Feature
Boise Retrofits Veneer Composers at Medford Plywood Mill
Retrofitting is a hot topic. While money for purchasing new machines has become scarce, an increasing number of machine operators are learning that old machines can be made to function like new, by retrofitting aging, obsolete control systems and human interfaces with new technologies.
A case in point concerns Lee Larson, manager at the Boise Cascade Wood Products plant in Medford, Ore. Last year, Larson completed the retrofitting of two of the mill’s four veneer composer machines. A composer takes strips of veneer, aligns them and clips them for straightness and to remove defects, and glues them together end to end to make a continuous strip of veneer stock. The veneer is then cut to length and is ultimately used to make engineered wood products or plywood.
Mission Possible: Dryer Assembled On-Site, Installed
More than 1,800 dryer systems sold worldwide have made Büttner Gesellschaft für Trockungs- und Umwelttechnik mbH a market leader in this industry. However, the number of dryers sold is not Büttner’s only reference. Using the example of the replacement of three particle dryers at the Egger plant in Unterradlberg, the Siempelkamp subsidiary confirms: “It won’t work is not an option!”
The Egger Group, with its head office in St. Johann, Austria, is supported by the solid pillars of a family business. Founded in 1961 by Fritz Egger, Sr., the Egger Group is now managed by Walter Schiegl, Thomas Leissing and Ulrich Bühler. The company owners, Fritz and Michael Egger, belong to the advisory board where they determine the guidelines for the strategic orientation of the Group. Egger is one of the world’s leading producers of particleboard, MDF, OSB and surface-finished products such as coated boards, post and soft-forming elements, pre-fabricated parts, laminates, edging and laminate
Report Claims Biofilters Provide Operating Costs Advantages by Dr. Jim Boswell & Mike Foggia
When determining the optimum HAP (hazardous air pollutant) and/or VOC (volatile organic compound) controls, it is imperative to assess all available options with respect to the existing and future operations at each mill. The correct choice for one application may not be best for all; and as operating conditions, raw materials, resins, waxes, additives and processes change, the existing APC (air pollution control) units may be an issue, becoming very costly to maintain and more and more expensive to operate. These factors should be assessed every few years, with long-term plans made for the future of the existing control devices and in anticipation of replacement or upgrade. One option for consideration would be replacement of existing thermal oxidizers (TOs, RTOs and RCOs) with bio-oxidation equipment (biofilters).
As fuel costs continue to increase over time, most operations managers are seeking ways to better control and lower their operating costs. Eliminating variable ex
Timber Products Softwood Facility Diversifies Panel Line by Dan Shell
During tough economic times and soft panel markets, it’s almost better to be a small producer, says Kelly Brown, plant manager of Timber Products Co.’s softwood plywood plant here in southern Oregon. “We’ve very versatile and small enough to react to changes in the marketplace,” Brown says. “It’s better right now to be small rather than a big plant having to put out a bunch of product that might not be profitable.”
The plant produces panels from 1⁄4 to 2 in. thick in a variety of products that fit well with the company’s other panel manufacturing facilities. These include hardwood plywood plants at Medford and Grants Pass, Ore. and Corinth, Miss., particleboard at Medford, Ore., laminating at White City, Ore., softwood veneer at Yreka, Calif. and hardwood veneer and hardwood lumber at Munising, Mich.
Projects
Recent Mill Orders, Installations & Startups
Spar Tek Industries has just finished starting up a seven ply layup line and two 40-opening press lines for Weyerhaeuser in Uruguay. The layup line can assemble and stack from 24 three ply panels to 12 seven ply panels per minute under normal operation. There are two people at each core line and the rest of the equipment is fully automated. The automatic sheet layers have broken corner and short sheet detection that can replace a damaged sheet without operator intervention or stopping the line. This assembly line is able to keep the two 40-opening presses operating continuously.
The glue applicators are also from Spar Tek and incorporate the newest liquid extruded glue system. This servo-metered system lays a precisely measured amount of liquid glue in closely spaced strands on the veneer. The 491⁄2 in. wide glue line leaves the edges dry and eliminates overspray or airborne glue for lower overall glue cost and greatly reduced cleanup time. In addition, the view down the li
Quality Control
Quality Control
Airstar Inc. manufactures quality control systems for the forest products industry. The high performance blow detector systems are designed to test engineered wood products of any thickness, configuration and species, including plywood, LVL, OSB, MDF and laminates. Airstar is continuously developing its technology to ensure the systems are designed and produced to meet and exceed customers’ expectations. Just in the last few years, they have exclusively installed numerous blow detectors for several Fortune 500 companies who are today’s leaders in forest products.
In addition to blow detectors, thickness gauge systems that use high resolution non-contact laser sensors are also available. The thickness gauges can be supplied as a stand-alone system or all-in-one system that includes both blow detection and thickness measurement.
Supply Lines
Equipment & Supplier News
The Hexion Specialty Chemicals and OAO Shchekinoazot joint venture has begun manufacture of resins for the forest products and construction markets. The joint venture company, Hexion-Shchekinoazot, is producing a range of resin systems used in mineral wool insulation, plywood, oriented strandboard and laminate products. The company’s resin production facility is in the Tula region of Russia.
Initially the new resins plant will produce phenol formaldehyde resins before expanding to include production of urea formaldehyde resins and other thermoset formaldehyde derivatives. OAO Shchekinoazot will ensure a regular supply of raw materials for the new production site through its operating UFC and formalin plants.
Taking Stock
When Bob Pamplin Saved G-P’s Plywood Biz by Rich Donnell
Robert B. Pamplin died June 24 at age 97 in Dunthorpe, Oregon, near Portland. Who was Bob Pamplin?
Pamplin was the man who came up with the most remarkable company spin-off idea ever conceived.
Raised in Dinwiddie County, Virginia, Pamplin was a 1933 business graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He was hired in 1934 by a small hardwood lumber wholesale business in Augusta, Ga. The owner was named Owen Cheatham, whose brother had roomed with Pamplin at VPI.
Update
Breaking News
“Arclin is committed to meeting and exceeding our customers’ needs for innovative bonding and surfacing solutions for today’s regulatory and new product development challenges. Participating in the 2010 PELICE as a Gold Level Sponsor is indicative of the commitment we have towards the industry and our partner companies,” comments Kevin Griffin, Marketing Manager.
“We are most pleased that Arclin is providing the ultimate show of confidence in PELICE,” comments PELICE co-chairman and Panel World editor Rich Donnell. “We strongly believe they won’t be disappointed.”
Another Gold sponsor is TECO, the third-party certification and testing agency for structural building products. TECO was also a Gold sponsor of the 2008 PELICE. TECO announces it will host its Industry Advisory Council (IAC) meeting on February 3 prior to PELICE.
What’s New
New Products & Technologies
Tri-Mer Corp, a manufacturer of air pollution systems for the most difficult gases and particulate, has introduced the MultiPhase BioSystem “green” technology for VOC control. MultiPhase incorporates both air phase and liquid phase approaches, taking advantage of the natural tendency of VOCs to partition into both phases. It uses proprietary medi, and enhanced bioremediation techniques to treat high inlet concentrations of VOC with efficiencies up to 98%.
MultiPhase uses permanent, synthetic ceramic biomedia, which is surface-modified to allow accelerated attachment and growth. It has a very high biologically active surface area, and will not clog due to biomass growth or particulate accumulation. The media bed is self-cleaning and never needs to be replaced.