ASD Inc. continues to partner with key forest products industry experts to provide valuable non-contact, non-destructive, real-time material analysis and process measurement solutions throughout the industry. From research and testing in the forests to the operating mill environment, critical analyses are achieved from the chip yard to finished product, throughout forest products research and pulp and paper processing.

The true portability of the LabSpec^® and the transportability of the lab/bench top QualitySpec^® line of spectrometers enables on-demand measurements from standing trees to processed pulp. Spectral analysis of wood properties such as lignin, cellulose, hemicellulose, and moisture, allows for an accurate quantitative assessment of expected production yield.

Dedicated on-line and at-line solutions are also available with the QualitySpec^® 7000 and QualitySpec^® K-B which provide the industry with measurement solutions for a range of application areas, including:

• Kappa number and brightness, from the digester blowline to fully bleached pulp.
• Moisture, wax and resin concentration for OSB, MDF, and particle boards.
• Lime recovery for increase efficiency in the kiln.
• Wood chip moisture at the chip yard.
• Analyzing wood chip properties into digester for increased process chemical efficiency.
• Pulp properties at the baling line.
• Biomass analysis for increased energy efficiency.

Easy to use Vis/NIR analysis provides the ability to do environmentally friendly continuous process monitoring, without the need for hazardous testing chemicals, thereby greatly increasing production quality and quantity, and increasing the profitability of the mill.

If you would like to read more about ASD’s measurement solutions for process optimization, please click this link to request your complimentary copy of “Process optimization with light energy — Implementing NIR helps the pulp industry control chemical consumption” (an ASD contributed article published in Paper 360º, May 2008).

Some examples of applications in the forest products industry by researchers using ASD instrumentation can be found in the links below.