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Throughout history the processes used to make wood products have been continuously developed to increase the efficiency of the use of the raw material and to improve the quality and variety of the end products. Much of the stimulus for this has been economic, but environmental concerns have also been influential.
Pulp bleaching has been modified to make processes chlorine free, avoiding the potentially harmful by-products of treatment, including dioxin traces.
The sawmilling industry has seen major improvements in processing technology to enhance recovery and reduce costs. Laser guides, log scanning and timber grade recovery software have all improved value recovery, mill throughput and simplified process control. Other sectors of the industry have made similar progress.
Scion has worked consistently at finding solutions to key wood processing issues. These include the development of technology to harden the relatively soft radiata pine wood, so that it can be used as a cheaper alternative to tropical hardwood species such as teak, and the ‘greenweld’ process which enables green sawn timber to be joined before processing.
The hardening technology can be applied to many other species and involves pressure treatment of wood with a starch mixture that thickens and hardens cell walls. This gives the wood greater stability and provides an even better finished surface. The process is being applied to a range of radiata pine products with equal success.
Greenweld is a gluing process that can join pieces of sawn timber while still green (ie before drying and planing). The advantage is that the joined product only has to be dried and planed once. Any movement during drying is corrected during planing. Dried and dressed timber previously required a second pass through the planer to correct any imperfections created in the drying process.
Biomaterials Research
As the world looks for alternatives to finite petroleum resources, plants will play a major role in the move to renewable products. Scion is exploring beyond wood and fibre to develop a range of new materials from plantation forests and agricultural crops. Renewable plant resources yield fibres, composites, polymers and chemical intermediates that can replace materials derived from a mineral base.
Scion is now researching the following technologies to make plant-based materials like these a reality:
• Functional biofibres for membranes and packaging.
• Advanced composites, including wood fibre plastics,
natural fibre composites, and total bio-composites.
• Nanostructured biomaterials.
• Formulated bioproducts, including biobased
adhesives/coatings and biodegradable materials.
• Biopolymers
• Chemicals for fuels/lubricants, polymer additives and
intermediates.
World Leading
New Zealand leads the world in many aspects of softwood-based science and technology, and that expertise is in increasing demand as the industry prepares for 15-20 years of sustained growth in forest products exports.
New ideas and technologies, more efficient process management, a better trained and more sophisticated workforce and strategic marketing are essential to forest products industry achieving its full potential.
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