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Major Science Prize to Nordic Scientists

January 16, 2003

Marcus Wallenberg Prize awarded for an innovation that improves environmental performance and cost-efficiency in the pulp and paper industry.

Finnish scientists Johanna Buchert, Maija Tenkanen, and Tapani Vuorinen and Swedish scientist Anita Teleman, have been awarded a major international technology award, the Marcus Wallenberg Prize. The prize-winners, who will receive a total of two million Swedish Crowns for their work, succeeded in identifying and characterising a hitherto unknown component in pulp hexenuronic acid and in developing a way of removing it before pulp bleaching. The elimination of hexenuronic acid reduces the environmental impact of pulp production and the quantities of chemicals required for bleaching, and offers cost savings.

The work for which the Prize has now been awarded began in Espoo in the Otaniemi scientific community in 1993 as part of a national research programme funded by the National Technology Agency with the aim of exploring the chemical reactions of carbohydrates in the production of kraft pulp. The objective was to learn more about pulp production in order to improve the process efficiency and quality of fibres in paper products.

The prize-winning scientists employed new methods in their research, such as enzyme technology and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy which enabled them to identify the hexenuronic acid generated in the pulping process. They also concluded that hexenuronic acid reacts with several bleaching chemicals, and thus increases their consumption.

The group also developed a simple method for the removal of hexenuronic acid from unbleached pulp. It reduces the need for bleaching chemicals and offers savings in pulp production costs. Additionally, it helps to retain the brightness of pulp.

The findings of the prize-winning scientists on hexenuronic acid have cast new light on a number of phenomena related to the bleaching of pulp that were previously poorly understood. Now it is possible to provide a more comprehensive explanation of phenomena such as the reactions of bleaching chemicals with pulp, the differences in brightness achieved with and without chlorine chemicals, factors restricting the bleachability of pulps, and the efficacy of various bleaching chemicals.

In their research, the prize winners made use of diverse fields of technology, such as wood chemistry, biotechnology, new analytical techniques, and process engineering. Their work has provided a basis for several follow-up research projects.

During the discovery of hexenuronic acid, Johanna Buchert, Anita Teleman, and Maija Tenkanen worked at the Technical Research Centre of Finland VTT, while Vuorinen was employed by the Helsinki University of Technology. Currently Johanna Buchert, D.Tech., born in 1960, is Research Manager at VTT Biotechnology, while Ms Anita Teleman, D.Tech., born in 1957, is senior scientist at Skogsindustrins Tekniska Forskningsinstitut in Stockholm, Maija Tenkanen, born in 1963, is professor in the Department of Applied Chemistry and Microbiology at the University of Helsinki, and Tapani Vuorinen holds the chair at the Forest Products Department of the Helsinki University of Technology.

Marcus Wallenberg Prize

The prize is awarded by the independent Marcus Wallenberg Foundation (Marcus Wallenbergs Stiftelse för Fr'¤mjande av Skogsindustriell Vetenskaplig Forskning) in order promote scientific research in the forest industry. This is the 20th prize awarded to date.

The Marcus Wallenberg Prize is an international prize founded by the Stora Kopparbergs Bergslags AB forest company in 1980, which subsequently merged with the Finnish Enso to create Stora Enso.

The prize-winners will receive the prize at a ceremony to be held in Stockholm in the autumn of 2003. The Prize will be presented by His Majesty King Carl Gustaf XVI.

Technical Research Centre of Finland (VTT)