KOMPETENZ IN PAPIER

Newsletter

Dezember 2022

From the association

Branch meeting in Brussels

Dear friends and members of ZELLCHEMING,

I was very pleased to travel to the heart of Europe for the Cepi Annual Conference after a two-year break. For the first time, the event was live again, i.e. in the traditional format, and offered the opportunity to meet again many well known representatives of this industry as well as to make new contacts in person. An annual highlight that was missed by all!

The conference, nicely titled "Paper & Beyond", is the annual event of the European paper industry and its value chain, bringing together pulp and paper producers, paper and board product manufacturers, technology suppliers, EU policy makers, researchers and scientists, as well as the press. Once again, the diverse and highly topical program highlighted that our fiber-based industry is a sustainable, innovative, increasingly digital and highly resilient source of solutions that meet the needs of our society.

f.l.t.r.: Barry Read, Petra Hanke, Antti Lindqvist, Vitor Lucas

On the eve of the event, I was able to exchange views with other Eucepa representatives (Barry Read, PITA, UK, Massimo Ramunni, Aticelca/Assocarta, Italy, Jan Gojny, SPPC, Czech Republic, Vitor Lucas, Tecnicelpa, Portugal and Antti Lindqvist, PI, Finland). The meeting focused on the possible introduction of a special Eucepa prize that would be awarded as part of the Blue Sky Young Researchers and Innovation Europe Award organized by Cepi.

I am curious to see how this idea develops and will report back!

Best regards,

Petra Hanke
Managing Director ZELLCHEMING Service GmbH

Paper History Ring of Honor Award

On the occasion of its 116th Annual General Meeting 2022 in Wiesbaden, the Association of Pulp and Paper Chemists and Engineers awarded

Dipl.-Archivarin Magdalene Christ

the Golden Ring of Honor for Paper History.

In 1954, the Board of Trustees of the Research Center for Paper History decided to recognize the activities of particularly outstanding paper history researchers of the present and patrons by awarding them a Golden Ring of Honor. The ring of honor, which was created in the workshop of the master goldsmith Wortmann in Cologne, bears the old watermark P on its face as the emblem of the Paper History Research Centre.

f.l.t.r.: Dr. Ulrich Wittmann, Chairman ZELLCHEMING Association, Magdalene Christ, Prof. Dr. Helga Zollner-Croll, Deputy Chairwoman ZELLCHEMING Association

The Bergisch Gladbach "ZANDERS Foundation - Paper History Collection" was established on April 18, 1977 by the paper manufacturer Johann Wilhelm Zanders. The purpose of the foundation is to collect, organize, preserve and evaluate material on paper history, especially for scientific purposes.

As managing director, Magdalene Christ, a qualified archivist, took on the task 33 years ago of professionally sifting through the existing material, arranging it, archiving it and, in the meantime, digitizing it in a paper database. She has turned the Zanders Foundation into a treasure trove of paper history. However, Ms. Christ's activities extended beyond the Zanders archive area through paper history research. At the end of the year 2021, she moved into a well-deserved retirement.

With the award of the Golden Ring of Honor for Paper History, ZELLCHEMING would like to honor the great services of Mrs. Magdalene Christ to paper history archiving and its presentation to the public.

The recording of the award ceremony is available on our YouTube channel.

We are happy to welcome new members again this month!

We welcome to the ZELLCHEMING association:

• Denis Bilkic (Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg Karlsruhe)
• Donata Kollmar (Bellmer GmbH)
• Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Wulf (Industriepark Nienburg GmbH)

Good reasons for a ZELLCHEMING membership

Marcel Jez, Plant Manager Papierfabrik Meldorf GmbH & Co. KG

• What role does the paper-, pulp- or fiber-based industry play for you/your company?
  The company Papierfabrik Meldorf produces corrugated base paper. As plant manager, I work on many projects and also manage some of them. I also manage production and am responsible for personnel matters.
• What made you decide to become a member of ZELLCHEMING?
  I became a member to socialize and stay informed.
• In what way would you like to be involved in ZELLCHEMING?
  I want to get involved by networking and sharing information.

Dates

• 08-09 March 2023
  Meeting Technical Subcommittee Energy (ENEN1)
• 21-22 March 2023
  Meeting Technical Committee Recovered Paper Utilization (RECO) and Subcommittee Recycling Technology (TECH)
• 23 March 23
  Meeting Technical Committee Pulp and Paper Testing (DATA)
• 27-28 April 2023
  Meeting Technical Committee Plant Engineering and Energy (ENEN)
• 20-22 June 2023
  ZELLCHEMING-Expo

From industry & society

European forest-based materials research recognized among the world's best

Dr. Ilona Leppänen, hailing from Finland, has been recognized amongst the world's best young researchers working in forestry and forest product innovation. Her work tackles a global issue related to plastics for which no solution existed so far.

