At the grand opening ceremony, LP Chair and CEO Brad Southern welcomed employees to their new workplace, and Senior Engineering Project Manager Danaillie Woodfine cut the ribbon to officially declare the facility open for business. They were joined by LP’s executive team and more than 100 corporate employees.

“Today marks an important milestone in our history,” said Southern. “Our new headquarters is a hub for innovation and collaboration—critical components of our continued success. We are happy to welcome employees to this new space and excited to see the fresh ideas that will inspire further LP accomplishments here.”

Inspired by the company’s wood-based building materials, the architectural and design theme of the new headquarters is “never far from the tree” and was constructed using LP products throughout. The office also features a 25 ft. x 8 ft. hand-carved wooden mural originally commissioned over 30 years ago for the company’s original headquarters in Portland.

The headquarters also features an LP Health & Wellness Center. This on-site clinic is for the exclusive use of employees and their family members. It provides primary care and wellness services, such as immunizations, annual health assessments and health coaching, at little to no cost.

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PACIFIC WOODTECH ACQUIRES LP EWP DIVISION

Article by Rich Donnell, Editor-in-Chief, Panel World September 2022

PART THREE: This is the third of a four-part series summarizing the presentations delivered during the Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo (PELICE) held this spring and hosted by Panel World in Atlanta March 31 to April 1. The first two parts appeared in the May and July issues of Panel World, and the fourth and final selection will be in the upcoming November issue.

ATLANTA, Ga. – Terry Liles, director of raw materials, Huber Engineered Woods, dug into the application of EVOP (Evolutionary Operation) and Taguchi Design. He defined EVOP as an ongoing mode of using an operating full-scale process so that information on how to improve the process is generated from a simple experimental design while production is underway.

He noted two methodologies for conducting EVOPs: Factorial Designs, a scientific experiment that determines the influence of multiple factors on the subject, while assuming the process is consistent or under control; and Robust Product Design (or Taguchi Design), a methodology to improve the quality of a product by minimizing the effect of variation without eliminating the causes, and with minimal sensitivity to variation in uncontrollable factors or noise.

AIR TREATMENT

Jaymie Deemer, President of Nestec, Inc., gave an in-depth look at dryer WESP and RTO systems, including the complexities of wood dryer emissions sometimes associated with the dryer technologies and with the particulate materials themselves. Some of these issues, as well as others, can contribute to common ESP and RTO issues and problems.

Nestec President Jaymie Deemer provides WESP and RTO dos and don’ts.

He said, “Wet ESP performance and design of critical components are key to reliable operation, and pointed to numerous such features in both WESP and RTO design, including, in the former, isolable electric fields, extended flushing, simple electrode alignment, irrigation, plug resistant spray nozzles, power supply, continuous loop blowdown, high temperature water flush, caustic grade; and in the latter, proper media, draft arrangements, multiple burners, and proper construction materials such as mastic coatings to protect the shell from condensation, and which materials to avoid such as low grade stainless steel.

Rodney Schwartz, vice president Sales & Business Development, Dürr Systems, spoke on the development and testing of new WESP design enhancements including an optimized electrode and tube design. After reviewing various factors that influence WESP performance, and issues and concerns with current designs, he said Dürr approached producers and operators to get their input on current designs. The feedback included: tubes and electrodes get dirty and are difficult to clean, potentially impacting collection performance; capital cost is too high; installation time is too long; foaming problems; mist carryover into RTOs; performance drop when flushed.

Dürr promptly set goals for a new WESP based on the feedback, including modular shipping design, better fabrication, flexible sizing, new patentable ideas, online cleaning, offline flushing.

Dürr developed a 1/6th to-scale test model and performed testing over 16 weeks with 27 separate flow tests and 55 different particulate removal tests. Testing included various configurations of electrodes, including bottom mounted discharge electrodes that proved highly effective, including the use of a High Area Trap (HAT) that showed numerous benefits.

