood
EffTech programme were to improve the growth and wood quality.
competitiveness of the Finnish forest clus- The goal of WP2 (Modelling and mea-
ter as a whole by developing radically new surements) was to achieve marked im-
energy and resource efficient production provements in the use of modelling and
technologies and by finding means to re- simulation in order to increase the pace
duce the capital intensiveness of the clus- of development of new process concepts.
ter. The objective was to reinforce the WP2 consisted of four projects. Of these,
Finnish forest cluster’s leading position in Virtual pulp bleaching (VIP) and New pro-
the field of large-scale fibre-based paper cess design methodology to reduce capital
and board production technology by devel- employed and to improve flexibility (POJo)
oping more sustainable solutions. Produc- concentrated on production system model-
tive domestic forest resources and compet- ling. The POJo project was tasked with de-
itive wood supply are crucial to the vitality veloping an industrially applicable first ver-
of the Finnish forest cluster. Increasing the sion of the multiobjective and bi-level de-
availability and supply of high quality raw sign methodology and demonstrating its
material from Finnish forests in a sustain- applicability by means of a case study.
able and cost-efficient manner has there- The VIP project was focused on modelling
fore been one of the main strategic targets chemical pulp bleaching at the molecu-
of the EffTech programme. lar level using phenomenon models. QVi-
The EffTech programme portfolio for sion focused on image-based measure-
phase one included ten research projects ment and characterization methods relat-
8

9. Figure 1. EffTech programme portfolio.
Intelligent and Resource-Efficient Production Technologies
Programme Portfolio
Workpackage 1 Workpackage 2 Workpackage 3
Raw material availability Modelling and measurements Processes and processing
Less is more Virtual pulp bleaching Re-engineering paper
Future paper and board
New value chains Short pulping
making technologies
Functional genomics New process design
Drainage and
of wood formation concept for capital
web formation
efficiency and flexibility
Qvision
ed to quality in pulping and papermaking, 4. International
while the Short pulping project developed
new methods for chemical pulp quality. cooperation
The goal of WP3 (Processes and pro- International co-operation is built into
cessing) was to develop new resource- the EffTech programme and plays an im-
efficient production technologies which portant role in the development of nov-
are profitable, support sustainability goals el resource-efficient production technolo-
and enable a range of new products. The gies. Research organizations are encour-
projects approached the paradigm of cur- aged to pursue international collabora-
rent papermaking from different direc- tion for this purpose and with the aim of
tions. The Re-engineering paper project strengthening the position of Finnish re-
sought new resource-efficient production search groups in international commu-
technologies for sheet production using nities and opening up new co-operation
cellulose nanofibres, and developed ad- opportunities. The programme has par-
vanced modelling tools to speed up prod- ticipated in cooperation with 7 countries
uct and process development. The TuPaK- in total (Canada, Germany, the UK, Isra-
at project took a broader view by draw- el, Sweden, Turkey and the USA). Close
ing up projected scenarios and technolo- links with the international scientific com-
gy roadmaps for 2030 as well as propos- munity are maintained, in particular, in
als for new radical production technolo- the areas of functional genomics of wood
gies for forest-based businesses. In the formation, forestry, wood procurement,
SUORA project, a unique new convertible chemical pulping, multi-parameter op-
papermaking research environment uti- timization, image analysis and nanocel-
lizing the latest papermaking technology lulose research. The cooperation initiat-
was developed for the needs of the Finn- ed during EffTech phase one will be con-
ish forest cluster. tinued in the second phase of the pro-
gramme.
9

10. The EffTech programme is designed programme’s current research activities
in the way that overlapping research ac- and results. Approximately 100–150 at-
tivities with related projects are mini- tendees participated in each seminar. The
mized and the synergy between other re- EffTech Workshop was held on 7th Octo-
search activities is maximized. Many of ber 2009. The workshop provided a cur-
the researchers working within the pro- rent overview of the EffTech programme
gramme also contribute to other related and generated new ideas and discussion
projects, which ensures active informa- regarding the key targets for the pro-
tion exchange and rapid application of re- gramme’s second phase. The outcome of
sults. EffTech research groups have, for the workshop provided the basis for build-
instance, participated in the European ing phase two of the programme.
Community’s 7th Framework Programme
projects and several COST actions.
The EffTech programme’s core re-
search also supports several industry-
6. Future plans
driven projects aimed at developing in- The second phase of the EffTech pro-
dustrial applications. While these projects gramme will continue as two separate yet
are confidential, active participation of in- strongly interlinked programmes: efficient
dustrial partners within the programme networking towards novel products and
ensures active information flow, which in processes (EffNet) and value through in-
turn speeds development. tensive and efficient fibre supply (EffFi-
bre). The division into two separate pro-
grammes sharpens the programme focus
and enables more flexible incorporation of
5. Dissemination of new participants into the programme. The
results EffFibre and EffNet programmes together
cover the whole value chain - from for-
The dissemination of the EffTech pro- est to print houses.
gramme information is carried out using The programmes have a combined
a number of different tools, the most im- budget of EUR 26 million for 2010–2013,
portant being the Forestcluster research and involve a large number of forest clus-
portal, which is accessible to EffTech pro- ter companies and leading research insti-
gramme participants (http://www.forest- tutes. Tekes, the Finnish Funding Agency
clusterportal.fi/index.php/Project_Por- for Technology and Innovation, provides
tal), and the Forestcluster Ltd website. 60 percent of the programme budget.
Detailed project reports and publications The EffFibre programme focuses on
are available through the Forestcluster improving the availability and supply of
portal. In addition, the programme’s re- high-quality raw material from Finnish
search projects have held workshops, re- forests and developing novel production
searcher training events and meetings for technologies for chemical pulping. The tar-
industry and researchers. EffTech semi- gets of the EffFibre programme are to in-
nars have also been held on the 18th De- crease the availability of wood biomass, to
cember 2008, 6th October 2009 and 16th improve the efficiency of the wood supply
December 2010. The aim of the seminars value chain, and to enhance the utility
was to bring together experts from aca- value of Finnish wood. Research is aimed
demic and industrial fields and to provide at generating concepts for improving the
a comprehensive overview of the EffTech value creation potential of Finnish wood,
10

11. a raw material with special quality charac-
teristics. At the same time, the goal is to
improve efficiency by increasing pulping
yield and reducing the energy consump-
tion and capital intensiveness of pulp pro-
duction.
The goal of the EffNet programme is
to improve the competitiveness of the
entire forest cluster by developing radi-
cally new energy- and resource-efficient
production technologies and by finding
means to reduce the cluster’s capital in-
tensiveness. Alongside new energy- and
resource-efficient production techno-
logies for web products, the EffNet pro-
gramme focuses on designing nanocellu-
lose-based production concepts and nov-
el, innovative products. The successful re-
search and promising results achieved to
date by the EffTech programme have cre-
ated good prospects, and continuation of
the programme’s research is expected to
lead to commercial nanocellulose break-
throughs in the near future. As a parallel
goal, the EffNet programme aims to con-
solidate the Finnish forest cluster’s lead
position in the field of large-scale fibre-
based paper and board production tech-
nology through the development of more
sustainable solutions.
11

