September 7, 2021 by Alan Coors

Tolko Industries' Athabasca Oriented Strand Board (OSB) mill-North America's largest continuous press for oriented strand board, and the only continuous press in North America that produces oriented strand board and laminated slats (LSL) on the same production line-recently Upgrades have been made and a new river bank line has been added.

However, the future of the factory is not always certain. Tolko started building a factory in Slave Lake, Alta Province in 2006. Production started in 2008, but the financial crisis forced the factory to close in 2009.

However, five years later, Tolko reopened the factory and it has been operating at full speed ever since.

"This is a world-class asset, and we are very happy to put it back into operation," Tolko regional manager Trevor Brander said when asked about his motivation for restarting the factory in 2014. From a profit point of view, it is sustainable. "

Today, the plant has a production capacity of 830 million square feet on a 7/16 inch basis and produces a wide range of products, from 3/8 inch thick to 1.75 inches thick, Brand explained, with lengths ranging from 4×8 To 8×24. They produce residential sheathing, value-added boards, special industrial boards and laminated logs.

The plant’s fiber mix-mainly poplar, plus some black poplar, birch, pine and spruce-comes from the surrounding area, where Tolko has his own license. They also trade fiber with softwood lumber mills in the area and buy some fiber from private woodland.

Unlike many wood product manufacturers in British Columbia, the Athabasca plant is not struggling with fiber supply. "We have ample supply of high-quality aspen here," Brand said.

This is good news for factories, as the demand for OSB products has soared in the past year, thanks to the strong housing and repair and renovation markets in North America.

To meet the growing demand, four workers (188 in total) operate the factory 24/7, 365 days a year. And, last year, Tolko decided to install a new ripline to increase its production capacity, flexibility and product availability.

The fully integrated ripline allows rolling mill widths as low as 3.5 inches and lengths up to 24 feet to be fully integrated with Siempelkamp's continuous LSL presses. To achieve this, the logs first started with two 16-foot wide ponds, where the factory can ensure that they form even moisture and control their temperature. The logs are then lifted by a Tanguay PL350HD grab loader mounted on the track, which pulls the logs into the two ANDRITZ rotary debarkers.

Like many other wood product manufacturers, Tolko tries to use as much fiber from each log as possible-the bark removed by the Athabasca plant using a debarking machine generates all the heat inside. The bark passes through the pigs and then enters the furnace from the GTS provided by Sigma Thermal. The furnace also directly ignites the dryer of the mill.

After peeling, the logs enter two Kadant Carmanah stranding machines, where they are broken down into 7-inch strands. These strands are transferred to the wet bin through the Unifab conveyor system (consisting of 10 conveyor belts), and the strands are transferred to the wet bin before they are screened through the IMAL-PAL green screen. The strands then pass through one of the two Buttner dryers, and then enter one of the three coils to make agitators. From there, products enter Siempelkamp forming lines and presses.

"We have six forming machines, and then we have a large Siempelkamp continuous press with a steam preheater on it," Brand explained.

The printer is about 71 meters long and 2.5 meters wide, which is the largest of its kind in North America. After the press, the panels pass through Siempelkamp's sawing, cooling and stacking lines. The finished boards then enter the two packaging lines, equipped with the Samuel Strapping system, and then shipped to the market by truck or rail.

However, the products to be torn apart are stacked into "master blanks" instead of entering the packaging line. An overhead crane moves them to the rolling mill's automated warehouse system, where they can be stored until they are fed into the river bank via a Con-Vey feeder.

The ripline is equipped with the Progressive Saw provided by Con-Vey with an 8-foot-wide split saw, which enables the factory to provide a full range of split product widths.

“From there, the torn products are stacked into pillars, painted on the pillars, and then the pillars are formed into a main package, and then tied up. After the baler, we have the opportunity to split the stacked packages into shorter packages, Brander explained. "So, for example, one of our most popular products is the 12-foot-long 11 and 7/8 ring boards. On that product, we will use a 24-foot-long 11 and 7/8 main package and put It’s tied so it can be divided into two 12-foot packages, then painted, wrapped, and out."

So far, Brand said that the river bank is working well.

Left: After passing through the debarker, the logs are moved to the stranding machine to accurately cut into strands.

Challenges from COVID However, the process of installing ripline has become complicated due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Debugging has crossed the pandemic. Therefore, it is difficult to meet our schedule," Brand said. “We bought most of the equipment from Con-Vey in Roseburg, Oregon. Of course, it will become difficult when the border is closed. Therefore, we ended up installing a lot of cameras on the production line and interacting with them and some local The company carried out a combination of remote installation and commissioning."

COVID-19 has also affected Tolko Athabasca's ability to work with other vendors. Brander explained that most of the equipment in the factory comes from suppliers outside of Canada, which means it is difficult to get experts to the factory to help them review and maintain their equipment. As a result, the factory had to postpone their annual maintenance shutdown.

However, the pandemic did not cause factories to temporarily cut or suspend production in the spring of last year like other sawmills.

"Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have been doing our best. Our employees stay safe and healthy, and our factory has not had any outbreaks, so in terms of our employees’ commitment to their own health and safety, this is really great. "Brand said.

Looking to the future Although the mill is still in the final stages of commissioning the new ripline, Brander stated that they are already considering new upgrades.

"We really like the LSL products produced by this factory. We hope to do so so that we can increase the production capacity and performance of these products," he said. "So, we want to look at some dry screening, because now we only have green screening."

However, for now, Brander said that Tolko is satisfied with the way the factory operates due to strong demand for wood and oriented strand board products. He expects that market conditions will continue to be good in the near future, although record prices are unlikely to continue.

Therefore, the future of the Athabasca plant looks bright, he said.

"With this factory, with its flexibility and capabilities, I don't expect too many challenges. We make safety our top priority, and the future of the Athabasca division looks great."

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