CTPro New Forest Industry Production Systems Based on High-speed CT Scanning

The scientific objective is to show that it is possible to extract important and detailed information from a log scanned with a specifically developed industrial high speed CT scanner, and also to utilize this information in a production strategy that creates higher value in the forest-based value chain.

The technological objective is to show that it is possible to CT scan saw logs at high speed, i.e. up to 2 m/s, and thereby generate detailed information of the inner properties of an individual saw log. It is also important to show how this information can be utilized from a forest industry perspective.

The hypothesis is that efficiency, customer adaptation and value creation can be improved by a production strategy that is based on detailed knowledge about the individual saw log. The goal is to develop strategies and tools that give 10% higher value in the wood production chain. This includes an industrial high-speed CT scanner prototype and algorithms for automatic analysis of data from such a scanner. By reaching these goals, the project contributes to a transformation of the forest-based industry from resource intensive to value-added knowledge intensive.

The project is broken down into 11 work packages. The aim is to clarify the different goals and match these goals against the expertise in the partner consortium. Four of the work packages are focused on prototype development (lead by MiCROTEC, SP Trätek and TCN), while five work packages have the goal of developing algorithms and strategies for maximal utilization of the information from an industrial high-speed CT scanner (lead by FVA, LTU and SP Trätek). The two other work packages are focused at project management (SP Trätek) and dissemination (FVA).

The project aims at developing new production strategies based on industrial high-speed CT scanning. The idea is that CT scanning gives detailed information about the properties of the individual saw log. Based on this detailed information it is possible to adapt the production at an early stage to customer requirements, i.e. already in the log yard of a sawmill. It would also be possible to increase the flexibility of the production system by taking the decision in the saw line and thereby decreasing the time from custom order to delivered product. This makes the project highly relevant for forest industry. The project also has an important environmental impact since it focuses on more efficient raw material utilization.

The project consortium includes a leading manufacturer of measurement and process control technology for the wood industry, together with forest industries from both Sweden and Germany. This will make the exploitation of the results a natural step after, and in parallel to, the project. The project consortium includes two sawmill companies from Sweden and Germany and 45 forest products companies, many of them SME:s, that will follow the project through TCN. This network guarantees that project results reach the industry with a minimum delay.

 The scientific results from the project will be published in scientific journals, presented at scientific conferences and also be the base for doctoral theses

Project Coordinator

Adj. Professor Johan Oja
SP Trätek, SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden,
SKERIA 2, 931 77 Skellefteå, Sweden
+46 (0)10 516 6237, johan.oja@sp.se

Project Partners

Forest Research Institute of Baden-Württemberg, Wonnhaldestr. 4, D-79100, Freiburg, Germany

Luleå University of Technology,
Forskargatan 1, 931 87 Skellefteå, Sweden

MiCROTEC GmbH – srl, J. Durst 98, 39042, Brixen, Italy

Träcentrum Norr, LTU Skellefteå,
931 87 Skellefteå, Sweden

Dold Holzwerke GmbH, Talstraße 9,
D-79256, Buchenbach, Germany

SCA Timber AB,
S-852 34, Sundsvall, Sweden

Adj. Professor Johan Oja
SP Trätek, SKERIA 2,
931 77 Skellefteå, Sweden
+46 (0)10 516 6237

Professor Anders Grönlund
LTU/Träteknik,
SKERIA 3 931 87 Skellefteå