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Energy Industry:
ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY
Four scientists, three Finns and a Swede, were presented
with a major international technology award, the Marcus Wallenberg
Prize, in Stockholm in October. Worth two million Swedish
crowns, the prize was awarded for work in reducing the environmental
impact of pulp production.
The group of scientists found a hitherto undetected component
in pulp, hexenuronic acid, identified its significance and
developed an environmentally friendly way of eliminating it
before the pulp is bleached. As a result of the discovery,
the consumption of bleaching chemicals can be reduced and
subsequently the bleaching costs are lowered.
“Feedback from the scientific community is important.
The discovery has required a lot of work, and it feels good
that applied basic research has produced an innovation from
which real technological solutions will be created and which
has industrial potential,” say the Finnish scientists
involved in the research, Johanna Buchert, Maija Tenkanen
and Tapani Vuorinen.
Hexenuronic acid discovered
The work for which the prize was awarded began at Otaniemi
in Espoo, just outside Helsinki, in 1993 as part of the National
Technology Agency’s (Tekes) three-year research programme
called ‘Carbohydrates in the Process Industry’.
The aim was to look into the behaviour of carbohydrates in
the production of kraft pulp, and to acquire new information
in order to improve the pulp bleaching process and enhance
the pulp quality.
The clearly defined project had five sub-areas and was carried
out in close supervision by an industrial steering group.
Two of the five sub-projects examined the behaviour of hemicellulose
and the chemical structure in the pulp cooking.
Buchert, Tenkanen, Vuorinen and the Swedish member of the
team, Anita Teleman, combined different expertises in their
research, such as wood chemistry, biotechnology, new analytical
techniques and process engineering. Nuclear magnetic resonance
spectroscopy and enzyme technology were used in the autumn
of 1993 to identify the hexenuronic acid being generated in
the pulp cooking.
“Immediately after the discovery, we began examining
how hexenuronic acid reacts under different conditions. We
noticed that, for example, it reacts with several bleaching
chemicals, increasing their consumption, which, in turn, raises
the costs of the bleaching process and is harmful to the environment,”
Vuorinen says.
Millions saved by industry
The discovery led very quickly to the development of a new
bleaching stage: the scientists developed a simple method
for eliminating the hexenuronic acid from unbleached pulp.
The method reduces the need for bleaching chemicals and lowers
the costs of producing bleached pulp. Patent protection for
the invention was applied for in 1994 and the first mill scale
trials were made in 1996.
“We had a strong suspicion that the carboxylic acids
present in pulp-hemicellulose, for example, were important
but not enough was known about their chemistry. We knew that
we were on to something but what it was, that we couldn’t
predict nor expect that the results would lead so quickly
to an improvement in the process,” says Johanna Buchert.
“Although the effects on the wood processing industry
are difficult to measure clearly, they are big: millions of
euros every year. In addition to cost savings, the savings
in chemicals may make it possible to raise the capacity of
a mill’s fibre line, as a result of which it’s been
possible to increase production at some mills by as much as
30 per cent,” Tapani Vuorinen says.
Strength of group work
In the scientific world discoveries often come to light as
a result of group work. Johanna Buchert, Maija Tenkanen and
Tapani Vuorinen lay great emphasis on the importance of group
work and the significance of combining the members’ different
strengths and importance of multidisciplines.
Tenkanen’s and Buchert’s special know-how is in
biotechnology and enzyme applications in the wood processing
industry. Vuorinen is an expert in wood and wood processing
chemistry. Teleman is, with her colleagues, an excellent analyst
and expert in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
“The discovery would never have been made without the
interdisciplinary group work,” Buchert says. “Furthermore,
we carried out the research in the right field. The study
of carbohydrates in the wood processing industry had been
neglected for a long time; the focus had been on studying
lignin. We had a fresh approach and began to think systematically
about what it might lead to.”
“In addition to the carbohydrate research, there was
a need to find new methods for bleaching pulp. In Finland
we were in the front line: companies in the sector played
an active part and Tekes invested in the research. We set
out together to find new solutions,” Maija Tenkanen adds.
Later on, after the results of the research had been made
public, studies and articles relating to hexenuronic acid
were published in their dozens. Scientists have to be careful
that those who make the original discovery will remain in
the memory, and that the results will not disappear gradually
among the names of others along with the numerous source references.
Practical applications
The scientists’ observations about hexenuronic acid
have cast light on several previously poorly understood phenomena
in the bleaching of pulp. It is now possible to explain the
reactions of various bleaching chemicals with pulp, the factors
that restrict bleaching, the effectiveness of various bleaching
chemicals and the differences in the colour reversion of pulp
bleached with chlorine chemicals or oxygen chemicals.
“In most instances the aim is to bleach paper as much
as possible. In time, however, the brightness is reduced,
and that can start to happen even on a mill’s drying
machine. Hexeneuronic acid, if it is still left in the pulp
after bleaching, is one of the causes of paper becoming discoloured,”
Maija Tenkanen says.
The group of scientists is happy that industry showed an
active interest right from the beginning of the project. Andritz
Corporation, which supplies machinery for the pulp and paper
industry, has been doing further development work which has
resulted in successful practical applications.
“We can also thank UPM-Kymmene, which set out boldly
to test the applications,” Tapani Vuorinen adds. UPM-Kymmene
is one of the world’s largest paper companies, focusing
on magazine paper, newsprint, fine and speciality paper, processing
materials and wood products.
Royal recognition
In general, years elapse between a scientific discovery and
an award, during which time the significance of the work is
authenticated by industry. The research projects in award-winning
group’s carbohydrates programme ended officially in 1996.
Johanna Buchert is at this moment the research manager at
VTT Biotechnology in Espoo. Maija Tenkanen is a professor
in the Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology at
Helsinki University. Tapani Vuorinen holds the chair at the
Department of Forest Products Technology at Helsinki University
of Technology, and Anita Teleman is a senior scientist at
Swedish Pulp and Paper Research Institute in Stockholm.
The independent Marcus Wallenberg Foundation promotes scientific
research in the forest industry. The Marcus Wallenberg Prize
is international and was established by the Stora Kopparbergs
Bergslags AB forest company, which later merged with the Finnish
company Enso to become Stora Enso. The prize has now been
awarded 20 times. His Majesty King Carl Gustav XVI handed
over the prize to the scientists at a ceremony held in Stockholm
in October 2003.
Photo: Basic research helps in understanding phenomena
and provides industry with new opportunities. Anita Teleman
setting a sample inside the superconducting magnet of a nuclear
magnetic resonance spectrometer. Anita Teleman is, with her
colleagues, an excellent analyst and expert in nuclear magnetic
resonance spectroscopy.
Photo on the top: Scientists Johanna Buchert, Maija Tenkanen,
Tapani Vuorinen and Anita Teleman (missing from photo) made
the discovery that led to greater environmental-friendliness
and cost efficiency in the pulp industry. A method has been
developed from it that is now being marketed all round the
world by the Andritz Corporation, an Austrian company, under
the leadership of the technology director, Olavi Pikka.
Published 2004
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