12. Less is more
– intelligent and economical
wood supply
Project Manager Antti Asikainen, antti.asikainen@metla.fi
Duration of the project 1.6.2008–30.8.2010
Project budget EUR 630,000
Project partners Role of participating organization
Finnish Forest Research Discrete-event simulation of wood harvesting fleet,
Institute (Metla), Joensuu Unit logistical setup of harvesting systems
Terramechanics, forest machine technology for soft soils,
Metla, Vantaa Unit
harvesting methods for young forests
Technology and logistics of silviculture and regeneration
Metla, Suonenjoki Unit
works in forestry
VTT Technical Research Raw material quality, storage trials, processing (pulping)
Centre of Finland technology for stored material
12

13. Abstract
The Less is more project aimed at more efficient use of existing labour and machine resources
in wood supply. Soil sensing forest machinery and new models for optimizing machine resource
allocation in forest operations on soft soils were developed. In addition, the impacts of pro-
longed wood storage on pulp quality and energy consumption of pulping were studied. The re-
sults showed that Finland’s current harvesting fleet can be used more efficiently by equipping a
proportion of machines for year-round harvesting on sensitive soils. It was also found that wood
supply can be based on larger buffer stocks and longer storage periods than at present without
endangering pulp quality or the cost efficiency of wood supply.
A soil torque based device and a soil layer scanner were developed and tested to measure
and predict the bearing capacity of soils. The torque based measurement system and the sonar
scanning system provided good estimates of overall trafficability and point load bearing capaci-
ty, respectively. Simulation studies showed that it is profitable for a forest machine entrepreneur
to invest in equipment enabling year-round soft soil harvesting in harvesting districts, where the
share of peatland forest is remarkable in Finland. Long-term storage of spruce pulpwood caused
some deterioration of pulp colour in mechanical pulping, but this could be compensated for with
appropriate bleaching treatments. In addition, the savings in transport costs were higher than
those of additional chemicals or other treatments in the pulping process.
Soil trafficability assessment can be used for more effective timing of wood harvesting on
soft soils. More efficient spot assessment of soil bearing capacity enables avoidance of deep rut
formation and machine sinkage. The pulping trials with stored wood showed that long-term buf-
fer storage can be used to even out wood supply and to lower transport costs. The quality as-
surance and processing of wood should be based on wood supply models that enable soil sensi-
tivity estimation in order to ensure cost efficient harvesting and transport and optimal end prod-
uct value.
Keywords: wood harvesting, wood quality, sensitive soils, harvesting fleet management,
TMP pulping
13

14. 1. Project background by reducing the amount of water trans-
Strong seasonal and market-driven fluc- ported to mills within the wood raw mate-
tuations in wood demand as well as an in- rial, for example by allowing wood to dry
creasing supply of wood from forests on prior to long-distance road transportation.
sensitive soils are challenging wood supp-
ly in Finland. To smoothen supply, wood
storage is needed at different stages of
the wood procurement chain as the har-
2. Project objectives
vestability of forest stands and the wood The long-term goal is to find means of
demand of mills vary independently. reducing fibre costs for mills through im-
In addition, reduced wood imports proved forest operations and through bet-
and shortening winters call for more ef- ter understanding of the effects of wood
ficient use of the existing domestic wood storage and drying on wood properties
harvesting fleet and its manpower. The and TMP processing. The key objectives
low bearing capacity of peat soils low- are to:
ers the productivity of peatland for- • Develop methods for collecting data
est harvesting and can cause signifi- on the mechanical properties of
cant ground damage. Forest machines soils, particularly peatland soils
can be equipped with wider tracks or ex- • Validate methods of assessing the
tra wheels for improved trafficability, al- impact of harvesting machinery on
though these investments swell oper- soils
ational costs. Forest operations on soft • Identify and quantify the most
soils can also be improved by more pre- cost-effective options with regard
cise advance estimation of soil bearing to machine modifications and
capacity. This could be done by measur- operating methods when the share
ing soil properties and using, for example, of peatland logging is high, taking
weather data to estimate the moisture silvicultural operations also into
and strength of soil layers. In addition, consideration
machines could measure the depth of the • Investigate the impact of different
peat layer as they move on site. The da- productivity factors on the loading
ta collected could then be further pro- sequence of forwarder work. A
cessed for use in tutoring machine ope- special focus area was clarification
rators in efficient machine driving. of the influence of loading point
It is commonly understood that wood positioning for operator assisting
needs to be as fresh as possible when system
used for pulping. Freshness is ensured • Assess the differences between
either through rapid wood procurement fresh and over-summer, land-stored
operations or by special wood storage ar- spruce logs
rangements. Maintaining wood procure- • Investigate the plate gap
ment resources at a level that ensures phenomena of these different wood
seamless year-round delivery of fresh qualities during TMP refining
wood from stump to mill requires exten- • Analyse the brightness and
sive machinery investments, thus increas- bleachability of the studied wood
ing the unit costs of all delivered wood. qualities
Special wood storage arrangements such • Investigate possibilities for
as sprinkling or cold storage also increase improving brightness and
wood costs. Considerably lower wood pro- bleachability through chip or TMP
curement costs can, however, be achieved pulp washing.
14

15. 3. Research approach dination and conception of the 3D envi-
The machine mobility study was based ronment were achieved in the boom han-
on an experimental approach. The test dling tests. Detailed studies of forwarder
tracks were located on both mineral and work were carried out in three virtual log-
peat soils and were passed over first by ging environments including one final fell-
a 6-wheeled John Deere 1070D harvest- ing and two first thinning sites.
er and then by an 8-wheeled John Deere An experimental approach was used
1110D forwarder. The soil shear modulus to quantify the differences between fresh
was measured manually using a spiked and stored spruce logs, and their refin-
shear vane developed by the Finnish For- ing and bleaching behaviour in TMP pro-
est Research Institute (Metla). duction. Both raw material types were
A method for continuous ultrasound handled in the same way: logs were de-
measurement of wheel sinkage was de- barked, chipped and refined at a pilot
veloped and tested. The system measures scale. The material quality was tested at
the distance between the soil surface and numbered stages (Figure 1):
a specified position on the vehicle. The development of brightness from
Based on the assumption of harvest- wood to pulp was closely investigated.
er motion resistance being capable of pre- The formation of coloured structures was
dicting forwarder motion resistance on monitored by UV-Vis reflectance mea-
the same site, a CAN bus based measure- surements. The reflectance spectra were
ment of harvester motion resistance for recorded by a Perkin Elmer Lambda 900
mobility mapping was developed. spectrometer equipped with an integrat-
A numeric logging simulation mod- ing sphere. The entire spectral region
el was compiled using WITNESS process (200–800 nm) was measured from thick
simulation software. Genuine logging Bühner sheets (pH 5.0–5.2). The chro-
sites and logging contractors were se- mophore reactions responsible for the
lected for the simulations from extensive brightness changes were investigated by
and accurate logging history data con- difference reflectance (ΔR) spectra.
tributed by major forest companies. The The refining conditions were varied in
simulation model consisted of three har- order to achieve different heat treatments
vester-forwarder units and one low-bed (Figure 2):
truck for machine relocations. One of the Chip washing and pressing were car-
three harvester-forwarder units was used ried out prior to the laboratory-scale re-
for soft soil harvesting during summer. In fining in order to assess the effects of
order to increase the trafficability of the chip washing on pulp brightness and
machines, the logging unit was modified bleaching response (Figure 3). A Frex pis-
with purpose built band tracks for use on ton press was used to carry out the test-
soft soils in non-frozen ground conditions. ing programme using ion-exchanged wa-
Four modification classes in terms of the ter, DTPA and sulphuric acid solutions. A
maximum ground pressures of the ma- wing refiner located at VTT Jyväskylä was
chine concepts were created for the soft used for refining the treated chips. Sim-
soil logging unit. Three contractors (A, B, ilar washing treatments were performed
C) were modelled. on TMP pulp samples using a Perti tester
A virtual forwarder simulator was cho- at VTT Otaniemi to compare whether the
sen for work pattern and feedback as- washing treatment is more effective prior
sessment. Five experienced operators and to or after refining.
five students participated in the trials. Af-
ter 15 minutes of training, motor coor-
15

