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Sappi to build pilot nanocellulose plant in the Netherlands

RESOURCEFUL
The raw material for the pilot plant would be supplied from the dissolving wood pulp plants at Sappi’s Saiccor and Ngodwana mills, in South Africa, and the Cloquet mill, in the US

RESOURCEFUL The raw material for the pilot plant would be supplied from the dissolving wood pulp plants at Sappi’s Saiccor and Ngodwana mills, in South Africa, and the Cloquet mill, in the US

Photo by Duane Daws

27th March 2015

By: Sashnee Moodley

Senior Deputy Editor Polity and Multimedia

  

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South African pulp and paper producer Sappi reported earlier this month that it would build a pilot plant for the production of low-cost Cellulose NanoFibrils, or CNF (nanocellulose), at the Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Sittard-Geleen, in the Netherlands.

The plant would be operational within nine months and tied in with Sappi’s strategy to enter new adjacent business fields, based on renewable raw materials.

Sappi group head of technology Andrea Rossi explained that the group’s strategy included seeking growth opportunities by producing innovative performance materials from renewable resources.

The raw material for the pilot plant would be supplied from the dissolving wood pulp plants at Sappi’s Saiccor and Ngodwana mills, in South Africa, and the Cloquet mill, in the US.

The pilot CNF plant, which would assist Sappi in deciding whether or not to eventually proceed with the construction of a commercial CNF plant, would test the manufacturing of dry redispersible CNF using the proprietary technology developed by Sappi and Edinburgh Napier University.

“The Brightlands Chemelot Campus will provide Sappi with easy access to multiple partners with whom Sappi will seek to codevelop products that will incorporate CNF across a large variety of product applications to improve performance and to create unique characteristics for these products,” said Rossi.

The CNF produced by Sappi would have specific morphology, modified for either hydrophobic or hydrophilic applications. Products produced using Sappi’s CNF would be suitable for conversion in lighter and stronger fibre-reinforced composites and plastics, in food and pharmaceutical applications, and in rheology modifiers, as well as in barrier and other paper and coating applications.

“We’re proud that a company like Sappi has chosen our campus for [its] new facility. The initiative perfectly fits with our focus area of biobased materials and our new pilot plant infrastructure,” said Brightlands Chemelot Campus CEO Bert Kip.
In December, Sappi and Edinburgh Napier University announced the results of a three-year project to find a low-cost energy-saving process that would allow Sappi to produce the nanocellulose on a commercially viable basis – and, importantly, without producing large volumes of chemical wastewater associated with existing techniques.

Professor Rob English led the research with his Edinburgh Napier colleague, Dr Rhodri Williams.

“What is significant about our process is the use of unique chemistry, which has allowed us to very easily break down the wood pulp fibres into nanocellulose. There is no expensive chemistry required and, most significantly, the chemicals used can be easily recycled and reused without generating large quantities of wastewater,” said English.

Sappi Europe research and development director Math Jennekens is the project coordin-ator and will oversee the pilot plant.

“We are very excited to be able to move from a benchtop environment into real-world produc-tion. Our targeted run rate will be 8 t/y. We will produce a dry powder that can be easily redispersed in water.

“The nanocellulose is unmodified, which makes it easier to combine with other materials. The product will be used to build partnerships to test the application of our nanocellulose across the widest range of uses.”

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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