1. Newsletter from Forest Refine
In this sixth newsletter from the Forest Refine project you can find information about field experiments in Finland, outreach events,
published info sheets and our Seminar in Kokkola, Finland. These newsletters will be published monthly and are available in three
languages; English, Swedish and Finnish. You can also find all newsletters on our web page: www.forestrefine.se
NEWSLETTER
No 6
April 2013
Stump core
Chain flail Bark, branches and needles Debarked wood Kalvis Kons doing time study
Ongoing research in Finland - Field experiments
Forest Refine researchers from Metla and SLU have done several field experiments in April. The results of these studies will be
published later as Info Sheets.
Stumplifter in action Effect on the ground Samples to researchers
3. Forest biomass storage study - What happens to biomass during storage?
The Storage study is done in cooperation with UPM Pietarsaari. The study consists 5 different assortment piles. Loose (1) and com-
pressed (2) pine bark, branches and needles are from chain flail study, some of the stumps are from stump lifting study (3), birch
bark (4) and conifers’ bark (5) are from UPM’s processes.
To analyse the amounts of extractives, 5 samples from each 5 piles will be taken. First sample right after piling and then after 1,
2, 4 and 24 weeks of storage. Four samples from different locations will be collected from each pile. Hanna Lappi will do similar
analysis to each sample. She will analyse the amounts of different extractives and their changes over time. Gas analysis (O2
and CO)
will also be done and for this, there are measuring devices buried in the piles. Temperature and moisture will also be determined
to find out what is happening to the forest biomass during storage.
The stump drill experiment was done together with InFres project and researchers came from Finland and Sweden. The stump
drill is an Italian machine and it has been used to lift stumps from reforested fields. Aim of the Forest Refine researchers was to
get drilled stumps for raw material in the storage study. The drilling method seemed to work quite well in peatland, but due to
technical problems, most of the stumps in storage study had to be lifted using conventional method.
The Chain flail machine is owned and manufactured by Hooli OY and it was tested in April in Finland. It is the only machine in Scan-
dinavia and it was originally designed for debarking roundwood for pulping. The field experiment was done in cooperation with
UPM at their terminal in Pietarsaari.
During two-day experiment 500 solid m3
of first harvesting pine trees was debarked and it resulted in about 240 loose m3
bark,
branches and needles. The researchers from SLU, Kalvis Kons and Gunnar Eriksson, were studying the machine itself and making
a time study. Metla’s researchers, Otto Läspä and Hanna Lappi, were interested in the branches, bark and needles, that are the
“byproduct / waste” of the debarking process. This mixture of branches, bark and needles is one assortment in storage study.
2. Stump lifting - Cooperation between countries and projects
1. Chain flail study - Cross-border study by Metla and SLU

2. 2.7 Stump crushing at terminal
In February 2013 stumps were crushed at a
terminal of Skellefteå Kraft AB. Some of the
stumps were ordinary stumps from clear cuts
and some were extracted from peatland.
The productivity of the crusher had high var-
iation due to high variation of moisture con-
tents between the materials. In 77 % of the
total work time, crushing was done simulta-
neously with other work elements. Because of the loader, the
full potential of crusher was not reached. However, loading can
be improved by utilizing other machines at a terminal.
3.3 Raw material requirements of biorefin-
ery processes: introduction and summary
The raw material quality requirements of
important biorefinery processes have been
surveyed. It seems that homogeneity and
correct characterization of the feedstock may
be as important as its particular properties.
The cost per unit energy content is a likely
key parameter for many biorefinery processes. The cost per
mass unit of sugars and the composition of the sugars is impor-
tant for biochemical processes. There is a trade‐off between the
cost to tailor a feedstock for a given process and the costs and
additional complexity involved in adapting a process for a range
of feedstock properties.
Coming events
New products from forest - seminar 14.5 2013
We are hosting a seminar in Kokkola
14 th of May. Most of the lectures will
be in Finnish. A summary will be pub-
lished in English, Finnish and Swedish.
Keynote speaker will be professor Rai-
mo Alen from University of Jyväskylä.
Forest Refine researchers from Fin-
land and Sweden will cover the whole
supply chain from forest to biorefineries.
Outreach activities
Magnus Matisons has been lecturing in April.
He started with an education session in Stock-
holm, invited by Svebio; “Insight bioenergy”.
In Strömsund he talked about the role of bio-
fuels. In Lycksele the subject was trends and
developments, various systems for harvest and
transport of forest energy.
Magnus has announced results from
both Forest Power and Forest Refine.
He establish that the number of par-
ticpants and the fruitful discussions
during these events indicates the in-
terest in these topics. Although there
are a lot of attitudes that we must
address in order to kick-start work to-
wards a more innovative forestry.
New info sheets published
Sub-projects 2 and 3 have
published new info sheets. You
can find them and all the other
info sheets here:
www.forestrefine.se
- Results - Info sheets
NEWSLETTER Page 2
Biorefineries’ raw material procurement from forest
9:15 Opening of the seminar (FIN), Chairman
9:30 Forest Refine project (FIN), Dr. Juha Nurmi, Metla
9:50 Green technology in wood processing. (FIN)
Prof. Raimo Alen, Jyväskylän University
10:35 Availability and distribution of forest biomasses in relation
to existing plants and terminals. (FIN) Dr. Tommi Räisänen, Metla
10:55 Forest biomass storage study. (FIN) MSc. Otto Läspä, Metla
11:10 Corridor harvesting & development of machines for biorefining
(EN) Dr. Dan Bergström, SLU
New chemicals and biofuels from forest
12:30 Extractives as raw materials for biorefining. (FIN)
Dr. Hanna Lappi, Metla
13:00 Hydrolysis of wood biomass and carbo hydrates. (FIN)
Researcher Jana Holm, Centria
14:00 Biorefineries in Finland and Sweden. (FIN)
Dr. Jonas Joelsson, Processum
Dr. Tero Tuuttila, Yliopistokeskus Chydenius
14:30 Forest Refine, future visions (EN)
Magnus Matisons, BioFuel Region
Seminar is free of charge and open to all. WELCOME!
You can register via link: Register here!
or to katri.kulkki@kpedu.fi / +358 44 7250 633
2.6 Study Design for Modeling and Analysis
of Future Biomass Terminals Logistics and
Cost
Forest biomass terminals serve as a storage
and buffer of biomass as well as part of the
biomass production systems. Terminals can
be seen as separate unit in the biomass sup-
ply systems with their own internal logistics
and production systems.
In order to better understand the role of forest biomass ter-
minals a series of studies will be carried out. The objectives in
these studies are to characterize present biomass terminals.
The aim is to collect information describing e.g. terminal size,
number of assortments, raw material flow and equipment.