JAPAN TAPPI JOURNALCONTENTS

5May 2024

Vol. 78, No. 5

Biorefinery and Plastics substitution
1 Pine-based Resin Use in Paper for Sustainability……Asuka Okumura
8 Valmet’s Biorefinery Technologies for Products from Wood-resources towards
Decarbonization……Masaharu Menjo and Tomonori Miyako
14

Effective Treatment of Organic Liquid Waste Such as Shochu Liquid Waste―Introduction of Miyazaki Model―……Yutaka Isu

19 Development of the Bio-Asphalt Mixture Utilizing Kraft Lignin……Takuto Shakuno
23 Development of Cellophane Recycling Technology……Shumpei Ishikawa and Noriaki Tsukida

26

Paper Packaging Materials to Substitute for Film……Keisuke Takemoto

Topics & Information

33

Valmet’s New Recovery Boiler and Effective Utilization of Existing Boilers
After New Recovery Boiler Construction……Kazuya Hirakawa

38 Our Efforts to the Energy Plants in the Pulp and Paper Industry……Yuji Fujiwara
41

Anti-Scaling Technique of Black Liquor Evaporator Using High PowerUltrasonic Technology……Masato Tatematsu

46 Confront the Surge in Energy Prices !
An Organizational Approach to Maximize the Value of Factory Energy
Management Systems……Yasuyuki Horiuchi
5155
Research Report

65

Application of Superheated Steam Drying to Pulp and Paper Industries……Akira Nakasuka

Research Projects of Universities and Government Research Institutes……Wood Science Committee, JAPAN TAPPI

Safety Assessment of Bamboo-derived Cellulose Nanofibers in Food for
Healthy Adults：A Long-term, Open-label Ingestion Trial……Tomoko Shimokawa, Noriko Hayashi and Tetsuya Takao
Pulp and Paper Mills in Japan（106）86

Mishima Mill, Tokushu Tokai Paper Co., Ltd.

03
64
92

Committee report
Coffee break
Papyrus97
101
108
109111

Industry News（Domestic and International）
List of Patents issued and Laid-open Publication
Price list of Domestic Logs and Wood Chips by District
Other Monthly Statistics
News from the Association

2024 May JAPAN TAPPI JOURNAL
Vol.78, No.5 Abstracts

Pine-based resin use in paper for sustainability
Asuka Okumura
Paper Chemicals Development, R&D Center, R&D Company, Harima Chemicals,Inc.
Currently, from the viewpoint of marine plastic pollution, resource disposal regulations, and global
warming countermeasures, there is a demand for 3R and for the conversion from petroleum-derived
plastics to renewable resources. In Japan, the Plastic Resource Recycling Strategy which was formed inMay 2019, and the Osaka Blue Ocean Vision which was announced at the G20 Osaka Summit in 2019,are addressing these important topics. The Plastic Resource Recycling Strategy is also attracting
attention for the use of sustainable resources.
Pine trees are a sustainable and natural resource that are especially abundant in North America andEurope. Wood fiber is the main component of a tree, and it is recovered during the “pulping process”.
Paper is produced from wood fiber, and it is an excellent material for consideration as a renewable
resource.
Harima Chemicals Group continues to work towards a more sustainable environment. Naturallyoccurring resins such as rosins and fatty acids are recovered from crude tall oil which is obtained fromthe pulping process, and these biproducts have many valuable end uses. In this article, we will introduce
Harima Chemicals Group’s pine chemical business that is expanding its utilization of sustainable
natural resins for paper “sizing agents” and for “water-based barrier coatings”.

Valmet’s Biorefinery Technologies for Products from Wood-resources towards Decarbonization
Masaharu Menjo and Tomonori Miyako
Valmet K. K.
In this paper, Valmet’s biorefinery technologies will be briefly described. Towards decarbonization,utilization of wood-resources is essential. There are some potential products based on wood-resources
and it is possible to produce bioethanol (2nd generation) and black pellets as mass production by using
Valmet’s steam explosion technology. For the production of bioethanol, raw materials are pulverized
during exhausting from a pressure vessel. Then, the exhausted materials from the pressure vessel are
fed to hydrolysis, fermentation and distillation processes. On the other hand, pulverized raw materials
are simply fed to pelletizers for the production of black pellets. There are already some commercial plantswhere Valmet’s steam explosion technology is installed for bioethanol-production and there are some ongoing projects about commercial black pellet plants. Valmet has a pilot plant in Sweden, thus, the testruns with potential raw materials by changing process conditions can be conducted for investigation offuture projects.
After the introduction of Valmet’s steam explosion technology, the high-performance valves from Neles
will be briefly described. After the merger of Neles, wide variety of products portfolio is now available
from Valmet. Neles’s products are highly reliable and suitable for commercial plants.

