Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 2

Kadant is a leading supplier of the pulp and paper industry. As such, Kadant is developing a new disk filterdesign and will build a prototype. This prototype will have 2 or 3 disks compared to up to 30 for a commercialunit. The disks of the prototype will have the same diameter as the future commercial units. It is essential forKadant to fully prove the possibilities of this new concept before commercialization. Operation data must begathered in order to establish the performance of the prototype in different conditions. Kadant does not have adisk filter in its product line to offer to its customer. In order to present a new product to the industry, Kadantmust demonstrate that its new concept is worthwhile. This will be a new product line for Kadant and that willboost its strong reputation in stock preparation systems. New, improved machinery is also of primerimportance for the Canadian pulp and paper industry which must improve its processes and paper products toremain competitive. The Canadian paper companies that will invest in new equipment, such as an efficientdisk filter, will take a step in the direction of competiveness and efficiency. The project submitted is todevelop the product technology, and if successful, commercial design and manufacturing could be done inKadant facilities and Canadian based sub-contractors as appropriate. This will employ highly qualifiedCanadians. Additionally, the installation of new disk filters in Canadian mills will be done by Canadians. Theproposed project is the first major collaboration between Kadant and Innofibre. It is the intent of Innofibre andKadant to pursue this development with subsequent projects. Innofibre will expand its expertise aboutdewatering equipment which will be transferred to the Canadian industry.