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opportunity in the use of wheat straw in North Dakota
for the co-manufacture of paper and energy
Alfred Wong, Arbokem
Inc., Vancouver, Canada
ABSTRACT. America's wheat farming economy is in crisis.
Perennial emergency cash subsidies provide no enduring
solution to the problem caused by the fundamentals
of global trade and politics. Crop diversification
is illusionary as it only delays the on-set of a supply
and pricing problem. There is an acute need to develop
an alternative strategy of achieving greater economic
yield from each hectare of cropped land. Industrial
utilization of straw arising from grain production
could provide the practicable means for re-balancing
the economy of grain farming. Co-manufacture of paper
and energy meets the economic development goal without
unrealistic market expectations. (AK22482W)
Manuscript under preparation (2004).
Politics
and economics of using wheat straw for the co-manufacture
of paper and energy
Alfred Wong, Arbokem Inc., Vancouver, Canada
ABSTRACT. Canada exports about 80% of its annual production
of nearly 30 million tonnes of wheat. Canada's wheat
farming economy is in crisis for most of the past 20
years.The market prospect and pricing outlook are not
good. Perennial emergency cash subsidies provide no
enduring solution to the problem caused by the fundamentals
of global trade and politics. Crop diversification
is an illusionary strategy as it only delays the on-set
of the classical "commodity supply and pricing" problem.
There is an acute need to develop an alternative approach
to achieve greater economic yield from each hectare
of cropped land. Industrial utilization of straw arising
from wheat production could provide the most practicable
means for re-balancing the economy of wheat farming.
(AK1998W)
Paper proposed for presentation at the Science and Technology Conference
on Biomass Conversion, Victoria, BC, August, 2004.
Kenaf farming
for market pulp production in the Northern Territory,
Australia
Alfred Wong, Arbokem Inc., Vancouver, Canada
ABSTRACT. In 1986-89, a major agronomic and technical study project
was initiated by the Northern Territory (Australia) Government to establish
the practicality of growing kenaf under local dryland farming conditions,
and viability of establishing a kenaf market pulp mill in the region.
Preliminary agronomic study showed that the "Top End" region
near Darwin in the Northern Territory may be ideally suited for kenaf
cropping. Arable land is abundantly available. The climate is sub-tropical.
Rainfall is plentiful and highly predictable in a well-defined period
of November to March. The following 7-month dry season provides a convenient
opportunity to harvest and store the kenaf crop efficiently.
Under rainfed growing conditions, the typical yield of whole stem would
be 10 dry tonnes per hectare. The farm-gate cost is estimated to be about
A$114 per dry tonne. Kenaf cropping could become more competitive under
certain circumstances such as growing under irrigated conditions and
chemical pulping to higher yields. In all cases, the economics of kenaf
pulp production would require the usage of the whole stem. (AK14554W)
Proc. 3rd International Non-Wood Fiber Pulping and Papermaking Conference,
CTAPI, Beijing, China, October, 1996.
The agri-pulp newsprint
alternative
Al Wong, Arbokem Inc., Vancouver, Canada
ABSTRACT. In view of the emerging shortage of economical wood fibre
and availability of suitable process technology, there is a timely opportunity
to consider the manufacture of agri-pulp newsprint. The furnish of a
practicable agri-pulp newsprint would consist of 40% deinked old newspaper
and
60% agri-pulp.
Paper presented at the Newspaper Association of America Conference,
Miami, Florida, USA, March 6, 1996.
Agri-pulp industry faces
challenge
Al Wong, Arbokem Inc., Vancouver, Canada
ABSTRACT. There are new economic, social and political circumstances
which are present for the renewed development of an agri-pulp industry
in North America. With the ab8ndant supply of agricultural cropping residues
in North America, the implementation of an alternative-fibre pulp industry
can proceed without lengthy agricultural cropping developments. The Arbokem
potassium-based pulp manufacturing technology has been tested successfully
under commercial operating conditions. The demonstration agri-pulp mill
in Vulcan, Alberta, has shown that good quality papermaking pulp can
be made in smaller scale under the “zero effluent” objective.
Paper Asia, May, 1996, pp. 23-25.
Agricultural fibres for pulp and
paper manufacture in developed countries
Al Wong, Arbokem Inc., Vancouver, Canada
ABSTRACT. Agricultural fibres are routinely used for the manufacture
of paper products in developing countries. The agricultural (non-wood)
pulp industry accounts for more than 50% of the national pulp production
inn China and in India. In contrast, paper manufacturers in developed
countries have relied largely on wood pulp fibres since the 1950’s.
During the past 3 decades, the global wood pulp production capacities
have expanded substantially. There is a renewed interest to use agricultural-based
fibres in place of wood, for the production of pulp and paper in developed
countries. The alternative is driven, in part, by the growing shortage
of commercial wood supply as caused by the over-cutting of the standing
forest and the accelerated re-allocation of forest land for ecological
and recreational uses.