16. Figure 1. Quality testing of material in Figure 2. Experimental setup of refining.
the refining process.
Preheating 300 kPa
Logs Debarking Chips Preheating 1st stage 2nd stage Refined
& chipping refining refining Fresh or
to 3
dry chips No 300 kPa SEC
preheating levels
1 2 3 4
500 kPa
Figure 3. Processing steps in chip pressing and washing experiments with fresh
and stored chips. Samples were taken at numbered stages: 1. condensed steam,
2. squeezed filtrate, 3. fresh impregnation liquor, 4. squeezed impregnation liquor,
5. squeezed washing water.
Fresh or No Deionized Washing with Wing
FREX Pressing
FREX Pressing
FREX Pressing
Stored chips steaming water ionized water refining
of chips
Steaming H2SO4
pH 1.5
0.3 % DTPA
1 2 3 4 5
4. Results mance where high rear wheel sinkage
can be noted. Occasional negative read-
4.1 New methods for assessing ings were caused either by vehicle pitch
trafficability on sensitive soils or surface irregularities. Rebound of the
The spiked shear vane proved capable of rut bottom after the vehicle pass was con-
measuring peatland surface strength and siderable: rut depth had very little corre-
predicting rut depth (Figure 4). Measure- lation with wheel sinkage.
ment of stony mineral soils was, however, The technique opened up new pos-
problematic due to insufficient spike pen- sibilities for examining vehicle perfor-
etration depth. mance. The true sinkage of the vehicle
The results of continuous ultrason- wheels is presented in Figures 6 and 7.
ic measurement of wheel sinkage were The correlation between harvester and
difficult to interpret with stony mineral forwarder average front and rear wheel
soils as the position of the vehicle chas- true sinkage was 0.79, and the suit-
sis affected the measurement. Reason- ability of mobility mapping by harvester
able measurement results were, how- was thus found to be good. The studied
ever, achieved on peatland sites. Figure 6-wheeled harvester was found to per-
5 gives an example of harvester perfor- form unfavourably in peatland operations,
16

17. Figure 4. Rut depth vs. shear modulus for
the studied mineral and peat soils.
Figure 5. Ultrasound sinkage and manual rut
measurement results on peatland.
17

18. Figures 6 and 7. True wheel sinkage of the studied harvester and
forwarder measured with the ultrasound technique.
since the true sinkage of its rear wheels creasing machine down-time and lowering
was 3.1 times that of the front wheels, as unit costs for the whole year. In the con-
compared to the corresponding figure of tractor A scenario (peatland logging com-
1.7 for the forwarder. Placement of the ul- prising 25% of the total removal), for in-
trasonic transducers was critical to avoid- stance, in which peatland forest was har-
ing damage and erroneous readings. vestable either only during winter or year
round, the most economical approach was
to purchase soft soil equipment and mod-
4.2 Operational efficiency in year- ify one logging unit for summertime peat-
round CTL harvesting on sensitive land logging (Figure 8). Depending on the
soils and differences between modification class for peatland loggings,
operators in forwarder work the decrease in unit costs was 1.2 to 3.8%
Unit costs varied from 9.5 to 11.9 €/m³ for year-round logging compared to peat-
with contractor A, from 12.6 to 15.8 €/ land logging only during wintertime.
m³ with contractor B and from 15.2 to When the share of peatland logging in-
18.7 €/m³ with contractor C depending creased to 30% or more, there was a def-
on the study scenario. The mean pro- inite need to modify one logging unit for
ductivity of peatland loggings during the soft soil logging during summertime.
winter period was 12.0 m³/h, where- On general comparison, none of the
as the productivities of year-round peat- modification classes clearly outperformed
land logging with the modification class- the others in monetary terms. Analysis of
es of “improved bearing”, “high bearing” the study cases of all contractors indicat-
and “extreme bearing” were 10.5, 10.7, ed that when the share of lowest bearing
and 10.9 m³/h, respectively. Regardless capacity peatland sites is high and peat-
of the higher logging productivity during land loggings are carried out throughout
wintertime for peatland sites, the limited the summer period, the most economical
number of logging sites during the non- approach is to invest in achieving the “ex-
frozen period favoured the harvesting of treme bearing” modification class. Addi-
some peatland sites during summertime, tionally, the smaller the ground pressure
thus increasing logging opportunities, de- of the machine, the less rutting problems
18

19. and work interruptions occurred, and the nificantly if the base machine was used
more the machine was capable of driving year round. This is an essential factor in
itself free after sticking in peaty soil improving cost-competitiveness in com-
One significant cost saving method is parison to manual planting. One of the
to schedule an optimal cutting order for three logging units could be dedicated to
peatland sites according to their ground planting seedlings and extracting logging
bearing capacity class. Sites classed with residues and stumps during the summer.
the lowest ground bearing capacity should In the virtual simulator study, exten-
be harvested during winter when the sive variation was found between opera-
ground is frozen and the highest bearing tors in both the velocity and the length of
site classes should be summer harvested. trajectory of the boom tip. The most pro-
According to the simulation results, ductive operator performed at the highest
use of excavator-based forest machines velocity and the shortest length of trajec-
for peatland harvesting during autumn tory per average grapple load cycle. Re-
and winter and for seedling planting dur- spectively, the slowest operator had the
ing summer was a feasible and cost-effi- second longest boom tip trajectory. Min-
cient option. Planting costs decreased sig- imal difference was found in the perpen-
Figure 8. Logging costs of contractor A per study scenario. With the modification
class “basic”, peatland loggings were carried out only during winter, whereas
the other modification classes enabled year-round peatland logging.
Share of peatlands,% ~10 ~10 ~10 ~10 ~25 ~25 ~25 ~25 ~40 ~40
Length of winter, mth 3.5 3.5 2 2 3.5 3.5 2 2 3.5 3.5
Summer loggings, m³ 50,500 41,300 50,500 41,300 50,500 41,300 50,500 41,300 50,500 41,300
Down time/chain, h 107 356 415 661 8-111 202-366 ~15 ~230 0 ~50
Peatland loggings, m³ 9,326 9,326 9,369 9,326 ~24,000 ~24,000 ~24,100 ~24,100 ~40,500 ~40,600
Total removal, m³ 116,180 106,320 92,900 84,010 109,000 100,000 ~103,200 ~95,350 ~105,800 ~104,000
-112,500 -106,500
19