They then built a to-scale 25,000 acfm pilot WESP that was installed at an OSB customer site in the Southern U.S. and was tested for 10 months downstream of rotary flake dryers. The new designs scored high compared to older designs on filterable particulate removal, organic condensable particulate removal, enhanced spray system cleaning and showed numerous other benefits.

The key features of the new product include maximum removal efficiencies, reliable operation, low operating costs, and significantly reduced maintenance.

Steve Jaasund, Geoenergy Products Manager for LDX Solution, addressed the benefits of RCOs for wood dryer VOC control, which is not a common practice. He noted the principle of operation for an RCO is similar to the RTO while the catalyst allowed lower combustion chamber temperature and offers significant energy savings.

He spoke on scenarios for catalyst deactivation such as poisoning, sintering and masking, but noted poisoning is not a likely problem for wood fired dryers as common poisons are not present in flue gases, alkali sintering occurs at higher tempertures than are typical for an RCO, and while masking can occur if particulate concentration is too high, he recommended ensuring that particulate loading (inlet fly ash) is low enough, upsizing the wet ESP during the initial design and/or adding a second field to the wet ESP, implementing catalyst wash out on an as-needed basis, and conducting regular catalyst performance testing.

His energy consumption chart showed significant annual savings (annual fuel cost, annual electric cost) with an RCO system compared to RTO at various gas prices, with RCO payback in a few years. The path forward, Jaasund said, is to install test blocks or thief baskets in existing RTOs operating on a wood fired dryer, and he noted existing RTOs can be catalyzed easily.

The biennial Timber Processing & Energy Expo, following a pandemic-induced cancellation in 2020, returns this September 28-30 to the Portland Exposition Center in Portland, Ore. Hatton-Brown Expositions, an affiliate of Panel World magazine, has hosed the event since 2010.

“It’s hard to believe it has been four years since TP&EE was held, and what a strange trip it has been,” comments Rich Donnell, TP&EE Show Director and Editor-in-Chief of Panel World. “The important thing is that we’re back face-to-face. ‘Virtual’ is okay, but it’s not like being there.”

About 150 equipment and technology exhibitors will be located in Hall E at the Expo Center. “There’s no question the event has always been heavier to the sawmill sector, but there are a significant number of exhibitors who cater to the panel industry as well,” Donnell says. “And especially when you cross over into engineered wood products, as this event does, you get the best of the primary wood products manufacturing world.”

See pages 46-60 in Panel World September 2022 for a list of exhibitors, the exhibitors floor plan and a preview section of exhibitors for the panel industry and write-ups on their technologies.

TP&EE will include a conference entitled “From Forest to Frame: Mass Timber Developments.” It will be held during the first day of the show, Wednesday, September 28. A second conference, “Sawmill Productivity & Efficiency,” will be held on Thursday, September 29.

“The mass timber movement is truly taking shape on the ground with innovative building construction and environmental appeal,” Donnell comments. Representatives from the leading manufacturers of mass timber (producers and equipment suppliers) and from mass timber supporting organizations will address this remarkable growth and its unlimited potential that could entice panel mills and sawmills to turn up the production volume.

Presenters thus far for the Mass Timber Developments conference include:

● Allan Czinger, Senior Account Manager, USNR: “Optimizing Sawmills for Mass Timber Production”

● Kyle Freres, Vice President of Operations, Freres Engineered Wood: “Evolution of Wood Products: Past and Future of Freres Engineered Wood”

● Justin Harries, Senior Director, Business Development Manager USA, Binderholz Mass Timber: “Bringing Binderholz Expertise To North America”

● Janelle Leafblad, Senior Director, Western Division, WoodWorks: “Growing Market Demand for Wood Products”

● Derek Ratchford, CEO, SmartLam: “U.S. South Mass Timber Growth”

● Russ Vaagen, Founder & CEO, Vaagen Timbers: “Mass Timber: From Early Adopter To Mainstream Buildings”

More presenters will be announced in the coming weeks.

Cost to attend the conference is $115 and you can register at timberprocessingandenergyexpo.com. Admission to the expo floor is free if you register now.