The shortage of wood supply can be alleviated partially by the adoption
of higher-yield wood pulping technologies and by the increased use of
waste paper. But ultimately, these remedial steps will be inadequate
to meet the growing demand for paper products. There are several important
factors which affect the use of agricultural fibres for pulp and paper
manufacture in developed countries. For some on-purpose fibre crops,
continued farm subsidy and repeal of certain sections of the Narcotics
Act would be required. Agri-pulp production from agricultural cropping
residues appears to be the most practical economic means to supplement
the fibre needs of the paper industry. In the social context, agri-pulp
implementation in North America would also provide lower taxes that would
be accrued from the elimination of substantial annual subsidies to grain
farmers from the government. (AK13159)
Proc. 2nd Biomass Conference of the Americas, Portland, Oregon, USA,
August, 1995. pp. 1181-1189.
Extension of Canada's softwood
resources
Al Wong, Arbokem Inc., Vancouver, Canada
ABSTRACT. Canada’s wood pulp industry can benefit considerably
from the rapid development of a complimentary domestic agri-pulp industry.
The agricultural fibre resource is available annually with virtually
no new infrastructure development requirements. The fibre resource is
renewable in real time. Agri-pulp can be produced in smaller-scale operations
with zero pollution. Agri-pulp may be used as an alternative means, to
among other things, a)manufacture the “greenest” paper products
with and without the addition of waste paper fibre, b) enhance the tear
strength of traditional softwood kraft pulp, and c) produce a softwood
pulp simulate from standard aspen kraft pulp. (AK12566A)
 CPPA Technical Section Annual Meeting Preprints, Montreal, Canada,
January, 1995.
Cereal straw for the manufacturing
of papermaking pulp
Al Wong, Arbokem Inc., Vancouver, Canada
ABSTRACT. Cereal straw is a cellulosic fibre resource which is renewable
in real time. It is abundantly available in Washington, Oregon and Montana.
Straw is largely under-utilized commercially. Field burning is a very
common disposal method. There are approximately 18 million tonnes of
recoverable wheat straw available in the region. This amount of straw
fibre supply would be equivalent to the harvesting of m0ore than 35 million
cubic metres of wood or about 80 million trees each year! At a nominal
pulping yield of 50%, abut 9 million tonnes of papermaking pulp can be
produced from this annual renewable resource. The equivalent economic
value of the pulp production would be about $7.2 billion annually. Sustainable
rural economy can be enhanced through the commercial development of community-scale
agri-pulp mills. An economically-viable agri-pulp mill would need to
produce only 20,000 tonnes of papermaking pulp annually. The procurement
land base of the straw feedstock could be maintained safely and adequately
within a radius of about 40 kilometres from the agri-pulp mill. (ak13518)
Proc. Symposium on Dryland Agriculture in Eastern Washington in the
Year 2020 and Beyond, Washington State University, Extension Service,
Ritzville, Washington, USA, October 25-26, 1995.
Agripulp newsprint - Why,
How and When?
Al Wong, Arbokem Inc., Vancouver, Canada
ABSTRACT. The development of an agri-pulp newsprint have several important
economic, ecological and social benefits. With diminishing wood fibre
supply and practical limitation of paper recycling, fibre from agricultural
cropping residues is the largest single type of uncommitted supply available
for papermaking purposes in North America. At present, over 200 million
tonnes are available annually. No expansion of agricultural land or new
agricultural practices would be needed. On the social side, sale of agricultural
cropping residues to an agri-pulp newsprint industry could provide an
incremental income of 20 to 30% to the cereal grain farmers. There would
be less demand on government subsidies for agriculture. (AK13533B)
Paper presented at the Newspaper Association of America Conference,
Tysons Corner, Virginia, USA, October 30, 1995.
Agri-pulp development in Alberta
Al Wong, Canadian Flax Pulp Ltd., Vulcan, Alberta
ABSTRACT. Although forest-based fibre seems to be abundantly available
in Alberta, the interest to reduce tree harvesting is gaining social
and political significance inside and outside of Alberta. Previously-assigned
commercial forest area may need to be re-allocated for the creation of
new recreational and ecological forest reserves. The economic viability
of the traditional wood pulp industry could be adversely affected. The
price of wood could rise substantially. Higher-yield wood pulping may
not be sufficient to off-set the disappearance of low-price wood supply.
There are many economic, social and political reasons for the early realization
of asn agri-pulp industry in Alberta to supply alternative pulp fibre
for the manufacture of paper products.
Proc. Alberta Agri-Pulp Workshop, "Pulp from Crop Residues",
Edmonton, Alberta, June, 1995. pp. 11-13.
Agriculture-based pulp
as secondary papermaking fibres
Al Wong, Romuald Krzywanski and Chen Chiu, Arbokem Inc., Vancouver,
Canada
ABSTRACT. Agricultural residue such as cereal straw is an under-utilized
bio-resource for the manufacture of pulp and paper products. Increased
usage of agricultural residue for pulp manufacture would alleviate the
annual disposal problem of agricultural residues in many farm regions
of North America. Moreover, it would also reduce the need to supply increasingly
greater amounts of virgin wood pulp fibres for the paper industry. Cereal
straw is the most abundant agricultural fibre available in the World.
There are at least 100 million tonnes of wheat straw available in the
continental United States annually. Satisfactory quality paper can be
produced from wheat straw pulp, with the addition of wood or non-wood
reinforcement pulp. An environmentally-sound and economical way to produce
wheat straw pulp can be achieved if a different industrial strategy and
new manufacturing methods are used. (AK10900W)
Proc. Tappi Pulping Conference, Atlanta, GA, USA, November, 1993.
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