20. dicular distance (x-component) to the Figure 9. Difference reflectance spectra
pile, whereas the difference between op- showing the difference between fresh
and dry wood chromophores and the
erators in the roadwise distance (y-com-
difference between the pulps produced
ponent) to the pile was larger.
from these irrespective of the refining
conditions
4.3 Quality control with
procurement chains relying on
buffer ood stocks
w
4.3.1 Differences between fresh
and stored spruce logs and TMP
pulps derived from them
Over-summer land-stored spruce pulp-
wood had clearly higher dry matter con-
tent (72% vs. 43%) and about 4 percent-
age units lower brightness than otherwise
similar fresh spruce pulpwood. The UV-Vis
spectra of wood pellets of the raw mate-
rials (Figure 9) reveal that the content of
structures absorbing at 460 and 490 nm,
and to some extent also >600 nm, is high-
er in dry wood. These structures tend to
be formed during wood storage, whereas
structures absorbing ~400 and 600 nm are
formed mainly during refining.
Chromophores formed during wood Figure 10. Difference reflectance spectra
storage or during pulp refining can be re- showing coloured structures remaining
moved more efficiently from fresh wood to a higher extent in dry pulp after
than from dry wood during peroxide peroxide bleaching (1.5, 3 and 4.5%
bleaching (Figure 10). H2O2).
4.3.2 Plate gap phenomena
The dryness of wood does not influ-
ence thermo-mechanical pulping unless
the moisture content remains above fi-
bre saturation point. With the exception
of optical properties, pulp properties be-
tween fresh and stored wood were rel-
atively similar. The similar shape of the
temperature profiles at the plate gap in-
dicates similar pulp flow between fresh
and stored raw materials. Stored wood
caused slightly higher temperature levels
(Figure 11), possibly due to higher pulp
consistency during refining. The lower
pulp freeness level obtained for dry chips
20

21. Figure 11. The temperature and shear forces distribution at the plate gap
at first stage refining of fresh and dry chips with SEC 1.54 MWh/t.
Figure 12. Effect of chip washing treatments on pulp brightness.
Comparison with pilot TMP pulps (TMP 13 fresh and TMP 26 dry) prepared
from unwashed chips, although the pulps prepared from washed chips
were prepared with a wing refiner. TMP-Q indicates the pulp brightness
after chelation.
21

22. Figure 13. Effect of chip pretreatment on final brightness after peroxide bleaching
(3% H2O2, 2.25% NaOH, 2% silicate, 15% consistency, 70°C, 120 min).
Figure 14. Effect of efficient pulp washing aimed at metals removal and high final
brightness after peroxide bleaching (3% H2O2, 2.25% NaOH, 2% silicate, 15%
consistency, 70°C, 120 min).
22

23. (391 ml vs. 459 ml) may be related to the fective as DTPA or acid washing, suggest-
greater shear forces measured at the out- ing that metals do not play a significant
er parts of the plate gap. role in this brightness increase.
After pulp washing, the bleachability
4.3.3 Chip washing results are similar to those after chip pre-
treatments (Figure 14). The final bright-
The effect of chip pretreatments on pulp ness of the bleached dry pulp remains
brightness after refining is shown in lower regardless of the pretreatments,
Figure 12. Normal pulp chelation with- and pulp washing with water seems to be
out chip pretreatment results in similar as efficient as DTPA or acid washing. In
brightness increase levels to chip pre- this case, the brightness difference bet-
treatments, especially in the case of fresh ween bleached fresh and dry pulp re-
wood. After chip pretreatment, pulp che- mains similar after pulp washing. In this
lation has no additional effect on pulp respect, chip washing can be more bene-
brightness. Unexpectedly, water treat- ficial and may be related to lower for-
ment is as efficient as DTPA or acid wash- mation of coloured structures during re-
ing, suggesting that the brightness in- fining.
crease is due to the washing/extraction
of other wood components than metals.
The effect of chip pretreatments on
pulp bleachability was evaluated by small-
5. Future plans and key
scale bleaching experiments (3% H2O2, development needs
2.25% NaOH, 2% silicate, 15% consis-
tency, 70°C, 120 min). Before bleach- In silvicultural practices such as the tend-
ing, all of the pulps were chelated us- ing and clearing of young stands, a pro-
ing 0.25% DTPA at 2% consistency, pH ductivity increase of 15% is attainable
6, and 70° for 20 min. The final bright- through full mechanization. In wood har-
ness of the bleached dry pulps remained vesting from intensively managed forests,
lower despite the pretreatments (Figure a productivity increase of 15–20 % has
13). Chip pretreatment with water seems been estimated to result from improved
again to be as efficient as DTPA or ac- material handling, use of semi-automa-
id pretreatment. However, after chip pre- tion with operator tutoring, and higher ca-
treatments the difference between the pacity utilization rate.
final brightness of fresh and dry pulps Finnish logging technology is inter-
seems to be less. nationally regarded as being of the high-
est level. A major bottleneck for larger
4.3.4 Pulp washing market penetration by Nordic forest ma-
Pulp washing experiments gave simi- chines, however, has been the poor avail-
lar results to the chip pretreatment ex- ability of operators sufficiently trained to
periments (results are not shown). Pulp operate the machines economically and
chelation results in similar brightness in- efficiently. A technological leap has been
creases in fresh and dry pulp than the achieved in the driving and manoeuvring
pulp washing treatments tested. After of forest machines through the innova-
washing, pulp chelation has no significant tive fusion of data collected by forest ma-
effect on brightness, as could be expect- chines, machine perception (i.e. machine
ed. Again, pure water treatment is as ef- vision and laser scanners) and ground
23

24. sensors. These data are integrated and in harvesting machinery are made. For-
interpreted into meaningful feedback and est machine manufacturers see high po-
guidance for the machine operator, en- tential in adding intelligence to machines
abling the operator to improve their per- to support driving and operating in ways
formance to match the machine’s capabil- that minimise sinkage and soil damage.
ities. In addition, tree mapping data mea- The comparative findings regarding
sured during cutting using SLAM (Simul- the processing of stored and dried pulp-
taneous (machine) Localization and (tree) wood could serve as a starting point for
Mapping principles is used in the updat- more efficient wood procurement opera-
ing and quality monitoring of stand data- tions. The proposed efficiency enhance-
bases for future stand management pur- ment would be based on the delivery of
poses. A radical innovation is to apply fibre, instead of water, to the mill. The re-
the latest findings and solutions of ma- sulting change in one of the key operat-
chine- and AI-assisted feedback, advising ing parameters, i.e. mass of wood per cu-
and tutoring of pilots/operators of moving bic meter, would have consequences for
machines such as military and aviation all wood procurement operations, from
equipment to the forest operations envi- harvester operations (actions to promote
ronment. Modern forest machines provide debarking) to all transportation vehicles
an excellent platform for studying and de- (change in size of cargo space, or total
veloping this concept. Research in this mass, or demand for trucks), and wood
area, which began under the Less is more storage operations (new storing methods,
project, is being continued within Forest- wood terminals).
cluster Ltd’s EffFibre programme.
6. Exploitation plan and
impact of results
The project results revealed strategic de-
velopment needs as well as practical so-
lutions for achieving cost efficient wood
supply. The studies concerning technolog-
ical solutions for harvesting on soft soils
are directly applicable when investments
24

