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Alabama Center for Paper and Bioresource Engineering

HARRY CULLINAN, DIRECTOR

The Alabama Center for Paper and Bioresource Engineering, which is associated with the Department of Chemical Engineering, provides training, education, technical resources and cooperative industry-academic research in areas of critical importance to the success of the U.S. pulp and paper industry. Researchers from this multidisciplinary center are engaged in a comprehensive program to realize the highest possible sustainable value from our nation's forest - based biomass. The program covers advanced materials development, energy production, environmental engineering, recycling and new product development.

The Alabama Center for Paper and Bioresource Engineering is the nation's only pulp, paper and bioresource center offering undergraduate curricula with pulp, paper and bioresource specializations for chemical, electrical and mechanical engineering students, and a multidisciplinary research environment for engineering graduate students.

The Wet-test Laboratory, which evaluates the chemical and physical properties of pulp, has a single vessel 6.5-liter laboratory digester and a two-vessel laboratory digester system for partially simulating a continuous digester with recirculation pumps, a Rosemount flow-through toroidal conductivity sensor/analyzer and a Micromotion density/mass flowmeter. The on-line sampling/analysis system has dual-piston solvent delivery pumps, a variable wavelength detector, and a differential refractometer with external temperature control, a high-pressure size exclusion chromatograph for determining lignin molecular weight, an ion chromatograph for sulfide analysis, and a total organic carbon analyzer. Off-line analysis systems include liquid and gas chromatographs and an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The pilot paper machine is capable of manufacturing a wide range of grades from tissue to board.  The untrimmed sheet width is 13.25", and machine speeds are in the 25-50 feet/minute range.  The machine has an atmosphere headbox with a standard Fourdrinier forming section, three wet presses, a Yankee dryer, two dryer sections, a size press and a calender stack. Operation is controlled by a Yokogawa DCS system.

For more information:

• Alabama Center for Paper and Bioresource Engineering