APPTI Visits University of Tennessee Center for Renewable Carbon, Holds December All-Members’ Meeting

The Alliance for Pulp and Paper Technology Innovation (APPTI) held its all-members meeting Dec. 11 – 12, 2017, at the University of Tennessee and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory—its first meeting under its new banner. APPTI was formerly the Agenda 2020 Technology Alliance, and announced its new name Nov. 6, 2017.

The events began with a tour of the Center for Renewable Carbon at the University of Tennessee, conducted by Associate Dean and Director Tim Rials. Capabilities in bioprocesses, bioresources, and biomaterials were reviewed. Earlier in the day, a project team on catalytic pulping met at the facility; the team includes collaborators from the University of Tennessee, the U.S. Forest Service, Oak Ridge, and APPTI member companies.

 

APPTI members and guests toured the Center for Renewable Carbon at the University of Tennessee—shown in photo on the right with Dr Niki Labbe in a bioenergy lab.

APPTI Board of Directors Chair Fritz Paulsen, Kapstone R&D manager(photo on left below), opened the meeting by highlighting the value of member and partner comments to the organization’s recent strategic focus survey of APPTI participants.

 

"We’re at a really exciting time for our consortium," Paulsen told the group. "We now have a growing portfolio of technology projects, and the input from our dedicated volunteer participants helps us keep our research sponsors and partners interested."

APPTI Executive Director David Turpin  (photo on right below) announced a decision by the board of directors to form two exploratory groups for possible new APPTI work teams. "As part of keeping our portfolio relevant, we periodically examine our focus areas, as our board did yesterday," Turpin said. "Two areas ripe for consideration are a platform for exploring ways to understand and valorize downstream value from lignin, and the possibility of a paper and paperboard packaging platform."  

The two teams are charged with determining whether there are research areas appropriate for collaborative work on pre-competitive topics, defining the opportunities, and determining the potential scope and objectives of an APPTI work team, were a team to be established. The future teams would then establish their goals, objectives, and deliverables.  

The all-members meeting also included a review of the five existing work teams, their portfolios and plans, and strategic challenges. David Turpin updated the group on APPTI’s participation in the RAPID advanced manufacturing institute, which recently announced a decision to enter negotiations for funding a Georgia Tech project backed by APPTI members on Robust Membranes for black liquor concentration. 

 

The next all-members meeting will be held in Washington, D.C., on April 11, 2018.

For further information, please contact David Turpin or visit the website.

 

In the photo below, members examine a 3D-printed vehicle made from carbon fibers on a tour of the Oak Ridge Manufacturing Demonstration Facility.

 

 

The Alliance for Pulp and Paper Technology Innovation is an industry-led consortium that promotes development of advanced manufacturing technologies for the pulp and paper industry.