25. 7. Publications and Väätäinen, K., Lamminen, S., Sirén,
M., Ala-Ilomäki, J. and Asikainen,
reports A., Ympärivuotisen puunkorjuun kustan-
Hallongren, H., Use of track-based ex- nusvaikutukset ojitetuilla turvemailla
cavators in year-round forest operations − korjuuyrittäjätason simulointitutkimus
– A simulation study of mechanical for- (Cost effects of year-round harvesting of
est planting and peatland forest harvest- drained peatland forests). Working Papers
ing). University of Eastern Finland, Facul- of the Finnish Forest Research Institute
ty of Science and Forestry, Master’s the- 184, 2010, 57 p. ISBN 978-951-40-2276-
sis in Forest and wood technology, 2010 0 (PDF). (In Finnish)
(In Finnish).
Lamminen, S., Väätäinen, K., & Asi-
kainen, A. Operational efficiency of the
year-round CTL-harvesting on sensitive
sites in Finland – A simulation study. Pre-
cision Forestry Symposium. Stellebosch.
South-Africa. 1.3.2010. (presentation)
Lamminen, S., Väätäinen, K. & Asi-
kainen, A. 2010. Operational efficien-
cy of the year-round CTL-harvesting on
sensitive sites in Finland – A simulation
study In: Ackerman, P.A., Ham, H. & Lu,
C. (eds) Developments in Precision For-
estry since 2006. Proceedings of the In-
ternational Precision Forestry Symposium,
Stellenbosch, South Africa, 1–3 March
2010. Stellenbosch University, p. 18–21.
(extended abstract)
Sirviö, J., Särkilahti, A., Liitiä, L.,
Fredrikson, A., Salminen, L.I. & Nur-
minen, I., Prolonged wood storage
causes mainly brightness problems for
TMP. International mechanical pulping
conference, June 27–29, 2011, Xi’an, Chi-
na. Accepted.
Väätäinen, K., Discrete event simula-
tion - an advanced method for analyzing
complex logging operations In: Acker-
man, P.A., Ham, H. & Lu, C. (eds.) Devel-
opments in Precision Forestry since 2006.
Proceedings of the International Precision
Forestry Symposium, Stellenbosch, South
Africa, 1–3 March 2010. Stellenbosch Uni-
versity, p. 17. (extended abstract)
25

26. New value chains of Finnish
forest industry
utilizing domestic wood
Project Manager Jari Hynynen, jari.hynynen@metla.fi
Duration of the project 1.6.2008–30.8.2010
Project budget EUR 495,000
Project partners Role of participating organization
Finnish Forest Research Project coordination. Analysis of the wood supply chain
Institute (Metla) (forest management, harvesting and logging, carbon
sequestration): modelling, simulation and decision
support systems, wood properties.
VTT Technical Research VTT was responsible for carbon footprint calculation.
Centre of Finland VTT and Metla co-developed a link between the MOTTI
and KCL-ECO programs, thus providing a tool for carbon
footprint analysis of the value chain.
VTT (Jyväskylä) was responsible for dense media
fractionation studies.
26

27. Abstract
The New value chains of Finnish forest industry utilizing domestic wood project aimed at finding
research-based solutions for cost efficiently and sustainably increasing and improving the pro-
duction and availability of high quality domestic wood. The project also aimed at improving the
energy and resource efficiency as well as environmental-friendliness of current and future forest
industry value chains. Intensive forest management was found to be justifiable for cost-efficient
and sustainable production of high quality raw material for the forest industry. Carbon footprint
analysis (LCA approach) of the production value chain for super-calendered (SC) paper showed
that the most important source of CO2 eq. was the production of the electrical power consumed
by integrated SC paper mills. Adopting a forest management strategy which combines pulp-
wood, timber and energy wood production, and the use of energy wood as an energy source
at the mill can notably decrease the carbon footprint of the value chain. Wood properties were
found to be affected by management practices, and have a notable effect on the resource and
energy efficiency of pulping processes.
The project provides new research-based information on the potential of alternative forest
management strategies to produce high quality wood and biomass for the forest industry. Fur-
thermore, new information is produced and methods developed for assessing the energy and
resource efficiency and environmental friendliness of the alternative value chains of the forest
cluster. The results of the carbon footprint analysis can be applied in assessing the environmen-
tal friendliness of alternative wood supply and wood processing chains, and in assessing their
effects on emission trading. The results are applicable in the decision making and planning of
new practices in different parts of forest cluster value chains.
Keywords: forest management, growth and yield, wood properties, carbon sequestration,
carbon footprint, LCA analysis, pulp and paper making processes, SC paper, dense media frac-
tionation, value chain
27

28. 1. Project background • Improving the quality of domestic
wood as raw material for the forest
The aim of the Finnish forest cluster is to industry
double the value of its forest-based prod- • Improving the energy and resource
ucts and services, and to increase the efficiency of wood processing in
use of domestic wood by 25%. The whole a cost efficient and sustainable
value chain from forest to end products manner.
should be accomplished in a sustainable,
environmentally-friendly and responsible Carbon footprint analysis was used
manner. To meet this goal, the entire for- to calculate the energy and resource ef-
est cluster value chain needs to be de- ficiency of value chains. Regarding wood
veloped. In order to do this, all practices supply, the effects of alternative wood
within the value chain must be thorough- production chains on carbon sequestra-
ly analyzed and evaluated, and the most tion were assessed, as well as the car-
critical practices identified. bon footprint of practices applied in forest
Increasing the value of forest-based management, logging and the transpor-
products requires new methods in wood tation of wood. In wood processing, the
production in order to ensure the avail- energy efficiency of alternative production
ability of high quality raw material, and processes was emphasized.
new methods in wood processing in order
to ensure high quality end products. Fur-
thermore, the energy, resource and cost
efficiency of all parts of the value chain
3. Research approach
need to be improved. Life cycle and car- The research approach was based on ho-
bon footprint analyses have proved to be listic analysis of the entire value chain.
applicable methods for assessing the de- Critical parts and activities within the val-
gree of sustainability and environmen- ue chain requiring improvement in order
tal-friendliness of activities and process- to meet the project objectives were iden-
es within the value chain. tified and emphasized.
Value chains were assessed using
model-based scenario analyses. The case
study approach was regarded as a via-
2. Project objectives ble method of performing the value chain
The project addressed the energy and re- analysis. Wood supply scenarios were
source efficiency of the forest industry’s created for a set of typical Finnish for-
current and future domestic raw materi- est types which, on one hand, represent
al based value chains. The current val- the most important forest areas for wood
ue chain covers forest management for production in Finland and, on the other
wood production, logging and transporta- hand, are challenging in terms of domes-
tion of wood from the forest to the mill/ tic wood supply. The forest types includ-
plant, and the processing of wood into ed in the analyses were:
end products. 1. Norway spruce stands on high
The main objectives of the project are productive mineral soil sites in
to find research-based solutions for: southern Finland
• Improving the availability of 2. Scots pine stands on mineral soil
domestic wood sites in central Finland
• Increasing domestic wood 3. Scots pine stands on drained
production peatland sites in central Finland.
28

