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ANDRITZ - Pruyn’s Island Technical Center, USA

R&D and testing services for biomass pretreatment and pulp mill optimization

The Pruyn’s Island Technical Center (PITC) of ANDRITZ Inc. is located in Glens Falls, NY USA and supports global testing and R&D activities for ANDRITZ customers and other entities.

PITC is home to a full staff of chemical, process, and mechanical engineers with over 100 years of total experience. It offers a full range of services:

  • Confidential contract laboratory testing
  • R&D for established and emerging technologies (lingo-cellulosic biofuels and bio-chemicals, specialty pulping and bleaching, metal corrosion, etc.)
  • Mill technical process support (analysis, samples, optimization)
  • Process audits and on-site analysis (with complete technical reports)

Specific areas of expertise include:

Raw materials classification

  • Size and thickness distributions
  • Bark and sand content
  • Bulk density and biomass density
  • Refining (12” disc refiner)
  • TORNADO pulping
  • Solids flow and friction characteristics

Cooking/chemical treatment

  • Continuous and batch pulping simulations
  • Modified and conventional pulping processes
  • Auto hydrolysis (biofuels and dissolving pulps)
  • Corrosion testing
  • Pulp bleaching (EC, ECF, TCF)

Pulp physical properties

  • Fiber size/morphology
  • Strength testing (PFI beating)
  • Brightness and opacity
  • Drainage and freeness
  • Shive analysis (Pulmac, Somerville, and Valley screens)

Biomass pretreatment

  • Steam explosion (batch-type)
  • Liquid/solid separation
  • Acid or alkaline hydrolysis
  • 1- or 2-stage pretreatment
  • Torrefaction

BioRefinery laboratory

  • Saccharification and fermentation of lingo-cellulosic materials
  • Fast glucose/ethanol analysis (YSI)
  • Microwave hydrolysis
  • Particle analysis (Malvern)

Chemical analysis

  • Component analysis (solids and liquids)
    • Carbohydrate (glucose, xylose, mannose, arabinose, galactose)
    • Degradation products and organic acids
    • Lignin
    • Solvent extractives (water, ethanol, acetone)
    • Ash
  • Elemental metals
  • Elemental C, H, N, O, S
  • Karl Fisher moisture
  • Lime and lime mud
  • Heating value (calorimetry)
  • Viscosity (capillary and Brookfield)
  • Kappa number
  • COD

Applying the results

PITC can assist with data interpretation and problem solving. PITC specialists can perform process simulations to obtain data for process optimization, new process design, and commercial plant design. Process performance can be forecast based on analysis of mill vs. lab ratios. The results from PITC’s professionally calibrated and sophisticated laboratory instruments can also be used to verify/validate mill testing methods and equipment.

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