Howe Sound Pulp & Paper Mill:
A Good News Story

Presentations for the Capilano University ElderU course presented by Gerry Pageau and  Michael Bradley in April 2015 will be available to course members here.

We will try to make the downloadable presentations available on the day prior to each of our classes.

Details about the field trip to the mill will be made available here too.

History of the Port Mellon mill, Market Requirements for forest Products
Week 1, Mikes slides:    ElderCollegeGoodNews_Day1
Week1, Gerrys slides:   Lesson 1 – History of HSPP

The Kraft pulp production process, What does Sustainable Development really mean?
Week 2, Mike’s Slides:  ElderCollegeGoodNews_Day2
Week2, Gerry’s slides: Lesson 2 – Making Pulp & Paper

Great Bear Rainforest – Lessons Learned report: GBR_PDF2013

Week 3, Tour of the Port Mellon mill

Eco-efficiency
Week 4, Mikes Slides: ElderCollegeGoodNews_Day4
Week 4, Gerrys Slides: Lesson 4 – Power and Recovery

Kraft Pulping – an eco-efficient industrial process

An overview of the process used world wide to produce wood pulp
A modern Kraft pulp mill operates as a large-scale bio-refinery, separating fibres from one another, and then using the non-fibrous components as fuel, minimizing waste and ecological impact. Not unlike the efficient closed-loop system of nature, the byproducts of one part of the process become the fuel for another.

Steam generated in the recovery boiler is used to generate electricity in a turbine, while the remaining steam is used to heat the process. Surplus power is used in the mill process, exported to other users or to the electricity grid. This is the core of the eco-efficient process that is a modern Kraft pulp mill.

But even this process can be further optimized in the pursuit of greater efficiency and reduction of impacts. Central to many of these opportunities is the carbon neutral nature of all forms of wood. So, for example, by sourcing additional low grade biomass debris from local sawmills and burning it as hog fuel in a power boiler, we can produce steam, which supplements that already being produced by the recovery system for use in process or for additional green power generation.

For an interactive demonstration of chemical pulping, please visit the Know Pulp website.