Advanced design methods for the energy-efficient transformation of pulp mills into biorefineries

该项目的总体目标是开发和应用先进的设计方法，将纸浆和造纸米尔斯厂改造为生物精炼厂-特别是通过基于对现有纸浆设施实时数据分析的创新设计方法来降低风险并提高经济回报。这些方法将在Fortress Specialty Cellulose的背景下开发，Fortress Specialty Cellulose是一家化学纸浆厂和位于Thurso（QC）的溶解级纸浆生产商。该项目涉及建立制浆工艺和工厂能源利用系统的模型，通过纠正工厂信息管理系统的实时工艺数据来反映工厂的运行状况，开发基于活动的成本计算模型，确定降低运营成本的机会和节能项目，既适合短期，也适合生物炼制厂的设计;后者包括确定和选择有前景的产品-工艺生物炼制备选方案、全场地能源分析、生产能力分析以及投资和运营成本评估。各个方法将被组装成一个整体框架，适用于设计节能的生物精炼工艺。在我们的实验室中开发的用于识别实际节能机会和现场能源设计的桥梁方法将首次应用于实践。这项为期4年的计划将涉及两名博士后研究员和四名研究生（两名博士生和两名硕士生）的参与，与行业合作伙伴Fortress和OSIsoft以及3C Software，Aurel Systems和EnVertis Consulting密切合作。在森林产品公司的这一计划中开发的一套方法的应用，应导致在短期内降低制造成本，并与工厂转化为生物精炼厂的长期竞争地位的改善。将在一系列讲习班上向加拿大森林产品部门介绍总体设计方法。****************

The overall objective of this project is to develop and apply advanced design methods for the transformation of pulp and paper mills into biorefineries - and in particular, to mitigate risk and enhance economic return through an innovative design approach based on the analysis of real-time data from an existing pulp facility. The methods will be developed in the context of Fortress Specialty Cellulose, a chemical pulp mill and producer of dissolving grade pulp located in Thurso (QC). The project involves modeling the pulping process and the energy utility systems of the mill, representing the mill's operating regimes through the rectification of real-time process data from the plant information management (PIM) system, developing activity-based costing (ABC) models, identifying operating cost reduction opportunities and energy savings projects, suitable for the short-term and also for the context of biorefinery design; the latter includes the identification and selection of promising product-process biorefinery options, the site-wide energy analysis, the production capacity analysis, and the evaluation of the investment and operating costs. The individual methods will be assembled into an overall framework suitable for the design of energy-efficient biorefinery processes. The Bridge Method, which has been developed in our laboratory for identification of practical energy-savings opportunities and for site-wide energy design, will be applied in practice for the first time. The 4-year program will involve the participation of two postdoctoral fellows and four graduate students (two PhD students and two MSc students), working in close collaboration with industry partners Fortress and OSIsoft, as well as 3C Software, Aurel Systems, and EnVertis Consulting. Application of the set of methods developed in this program in forest product companies should lead to a decrease of manufacturing costs in the short-term and to an improvement of long-term competitive position in conjunction with mill transformation into biorefinery. The overall design methodology will be presented to the Canadian forest products sector in a series of workshops. ****************