MASS TIMBER TOUR

An optional Mass Timber Tour will be conducted on Thursday, September 29. The full-day tour schedule includes:

—Bus leaves Portland Expo Center 8:30 a.m.

—Travel to and tour Freres Engineered Wood, Lyons, Ore.

—Travel to mass timber structure sites

—Travel to TallWood Institute, Corvallis, Ore. (lunch included)

—Return to Portland Expo Center

Cost for the tour is $95, and you can register at timberprocessingandenergyexpo.com.

RoyOMartin has named Natalie Martin Monroe Vice President of Environmental, Safety, and Sustainability Operations. She will also serve as a member of the Strategic Action Leadership Team (SALT) and the Corporate Secretary for the Martin Sustainable Resources (MSR) Board of Directors.

Natalie will oversee corporate safety programs, employees, and training. Her additional responsibilities include reviewing and evaluating operations and company practices for all sustainability initiatives. She will also be a liaison to stakeholders, shareholders, and customers.

“Safety and environmental compliance are top priorities at RoyOMartin,” Monroe says about the company founded by her great-grandfather, Roy O. Martin, Sr., in 1923. “In my new role, I will keep the focus on safety and environmentally-conscious practices while also incorporating sustainability efforts to ensure that my family’s business is a viable part of the central Louisiana community for generations to come.”

Monroe began her career at RoyOMartin when she worked as an intern during the construction of the company’s plywood facility in 1995-1996. She later joined the organization as the Corporate Environmental Manager in July 2003. She is a 1998 graduate of Vanderbilt University and holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree specializing in civil and environmental engineering. She also earned a Master of Business Administration from Louisiana State University in 2002.

Working early in her career as a project engineer with C-K Associates and Providence Engineering consulting firms, Monroe was involved in preparing environmental site assessments and permit applications. Through her work as a consultant, she also served as a contractor at Exxon Mobil Chemical Company where she specialized in waste management and permitting.

“With Natalie’s 18 years of environmental management, she has many experiences and skills to draw upon that make her a solid fit for the new Vice President of Environmental, Safety, and Sustainability Operations role,” adds Terry Secrest, Executive Vice President of Manufacturing and Sales. “She will lead our safety journey to zero accidents and zero environmental incidents while showcasing our company’s exemplary leadership in sustainability.”

In her day-to-day work at RoyOMartin, she stays abreast of all new and upcoming environmental regulatory requirements that may impact the wood-products industry, while also working closely with the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality and Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on multi-media permits and reporting requirements. Monroe will oversee environmental work at all RoyOMartin’s manufacturing and forestry sites. She also serves as Treasurer of the Martin Foundation, where she manages employee and dependent scholarships to colleges and universities across Louisiana and Texas.

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ROYOMARTIN ADDS PRODUCTION LINE IN CORRIGAN

The Softwood Lumber Board (SLB) and USDA Forest Service recently awarded $2 million total to six projects that highlight innovative architectural design and mass timber’s significant role in carbon reduction. According to SLB officials, lessons learned from each project will be shared with the construction community to help support future projects, including cost analyses, life cycle assessments and other research results.

Here are the buildings:

• New medical center in Vancouver, Wash.: 176,000 sq. ft., four-story mass timber over steel structure uses CLT and glulam.

• High-rise multifamily in downtown Denver: 12-story building with nine levels of mass timber. Features glulam columns and beams and CLT decks.

• Low income charter school, Long Island, NY: a five-story hybrid CLT building uses more than 36,000 cubic feet of CLT.

• New 42,456 sq. ft. industrial warehouse in Kent, Wash., features CLT panels and glulam beams and columns.

• Intro Cleveland Phase 2: Massive 750,000 sq. ft. mixed use development is the largest mass timber project in the U.S. Phase 2 will build a 16-story mass timber building with mass timber tower consisting of glulam columns and girders with CLT floor slabs. The team projects wood to comprise about 50% of the total structure.

• Three-story 18,780 sq. ft. office space building in Portland, Ore., with major goal of proving out the rocking shear wall system and showing how this advanced technology can exceed code and provide a cost-effective seismic solution for three to 12 story buildings.