Fibre Processing Facilities

Organizations use our Fibre Processing Facilities to:

• Develop new fibre-based materials and products
• Evaluate wood and agricultural feedstocks
• Validate fibre-processing technologies
• Improve pulp quality and manufacturing performance
• Produce material for customer trials and market development
• Support commercialization and scale-up decisions
• Create value from forestry and agricultural resources

Applications span forestry, agriculture, construction, advanced materials, packaging, composites, specialty chemicals, and industrial manufacturing. 

Nanocellulose Capabilities & Pilot Plant

InnoTech Alberta’s nanocellulose facilities support the development and production of advanced cellulose materials, including Cellulose Nanocrystals (CNC) and Cellulose Nanofibrils (CNF). These materials offer exceptional strength-to-weight ratios, large surface areas, and unique optical and rheological properties that enable a broad range of applications. 

The CNC pilot plant can produce kilogram quantities of cellulose nanocrystals from feedstocks containing high alpha-cellulose content. Final products can be produced as concentrated suspensions or spray-dried powders, depending on application requirements.

CNF materials are produced using high-pressure homogenization, microfluidization, and fibre-refining technologies capable of processing a wide range of cellulose feedstocks. The resulting fibres typically have nanometre-scale widths and micrometre-scale lengths that provide excellent reinforcement properties and viscosity modification characteristics. 

Applications

• Industrial coatings
• Paints and specialty chemicals
• Packaging materials
• Composite reinforcement
• Automotive components
• Building materials
• Drilling fluids
• Mining tailings management
• Medical and personal care products

Pulp Piloting & Process Development

Our pulp piloting facilities help organizations evaluate new feedstocks, optimize processing conditions, and develop innovative pulp products using both wood and agricultural fibre sources. 

The pilot facilities support:

• Chemical pulping
• Mechanical pulping
• Bleaching studies
• Fibre fractionation
• Washing studies
• Process simulation
• Product development and improvement
• Proof-of-concept validation

Feedstocks can include wood fibre, hemp, flax, wheat straw, and other agricultural fibre sources. The facilities can produce one to ten kilograms of chemical or mechanical pulps for product development and testing activities.

Pilot Plant Equipment

Capabilities include:

• Wood chippers
• Screening systems
• Atmospheric refiners
• Hydrocyclones
• Pulp preparation systems
• Pressurized 45-L reactor system
• Bleaching and washing equipment

This infrastructure enables clients to replicate many commercial mill processes while maintaining the flexibility required for research and product development.

Product Evaluation & Testing

An industry-standard pulp testing laboratory supports:

• TAPPI-standard pulp testing
• Chemical pulp evaluation
• Kappa number analysis
• Klason lignin measurements
• Physical property testing
• Fibre-quality assessments

These capabilities provide the data needed to compare feedstocks, evaluate process modifications, and support scale-up decisions. 

Decortication Fibre Processing Plant

Our Decortication Fibre Processing Plant supports the conversion of hemp and flax straw into clean bast fibre and hurd for product development, product testing, process validation, and market development activities.

The 13,000-square-foot pilot-scale facility is capable of processing industrial hemp and flax at rates approaching one tonne per hour and can produce fibre streams with varying cleanliness, fibre lengths, and hurd particle sizes to meet application-specific requirements. 

Applications include:

• Bio-composites
• Textiles
• Pulp and paper products
• Construction materials
• Hempcrete
• Animal bedding
• Non-woven materials
• Agricultural growing media

Learn more about the Decortication Fibre Processing Plant.

InnoTech Alberta combines pilot-scale fibre-processing infrastructure, advanced materials expertise, and applied research capabilities within a single integrated platform. From feedstock preparation and pulp production through nanocellulose development and fibre-product evaluation, our facilities allow organizations to develop, test, and scale fibre-based innovations with greater confidence. 

Clients benefit from:

• Pilot-scale production capabilities
• access to specialized fibre-processing infrastructure
• Expertise in both wood and agricultural feedstocks
• Advanced material characterization capabilities
• Product development and testing support
• Reduced technical and commercialization risk
• Data-driven support for scale-up decisions