ARC will manufacture and market the thermal Colloid Analyser, a combination of ARCdeveloped software and analysis tools, and UV-Vis spectrophotometer hardware supplied by Varian, Inc., as a tool to help pulp mill operators better manage their water usage. Specifically, the technology will enable mill operators to improve measurement and control of the stability, concentration and composition of resin byproducts (or pitch) in papermaking process streams.

"We're excited to bring this technology to the marketplace, as we believe it will help mills significantly lower water usage through better management of the contaminants that foul machinery, " says Ted Garver, manager, ARC's Aquantix Group. "This contamination and the resulting loss of production has been a long-standing problem in the industry. Our breakthrough has been to recognize and characterize the relationship between particle stickiness and the thermal response of light scattering of the pitch particles. This advance allows us to engineer better tools to measure and control particle stability in papermaking process streams.

"Currently, mills perform this control measure manually in a lab. Using our technology, these tests can be performed faster, cheaper and more accurately," says Garver. "We estimate cost savings for a mill to be 50 per cent of their present costs, or approximately $250,000 per year."

"Our relationship with ARC demonstrates that Varian, Inc. is committed to helping customers find innovative solutions that address rigorous and demanding challenges," says Martin O'Donoghue, vice-president of Analytical Instruments, Varian, Inc. "Our instrumentation incorporates the best thermal and spectroscopic analysis hardware available to provide analytical results for th
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Contact: Bernie Poitras
poitras@arc.ab.ca
780-450-5145
Alberta Research Council Inc.
24-Jan-2003