INDUSTRIAL A N D ENGINEERING CHEMlSTRY
818
Vol. 22, No. 8
Production of Pulp in the Pacific Northwest' H. K. Benson DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL EXGINEERING, UNIVERSITY OR WASHINGTON, SEATTLE, WASH.
Courtesy Brubaker Aerial Surveys
Figure 1-Western
Mills Are Advanced in Engineering Design and Construction
HE growth of the pulp and paper industry in the
T
Pacific Northwest has been greatly accelerated during the last seven years. I n the five year period 1923 to 1928 the daily production of pulp in the states and provinces bordering on the Pacific Ocean has doubled. At the end of 1929 the capacity per 24-hour day amounted to 4660 tons of pulp and 4168 tons of paper. The rate of increase may be noted by the following figures, obtained from governmental and other sources: 1921
Tons Washington Oregon British Columbia
95,161 124,494 164,746 1926
Washington Oregon British Columbia
199,164 178,841 259,504
Tons
1923 Tons 136,943 162,613 217,076 1927 Tons 268,349 200,869 296,253
1924
Tons 159,539 149,894 216,243 1928
Tons 349,107 213,407 310,961
1925 Tons 161,858 160,736 230,733 1929 Tons 410,000 215,000 279,638
A study of this table and Figure 2 shows that in Washington this increase of pulp production has been especially marked.
rapid extension into other sections of the country, notably into the Midwest, until in 1916 Wisconsin with its fifty paper mills ranked second to New York. The rapid growth of the industry in Wisconsin was due to the abundance of cheap raw material in the shape of timber close a t hand and sufficient water power capable of cheap development to operate these mills. Sawmills, too, were operating and a considerable amount of cheap fuel was available. The locality was relatively close to the large markets and for the most part the industry was very prosperous. During the period of greatest expansion these mills
900,000
3W.000
4
An inspection of the geographic location of the mills on the Pacific Coast (Figure 3) shows them admirably located with respect to deepwater harbors and accessibility of distribution of the product. It is of interest, however, to discuss several other industrial, economic, and technical factors that seem to be responsible for the rapid increase in pulp production.
200.000
Migration of Paper Industry
lO0,wo
4
,$ 8 K
The census of 1900 reported 763 establishments engaged in the manufacture of pulp and paper, with the bulk of the industry located in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. During the next decade the industry underwent 1 Received
June 14, 1930.
Figure 2-Pulp
Production in Pacific Northwest
INDUSTRIAL A N D EN01'NEERINC CNEMISTRY
August, 1930
B
819
estimated stand of timber in the Southern States is 30 per cent of tlie total for the United States. Its present cost is very low and natural reiorestation proceeds at a rapid rate making its supply perpetual. The nature of the southern woods, however, is such that krait pulp is of chief importance, and although technical improvements in cooking and bleaching may add to diversification, it would seem that pulp production will have its limitations in that section oi the country. Raw Materials Available The West Coast has woods a i d a b l e for sulfite, sulfate, and soda pulp. It is held by many that the western and midwest timber makes a better quality of sulfate pulp than the southern woods. The stand of commercial timber in Oregon and WaslLington is over 1000 billion feet board measure and its growth too (Figure 4) is so rapid as to insure a perpetual supply. I n much of the coastal strip lying between the summit of the Cascade Mount,ains and the sea and extending from southeast Alaska to near the California-Oregon line, t.he soil conditions are such that reforestetion (Fig.M/II*..ed ure 6 ) will naturally take precedence over agri+ , oulture. More than 100 billion feet of timber are tributary to Puget Sound alone. When one considers that it is possible to place timber in Pugct Sound within 24 hours after it is logged and the short haul on protected waters to the mill, tlie low cost of raw material is obvious when compared with the length of time required to transport pulpwood in the Midwest, where it often requires a wholr: season to transport wood from the stump to the mill. Another factor that Iias contributed to Oiie abundance of cheap raw material is the low repute in which western hemlock has been held for lumber. As the logging operations cxtrnd to the higher altitudes the percentage of hemlock in the timber cut often ranges froin 40 to 60 instead of the more customary 10 to 20 per cmt. What
1 j
i 1
$
I
Figure 3-Locatlon
of Pulp Mills on Wcillc Coast
