CelluForce opens newly modernized facility to produce cellulose nanocrystals

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Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF.

CelluForce is a Canadian company focused on the development and production of CelluloseNanoCrystals (CNC). Its head office is in Montreal and its current shareholders are Domtar, FPInnovations, Schlumberger, Suzano (formerly Fibria) and Investissement Quebec.  The firm has just restarted operations at its CNC plant in Windsor following the completion of a major upgrade project.
Press release: “CelluForce restarts production of cellulose nanocrystals at its newly modernized facility”, 6/2/2019.

Figure 1. View of one of the zones of the CelluForce facilities (taken from the company website)

The original plant was built in 2011 using a first version of the production process which had been brought to scale from laboratory work and small pilot trials. The new plant design, which is based on a series of improvement tests made in recent years, will allow CelluForce to: (1) Use improved new cutting-edge equipment to increase process efficiency by over 50%; (2) Stabilize production capacity at 300 tons per year; (3) Produce various grades of product required by some customers; (4) Continue to develop new CNC-based applications.

Several international industrial customers are currently waiting for this new production of CNC to continue developing their applications. According to a recent independent study, the global market for nanocellulose, which was valued at 285 M$ in 2018, should more than double to reach 661 M$ million in 2023 (a projected annual growth rate of 18.4%). The modernized plant will help meet the growing demand for CNC and serve as a blueprint for the design of future CelluForce plants.

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