Cellulose fibers, hemicellulose, and lignin naturally occur in all trees. Georgia Pacific’s Foley Cellulose Mill extracts only the cellulose to use it in all sorts of things, like diapers, tires, and even hot dogs. It’s a very precise chemical process. This is a huge operation that produces 465,000 metric tons of cellulose product every year! With that kind of output leaving this place, the mill needs to run as efficiently as possible. So how do you find potential problems and solve them before they cause any hold up in production? Chemist Brian Tish shows us how he uses science and engineering when he reaches in his toolkit. During this episode, hosted by Dr. Meisa Salaita, we follow Brian as he investigates buildup on one of the mill’s pipes that could slow down production.
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