Alabama Center for Paper and Bioresource Engineering provides training opportunity to paper mill engineers
Published: Dec 12, 2024 11:20 AM
By Joe McAdory
Experts from Auburn University’s Alabama Center for Paper and Bioresource Engineering (AC-PABE) provided 11 paper mill engineers and operation staff with two days of hands-on workshops and lectures, Nov. 6-7.
Guests from Georgia-Pacific’s Alabama River Cellulose facility, a paper manufacturing plant in Monroe County and a member of the Auburn Pulp and Paper Foundation (APPF), were provided with an overview of the pulp and paper industry, integrated biorefineries, characteristics of wood/wood fibers, chip-handling, and much more.
“Not all engineers and operation staff at paper mills had comprehensive undergraduate pulp and paper curriculums like we offer here at Auburn University,” said Zhihua Jiang, AC-PABE director and the APPF associate professor in chemical engineering. “We thought it would be a good idea to share some of the education and training we offer our students – providing them with some of the fundamentals that they might not have received, or even serve as a refresher from what they had already learned.”
Through labs and lectures directed by Jiang and Department of Chemical Engineering Senior Lecturer Bill Josephson, attendees learned:
- Fiber analysis, consistency and freeness
- Kraft pulping
- Processing of pulps
- Properties and testing of pulp and paper
- Chemical recovery
- Refining, hand sheet preparation and testing
- Bleaching
“It was important that they learned the scientific background behind what they are doing, how they can improve efficiencies, and take this knowledge back with them and utilize this information on the job,” said Jiang, who hinted that further workshop opportunities with other industry partners are on the horizon.
“It’s important for the center to serve as a catalyst to help engineers within industry, but also engage them and build relationships that transcend our laboratory walls,” Josephson said.
Alabama River Cellulose Disciplined Operations Leader Whitley Daniel agreed that the interactive training was a win-win for industry and the university.
“This inaugural program will open the door for future partnerships with Georgia-Pacific which underscores our shared commitment to advancing industry knowledge and innovation,” she said.
With more than 90 undergraduate students and 11 graduate students enrolled for the 2024-25 academic year, the AC-PABE offers students and researchers with approximately 5,000 square feet of laboratory space, where cutting-edge pulp and paper technology continues to impact the industry.
Media Contact: , jem0040@auburn.edu, 3348443447
Engineers and operation staff from Georgia-Pacific's Alabama River Cellulose facility enjoyed hands-on workshops and lectures provided by the college's Center for Paper and Bioresource Engineering.
