What is needed to produce good paper?

IM is sitting on the terrace of his summer cottage. Sun is still high in southwest, seagulls are screaming -everything so peaceful.

And then the idea: what is needed to produce good paper?

First, people.

Those people who are interested in to drive a paper mill. All issues included - and there are many of them.

Price of wood; transportation of wood and other raw materials; services for the paper machines; 24 h driving of it....

In the beginning of his career, IM tend to visit control rooms of a paper machine during evening time. Sitting there, watching all the controls of the monitors, discussing about problems and how to cure them.

For some reason, microbiology has always been an interesting topic for personnel of a paper machine. What can happen to the raw materials? Can microbial activities cause problems in broke systems? How shall the water circulation and tanks be handled?

IM feels very humble today - to be one link in the complicated process called paper production.

One link - but as important as other links as well.

To understand the very multiscientific field of paper production - not to forget all activities to keep it on an economical satisfied level - is a hard task. What is needed (thinks IM) is to understand each other's work. It takes time to understand this truth - not your area only, but all efforts of others are needed to produce Good Paper.

ON LINE methods for paper industry microbiology.

Rapid and ON LINE methods of microbiology have gathered evergrowing interest in pulp and paper industry.

There are several features of these novel, alternative control tools which will give significant benefit when raw materials, processes and products are the subjects of microbiological QC:

• specified physical, chemical and biochemical analyses can be arranged to give fast and reliable information about the amounts and activities of microbial populations
• analytical results can be collected and processed to give time series with frequent observations
• main statistical tests (like correlation and regression analyses) can also be performed to show any dependences of microbiological status in critical points of the processes as well as the response of microbial flora on major growth factors in "paper mill ecosystem"
• Real HACCP needs rapid analyses and fast reporting from CCP sites
• Statistical testing can be based on Normal Distribution of obsevations (compared to Poisson Distribution when colony count methods or microscopy is applied)

IM has noticed very promising progress in co-operation between paper industry research and developers of rapid analytical tools during last years. Maybe a real HACCP can be constructed in pulp and paper industry in near future?