The Trident mobile high-volume water delivery system is self-contained. The main components of the system are two UTVs, a 200 hp high-volume pump, and 7000 feet (2134 m) of 4-inch hose. It can deliver 500 gpm of water at 190 psi in a wildfire operational situation. Alberta Wildfire asked FPInnovations to document three deployments in 2021 to identify opportunities for using the system and to reduce the knowledge gaps around best practices for deployment.
Debris piles were scattered among a fuel-treated stand at the Jumpingpound Demonstration Forest. The existing trees were deemed as assets worth protecting while the piles required to be burned. To facilitate the protection of the trees surrounding these debris piles, the Calgary Forest Area requested the use of water-enhancer capable fire engines to protect the trees during debris pile burning.
A total of 15 debris piles of varying fuel loads were burned over two days. The use of water-enhancer capable fire engines allowed FPInnovations to document the use of suppressants (water and water-enhancer) to better understand their advantages and limitations. Qualitative observations suggested that water-enhancers were more effective at withstanding radiant heat than water when applied immediately prior to the incident heat. Its efficacy, however, was found to decline with time.
Multiple log-deck fires at mill sites and log yards in Western Canada in the past year resulted in the loss of merchantable timber. These fires showcased how existing equipment and suppression efforts from wildfire agencies are heavily challenged when asked to handle the thermal output from burning log-decks.
In an effort to explore alternate solutions, FPInnovations collaborated with West Fraser and the High Level Forest Management Area to understand the efficacy of high-volume water delivery systems in log-deck fire suppression. Over the course of three days, water-penetration tests as well as suppression tests were carried out to better understand the utility and resource requirements of high-volume water delivery systems.
A human-caused wildfire was started on May 6, 2021 in Parkland County, Alberta near the rural community of Tomahawk. Among several Alberta Wildfire resources deployed to the wildfire, one particular resource was high-volume water delivery systems provided by Fire & Flood Emergency Service Ltd.
Alberta Wildfire asked FPInnovations to document the implementation of high-volume water delivery systems in actioning a peatland wildfire as a case study.
Forest fuel treatments are applied across a broad range of ecosites in Alberta and Canada, with an overarching goal of managing hazardous fuel buildup to mitigate wildfire. These treatments use various manual and mechanical processes to achieve fuel treatment objectives. Planning and application of a specific forest fuel treatment technique is often shaped by several factors, including objectives of the fuel treatment, availability of resources (personnel and equipment), and commitment to using local resources (socio-economics). In addition, site conditions in certain ecosites will favour the application of some treatment techniques over others.
With the broad nature of numerous fuel treatment techniques applied over a wide range of environmental conditions, it is difficult to document all treatments and develop comparative productivity and cost evaluations. This summary of fuel treatment studies accesses current research to present relevant findings and identify knowledge gaps in research on stand-level fuel treatment productivity.
Through the Forestry 4.0 program, FPInnovations is investigating and testing telecommunication technologies for the forestry industry, this includes the application of TV White Space (TVWS) technology. TVWS radios operate in the frequency spectrum between 450 to 698 MHz and the majority of this spectrum is unlicensed and not acquired through federal government auctions. A short-term field trial was conducted in Central Québec forest operations in December 2020.
Cost-effective connectivity will bridge the gap between the forest and the rest of the supply chain. Operational efficiency, flexibility and worker safety will be improved by enabling instant communication with currently isolated logging operations. This report summarizes the findings and results obtained in this first operational trial aimed at quantifying the scope of mobile connectivity through this new technology.
Par l’initiative Foresterie 4.0, FPInnovations trouve et met à l’essai des technologies de télécommunication pour l’industrie forestière tel que la technologie TV White Space (TVWS). Les radios TVWS opèrent dans le spectre de fréquence de 450 à 698 MHz et la majorité de ce spectre est non-licencié et pas acquis par l’entremise des enchères du gouvernement fédéral. Un essai sur le terrain à court terme a été réalisé dans une exploitation forestière du centre du Québec en décembre 2020.
Une connectivité rentable comblera la division entre la forêt et le reste de la chaîne d'approvisionnement. L'efficacité opérationnelle, la flexibilité et la sécurité des travailleurs seront améliorées en permettant une communication instantanée avec les opérations d'exploitation forestière actuellement isolées. Ce rapport résume les constats et résultats obtenus lors de ce premier essai opérationnel visant à quantifier la portée d’une connectivité mobile grâce à cette nouvelle technologie.
Modified oxygen consumption calorimetry was used to track the seasonal flammability of black spruce and tamarack. Age class related samples were collected for both species from May to September at research site in central Alberta. These samples were assessed for their differential heat release using test equipment at the Protective Clothing and Equipment Research Facility (PCERF) at the University of Alberta.
The test method was able to successfully quantify the differences in seasonal flammability between black spruce and tamarack. Data showed the age-related flammability differences were less pronounced, with the exception of new growth samples early in the season.
Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s (AAF) Wildfire Management Branch recently contracted two Sikorsky S-61N heavy helicopters. Both helicopters are equipped with an external tank (max. volume 1000 U.S. gallons) and have on-board injection systems that are capable of mixing class A foams and water-enhancers.
Currently, there is limited data on comparative drop footprints of foam and water-enhancers (suppressants) for these heavy helicopters. To fill this knowledge gap, AAF has asked FPInnovations to conduct drop tests in different wildland fuel environments. This study focuses on mapping the drop footprints of water, foam, and water-enhancers in black spruce stands at specific flight parameters.