29. The objective of the analysis was product (cradle-to-gate) was analyzed for
to asses the impact of management on the SC paper production chain (Figure 1).
wood supply. We therefore applied a sim- We analyzed the carbon footprint of the
plifying assumption regarding the forest value chain, describing the greenhouse
structure. We assumed that for each for- gases emitted throughout the life cycle
est type, the forest area constitutes a uni- of the product or system. This was ac-
form “normal forest” in which stands of all complished by applying LCA calculations,
age classes from regeneration to end of taking greenhouse gas emissions into ac-
rotation are represented in equal propor- count.
tion. For this type of forest area, the an- For calculating the carbon footprint
nual wood and biomass production, car- of the value chain we integrated models
bon sequestration level, and management describing:
operation volumes are constant. • Development of forest stand
For each case study, four alternative dynamics and the effects of forest
management scenarios were created: management on stand development
1. Management according to current and wood quality
management recommendations for • Time and energy consumption of
commercial forests (‘business as wood procurement (logging, storage
usual’): combined pulp and timber and transportation)
production • Practices and processes in the wood
2. Extensive management: no processing industry
management practices in addition
to obligatory forest regeneration In the analysis, two advanced simula-
operations tion tools were combined and applied: the
3. Pulpwood production chain applying MOTTI simulator for wood supply analy-
short rotations without commercial sis, and KCL-ECO for industrial processes
thinnings and LCA calculations.
4. Management adapted to climate The results of this project are applica-
change: combined production of ble in the development of greenhouse gas
pulp, timber and biomass aiming at inventory methods. The most favourable
high levels of carbon sequestration production chains were identified with re-
in the growing stock and soil, spect to their carbon footprint.
and production of renewable raw The potential for influencing wood
material and energy to replace properties through forest management
fossil fuels. methods was investigated by collecting
and analyzing wood samples from long-
The wood supply scenarios were ana- term experimental stands with varying
lyzed with respect to the quantity and treatment intensity (thinning and fertil-
quality of raw material produced, the cost ization trials of Metla). This data was uti-
and energy efficiency of wood supply, and lized in statistical analysis and modelling
their carbon sequestration potential. The of wood properties and their response to
MOTTI stand simulation software of the alternative management methods. In ad-
Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla) dition, the same sample tree data were
was applied in this analysis augmented utilized in fractionation (VTT, Jyväskylä)
with the Yasso model for prediction of soil and pulping studies (VTT, Espoo). The aim
carbon dynamics. of the fractionation studies was to deter-
The energy and resource efficiency of mine the potential of dense media frac-
the whole value chain from forest to end tionation of wood prior to pulping in nar-
29

30. Figure 1. Alternative wood supply chains from
spruce stands in southern Finland
(adapted from Hynynen, 2009).
rowing the variation of raw material prop- energy wood comprised a notable share
erties and in reducing the energy con- of total yield, resulting in the highest to-
sumption and costs of fibre production. tal yields for mineral soil sites.
Pulping experiments were carried out The net annual carbon sequestration,
to show the effect of the wood proper- average carbon storage in the growing
ties of spruce and pine, as influenced by stock and soil, and emissions from man-
growth rate, on process efficiency and agement practices were calculated for
pulp quality. spruce stands, the main results of which
are presented in Table 1.
Harvestable carbon content is propor-
tional to harvestable yield. The average
4. Results carbon storage of forest is, as expected,
highest in unmanaged stands with high
4.1 Forest industry value chains stocking densities. Despite their high car-
Mean annual wood and biomass produc- bon storage, their net sequestration ca-
tion was notably affected by management pacity is proportional to their net biomass
strategy (Figure 2). Intensive manage- yield. Ultimately, the impact of alternative
ment scenarios aiming at combined pro- wood supply scenarios on the atmospher-
duction of pulpwood and timber result- ic CO2 balance depends on how the har-
ed in the highest harvestable yields. On vested wood and biomass yield is utilized.
the other hand, extensive management The proportion of emissions related
lead to poor saw timber production and to management practices, including sil-
increased natural mortality. In climate vicultural operations, logging and sec-
change adjusted management, recovered ondary haulage, are marginal compared
30

31. Figure 2. Mean annual wood and biomass yields of
different forest types treated according to alternative
management scenarios (preliminary results).
31

32. to the carbon content of harvesting re- mill, were assumed to be the same in all
movals. Although biomass recovery in- other scenarios.
volves fairly intensive harvesting opera- Data on the different forest manage-
tions, emissions account for only a few ment scenarios and operations performed
percent of the CO2 content of the recov- was produced using the Motti software de-
ered biomass, which can be used to sub- veloped by Metla, including data on emis-
stitute fossil fuels in energy production. sions and fuel use. The received data in-
The carbon footprint calculations were cluded emissions of CO2, CO, HC, NOX, PM
made for typical Finnish SC paper, which and SO2. In addition, it contained data on
was assumed to be produced in an inte- the consumption of petrol, diesel and other
grated mill. The unit processes of the life oils, the latter of which were assumed to be
cycle are presented in Figure 3, where the lubricating oils. Emissions from the extrac-
different colours represent the different tion and processing of these fuels were tak-
life cycle stages. The other unit process- en into account using data received from
es, excluding forestry and the integrated public databases. Land use was also tak-
Table 1. Carbon statistics for the wood supply chain
in Norway spruce stands, expressed in CO2 equivalent units
(preliminary results).
Traditional
Short
rotation
Management
Extensive
management
management
adjusted
to
management
climate
change
Carbon
content
of
6 880 5 560 6 620 4 700
annually
harvested
commercial
stemwood
(kg
CO2e
year-­‐1
ha-­‐1)
Carbon
content
of
- - 3 630 -
annually
harvested
energy
wood
-­‐1
-­‐1
(kg
CO2e
year ha )
Average
carbon
189 570 136 770 210 680 487 300
storage
in
growing
stock
-­‐1
(kg
CO2e
ha )
Average
carbon
221 280 225 870 158 770 325 230
storage
in
soil
(kg
CO2e
ha-­‐1)
Mean
annual
emissions
115 115 138 63
of
forest
operations
(kg
CO2e
year-­‐1
ha-­‐1)
32

