Thermo Mechanical Pulp Production From Wood Chips Training

Learning Outcomes

• Explain the principles and stages of thermo mechanical pulp production from wood chips.
• Operate and monitor TMP equipment, including refiners, screens, and cleaners, according to standard procedures.
• Analyze pulp quality parameters such as freeness, fibre length, and shive content to ensure product specifications.
• Implement safety and environmental measures relevant to TMP production, including dust and noise control.
• Apply troubleshooting techniques to resolve common operational issues in the TMP process.
• Evaluate the impact of raw material variability (e.g., wood species, chip size) on pulp quality and production efficiency.

Target Audience

This course is designed for process operators, technicians, and supervisors in the pulp and paper industry who are involved in or responsible for thermo mechanical pulp production. It is also suitable for entry-level engineers and quality control personnel seeking to deepen their understanding of TMP processes.

Prerequisites

None — open enrollment.

Course Outline

Practicals

Overview

The practicals provide hands-on experience with TMP equipment and processes, reinforcing theoretical knowledge. Learners will operate refiner systems, perform pulp quality tests, and simulate troubleshooting scenarios in a controlled environment.

Practical Activities

• Practical 1: Wood Chip Characterization and Pre-steaming — Learners assess chip quality through screening and moisture analysis, then operate a lab-scale pre-steaming unit to observe chip softening. (16h)
• Practical 2: Refiner Operation and Parameter Adjustment — Learners operate a pilot-scale refiner, adjust plate gap and dilution, and monitor power consumption to produce pulp with target freeness. (16h)
• Practical 3: Pulp Quality Testing and Bleaching — Learners conduct standard pulp tests (freeness, strength, brightness) and perform peroxide bleaching trials to achieve target brightness. (16h)
• Practical 4: Troubleshooting and Process Optimization — Learners diagnose simulated process upsets (e.g., high shives, low brightness) and implement corrective actions using DCS interface. (16h)

Summatives

Each delegate is assessed continuously throughout the course via daily exercises, scored practical assignments, and a final summative test at the end.

Practical Assignments — 30%

Practical assignments are observed and scored against a rubric during the practical sessions. Each delegate's practical mark is averaged into a single 100% score and contributes 30% to the final total.

Daily Exercises — 20%

Every training day ends with a multiple-choice exercise scored out of 100%. The scores from each daily exercise are averaged across the duration of the course to produce a Daily Average mark, which contributes 20% to the final total.

Final Test — 50%

On the last day a final summative test is written. It is a multiple-choice paper with multiple-answer questions: each question may have more than one correct option, and a single wrong selection on a question marks the entire question wrong — no partial credit. The final test is scored out of 100% and contributes 50% to the overall mark.

Final Total

Component	Out of	Weight
Practical Assignments (rubric-scored)	100%	30%
Daily Average (multiple choice)	100%	20%
Final Test (multi-answer multiple choice)	100%	50%
Final Total	—	100%

All marks are recorded on the AATICD LMS and visible to each learner under their account.

Certificate

How it works

• Certificates are auto-generated on the AATICD LMS as soon as the marks pass the 50% threshold.
• Each certificate is a branded PDF with the delegate's name, the course title, the unit standard ID, NQF level, credits, and the date of issue.
• You can download or print your certificate from your LMS dashboard at any time after issue — there's no reissue fee and no expiry date.
• If you scored under 50% you can sit the final test again at the next scheduled session at no extra cost.

Where to find it

Sign in to the LMS, open your dashboard, and your certificates appear under My Certificates. Each entry has a View / Download button and a print option.

Training Discounts

Group discounts apply automatically — the more delegates you enrol, the greater the saving. Discounts are calculated at 3% per 5 delegates, scaling up to 40% off for 100+ delegates.

Delegates	Discount
5	3% off
10	6% off
15	9% off
20	12% off
25	15% off
30	18% off
50	30% off
75	35% off
100	40% off

3% discount per 5 delegates, up to 40% off for 100+ delegates. Contact us for a custom group quote.