Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 09 February 2011 -- Aikawa and its subsidiary AFT (Advanced Fiber Technologies) have donated a state- of-the-art single-disc refiner plus a full complement of refiner plates to the University of British Columbia so that the university's Pulp & Paper Centre can perform research in the area of low consistency (LC) refining to improve the energy efficiency of mechanical pulp production.

"We are now starting up the most state-of-the-art, university-based LC refining facility in the world," said James Olson, associate head of the University of British Columbia's Pulp & Paper Centre. "We are grateful to Aikawa for donating this equipment and being long-term partners with the university."

Masaki Aikawa noted that the ribbon cutting "marked a milestone in what has been described as one of the longest industry/academic research partnerships at UBC (25 years). This most recent contribution underscores our commitment to LC refining research." 

The LC refining facility will allow UBC to test new ideas and concepts for fiber pretreatment, power reduction strategies, advanced controls, and the impact on paper surface qualities. "Of course, we will be eager to perform sponsored research for pulp product development to help the industry further improve its paper products," Olson said.