33. Figure 3. System boundaries and unit processes in
the carbon footprint calculations for SC paper.
en into account. The amount of wood har- sions, the impact of forest management
vested in the different scenarios was given actions are visible in the end results.
in kg dry matter (including bark) per hect- The main conclusions of the carbon
are. The amount of wood harvested and the footprint calculations were as follows:
emissions from each harvesting operation • The most important source of
varied between the scenarios. CO2 eq. was the production of the
Other data used in the calculations electricity used by the integrated SC
was derived from the KCL EcoData and mill
Ecoinvent databases. The consumption of • The TMP/kraft ratio affects the
energy, wood and chemicals by the inte- results: the bigger the share of TMP,
grated SC mill vs. depending on the TMP/ the bigger the footprint
kraft ratio as described below (4.2.1, • The biggest decrease in the carbon
Wood properties and carbon footprint of footprint of SC paper came from
the SC paper value chain, and Table 2). the use of energy wood for heat
The functional unit of the calculations production in the “FAST, climate,
was chosen to be 1,000 kg SC paper. The wood as fuel” case
results of the different scenarios are pre- • Direct emissions from forest
sented in Figure 4. The main differenc- management operations had only
es are caused by changes in energy con- a minor impact on the results
sumption by the integrated paper mill. Al- • The transport and manufacture of
though forestry operations account for on- chemicals and fillers had only
ly a small proportion of overall GHG emis- a minor impact on the results.
33

34. Table 2. Estimated changes in pulp and paper making processes
due to changes in wood raw material properties.
Forestry management Extensive Tapio Climate change Fibre wood
recomm. adjusted production
Growth rate of wood Slow Normal Fast Very fast
SEC , MWh/t TMP 2.9 3.2 3.5 3.8
TMP
Heat from TMP process,
3.7 4.1 4.5 4.9
GJ / t TMP
TMP, %/ t paper
55.5 48 40.5 33
Spruce, kg / t paper 509 440 371 303
Pine kraft, %/ t paper 12.5 20 27.5 35
Pine kraft, kg/ t paper 137.5 220 303 385
4.2 Effect of wood • The type of forest management
properties on pulp and paper affects the stem growth rate (slow
making processes to very fast)
• TMP refining of fast-grown wood
4.2.1 Wood properties and carbon to desired freeness requires more
footprint of the SC paper value energy per pulp tonne than refining
chain slow-grown wood
The effect of different wood production • The kraft content of the furnish has
scenarios on the carbon footprint of the to be increased due to the lower
SC paper value chain was evaluated. With strength properties of TMP made
respect to mechanical pulping and paper- from fast-grown wood raw material
making, wood and fibre properties such • The percentage increase in
as fibre dimensions or wood density are steam heat recovery (heat
significant and were affected by the dif- energy production) is assumed
ferent growth rates in the different forest to correspond to the increase in
management scenarios. energy consumption of refining
If the fibre properties change, the • For the evaluated wood production
paper properties also change. Since the scenarios, the estimated growth
quality of the end product needed to be rates, energy consumptions,
kept constant, certain modifications to the required increase in kraft content,
furnish were required (Table 2). and the change in heat energy
For the calculations, the following as- production are presented in the
sumptions were made: Table 2.
34

35. 4.2.2 Fractionation prior to pulping ed according to the desired basic density
Pine logs representing three different of the fractions. Concentrated sodium sul-
growth rates were delivered for fraction- phate solution was used as the fractionat-
ation and pulping studies from Metla’s ex- ing medium. Continuously operating pro-
perimental plot. The logs were debarked totype fractionation equipment was used
and chipped at VTT and their average ba- for the fractionation trials.
sic densities were determined. The max- According to the results, dense media
imum density and coarseness difference fractionation can be used to increase the
of the samples were 33 kg m-3 and 15 basic density and coarseness difference
µg m-1. Some sample logs were also an- of pin chips. The maximum basic densi-
alyzed at STFI Packforsk using the Sil- ty and coarseness difference were 150 kg
viscan method. m-3 and 50 µg m-1, respectively. The me-
The chip size was reduced to less than chanical pulping trials showed density to
2 mm thickness in order to separate the be a critical raw material parameter with
earlywood and latewood using a method respect to energy consumption and pulp
developed by VTT. The resulting pin chips quality. The energy consumption differ-
were then steamed and impregnated with ence of the fractions was 47%. The frac-
water to remove air and to fill the fibre tions also showed clear differences in pa-
lumens and pores with water. Chip frac- per sample surface roughness and den-
tionation was performed using the dense sity values.
media fractionation method. The density Standard cooking trials were also car-
of the fractionating medium was adjust- ried out, but only for medium growth rate
fractions. Yield and brightness differences
between these fractions were measured,
Figure 4. Carbon footprint results for SC but further studies are required to verify
paper with different forestry scenarios. them conclusively. Use of optimized cook-
ing conditions should reveal larger fibre
level differences between fractions.
4.2.3 Pulping trials
The aim of the pulping experiments was
to show the effect of the wood properties
of spruce and pine, as affected by growth
rate, on process efficiency and pulp qual-
ity.
Compared to the corresponding slow-
grown raw material, the spruce and pine
samples with higher growth rate had low-
er fibre length, fibre wall thickness and
density, and higher fibre width. Pine
samples had lower fibre length and fibre
width, but higher fibre wall thickness and
density than the corresponding spruce
samples.
In the kraft pulping experiments,
a shorter cooking time (lower H-factor)
35

36. Figure 5. Total yield of the cooking experiments (left) and specific
energy consumption of the TMP refining trials (right) for spruce
and pine samples with lower and higher growth rates.
was needed for cooking fast-grown pine energy for refining to a given drainabili-
to a given kappa than for slow-grown ty than slow-grown materials (Figure 5).
pine. The alkali consumption was lower Fibre length was lower, but in the case
and the yield was one unit higher. How- of pine, the difference diminished during
ever, the situation was the reverse in the refining. The growth rate did not affect
case of spruce. The pulps made from the tensile index but, in the case of pine,
fast-grown raw materials had lower fi- tear was lower for fast-grown wood. Light
bre length than those made from slow- scattering was higher for fast-grown wood
ly grown raw materials, and also had a samples.
lower tear index at a given refining en- Pine pulps had lower fibre length, ten-
ergy level. Bulk was also lower, while air sile and tear, but higher bulk and better
resistance, internal bonding strength and light scattering than spruce pulps.
light-scattering were higher. Tensile in-
dex was higher in the case of fast-grown
spruce, although no effect was seen with
pine.
5. Future plans and
Compared to spruce, pine needed a key development needs
longer cooking time to reach the speci-
fied kappa, and had higher chemical con- The project revealed the potential of in-
sumption and lower yield (Figure 5). Pine tensive forest management to cost-ef-
pulps had lower average fibre length, low- ficiently and sustainably ensure a high
er bulk, better internal bonding strength quality raw material supply for the Finn-
and higher light scattering. Slow-grown ish forest and energy industries. These
spruce had the lowest tensile strength results, together with advanced analysis
and fast-grown pine had the lowest tear methods developed in this project, en-
strength. courage further research to extend the
In the TMP refining experiments fast- wood supply scenarios and calculations
grown wood raw materials required more from a case-study level to the practical
36

