Browsing by Subject "sawmill"

The importance of the computer and information technology has increased significantly with the introduction of the Internet. The technologies should not be reduced to selling and purchasing functions but should also be used as research and business intelligence tool, as well as information source. This study compares the performances of the Finnish and German sawmilling & paper industry by evaluating their public communication. The forest sector has been traditionally important for the economy of both countries and they belong to the global players. In conjunction with the performance analysis, a neural network tool is compiled, optimized and tested. It combines a study related categorization application and the Kohonen’s self-organizing map (SOM). The objective of the automated categorization is to lower manual work and to evaluate text contents more accurately – by taking also the possible future use into account. The research includes two interlinked approaches: web page and performance analysis. The web page analysis compares the design and content of the forest industry companies’ Internet sites. In addition, it is used to select and define the relevant enterprises for the performance analysis. 14 Finnish and 10 German sawmills, as well as 5 Finnish and 12 German paper and paperboard producers fulfilled the research requirements (data collection 2013). The performance analysis is implemented by a content analysis and SOM Tool. The word count data of the content analysis is sorted with a customised classification frame based on the Global Reporting Initiative Guideline and evaluated with the SOM. The SOM algorithms reduce multidimensional, large and complex data to lower dimensional maps which visualizes the distribution of the companies’ performance categories. The results indicate that the business cultures of the selected companies are similar. A closer examination reveals that the clustering by sector is more emphasized that by country. The more detailed determination of the SOM divides the paper sector further by their origin. Most obvious are the differences between sawmill and Finnish paper industry. The sawmill sector highlights especially product, service and macro-environment related aspects. Small German sawmills emphasized further tradition and history The paper sector stressed social responsibility, corporate structure, external activities and environmental issues. Inside the paper sector, the Finnish companies point out corporate strategy, development, organizational profile categories and economical performances. The German paper sector highlights in particular environmental issues and public relation. The web page analysis and related studies evaluate the corresponding categories similarly to the present research and thus support the results of the SOM approach.

The aim of this thesis was to study how the origin and treatment histories of spruce (Picea abies) and pine (Pinus radiata, Pinus sylvestris) bark influence on the extraction yield of tannin. The bark is produced in large quantities during the debarking process and is considered as waste in traditional forest industry. Bark is mainly used for energy production. In comparison to wood tissue, bark contains more extractives that could have potential for various applications in pharmaceutical industry or bio-based adhesives. Stilbenes, lignans, flavonoids and tannins are typical extractives in wood bark. In this Master’s thesis, the focus is on the extraction of tannins. Bark raw materials were obtained from pulp mills and sawmills. Bark samples were processed as air-dried (drying < 50 °C) or fresh as it is after debarking. Samples were extracted in rotating air bath reactors at 90 °C and 10 % consistency. Eight batches were hot water extracted and five different time points were studied: 40, 60, 80, 100 and 120 minutes. The extracts were analyzed with three UV-spectrophotometric methods: Folin-Ciocalteu assay, UV-280 nm method and Acid-Butanol assay. UV-280 nm method was used in tannin yield calculations. Tannin yield was the highest from air-dried spruce bark from sawmill (5.63 % from original dry bark). The second highest tannin yield (3.33 %) was from air-dried sawmill pine (Pinus radiata) bark extract. Fresh sawmill spruce and pine bark extraction gave 2.59 % and 2.65 % for tannin yield, respectively. The poorest yields came from the pulp mill bark samples. Yields from fresh and air-dried pulp mill spruce barks were 0.41 % and 0.97 %, respectively. In comparison, the tannin yields from fresh and air-dried pulp mill pine (Scots pine) bark were 1.13 % and 1.20 %. Results showed that the tannin yield increased when the extraction time increased. Statistical analysis confirmed that the origin and the treatment have a significant influence on the extraction yield of tannin. The reason for the differences in the extraction yields between barks with different origins are probably related to the different debarking methods. Sawmill bark samples gave a significantly higher tannin yield than samples from pulp mill. In sawmills, logs are debarked as dry in rotary debarker. Drum debarkers are typically being used in pulp and paper mills where water is used in debarking process. Contact with water may leach water-soluble tannins from bark. This is in accordance with the results that bark from sawmill was found to be an optimal raw material for hot water extraction. Further research should focus on optimizing hot water extraction conditions eg. by applications of chemicals.