Effective treatment of organic liquid waste such as shochu liquid waste-Introduction of Miyazaki modelYutaka Isu
Nichinan Mill, Oji Paper Co., Ltd
Nichinan mill accepts organic waste, especially shochu waste, as industrial waste and treatssustainably with efficient sludge recovery, heat utilization, and effective use of incinerated ash. This
sustainable waste management approach is certified by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry.
Since 2017, We have expanded the acceptance of shochu waste from Nichinan City to outside Miyazaki
Prefecture, and in fiscal 2022 more than 11,000 tons of shochu waste was accepted annually. We will
effort to increase acceptance capacity and also continuously effort to achieve Goal 7 of SDGs: ”Ensure
access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all” through the environmentallyfriendly treatment.

Development of the Bio-Asphalt Mixture Utilizing Kraft Lignin
Takuto Shakuno
Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd
In Japan, it was declared in October 2020 that emissions of greenhouse gases that cause global warming
will be reduced to zero by 2050. In response, ministries and agencies announced various policies to realize
a carbon neutral and decarbonized society.
Against this background, Nippon Paper Industries is developing a bio-asphalt mixture that partiallyreplaces petroleum asphalt with lignin as a technology to realize a decarbonized society in the pavement
sector. This technology is implemented jointly with Taisei Rotec Corporation under the NEDO project“Strategic Innovation Program for Energy Conservation Technologies”.
This work summarizes the properties, energy-saving effect, laboratory test result, and test construction
results of the bio-asphalt mixture.

Development of Cellophane Recycling Technology
Shumpei Ishikawa and Noriaki Tsukida
Central Laboratory, Rengo Co., Ltd.
Cellophane is a transparent cellulose film produced by coagulating and regenerating viscose, a solution
obtained by dissolving pulp in an alkaline solution. Cellophane is a natural cellulose material that
biodegrades not only in soil but also in seawater, making it an environmentally friendly material.
However, cellophane is classified as a non-recyclable material and does not have a recycling system likeplastic film. Therefore, as a result of examining the effective use of cellophane, it was found that scraps
generated in the manufacturing process can be reused as part of the raw material.
When cellophane is used as a packaging material, it is usually laminated with a sealing material suchas polyethylene. Therefore, in order to reuse the cellophane collected on the market, it is necessary toseparate the cellophane from the sealing material, which is not realistic in terms of cost. On the otherhand, most of the offcuts generated in the slitting process in cellophane manufacturing are discarded as
scrap. Therefore, we considered reusing this offcut material as a raw material. First, the cellophane
manufacturing process produces viscose from wood pulp through a two-step reaction of alkalization andsulfurization. This viscose is regenerated into cellulose to produce wide rolls of film. The slitting process
in converting these rolls into final products produces cellophane scrap. In this study, we attempted toproduce viscose from these scraps using the same procedure as wood pulp. However, despite having thesame chemical structure, it could not be dissolved as easily as wood pulp. On the other hand, it was foundthat a low-concentration cellophane solution can be obtained by simultaneously carrying out thealkalization reaction and the sulfurization reaction. This cellophane solution was then used to dissolve
the wood pulp to prepare recycled viscose that was no different from conventional viscose. Cellophanesamples made from this recycled viscose had similar properties to regular products. This study shows
the possibility of the recycle system for cellophane.