Reduced surface evaporation rates are marketed as a competitive advantage by water-enhancer manufacturers. In this report, a new test method is developed and applied to quantify the evaporation rates of various commercially available water-enhancer products in a controlled environment. These quantified evaporation rates were then compared to the evaporation rate of water which served as the benchmark.
Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s (AAF) Wildfire Management Branch has recently contracted two Sikorsky S-61N heavy helicopters. Both helicopters are equipped with an external tank (max. volume 1000 U.S. gallons) and have on-board injection systems that are capable of mixing class A foams and water-enhancers.
Currently, there is limited data on comparative drop footprints of foam and water-enhancers (suppressants) for these heavy helicopters. To fill this knowledge gap, AAF has asked FPInnovations to conduct drop tests in different wildland fuel environments. This study focuses on mapping the drop footprints of water, foam, and water-enhancers in an open field at specific flight parameters.
In 2020, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s (AAF) Wildfire Management Branch contracted two externally tanked heavy helicopters with on-board injection and mixing systems. The two heavy helicopters are Sikorsky S-61N helicopters with modified Isolair tanks, capable of dropping water, foam, and water-enhancers. Drop tests were conducted using these helicopters to understand the relative footprints of different suppressants.
This study focuses on using drop footprint data to estimate recovery rates of water, foam, and water-enhancers in two scenarios – an open field and a forested stand. These estimates may provide a primarily understanding of how best different suppressants can be used for different applications.
Les forêts aff ectées par des épidémies d’insectes, en l’occurrence par la TBE, présentent une structure de peuplement hétérogène. Cela s’explique, entre autres, par le niveau de défoliation qui n’est pas nécessairement le même d’un arbre à l’autre. La récolte de ces peuplements engendre des coûts supplémentaires. Ceux-ci sont occasionnés par une perte de productivité des machines associée au temps supplémentaire requis pour produire un panier de produits répondant aux spécifi cations des usines. Par ailleurs, les récents développements en télédétection ont montré un grand potentiel pour réaliser des cartes précises et détaillées pouvant améliorer le processus de planifi cation et le déploiement d’opérations forestières. C’est dans ce contexte que des études ont été menées depuis 2014 sur la Côte-Nord. Elles ont permis de mesurer les pertes de productivité des machines et de développer une cartographie plus fi ne permettant de guider les opérateurs vers les endroits où la valeur des tiges assure la viabilité des opérations.
A biomass heat map is a tool to help visualize the cost of biomass that is residual from harvest operations. The heat map is important because it can inform decision-making and economic feasibility studies. Its visual impact can trigger new thoughts and innovations in the human mind that a table of numbers can not... like: Where might we build a new plant? Should we compete at an existing delivery point, or not?
The services offered related to forest operations are outlined in this general brochure. Information on workshops, professional services, virtual library, online tools and opportunities for assessment and support are detailed.
Les services offerts liés aux opérations forestières sont décrit dans cette brochure. Les informations sur les ateliers, les services professionnels, la bibliothèque virtuelle, les outils en ligne et les possibilitées d'interventions sont détaillées.
Forest operations across Canada are encountering increasingly difficult road conditions and more frequent access interruptions related to wet and weak road sections. Resource roads are considered a liability by many forest companies and their business model has been to create the lowest cost, lowest standard, resource road network possible that also will provide tolerable levels of access (i.e., some but not too many failures and hauling disruptions). Increasingly difficult operating conditions and frequent access interruptions, however, drive up costs and threaten the economic sustainability of forest operations.
Starting in 2017, FPInnovations has launched a project to provide its members with techniques and strategies that will offer more reliable and strong road sections and reduce overall road costs. A state-of-practice survey of FPInnovations members provided researchers with a comprehensive understanding of conventional means of responding to wet, weak road conditions in Canada. The report summarizes the responses to wet, weak resource road sections that were identified in the state-of-practice survey and provides an overview of the chief causes and related site indicators for wet, weak road conditions.
Recommended best practices are provided for a variety of conventional industry responses to wet, weak road sections. These address common misconceptions and knowledge gaps that reduce the effectiveness and increase the overall cost associated with the industry responses. These best practice recommendations were based upon findings from a literature review, product manufacturer information, and from researcher expertise.
The report also considers improvements to conventional practices, and advanced solutions that are potentially more effective and economic than the state-of-practice but are not widely exploited by industry. Eleven potential solutions from these two categories were compared and ranked in order of potential. The practice improvements selected for further study were soil compaction, and corduroy and access mats. The advanced solutions selected for further study were geosynthetics that offer both soil reinforcement and enhanced drainage, geocells, and TPCS, a technology to improve truck road-friendliness. Starting in 2021, FPInnovations will initiate field trials and life cycle cost analyses of these technologies.
This report presents the importance of best management practices for mitigating erosion from resource roads and preventing sediment from entering a watercourse. Key to achieving these goals is the understanding of erosion from the road surface and the level of connectivity from the delivery point of the sediment-laden water onto the forest floor and the watercourse. This report provides a list of best management practices that is specific to resource roads.
The research and technology transfer has national implications that will support bioenergy facilities and rural and Indigenous communities across the country. The CWFC is continuing this work to increase our understanding and expand the safe and sustainable use of biomass for bioenergy.
Le transfert des connaissances et de la technologie soutiendra les installations de bioénergie ainsi que les communautés rurales et autochtones dans l’ensemble du pays. Le CCFB poursuit ce travail a n de mieux comprendre et d’élargir l’utilisation sûre et durable de la biomasse pour la bioénergie.
