Biosludge Incineration in a Recovery Boiler

1999 ◽  
Vol 40 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 195-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Harila ◽  
V.-A. Kivilinna

An activated sludge process is an effective tool against effluent emissions in a pulp mill. It has only a few features which can be regarded deficiences. One of them is that effluent treatment of a modern pulp mill creates some 10-20 tonnes dry solids of biosludge per day. This sludge is difficult to burn due to its high moisture content. The most common way is to mix biosludge with primary sludge, to dewater the mixture in presses and finally to burn it in a solid fuel boiler. This type of sludge treatment incurs rather high costs and does not produce any net energy. Also combustion emissions vary depending on the boiler type. The Metsä-Botnia Kemi Pulp Mill was the first mill in the world to burn biosludge in a recovery boiler. The system start-up was in 1993 and it has been in operation ever since. Mechanically dewatered biosludge is mixed with weak black liquor and concentrated in a conventional evaporation plant equipped with a pressurized superconcentrator unit. In a modern recovery boiler, firing conditions are well controlled and monitored. Better emission control than in most bark fired boilers is achieved. Accumulation of nonprocess elements, corrosion, plugging, scaling and some other operational problems were expected. A lot of experience has been gathered during the years of operation and reviewed in this presentation. The achieved benefits of the system are discussed. Disposal of biosludge in a recovery boiler offers an economically and environmentally attractive alternative. Probably the best evidence from this is the fact that Metsä-Botnia has applied the same process solution in the recent reconstruction of the recovery departments at the Jouteno Mill.

TAPPI Journal ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 53-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
NIKLAS VÄHÄ-SAVO ◽  
NIKOLAI DEMARTINI, ◽  
MIKKO HUPA

At many mills, biosludge, which has a high nitrogen content, is added to black liquor and burned in kraft recovery boilers. The aim of this work was to determine the fate of biosludge nitrogen in the high solids black liquor concentrators and in the recovery boiler. Specifically, does biosludge addition result in higher nitric oxide (NO) and cyanate formation during black liquor combustion? To obtain this information, samples were collected from the chemical recovery cycle of a Finnish kraft pulp mill along with relevant process data. Laboratory combustion experiments clearly showed an increase in NO formation for the mill black liquor with biosludge, but no clear increase in nitrogen oxide emissions was detected in the recovery boiler after biosludge addition. Analysis of the green liquor samples from the dissolving tank showed a significant increase in nitrogen exiting the recovery boiler as cyanate. This finding was supported by laboratory tests studying cyanate formation. The increased cyanate results in increased ammonia formation in the recausticizing cycle, which can lead to higher NO emissions, as seen in the noncondensible gas incinerator at the mill.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruna Virgínia Cunha Rodrigues ◽  
Angélica de Cássia Oliveira Carneiro ◽  
Claudio Mudadu Silva ◽  
Caio Moreira Miquelino Eleto Torres ◽  
Mateus Alves de Magalhães

Abstract The substantial expansion of the Brazilian pulp and paper industry in the last years resulted in a significant increase in the solid waste generation. This paper investigates the production of pellets using primary sludge from the effluent treatment plant of a kraft pulp mill, as a fuel for producing energy, using a novel wet route process. The pellet samples were produced in a laboratory pelletizing press, which has a horizontal circular matrix. The samples were characterized by moisture content, high heating value, ash content, dimensions (diameter and length), mechanical durability and fines content. The net heating value and energetic density were also measured. The pellets manufactured with primary sludge were compared to the European standard for non-woody pellets. Pelletization caused a reduction of the moisture content by 37.8 %, and increased the net heating value by 41 % and bulk density by approximately 39 %, which resulted in a 263 % increase in the material´s energetic density. Pellet production using a wet route process was appropriate for the primary sludge, and produced pellets with a high mechanical durability (99.3 %) and low fines content (0.062 %), indicating the potential of thermal valorization for incineration in the biomass boiler to produce high-quality steam.


