The 2020 continuous digester explosion in Jay, Maine, highlighted the need for stronger industry collaboration around digester safety, corrosion mechanisms and asset integrity.
FPInnovations is addressing these risks through applied research and industry-led knowledge-sharing focused on digester inspection, repair and operation.
Led by Matthew Tunnicliffe, the project examines how organic compounds in black liquor contribute to stress corrosion cracking in continuous digesters. The work is tailored to operating conditions in Canadian pulp mills, with findings shared through FPInnovations technical reports, conference presentations and webinars to support safer digester operation across North America.
In January 2026, FPInnovations hosted an online knowledge-sharing session titled "Continuous Digester Weld Repairs and Refurbishing," aimed at pulp mill owners and engineers responsible for digester reliability and safety. Speakers addressed inspection best practices, weld overlay strategies and surface preparation, while a contractor shared recent hands-on experience from major digester repair projects—from defect identification through to returning assets to service.
The session attracted 86 participants, including original equipment manufacturers, consultants, researchers and engineers from FPInnovations member mills, reflecting strong industry interest in practical approaches to digester integrity.
FPInnovations said its upcoming asset-integrity program will continue with weekly reliability webinars in March, followed by technical sessions at TAPPICon, where it will present slow strain rate testing results to better align research with Canadian pulp and paper operational needs.
FPInnovations is a Canadian research and innovation organization supporting the forest sector. It works with industry, governments and academia to advance safer, more efficient and sustainable practices across pulp and paper, wood products and forestry operations.
Source: FPInnovations