Paper packaging materials to substitute for film
Keisuke Takemoto
Marketing&Development Dept. Sales Div, Oji F-Tex Co., LtdThe SDGs adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015 have accelerated
environmental awareness around the world. Among them, many people are interested in measures tocombat environmental pollution caused by the outflow of plastic products.
In Japan as well, the 3Rs + Renewable of plastic products are an important issue, as seen in thegovernment's goal of reducing one-way plastic emissions. In such a social situation, paper and cellulosematerials made from carbon-neutral woody biomass are attracting attention as alternative materials toplastics.
The performance of plastic products is excellent in "water resistance, oil resistance, transparency,
heat-sealing, and gas barrier properties", and it is essential to provide these properties as an issue forreplacement with paper materials. We produce paper with the above performance by combining
papermaking and coating technologies based on various pulp materials. In particular, the developed
product "SILBIO Series" can meet various needs by selecting the necessary characteristics from among
the characteristics such as transparency and concealment, based on the gas barrier properties and heatsealing properties required for many packaging materials.
"SILBIO EZ SEAL" is a heat-sealing paper developed for secondary packaging, and uses water-based
coating technology to give the paper heat sealability. "SILBIO BARRIER" has gas barrier properties bycoating the barrier coat layer that fills the gap between the pulp. "SILBIO CLEAR" combines highly
transparent paper with heat seal OPP to achieve all transparency, gas barrier properties, and heatsealing properties. "SILBIO ALBA" achieves high gas barrier performance by combining aluminum
vapor deposition technology with a barrier coat layer.
By providing paper materials that meet the needs of society, we aim to contribute to a carbon-neutralsociety.
Valmet's New Recovery Boiler and Effective utilization of existing boilers after new recovery boiler construction
Kazuya Hirakawa
Energy Group PES, Service business line, Valmet K.K.
On February 10, 2023, the “Basic Policy For Realizing GX” was approved by the Cabinet. GX = Green
Transformation Investment further accelerates decarbonization efforts, and the nation supports
investments that lead to decarbonization in the power generation, industrial, transportation, andhousehold sectors, etc., and is preparing for an early transition to a decarbonized society. Renewal ofrecovery boiler is listed as an investment destination for GX in the paper and pulp industry. For thisreason, it is expected that the replacement of the recovery boiler will be considered in the future.
We will introduce Valmet's recovery boiler, which has maximized efficiency, high availability, safe work
environmental and low emissions. In addition, the existing boilers are often left behind after the recovery
boiler is renewed and are hardly used effectively. This time, we will focus on this idle boiler. We will
introduce the modification of an existing recovery boiler to a bubbling fluidized bed (BFB), which has
many achievements overseas, has advantages over new boiler construction costs, and has almost thesame performance as the latest boiler.
Our efforts to the Energy Plants in the Pulp and Paper Industry
Yuji Fujiwara
TAKUMA CO., LTD.
Takuma Co., Ltd. was established in 1938 by Tsunekichi Takuma, one of the top ten inventors of theMeiji and Taisho eras, who invented Japan's first purely domestic water tube boiler, the "TakumaKikan." Based on our original boiler technology, in 1963 we delivered Japan's first continuous waste
incineration plant (with a processing capacity of 450 tons/day) to Osaka City, and in 1998 we built thelargest scale waste incineration plant in Japan (with a processing capacity of 1,800 tons/day). Japan) tothe Tokyo Metropolitan Government, and currently holds the top share in terms of processing scale andnumber of deliveries in the field of waste incineration.
On the other hand, in the field of energy plants, in 1949 we became the first in the industry to exportbagasse (sugar cane residue)-fired boilers. We have delivered a large number of steam supply and power
generation plants that use a wide variety of fuels as heat sources for various industries.
We have delivered energy plants to the paper and pulp industries without exception, and in this article,
we will introduce our recent efforts for the paper industry.