TAPPI Journal ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 17-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
HAKIM GHEZZAZ ◽  
LUC PELLETIER ◽  
PAUL R. STUART

The evaluation and process risk assessment of (a) lignin precipitation from black liquor, and (b) the near-neutral hemicellulose pre-extraction for recovery boiler debottlenecking in an existing pulp mill is presented in Part I of this paper, which was published in the July 2012 issue of TAPPI Journal. In Part II, the economic assessment of the two biorefinery process options is presented and interpreted. A mill process model was developed using WinGEMS software and used for calculating the mass and energy balances. Investment costs, operating costs, and profitability of the two biorefinery options have been calculated using standard cost estimation methods. The results show that the two biorefinery options are profitable for the case study mill and effective at process debottlenecking. The after-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of the lignin precipitation process option was estimated to be 95%, while that of the hemicellulose pre-extraction process option was 28%. Sensitivity analysis showed that the after tax-IRR of the lignin precipitation process remains higher than that of the hemicellulose pre-extraction process option, for all changes in the selected sensitivity parameters. If we consider the after-tax IRR, as well as capital cost, as selection criteria, the results show that for the case study mill, the lignin precipitation process is more promising than the near-neutral hemicellulose pre-extraction process. However, the comparison between the two biorefinery options should include long-term evaluation criteria. The potential of high value-added products that could be produced from lignin in the case of the lignin precipitation process, or from ethanol and acetic acid in the case of the hemicellulose pre-extraction process, should also be considered in the selection of the most promising process option.


TAPPI Journal ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 9-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
AINO LEPPÄNEN ◽  
ERKKI VÄLIMÄKI ◽  
ANTTI OKSANEN

Under certain conditions, ash in black liquor forms a locally corrosive environment in a kraft recovery boiler. The ash also might cause efficiency losses and even boiler shutdown because of plugging of the flue gas passages. The most troublesome compounds in a fuel such as black liquor are potassium and chlorine because they change the melting behavior of the ash. Fouling and corrosion of the kraft recovery boiler have been researched extensively, but few computational models have been developed to deal with the subject. This report describes a computational fluid dynamics-based method for modeling the reactions between alkali metal compounds and for the formation of fine fume particles in a kraft recovery boiler furnace. The modeling method is developed from ANSYS/FLUENT software and its Fine Particle Model extension. We used the method to examine gaseous alkali metal compound and fine fume particle distributions in a kraft recovery boiler furnace. The effect of temperature and the boiler design on these variables, for example, can be predicted with the model. We also present some preliminary results obtained with the model. When the model is developed further, it can be extended to the superheater area of the kraft recovery boiler. This will give new insight into the variables that increase or decrease fouling and corrosion


TAPPI Journal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 265-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROHAN BANDEKAR ◽  
JIM FREDERICK ◽  
JAROSLAV STAVIK

This study addresses the challenges a dissolving-grade pulp mill in Canada faced in 2014 in meeting its total reduced sulfur (TRS) gas emission limit. These emissions from the recovery boiler exit are controlled by passing the boiler exit gas through a TRS scrubber system. The mill employs a cyclonic direct contact evaporator to concentrate black liquor to firing solids content. The off-gases from the direct contact evaporator flow to the effluent gas control system that consists of a venturi scrubber, a packed bed scrubber, and a heat recovery unit. Emissions of TRS greater than the regulated limit of 15 ppm were observed for a 4-month period in 2014. The level of emissions measured during this period was significantly higher than about 12 ppm, the expected average value based on historic experience. The problem persisted from mid-June 2014 until the annual mill shutdown in October 2014. The main TRS components detected and the performance of the Teller scrubber in capturing them are examined. Other potential causes for these emissions are identified, including mechanical problems such as broken packing in the TRS packed bed scrubber, broken baffle plates in the scrubber, and cyclone evaporator leaks causing air ingress. Repairs were carried out during the mill shutdown, which eliminated the TRS emissions problem.


