Canadian research body, biochemical company to test fibre tech at Aditya Birla Group unit

Canada’s Centre for Research and Innovation in Bio-Economy, an independent research organisation, has teamed up with an Ontario-based biochemical producer, Greenfield Specialty Alcohols, to test a new fibre extraction technology at Aditya Birla Group’s Terrace Bay, a pulp mill.

Aditya Birla Group had acquired Terrace Bay Pulp, a North American paper grade pulp company, for $110 million in 2012. The Indian firm plans to convert it into a specialty pulp operation to be used to make rayon for textiles. Known as AV Terrace Bay, the acquisition had given the Indian company access to the surrounding woodlands to produce dissolving wood pulp, a critical ingredient for its viscose staple fibre (VSF) business.

The Ontario pulp mill is now being used as a testing ground for a prototype technology designed to extract and separate sugar from wood and improve fibre recoveries. Centre for Research and Innovation in Bio-Economy, with $25 million in funding provided by the Government of Ontario, has decided to invest $1.3 million in the project, while Greenfield is to match the investment as part of the $2.7 million project.

At Aditya Birla Science and Technology Company (ABSTC) in Taloja, the Fibre Science Laboratory works in collaboration with the Group’s fibre businesses to focus on development of new products and technologies for cellulosic fibres and value-added acrylic fibres.

The Grasim Forestry Research Institute at Harihar houses the facility for manufacture of both VSF and rayon grade pulp.

Moreover, even as the Birla Research Institute for Applied Sciences at Nagda in Madhya Pradesh is accelerating improvements in new fibre production technologies, the Textile Research and Application Development Centre at Kharach in Gujarat, has ushered in novel applications for fibres.

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