Presented to the 2014 CIF AGM – St. John’s NL
By Tim Moulton
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Wood fibre research
FPDat systems
Wood truck AVL systems
SPOT / InReach units
FSC research initiatives
Investigation of drones for forestry use
Bio-energy investigations
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Forest Industry Competitive Advantage
(FICAP) project : 2009 – 2012
Enhanced Fibre Inventory project : 20112014
New AWARE research project : 2015 >
FICAP Project Partnership:
• Corner Brook Pulp and Paper
• FP Innovations
• Canadian Wood Fibre Centre
• Provincial Department of Natural Resources
• University of New Brunswick
1. Determine wood fibre properties in standing
trees and on chip streams feeding CBPPL
2. Establish databases of wood and fibre
properties that can be incorporated into the
province’s digital forest inventory (GIS)
framework
• Improve Mill efficiency and better match
end-product quality to customer demand by:
– Improving TMP process control through relating
key wood fibre properties to the mill’s processing
parameters and end product quality.
– Managing the fibre properties of wood feeding the
mill which will reduce fibre variability.
1. Core Sample Collection – over 2000 cores
2. Core Sample Analysis
3. Field Probe Testing
4. Correlation of Data to Forest Conditions
5. Integration into Provincial Forest Inventory
Mill Related Activities
1. On-line NIR Chip Sensor
2. Process / Product Control
3. Mill Trials
4. Fibre and Process Optimization Strategies
• All major objectives and deliverables met
• A detailed fibre attribute GIS layer for the
entire island
• Mill TMP process improvements
• A major follow-up investment in an online
pulp analyzer
• An overall reduction of mill spruce mix from
60% to 42%
EFI Project Partnership:
• Canadian Wood Fibre Centre
• Natural Resources Canada
• Corner Brook Pulp and Paper
• Memorial University
• Provincial Department of Natural Resources
• University of Sherbrook
• University of New Brunswick
1. Terrestrial LiDAR
4. Tree level models
5. Plot / stand level
models
2. High resolution imagery
and airborne LiDAR
3. Medium resolution
imagery
6. Enhanced plot / stand
level models
Core sampled
193 plots
Crown measured
114 plots
TLiDAR sampled
106 plots
>400 trees
Test sites
ENHANCED FIBRE INVENTORY SYSTEM
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Wood density
Modulus of elasticity
Fibre wall thickness
Microfibril angle
Fibre length
Coarseness
Ratio of radial to
tangential fibre
diameter
*Attribute Database
(from CBPPL AIF Project)
◦ 7 attributes
◦ 193 plots
◦ 10 trees per plot
◦ ~1930 cores
◦ individual ring
measurements
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Supporting value chain optimization by
adding detailed forest structure and related
fibre attributes to the forest management
inventory
Inventory
Planning / Processing
Products
- New
national level project to further the
work of the Enhanced Fibre Inventory
Project
- NL one of 4 main sites in Canada
- Awaiting final approval from funding
agencies
- Will involve additional LiDAR flights and
development of new metrics to strengthen
fibre property predictions and mapping.
- It is a suite of software and hardware that
allows:
- the collection and display of real-time GPS
positional data to equipment operators
- The collection of data on machine work time,
idle time, downtime, etc
- Next day display of GPS data and reports on
machine utilization back at the office via the web
2004 - Pilot test site for FPInnovations prototype
MultiDat units – 30 units
- Helped test and improve early hardware and
software applications
2014 - Have next generation FPDats in all our
harvesters, feller bunchers, forwarders, scarifyers
and excavators that are building road – 44 units
- Operator Navigation / Planning
- Increased protection against issue like a cut buffer
- Increased contractor awareness of downtime and
preventative maintenance
- Productivity analysis
- Basis for contractor price adjustments
- M2M communications and data transfer
- Load slip module (tracks wood to block level)
- FPDat Transport (driver and truck reports)
- FPDat Grader (messaging, alerts and map of what
graded)
- Accessing data from machine OBC’s
- Pushing map updates to all machines
- Smart phone app
- It is a computer unit that is wired into the trucks
ECM.
- It collects data from the ECM and sends it to a
central server.
- This data can then be displayed and summarized
in Fleetsphere.
Program functionality that we are currently using:
- Location of trucks
- Speed data
- Fuel consumption
- Trip reports
Program functionality that we are not currently using:
- Text Communication
- Erratic driving
- Geo-fencing
- Quad Axle monitoring
- Accident reconstruction - Tire Pressure
- Seat belt use
- Any other ECM data
- For “working alone” applications
- Satellite based GPS – nearly global
- Sends 1 of 3 fixed messages to email list
(Okay, SOS + 1 more)
- One way comm.
- $170.00
- Delorme satellite based GPS – 100% global
- Sends 1 of 3 fixed messages to email list
(Okay, SOS + 1 more)
- Two way text messaging
- Message delivery confirmation
- Route planning and Sharing
- Navigation and waypoint creation
- Key trip stats
- $439.00
- Science Advisory Committee:
Dr. Blair Adams
Dr. Andre Arsenault
Dr. Brian Hearn
Dr. Erin Kelly
Publications had input on and/or reviewed :
- Pre-Industrial Forest Report
- Social Economic Report
- High Conservation Value Forest Report
- Recently involved in a project with CNA
- Objective is to explore and test the application of
drone technology to forestry uses
- Test flight June, 2014 near Gander
Potential forestry uses:
-Cutover photography – resolution 24 cm – 2.4 m.
-Forest Fire mapping
-Mapping of silviculture activities
-Temporal mapping
-Mapping of new roads
-Boundary Encroachment
-Insect and disease mapping
-Roadside inventory mapping
-Wood yard inventory mapping
-Cutover utilization surveys
- Kruger has been investigating a bio-energy
option for Corner Brook for several years
- Trying to find best fit to augment our current 2
machine operation