produced mostly the coarser papers such as newsprint and general wrappings. More recently conditions have changed. The sources of raw material are now farther removed from the mills. One manufacturer stated that the nearest hemlock was 600 miles and the nearest spruce 1000 miles from his mill. The consequence has been that pulp timber increased in cost until today certain kinds of pulp timber cost from two to three times as much as they did twenty years ago. The cost of fuel t o operate these mills also increased, as practically all of them have had to resort to coal. With changes in the labor situation the cost of manufacturing these products increased, so that now it is very much higher than it was fifteen years ago. Just as the lumber business gradually passed out in this locality and sought new locations of greater ahuudance of raw material, so now the paper business is seeking development in new localities and is expanding into Canada, into the Southern States, and along the Pacific Coast, because these localities offer practically everything required for the production of these products a t a cost much lower than is possible in the Midwest and Eastern States. Even though the mills do not cease operation, they are compelled to change the character of their products, making higher grado specialties where the margin between the cost of raw material and the finished product is much greater. It seems probable that in the matter of newsprint Canada will hold a dominant position for some years to come. The South has increased its pulp capacity from 382,600 tons in 1921 to approximately 1,M)0,000 tons in 1929 (1). The
,
I
Fipure 4-A Sfsnd of Western Hemlock 20 to 40 Inches In Diameter Where Douglas Fir Had Been Cut Out Fifteen years Before
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INDUSTEIAL AND ENGINEERING C H E M I S T R Y
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and buy western pulp for the paper-mill s u p Ply. The factors that have made such conditions possible have already heen forecast. They ace cheap and abundant raw material, cheap fuel, reasonable transportation rates, and good engineering in the design and operation of the new mills on the West Coast. Utilization of Sawmill Waste Fuel and raw material are somewhat interwoven. Although Douglas fir, the dominant sawmill material, is only slightly used as a raw material for pulp in the sulfate mills, i t has become a subject of research in a number of laboratories and it is only a question of tinie when it will more largely be made into chemical pulp. I n the meantime it constitutes a source for fuel and power generation. To make sawmill waste wood available for use in one form or another in the pulp industry, it was neeessary to organize and initiate a new woodFIBure 5-Natural Reforeststion on the Gravelly Slopes of the preparation industry by the installation of Pacific Coaatsl Region chipping plants a t the various sources. In this to do with the hemlock logs is a problem that is seriously way mec:hanioal methods are cutting down handling costs aiid earnestly debated a t every logging conference. The which in the past have often made the use of waste wood impracticable even though its m e t h o d s used i n manufacfirst cost waa insignificant. turing western hemlock lurnIt is generally held that in ber have not been such as manufacturing lumber oneto produce a definite comthird of the tree remains in the modity. A recent decision woods as logging waste; one in one of the courts as to third is sawmill waste in form what constituted No. 1 lumof slabs, trimmings, and sawber remarked that a n y o n e dust; and one-third constitutes living ill the West rertainly the various grades of lumber. knew that i t was not liemIn the Douglas fir regions lock. It is believed that a of Oregon and Washington good t e c h n i c a l policy in the annual logging waste capa1u in b e r manufacture would ble of being cut into sound e v e n t u a l l y place w e s t e r n cord wood is in excess of 6 hemlock in a more favorable million cords. The use of thus position. I n that case, howmaterial, as yet, is onlyexperiever, i t would be a t t h e mental. It rcmains yet to expense of the fir lumber, b r i n g t o g e t h e r the teehniarid as the per capita concal facilities for reclaiming sumption of lumber is graduthis material a t a reasonable ally decreasing there is not . problem that is only ni&h gain in boosting up ~ i 6-Chlpplng g ~ PI^^^ ~ Bullt ~ the Main Refise conveyorcqst-a one grade in c o m p e t i t i o n fairly difficult. It has been with another. It seems logical, therefore, that the hem- easier to follow the line of least resistance and use the material lock log should be converted into products other than on its way from the sswmitl to the waste burner. Therefore, lumber. T h e r e p u t e o f hemlock lumber carried for a while into its use for pulp, and western hemlock was r e garded as of doubtful value. A l l this prejudice has now been swept a s i d e a n d i t i s a t e c h n i c a l fact that, with the proper conditions of cooking and bleaching, just as good grades c a n a n d a r e being m a d e of western s p r u c e a n d hemlock as of the corresponding eastern species. I n competition with importations of foreign pulp, western-made pulp is holding its place and finding a market. Pulp niills in the East find it profitable to diminish or even disearitinue thcir own output