37. level. This work is continuing in the Eff- area for demonstrating intensive man-
Fibre programme. The goal is to produce agement is therefore being proposed by
forest management scenarios at the na- Metsähallitus and Metla to serve as a cru-
tional level, applying up-to-date informa- cial element of the EffFibre programme.
tion from the latest National Forest In- There is a clear need to improve and
ventory as the starting point. The defi- develop means of environmental com-
nition of the scenarios will be carried out munication and to produce scientifically
as close cooperation between industri- grounded solutions for evaluating the cur-
al and research partners of the EffFibre rent most important environmental indi-
programme. Scenarios will be calculated cators for forest-based industry: biogen-
applying the methods developed in this ic carbon balance (in growing stock and
project (such as the extended version of soil), water footprint, land use change,
the Motti software). and biodiversity. The EffFibre programme
In order to be widely applied, practi- will take into account these research
cal-scale demonstration areas of intensive questions and use the knowledge gained
forest management are needed. In these not only in the New Value Chains project
areas, practical feasibility can be evalu- but also other VTT projects relevant to
ated and practical methods for intensive this area. Cooperation will be carried out
forest management can be further devel- with Metla, VTT and the Finnish Environ-
oped and modified. An extensive forest mental Research Institute.
Figure 6. Integration of dense media fractionation and potential
uses of the fractions (Hakala Juha, Kaijaluoto Sakari, Kalliola Anna
and Simons Magnus).
37

38. The studies on the influence of raw management recommendations on indus-
material properties on the efficiency of trial wood production for forest owners.
pulp and papermaking processes will be The project produces new information and
continued in EffFibre WP2. The defibra- develops new methods for assessing the
tion phenomena of fast-grown wood in energy and resource efficiency and envi-
the TMP refiner plate gap and the effect ronmental friendliness of alternative for-
of raw material/TMP quality on the be- est cluster value chains. The results of the
haviour of furnish in the papermaking carbon footprint analysis can be applied
process will be examined in realistic pro- in assessing the environmental friendli-
cess conditions. Increased knowledge of ness of alternative wood supplies and
these mechanisms can be utilized in the wood processing chains, and in assessing
development of energy efficient defibra- their effects on emission trading. The re-
tion techniques for fast-grown wood from sults are applicable in the decision making
intensively managed forests. The effect of and planning of new practices for different
growth rate on the yield-saving potential parts of the forest cluster value chains.
of uniform and selective cooking and ox- The results regarding wood proper-
ygen delignification will be clarified in co- ties can be applied in developing new
operation with EffFibre WP4. The quali- measures in industrial wood processing.
ty of wood, pulp and end products will For example, chemical pulp mills are ide-
be linked to carbon footprint calculations. al facilities for fractionation as the frac-
Regarding fractionation prior to pulping, tionation medium can be produced from
as the next step, larger scale fractionation fly ash or green liquor, both of which are
trials with commercial equipment followed readily available at the kraft pulp mill.
by pilot-scale mechanical and chemical Pulping concepts and some potential us-
pulping are proposed. es of fractions are illustrated in Figure 6.
6. Exploitation plan
and impact of results
The project provides new research-based
information regarding the potential of al-
ternative forest management strategies
to produce high quality wood and bio-
mass for the forest industry. The results
regarding the wood supply alternatives
are applicable in practice, for example,
as a support at different levels of deci-
sion making concerning forest manage-
ment or in forest policy making. The re-
sults can also be applied in the form of
38

39. 7. Publications and
reports
Behm, K., Liukkonen, S., Sokka, L.,
Wessman, H. Carbon footprint for dif-
ferent forest management options. VTT
Research Report. VTT-R-06769-10. 18 p.
Edelmann K., Seppänen V., Heikki-
nen J., New value chains – Wood frac-
tionation, VTT Research Report VTT-
R-04772-09, 35 p+ appendix 24 p.
Edelmann K., Seppänen V., Heik-
kinen J., New fiber properties through
dense media fractionation prior to pulp-
ing. http://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/sympo-
siums/2010/S263.pdf. 2009 Wood and Fi-
ber Product Seminar. VTT and USDA Joint
Activity. Harlin, Ali; Vikman, Minna (eds.).
VTT Symposium 263. VTT. Espoo (2010),
pp. 89–94
Hynynen, J. 2008. Possibilities and
methods to increase biomass production
in Finland. Presentation at KCL’s Science
Evening “Sustainability starts from the
forest” 3.9.2008.
Hynynen, J. 2010. Comprehensive car-
bon footprint analysis of the value chains
of forest industry. Presentation. SHOK
Summit 2010. Helsinki 20.4.2010.
Seppänen V., Heikkinen J. and Edel-
mann K., Pine wood fractionation into
early wood and latewood rich fractions,
Poster at the 2010 International Work-
shop on Wood Biorefinery and Tree Bio-
technology, 21–23 June 2010, Örnskölds-
vik, Sweden
39

40. Functional genomics of wood
formation towards knowledge-
based breeding of wood
Project Manager Teemu Teeri, teemu.teeri@helsinki.fi
Duration of the project 1.5.2008–30.9.2010
Project budget EUR 1,126,000
Project partners Role of participating organization
University of Helsinki, Populus trichocarpa genome mining, gene model analy-
Department of Biological and sis, molecular biology, gene expression analysis, vector
Environmental Sciences, Plant construction for plant transformations. Gene expression
Biology (Ykä Helariutta, Jaak- analysis of transgenic overexpression lines. Growing and
ko Kangasjärvi, Kurt Fager- phenotyping transgenic lines.
stedt)
University of Helsinki, Detection of natural variation in the pine PST-1 gene,
Department of Agricultural correlations between phenotypic variation in decay re-
Sciences (Teemu Teeri) sistance and molecular variation in the PST-1 gene (to-
gether with Metla), second level candidate genes for stil-
bene biosynthesis using DNA microarrays.
Metla, Muhos Research Unit, High throughput screening of stilbenes, natural genet-
Punkaharju Research Unit ic variation in heartwood extractives, certified pedigree
(Katri Kärkkäinen) seed for orchards.
40

41. Abstract
The Functional genomics of wood formation II project aims at uncovering key genetic determi-
nants responsible for wood development in forest trees with the aim of using them to control
both wood quality and growth in forest tree breeding. The approach is to use several species of
forest trees (birch, poplar, spruce and pine) and to utilize the special advantages of each species.
In order to find ways to improve both wood growth and quality and to provide applicable bio-
technology tools, transgenic poplar lines and phenotypes overexpressing various ERFs (Ethylene
Response Factors), and cytokinin signalling enhancer genes were generated and screened. In
addition, natural variation in total phenolics causing differences in decay resistance of pine was
studied, and was found to be highly inherited. New methodologies for early selection of this nat-
urally late expressing trait were developed.
Furthermore, lignin biosynthesis addressing the transport of monolignols in plant cells was
studied. This knowledge can be used in the breeding of trees for altered lignin content and qual-
ity in wood.
Keywords: birch, poplar, spruce, pine, ethylene, cytokinins, lignin, stilbenes, extractives,
growth, heartwood
41