After winning prizes for her work at both national and European level, the 29-year old researcher has been selected to represent Europe in the next round of the international Blue-Sky Young Researcher Innovation Awards, a major distinction in the field of forest-based materials and processes research that is awarded biennially.

 As part of the functional cellulose team at VTT, one of Europe’s leading research institutes, her work focuses on exploiting the inherent properties of this natural material. Most research on cellulose has so far been carried by forest engineers, but Dr. Leppänen is part of a new generation of chemists taking interest in cellulose.

Her aim is to make a film based on this biomaterial that works as a selectively permeable membrane, to filter the nanoplastics from the water flowing through it. Nanoplastics’ effects are particularly worrying, as they disrupt the ocean ecosystems at the basis of the global food chain. Because of their small size, no good water filtering solution existed for them until now. Dr. Leppänen’s innovation could find applications in washing machines or water treatment plants, capturing nanoplastics at the source before they reach the ocean.

“This award is my biggest achievement so far. The inherent properties of cellulose have the potential to help us tackle some of the biggest global challenges”, she pointed out.

From the membership

In memoriam

On November 6, 2022, our long-time member, Professor Dr. Wilhelm Kufferath von Kendenich, passed away peacefully.

Born on March 2, 1939, he attended the Natural Science High School in Düren from 1950 to 1959; his favorite subjects were physics, German, Latin and philosophy. During vacations and often in his free time, he worked in the family business Andreas Kufferath KG, Metalltuch- und Egoutteur-Fabrik, where he acquired his great manual skills. This was his foundation for the unity of theory and practice.

In 1959 he began his studies at the Technical University in Graz (AT), which he was able to complete as early as 1962 with a degree in mechanical engineering/industrial engineering.

He then took over the management of the family business, where he particularly promoted the further development of synthetic wet end clothing and dandy roll technology for paper machines.

In 1964, he received his doctorate from the Institute for Paper Manufacture at the Technical University of Graz on the fundamentals of modern wet end clothing.

In 1969 he joined the ZELLCHEMING association and devoted himself entirely to the development and manufacture of forming fabrics, setting up the Swiss Wire company in Switzerland with a production company in Ireland.

Because of his special talent to present complicated contexts in free speech in a simple and at the same time captivating way, and because of his many publications, he was a sought-after lecturer at conferences, in technical committees in Europe, Canada, USA and Japan. For 10 years he taught at the institute of Professor Dr. Lothar Göttsching, TU Darmstadt, on the subject of 'Selected Chapters on Paper Machine Elements', and also at the institute of Prof. Dr. Helmut Stark at the TU Graz. There he habilitated as a private lecturer for formation technologies in 1982. In 1990 he was awarded the honorary professorship for 'Applied Corporate Management' at the Institute of Prof. Dr. Reinhard Haberfellner at the Graz University of Technology.

In 1989/90, health problems caused a drastic break in his career. He had to give up his industrial activities and from then on turned to things that had always been neglected before: Lectures, seminars, readings, theater and cabaret performances on the subjects of philosophy, basic democracy, evolution and art, probably more than 1500 lectures in all. As practical activities were added: the regular organ playing in several churches, treatises / writings on the mentioned topics, stories from his life, furthermore more than 300 artistic works like sculptures and picture tableaus.

All proceeds from his activities have gone to the 'Minex' project of the Swiss and Liechtenstein Rotary Clubs to provide prostheses for several thousand children maimed by landmines.

His work in the field of paper technology, his literary and artistic works have been honored with a number of international awards.

He received a special honor in 2019 when he was invited to deliver the keynote address for the fifth time at the ZELLCHEMING Annual General Meeting in the fiftieth year of his membership, the sixtieth year of his commencement, and his eightieth birthday.

The blessing took place in a small circle in Graz. At a later date there will be a commemorative celebration with organ music in his honor.

The Board of the ZELLCHEMING Association wishes his family much strength during this difficult time.

Voith: Solutions for sustainable production in stock preparation.

In the last five years, the experts of the ZELLCHEMING member company commissioned more than 30 plants with a total production capacity of 12.8 million tons per year.

"As the leading full-line supplier, we not only focus on the individual machine components but also on the entire stock preparation process," confirms Andreas Heilig, Vice President of Products Fiber Systems at Voith Paper. "Our BlueLine stock preparation portfolio is used in new plants worldwide. But upgrading to our solutions also pays off in existing plants - both economically and in sustainability and efficiency."

Among other things, Falk Albrecht, Head of Process Technology Fiber Systems at Voith Paper, names pump energy, which accounts for up to 50% of the energy consumption of a stock preparation system, as a critical topic. Especially in existing, older plants, there is a great potential for optimization. Voith solutions strive for the highest possible consistency level of achievable quality parameters with constant technological performance to minimize energy consumption. Savings of up to 30% are already potential through this measure. At the same time, a focus is placed on low-pressure levels.

Another product example for increasing energy efficiency is the company's LowEnergyFlotation technology (LEF). By installing it, up to 50% of energy savings can be realized in flotation pumps without negatively affecting the technological result.