August, 1930
INDL'STRIAL A Y D ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
the chipping companies made a contract with a sawmill for its waste and the chipping plant (Figures 6 and 7) simply straddles the refuse conveyor. Here now is undertaken the problem of converting sawmill w a s t e into properly cleaned and sized pulpwood chips, the residue from this operation in turn becoming bogged fuel. Refined chips for pulp mills are now a distinct commodity; c 1e a n e d slab wood from sawmills and cleaned cord wood from the woods waste are likewise fast becoming commodities that may bo bought and sold on the open market. A pulp mill operating on western hemlock may therefore buy its wood in the form of logs, pulp cord wood, or pulp chips. A 40-foot hemlock log, 12 inches thick, scales 196 feet board measure, but its actual wood contents is about 580 feet. It requires about 2000 feet to make a ton of pulp. Hence with hemlock logs selling at $8 per thousand feet, log scale, the actual wood cost per ton of pulp is about 85. The cost of preparing chips froin the logs is about the same. Using sawmill waste in part ami logs which do not grade for No. 1 lumber but are suitable for pulp, it is apparent that the hemlock wood costs arc only about one-fourth of what
Figure 9-Modern
821 they are in Wisconsin. The fuel costs for pulp mills range from 18 to 22 c e n t s p e r 1000 pounds of steam while the cost in Wisconsin is from 38 to 44 cents. Transportation Costs
The cost of transporting pulp from the W e s t C o a s t to the midwest and eastern markets has undergone i n t e r e s t i n g changes. The freight c o s t b y rail to midwest points is from 511 to $13 per ton and by boat to Atlantic Coast points, 56 per ton. In some of the mills (Figure 8) the l o a d i n g is d o n e directly into the holds of the ocean freighters. In others thero is a slight haul by scow in protected waters to tho shipping terminal. As the liglitering systems of the midcontinent, inland waterways become developed, the distribution of pulp will be diversified and simplified. Market limitations will largely disappear. Engineering Design and Construction Finally, there is tlie element of engineering design and construction in Pacific Coast plants (Figures 1 and 9) entering as a factor in the cost of product,ion. Although the first, cost
Conatrucfion and Transportstion Together Contribute to the Efficiency of the Wesfern Mills
INDUSTRIAL AND ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY
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of these plants has been higher than elsewhere, the daily operating costs and the item of depreciation are lower. The writer has a friend who purchased stock at par in one of these projects as a matter of local duty and patriotism. During the second year he was continually solicited to sell the stock a t an advance. Its par value increased in 1928 from $100 to $230, and a t the latter price the stock showed a yield of 11.32 per cent. This reflects the summation of economies that have been effected in the operating and producing costs of Pacific Coast pulp and paper mills. They represent the fruitage of technical experience in the selection of equipment that reduces labor costs. In them technical control, scientific research, and experimental development have a prominent place which insure quality of product that can nowhere be surpassed. In the new cellulose industries utilizing pulp for purposes other than paper, the Pacific Coast product promises to assume a prominent place.
Vol. 22, No. 8
Future of Industry
With 40 per cent of our wood-pulp requirements still met by iinportations from Canada, Scandanavia, and other European countries, it is obvious that our nation is not a self-contained unit in the supply of this essential commodity. The future trend of the industry must also be inevitably connected with the economic and trade factors a t work in other parts of the world. The very favorable conditions in the Paciiic Northwest for the utilization of our forest products will insure a large participation whatever the competitive struggles of the immediate future may be in supplying the increasing per capita consumption of pulp and paper products. Literature Cited (1) Partridge,
IND.ENG.CHEM.,22, 422
(1930).
