1. The largest mill under construction in the world is on Sumatra, Indonesia, and has a design capacity of 2.5 million dry metric tons of pulp per year.

a) If the pulp yield is 50 % based on oven dry dried wood, calculate the number of wood trucks needed per hour to supply this mill with hardwood. The average weight of the load of an 18-wheel truck/trailer wood truck is about 30 metric tonnes. The weight is for green wood, so this includes the moisture in the wood. Assume moisture content of 50 g/100 g green wood.

b. The growth rate of wood in this region is 40 m³/hectare/year. Assuming the pulp mill is in the middle of the plantation, and the plantation is in the form of a circle, what is the radius of the circle? Assume the density of the (dry) hardwood is 500 kg/m³

2. In problem 1, it is interesting to estimate the energy required just to dry the paper. Use a heat of vaporization of water of 1000 BTU/lb, what is the energy needed per year. Paper usually comes into the drier section at 50% solids and leaves at 95% solids (paper is often 5% water).