Certified Laboratories and R&D Nursery

Central Laboratory and Services

O RAIZ Central Laboratory provides analysis and specialized services to pulp and paper industry, research and development.

We are a leading laboratory in the Iberian Peninsula providing advanced and in-depth analytical services for forestry (soils and vegetal material), pulp and paper industry and bioenergy industry.

RAIZ follows international standard methods:

Standards of broad application

European Committee for Standardization

Scandinavian Pulp, Paper, and Board Testing committee

Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry

American Standard for Testing and Materials

RAIZ Laboratory is a testing laboratory accredited by the Portuguese Institute of Accreditation – IPAC according to NP EN ISO/IEC 17025: 2005.
To ensure the traceability of the analytical results, RAIZ has implemented the KLIMS software since 2015.

MAIN ACTIVITY AREAS

Sample preparation including drying, crushing and grinding;
Soils and plant material analysis (classical analytical methods);
Analysis of process streams, effluents and residues;
Biomass, wood and pulp analysis;
Pulp and paper chemical and physical testing;
Microscopy and biometric analysis and fiber identification;
Pulping and bleaching studies;
Studies on new processes and products (biorefineries).

MAIN EQUIPMENTS

Pulping batch reactors;
M/K Systems Laboratory Digesters;
Oxigen delignification process;

PFI mill for Pulp Strength Evaluations;
Semi-Automatic British Sheet Machine for laboratory paper sheet reparation;
Shopper Riegler equipament;
Klemm Absorption;
Porosity Gurley;
Permeability Bendtsen;
Permeability FX 3300;
Roughness;
Tensile; Modulus of Elasticity; Zero span tensile;;
Internal bonds;

Water Absorption, Cobb;
Water retention value;
Tear;
Burst;
Brightness, ISO;
Brightness, reversion @ 105° C;
Opacity;
Light scattering coefficient;
Dirt and Shive Evaluation by Transmitted light

NIR - Near- Infrared Spectroscopy;
FTIR-ATR - Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy with Attenuated Total Reflectance;
GC-MS - Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry;
Elemental Analysis for C, N, S, O, H;
Molecular Absorption Spectrophotometry;
Potentiometric and Conductometric analysis;

ICP - AES - Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy;
Cold generator for mercury analysis;
AOX - Adsorbable Organic Halogen;
Fiber Analyzer FQA L&W; Microscopy and photomicrographs;
High speed sample Homogenizer for Nanocellulose production;

Forest Protection Laboratory

At the Forest Protection Laboratory, pests and diseases associated with eucalypts in Portugal are studied.

One of main activities of this laboratory is the mass rearing of insects for biological control of pests. For example, we produce insects of genus Anaphes, which are natural enemies of the eucalyptus weevil (Gonipterus platensis), the key pest of eucalypts in the Iberian Peninsula.

R&D and Production Nursery

RAIZ R&D and production nursery is located at the Herdade da Espirra.

Here we perform exploratory and research trials to screen factors that impact cloning.
We also carry out studies on the rooting ability of different materials for operational cloning.