Carbon Black in Rubber Insulating Compounds* W. B. Wiegand and C. R. Bog@ BINKEY8; SMITHCo., 41 EAST4
2 ST., ~ KEW ~ YORK,N. Y., AND SIMPLEXWIRE& CABLECo., BOSTON, MASS,
Up to about 10 per cent by weight of properly made As regards r e s i s t i v i t y , and dried carbon black may be added to each 100 parts t h e r e is n o g r e a t change U B B E R is a nonof rubber hydrocarbon present in rubber insulating when added i n m o d e r a t e conductor or dieleccompounds with marked improvement in dielectric a m o u n t s ( 4 ) . As regards tric. Carbon black strength, resistivity, and power factor, and without power f a c t o r , most fillers consists mostly of carbon, serious increase in dielectric constant. increase it ( 5 ) . which is a conductor and so The exact amount of carbon black required depends Regarding dielectric connot a dielectric. Therefore, somewhat on which electrical property is to be brought stant, we a r e t o l d t h a t the addition of the latter t o its maximum value. Fresh, uncompounded carbon fillers increase this value, to the former must detract black must be employed. the ‘(extent depending on from its dielectric properElectrical improvements of up to 50 per cent are the amount used and the ties. Thus current belief, possible. characteristics of the filler” and thus the literature. The improvement is thought to be due to the removal (6). The effect of carbon The contrary is the case. by the carbon black of the ultimate traces of moisture black as a comDoundinn inThe admixture in suitable and electrolytic impurities. gredient is statkd to be- difproportions of carbon black ferent from that of other t o -rubber insulating compounds not only does not injure but may improve them, fillers, owing to its being a conductor. As little as 0.2 per cent is stated to have a perceptible effect, whereas “with and to a striking extent. 20 per cent, the dielectric constant is more than double Dielectric Properties of Rubber that of the base compound. The increase in dielectric constant is almost linear and is much greater than with CRUDERUBBER-crude rubber is an excellent insulator, equal amounts of other fillers.” the resistivity being of the order of 5000 X lo6megohms per Thus, for example, we read ( 7 ) : cc. (1968 X lo6 megohms per cu. in.). The power factor is The introduction of carbon greatly decreases the resistivity of the order, 0.2. The dielectric constant, at 1000 cycles, of rubber. This effect is not apparent, however, with 0.2 to is of the order, 2.5 (10). 2 per cent of carbon. With 10 per cent carbon some of the PART I-THEORETICAL
R
Note-Power factor, as applied to a dielectric, measures its tendency t o dissipate electrical energy when subjected to alternating voltage. It is usually expressed as a percentage. Thus the “power factor” is the electrical analog of friction in a machine.
specimens show a resistivity of 2000 X 10’ M. 0. per cc. which is not lower than that of some pure rubber compounds. With higher percentages of carbon, however, the resistivity falls off with greater rapidity.
PUREVULCANIZED RUBBER-with pure-gum mixes of rubber and sulfur the resistivity ranges irregularly from 1000 X lo6 to 15,000 X lo6 megohms per cc. (11) (394 X 106 to 591 X 106 megohms per cu. in.). The power factor at given frequency is a function of the sulfur ratio reaching 9 per cent (12). The dielectric constant also ranges irregularly from 2.6 to nearly 5, depending on frequency (12). COMPOU~;DED RUBBER-Most types of inorganic compounding ingredients are stated to behave as follows:
As to power factor, it is stated that “with 10 per cent of carbon black the power factor is about ten times that of the base compound, and with 20 per cent it is nearly 30 times that of the base compound.” EFFECT OF MOISTURE-Moisture is injurious because of its power to dissolve and ionize any traces of electrolytes, on the one hand, and of its own effect, on the other. For details as to its effect on the dielectric constant, resistivity, and power factor, the reader may consult Boggs and Blake ($), Williams and Kemp (19), and Nuttall (14). In brief, moisture profoundly affects all of these electrical properties, not only in the case of rubber, but also in the
1 Received April 15, 1930. Presented before the Division of Rubber Chemistry at the 79th Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Atlanta, Ga., April 7 to 11, 1930.