Operating experience of Biomass boiler
Shuhei Yomo
Tonegawa Division Paper Mills Rengo Co.,Ltd.
Environmental initiatives are becoming increasingly important for all companies. Rengo
formulated “Eco Challenge 2030” that targets reduction of CO2 emissions derived from fossil
energy by 46% by FY 2030 compared to FY 2013.
To achieve this target, Tonegawa Division commenced operation a new biomass boiler for power
generation that utilizes fuel source such as waste woodchips, RPF, and scrap tires in October2022.
The steam conditions of new boiler were planned to be equivalent to the existing gas boiler, andthe existing boiler is currently utilized as a backup.
This report shows overall of the new biomass boiler, operational experiences and trouble cases sincecommissioning.
Anti-scaling technique of black liquor evaporator using high power ultrasonic technology
Masato Tatematsu
Mitsubishi Paper Mills Limited Kitakami millBlack liquor, a byproduct from the pulp manufacturing process, needs to be concentrated to a solids
content of about 75 wt% in order to be supplied as fuel for the recovery boiler. The Kitakami Mill has aneight-can, six-effect black liquor evaporator, and fouling due to calcium carbonate was noticeable
especially in the second-effect. Injection of scale inhibitor had been used as a countermeasure, but nofundamental solution was yet to be reached. In this report, we describe a new fouling prevention solution,applied by high-power ultrasound. It is known that ultrasound can induce nucleation in black liquor,
which resulting to suppress trigger of new nucleation induced on the surface of the heat-transferelements. For this demonstration, a high-power ultrasonic device owned by Nippon Steel Engineering
Co., Ltd. was used for proof of concept. The ultrasonic device was installed at the black liquor supply line
running to the second-effect, and its demonstration was performed from December 2020 until March
2022. Comparison of operational data on the transition of effective temperature difference with andwithout ultrasound showed a clear improvement for the case of having continuous sonication, and it wasalso confirmed by the evident reduction of fouling formation on the heating elements at the occasion ofopen inspection. The efficacy of ultrasound for the application to fouling prevention was confirmed.

Confront the surge in energy prices!
An organizational approach to maximize the value of factory energy management systems
Yasuyuki Horiuchi
Industry HQ Industry Solution Center Dept.3 Group1,Yokogawa Solution Service Corporation.
Energy prices are skyrocketing today, and energy conservation is becoming more and more importantin factories. Organizational management and data insight are essential to achieving factory energy
efficiency. This paper introduces the essence of improvement cases connected by insights while involving
the manufacturing site.

Application of Superheated Steam Drying to Pulp and Paper Industries
PT Tanjungenim Lestari Pulp and Paper, Director (technology and engineering)
Akira Nakasuka
It is very popular to utilize pressurized superheated steam (SHS) in boiler & turbine area. However,SHS can also exist under atmospheric pressure and as dry as pressurized SHS. I will show a model tosimulate a continuous drying process with SHS under atmospheric condition. Then, this model isdeveloped into an industry-oriented model like Tissue Machine dryer hood. With this model, I will
explain that it is not advantageous to introduce fresh air into SHS drying system.
Finally, some hints were provided to implement SHS drying technology in pulp and paper industries.

Safety Assessment of Bamboo-derived Cellulose Nanofibers in Food for Healthy Adults: A Long-term, Open-label Ingestion Trial
Tomoko Shimokawa, Noriko Hayashi
Department of Forest Resource Chemistry, Forestry and Forest Products Research InstituteTetsuya Takao
Graduate School of Life Sciences, Showa Woman’s University
This study was conducted as part of a proposal to add cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) to food. Given thenanoscale nature of CNFs, comprehensive safety assessments are essential. In this study, a long-term,
open-label safety assessment involving human consumption of CNF-enriched test food derived frombamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) CNFs was conducted. The CNF slurry was prepared via bead milling
after enzymatic pretreatment of bamboo pulp. In total, 22 adult Japanese men and women who were
not receiving treatment for their disease consumed CNF-containing test food equivalent to 1 g of dry
weight per day for 12 weeks. The test food was packaged in 45 g pouches, with a CNF concentration of0.556%, and each pouch contained CNFs equivalent to 0.25 g of dry weight. Therefore, the participants
ingested two pouches of sample food in the morning and two pouches in the evening. Notably, noparticipants withdrew from the study during the evaluation period. Although significant variations inanthropometric, physical, blood chemical, and urinalysis parameters were observed, these were either
within the bounds of normal physiology or minor fluctuations. Additionally, there was an increase in boththe frequency of bowel movements and the volume of feces, although these findings did not raise any
clinical concerns. Overall, the safety assessment undertaken in this study did not reveal any major issues
associated with the consumption of bamboo CNFs, and the observed variations were not of medicalconcern.