Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

This collaborative research project will be undertaken by the partnership of Dr. Yonghao Ni and his team at the University of New Brunswick, with Twin Rivers Paper Inc. The overall objective is to further develop the sulfite pulping process, in particular, related to the utilization of sulphite rejects as part of the raw material in the sulfite pulping process, and the optimization of D2 stage . The specific objectives are: i) to investigate the residual sulfite cooking liquor on the reject refining, and then the cleanness of resultant sulfite pulp; ii) to develop the overall technology in utilizing its sulfite rejects in the sulfite pulping process; and iii) to optimize the D2 stage performance so that a higher brightness gain can be achieved.The Pulp and Paper Industry is vital to the Canadian economy, and it is no exception in New Brunswick. Many communities in the province are relying on this sector. To increase the competitiveness of these pulp mills, they need to produce pulp and paper products with good quality yet at a lower cost. Certainly decreasing the raw material waste by utilizing the sulfite rejects and optimizing the bleaching chemical usages are two important aspects that can be effective to decrease the overall production cost. The results from this project will enable Twin Rivers Paper Inc. to produce its product at a lower production cost, thus increase its competitiveness in the market place. The technologies developed from this project will benefit other Canadian pulp mills in similar situations. In addition, the training of the students/PDFs to enter into the industry will benefit the pulp and paper sector in the long run.