PACWEST Conference in Whistler
June 26, 2015 9:54 am Leave your thoughts
Hello everyone,
Two weeks ago I had the privilege of attending the PACWEST conference in Whistler, British Columbia. This conference focuses on the strong relationship that exists between the pulp and paper industry and the many equipment and material suppliers who support them. The theme of this years conference was “leveraging our competitive advantages” with discussion focusing on the technological innovation and process improvements among Canadian pulp producers. The delegates included industrial vendors, mill executives, process engineers, instrumentation technicians and area leaders to name a few. Throughout the week I found myself busy networking and expanding my knowledge of different pulping methods.
Stretched over three days the conference included short courses, mill executive forums, technical presentations and student poster sessions. While I did not attend any of the short courses, the topics included project management, continuous cooking and TMP/BCTMP. This is something I would love to take part in to understand the different pulping methods that exist in Western Canada if I became involved in the industry on a permanent basis.
Throughout the week I attended technical sessions on bioproducts and energy, process control and kraft pulping. During the bioproduct technical presentations I learned about the biomethanation and methanol plant projects that are occurring in other Albertan mills. I found it interesting to learn about the diversification that is taking place in the Canadian pulp and paper industry outside of traditional markets and into emerging bio-products markets. The many similarities and unique features of the different mills stimulated many interesting discussions with members of other mills and I found myself learning by leaps and bounds! While I admit I did not enjoy my process control course in university, I found the process control technical sessions fascinating where discussions focused around the use of advanced process controls (APC) to make “smart” control decisions rather than the more common PID controller which underperforms during complex process situations. A good analogy is that APC is basically autopilot for plants. So when things are going well you can let the plant run itself while still maintaining the option of manual control when unusual process conditions arise.
The kraft pulping sessions gave me an insight into the continual innovation taking place with the kraft pulping process that we are operating in Grande Prairie. I found the technical challenges other mills were facing around odour control, white liquor pressure filters and planned maintenance scheduling to be very relatable to my own work. It was interesting to see how even though different plants may be operating using the kraft process, there still existed many differences in equipment and operating conditions.
While there was not a lot of free time to explore the many hiking and biking trails around Whistler, I did manage to get out for a short walk around Green Lake where there were numerous float planes landing and taking off. The scenery was absolutely spectacular! Overall it was a great week of learning about the innovative, close knit members of the Canadian pulp industry.
Until next time so long for now!
Amy