ORNL leads DOE's CRAFT initiative to modernize US pulp and paper with AI

The US Department of Energy has launched CRAFT, a national initiative led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory to modernize the pulp, paper and packaging sector. The center will apply AI-driven process improvement, modeling and automation at existing mills, plus next-generation pulping, chemical recovery and drying technologies.

• CRAFT brings together national labs, universities and industry partners
• AI will target bottlenecks, downtime and costs at existing mills
• Focus includes energy-intensive pulping, chemical recovery and drying
• First phase tests pilot technologies with manufacturers before rollout