New Microbiological Methods for P&P Industry

It seems that new methods for P&P microbiology are needed.

After discussions in PulPaper Congress in Helsinki, June 2010, it is obvious that traditional colony count methods cannot tell the truth about process problems.

These methods, originally developed for clinical microbiology, seem to have too high nutrient content. They cannot, therefore, select the "troublemakers" from the process samples. Bacteria like Gram-negative rods and Bacillus sp. are overestimated in these analyses but eg. filamentous bacteria cannot grow on common, commercial agar media.

Identification of bacteria can be important in some cases. Food poisoning species from the genuses Bacillus, Staphylococcus and Clostridia and hygiene indicators like coliforms, E.coli and Enterococci should be found in raw material control in the production of high hygiene products (LPB, other food-grade cartonboards and papers as well as tissue-type products). If not covered by other bacteria, they can be found with CC analyses. PCR also gives a good way to distinct them among other bacteria.

These methods cannot reveal some severe problems, however. Biofilm formation and comparative biocide testing are two types of investigations which cannot be performed with agar cultivations or molecular biology methods. They should be done either in machine trials or simulations. PMEU methods seem to be the best alternatives for rapid evaluation of biofilm formation and biocide testing today because they exclude all artefacts, caused by artificial growth medium (in colony counts) or too high selection of microorganisms (in PCR). CC's and PCR can be adopted to certain tests but when the subject of the study is to see, what happens in the real paper processes, simulation methods like PMEU shall be chosen.

A new beginning of P&P industry - in Africa?

I would like to share my new post (from www.industrymicrobiologist@blogspot.com) with the readers and participant of BIOTOUCH concept. Sometimes it is very refreshing to have some time for thinking about an utopia: "What if everything could be started again, taking into account the best, current knowledge of technical, physical, chemical, microbiological and energy topics in paper industry - what would the paper mills be like?"

- Here is my post:

"IM follows frequently the bright blog written by Jim Thompson (http://www.nipimpressions.com/).

His last post discusses about the dark future of Finnish P&P. In opposite, he gives an optimistic forecast: the promising region for the manufacture of pulp and paper could be Africa! After reading his points of view - short but comprehensive - I must agree. Everything could begin once more on this huge continent if only social and political confusions can be won there.

Sitting and thinking - what else? What about a new way to construct paper and board machines? To take into account not only technical issues, but also all chances to have machines which were easier to control and keep clean/safe than these old ones, we are still driving?

There are a lot of relatively simple solutions which can improve the hygiene of raw materials as well as keep wet end area, white water circulation, pulp towers and broke systems cleaner. These ideas were discussed during the professional career of IM and very many wise men (and women) agreed. It has been the question of reconstruction costs which has prevented the realisation of the progress in paper machine development towards cleaner production and processes.

But: what about starting everything once more? To build up machines with clever ON LINE process control and alarm systems? Machines which were easier to clean during production? Machines which even have self-cleaning constructions?

Ozzy Osbourne sings: " I'm a Dreamer" - but what we are lacking just now are the dreams, aren't we?"