TAPPI Journal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (7) ◽  
pp. 459-464
Author(s):  
RICARDO SANTOS ◽  
PETER HART

An automated shower water control system has been implemented to reduce the volume and variability of weak black liquor being sent from the pulp mill to the evaporators. The washing controls attempt to balance the need for consistent and low soda carryover to the bleach plant with consistently high weak black liquor solids being sent to the evaporators. The washer controls were implemented on two bleachable grade hardwood lines (one with oxygen delignification, one without oxygen delignification) and one pine line. Implementation of the control program resulted in an increase in black liquor solids of 0.6 percentage points for the hardwood lines. Significant foam reduction was realized on the pine line since the pine black liquor solids were able to be consistently maintained just below the soap separation point. Low black liquor solids excursions to the evaporators were eliminated. Bleach plant carryover was stabilized and no negative impact on chemical consumption was noticed when controlling weak black liquor solids to recovery.


1991 ◽  
Vol 24 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 189-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. P. Lankinen ◽  
M. M. Inkeröinen ◽  
J. Pellinen ◽  
A. I. Hatakka

Decrease of adsorbable organic chlorine (AOX) is becoming the most important criterion for the efficiency of pulp mill effluent treatment in the 1990s. Two methods, designated MYCOR and MYCOPOR which utilize the white-rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium have earlier been developed for the color removal of pulp mill effluents, but the processes have also a capacity to decrease the amount of chlorinated organic compounds. Lignin peroxidases (ligninases) produced by P. chrvsosporium may dechlorinate chlorinated phenols. In this work possibilities to use selected white-rot fungi in the treatment of E1-stage bleach plant effluent were studied. Phlebia radiata. Phanerochaete chrvsosporium and Merulius (Phlebia) tremellosus were compared in shake flasks for their ability to produce laccase, lignin peroxidase(s) and manganese-dependent peroxidase(s) and to remove color from a medium containing effluent. Softwood bleaching effluents were treated by carrier-immobilized P. radiata in 2 1 bioreactors and a 10 1 BiostatR -fermentor. Dechlorination was followed using Cl ion and AOX determinations. All fungi removed the color of the effluent. In P. radiata cultivations AOX decrease was ca. 4 mg l−1 in one day. Apparent lignin peroxidase activities as determined by veratryl alcohol oxidation method were negligible or zero in a medium with AOX content of ca. 60 mg l−1, prepared using about 20 % (v/v) of softwood effluent. However, the purification of extracellular enzymes implied that large amounts of lignin peroxidases were present in the medium and, after the purification, in active form. Enzyme proteins were separated using anion exchange chromatography, and they were further characterized by electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) to reveal the kind of enzymes that were present during AOX decrease and color removal. The most characteristic lignin peroxidase isoenzymes in effluent media were LiP2 and LiP3.


ChemSusChem ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Samec ◽  
Davide Di Francesco ◽  
Christian Dahlstrand ◽  
Joakim Löfstedt ◽  
Alexander Orebom ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

Holzforschung ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (6) ◽  
pp. 589-597 ◽  
Author(s):  
José A.F. Gamelas ◽  
Sofia M. Rebola ◽  
Margarita G. Evtyugina ◽  
Valdemar I. Esteves ◽  
Dmitry V. Evtuguin

Abstract In order to close the water cycle in pulp mills with condensates instead of fresh water, the malodorous/hazardous volatile compounds and colored substances have to be removed by appropriate efficient methods. In the present work, the condensate from the evaporation of black liquor (BL) from a kraft mill was purified by a batch adsorptive process by means of commercial activated carbon (AC). The effluent was found to contain a wide range of aromatic and organosulfur volatile compounds, including toluene, ethylguaicol, syringaldehyde, dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), dimethyl trisulfide (DMTS), 2,3-dimethylthiophene, benzothiol and benzothiophene derivatives. Methanol was the major volatile organic component in the condensate (201 mg l−1), which was, however, poorly adsorbed on the AC surface. Aromatics and organosulfur contaminants were adsorbed almost completely in 2–5 min at 23°C under the optimized AC load (900 mg l−1). The treatment allowed the elimination of up to 99% of the obnoxious odor, color and turbidity of the condensate. The adsorption equilibrium followed the Langmuir model and the pseudo-second-order kinetics. The new process could be incorporated in the pulp mill with relatively low additional reagent costs.


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