Customers also benefit from significantly lower water and energy consumption with the AquaLine water and wastewater management system, which is well thought-out in all aspects. According to the supplier, the AquaLine Flex system variant enables freshwater consumption to be reduced to less than 5 liters per kg of paper produced. With the technologically very sophisticated AquaLine Zero solution, freshwater consumption is reduced to 1.5 liters per kg of paper produced. The use of biogas produced as a substitute fuel for fossil fuels led to a CO2 reduction of around 10% in a German installation.

The OnView.MassBalance digitalization solution is another example of how sustainability and efficiency are combined in the supplier's product portfolio. The innovative digital tool displays losses in stock preparation in real-time, enabling the operator to immediately identify optimization opportunities in specific areas and initiate appropriate countermeasures. Meanwhile, according to Voith, its experts are working on 24/7 real-time analysis of complex system interactions, enabling automatic adaptation of process parameters to individual situations.

From the technical committees

Meeting Technical Committee Plant Engineerign and Energy (ENEN)

At its most recent meeting, the Technical Committee on Plant and Energy Technology (ENEN), chaired by Andreas Flada (Chairman) and Tobias Albert (Secretary), met at the Steinbeis paper mill in Glückstadt.

Ulf Habicht, Erfurt & Sohn KG in Wuppertal, and Martin Lemke, Essity Operations in Mannheim, were welcomed as new guests to the Technical Committee.

Fred Warmann from Steinbeis Papier GmbH, Michael Habeck from Papierfabrik Adolf Jass Schwarza GmbH and Christian Elsner from Sprick GmbH & Co. Diemelstadt were unanimously accepted as new members of FA ENEN. The same applies to Manfred Krebs from BG RCI, who takes part in the meetings of FA ENEN in alternation with Gerd Richter.

As part of the technical presentations, Gerhard Hochstein introduced the Model Paper Factory in Düren. The second technical lecture by Hans-Jürgen Kastner was devoted to the formation, prevention and elimination of fouling in heat exchanger systems in pulp and paper production.

This was followed by a plant tour and presentation of Steinbeis Papier GmbH.

Group picture TC ENEN from the spring meeting at Mercer Rosenthal GmbH in Blankenstein

"I enjoyed every moment!"

The ZELLCHEMING association thanks Bernhard Nellessen for years of active participation in the Technical Committee on Recovered Paper Utilization (RECO) and the Subcommittee on Recycling Technology (TECH)!

His career in the paper industry began in 1989 as a laboratory manager at Henkel in the paper technology division. Ten years later, Bernhard Nellessen joined the Technical Subcommittee TECH as a regular member. Even then, it was essential for him to attend the two meetings per year and take on tasks within the group. "For example, as a company, I was by now at the supplier Nopco, and we always had questions posed by the Subcommittee checked in our laboratory. There was also intensive technological cooperation with the Papiertechnische Stiftung (PTS) and the university in Darmstadt. A working group of this kind only really makes sense if issues are not only discussed but also dealt with on a higher level, independently of day-to-day business," says Nellessen, who was elected deputy chairman of the recycling technology subcommittee in 2009.

"My cooperation has not changed much as a result, but I have taken on additional tasks. As vice chairman, I took care of when and where the next meetings were held, that the minutes of the last meeting went to the participants on time, and invited external speakers. Together with the then-chairwoman of the FUA, we also defined the direction and goals of our activities. In short, everything that is necessary for a meeting to be interesting and successful," recalls Nellessen.

Since 2018, the TC Recovered Paper Utilization and subcommittee Recycling Technology meetings have been held jointly. Bernhard Nellessen continued to prepare the meetings and lead them in the chairman's absence.

He looks back on his involvement with ZELLCHEMING positively: "I have always enjoyed working on the committees and have also learned a lot. As a (chemical) supplier, you have a different view from home, but I also learned to understand the other side better in the committees. Even though my activity involved extra work, I enjoyed every moment and wish the members all the best for the future!"

Literature

Practical Encyclopedia Static Electricity

Wolfgang Schubert (member of the Verein Deutscher Druckingenieure e.V. - VDD), together with Günter Lüttgens, published the "Praxislexikon Statische Elektrizität" (Practical Dictionary of Static Electricity) with 532 pages in November 2022.

The dictionary explains about 2,100 terms with 330 illustrations and about 5,300 cross-references from the field of static electricity. These cross-references make it possible to acquire a basic understanding of electrostatic phenomena. The lexicon compiles the assessment criteria and measurement possibilities, procedures, devices and systems and their useful applications. Electrostatic charges as a cause of fires and explosions from many areas of industry to the phenomena in the environment are covered. Also included are the most important mathematical formulas, 170 data on flammable gases and vapors, data on some 50 common plastics, and a table of permittivities for frequently used substances. Available as a print edition (98 euros) and e-book (78.40 euros):

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