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A feasibility study of using the organic Rankine cycle for power generation from the flue gases of recovery boilers, TAPPI Journal August 2022
ABSTRACT: Almost 415 tons/h of flue gases with a temperature of 160°C are released to the atmosphere from the recovery boiler of a pulp mill with capacity of 1000 air dried (a.d.) metric tons of pulp per day. This is a large waste heat stream that can be used to generate power, to decrease the operating costs of a pulp mill, and to save carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. In this work, the feasibility of using an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) with ammonia as the working fluid to generate power from the flue gases of recovery boilers is studied. CHEMCAD and Taguchi methods are used for simulation of the process and for optimization of operating conditions, respectively. The temperature of the ammonia and flue gases at the exit of evaporator, exit pressure of the pump and turbine, and the degree of subcooling of ammonia at the exit of the condenser are five operating parameters that are manipulated to optimize the process. Three different scenarios are defined: minimizing the net power cost, maximizing the ORC efficiency, and maximizing the net profit. Different aspects of these scenarios, such as net power generation, cost, efficiency, and CO2 emission savings are discussed, and optimum operating conditions are reported.
Journal articles
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Causes of poor dregs settling in a green liquor clarifier, TAPPI Journal August 2022
ABSTRACT: A study was conducted to examine the most likely parameters responsible for poor dregs settling at a kraft mill over a 2.5-year period, using multivariate data analysis (MVDA) and machine learning (ML) techniques. The dregs settling behavior seems to be seasonally influenced, implying that wood quality variation can be a factor. The results from the MVDA/ML analysis show that poor dregs settling is correlated to incomplete combustion and/or low load conditions in the recovery boiler, low sulfidity in the causticizing plant, and high flow in the green liquor•weak wash cycle. Compositions of dregs and black liquor were also examined to identify correlations with impaired dregs settling. The results show that poor dregs settling strongly correlates with high silicon (Si) content in dregs and moderately correlates with high iron (Fe) and high aluminum (Al) contents, and with low bulk density in dregs. For mills that experience dregs settling or green liquor filtering issues, regular compositional analyses of dregs, green liquor, weak wash, and black liquor are recommended in order to monitor the dynamics of silicon and other constituents in the recovery cycle.
Journal articles
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Progress in foam forming technology, TAPPI JOURNAL August 2019
ABSTRACT: This paper summarizes recent developments in foam forming that were mainly carried out in pilot scale. In addition to improving the efficiency of existing processes and allowing better uniformity in material, a wide variety of raw materials can be utilized in foam forming. The focus of this paper is thin webs—papers, boards and foam-laid nonwovens, along with the pilot scale results obtained at VTT in Finland. For paper and board grades, the most direct advantage of foam forming is the potential to produce very uniform webs from longer and coarser fibers and obtain material savings through that. Another main point is increased solids content after a wet press, which may lead to significant energy savings in thermal drying. Finally, the potential to introduce “difficult” raw materials like long synthetic or manmade fibers into a papermaking process enables the manufacturing of novel products in an existing production line. This paper also briefly discusses other interesting foam-based applications, including insulation and absorbing materials, foam-laid nonwovens, and materials for replacing plastics.
Journal articles
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Adsorption performance of magnetic aminated lignin for the removal of Cu(II) and Cd(II), TAPPI Journal January 2019
Adsorption performance of magnetic aminated lignin for the removal of Cu(II) and Cd(II), TAPPI Journal January 2019
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Characterization and evaluation of antioxidation of lignin from bamboo powder using a formic acid-catalyzed ethanol organosolv process, TAPPI JOURNAL January 2019
Characterization and evaluation of antioxidation of lignin from bamboo powder using a formic acid-catalyzed ethanol organosolv process, TAPPI JOURNAL January 2019
Journal articles
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The sticky behavior of pulp and paper mill biosludge during drying, TAPPI Journal June 2019
ABSTRACT: Pulp and paper mill biosludge becomes sticky after being dried to a certain solids content. As bio-sludge becomes sticky, it agglomerates and adheres to the heat transfer surfaces of the dryer. This undesirable property can lower the dryer efficiency and cause the drying equipment to fail.A systematic study was conducted to examine the sticky behavior of biosludge. The stickiness was evaluated by measuring the adhesive force between a sludge cake and a stainless steel substrate, and the cohesive force between a sludge cake and a sludge substrate. The results show that: i) both adhesive and cohesive forces increase markedly as the solids content increases, reaching a maximum value at about 13% solids, and then decrease steadily at a high-er solids content; ii) cohesive force is stronger than adhesive force, implying that biosludge tends to agglomerate rather than adhere to smooth equipment surfaces; and iii) mixing wood fines or fly ash from a biomass boiler reduc-es the stickiness of the mixture. These findings may help mills improve the thermal efficiency of biosludge dryers and to turn biosludge into a more attractive fuel for burning in biomass boilers.
Journal articles
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Fabrication of cross-linked starch-based nanofibrous mat with optimized diameter, TAPPI JOURNAL June 2019
ABSTRACT: The design and synthesis of natural and synthetic polymer blends have received recent and wide attention. These new biomaterials exhibit progress in properties required in the field of medicine and healthcare. Herein, the aim of present study is to fabricate starch (ST)/polyacrylic acid (PAA) electrospun nanofibrous mat with a smooth and uniform morphology, lowest fiber diameter (below 100 nm) and the highest possible starch content. Starch itself is poor in process-ability, and its electrospinning could be quite a challenging process. To address this, we carried out the response surface methodology (RSM) technique for modelling the electrospinning process. In order to have ST/PAA nanofibers with the finest possible diameter, optimized processing parameters (applied volt-age, nozzle-collector distance and feed rate) obtained from RSM technique were applied. ST/PAA electrospun nano-fibers with an average diameter of 74±13 nm were successfully achieved via the electrospinning method for the first time. The structure, preparation and properties of the nanofibrous structure were discussed. Results indicated that drug loaded ST/PAA blend nanofibrous structure has a great potential to be used in controlled drug release systems.
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Editorial: TAPPI Journal 2018 Best Research Paper delves deeper into press section rewet to address drying efficiency, TAPPI Journal March 2019
ABSTRACT: TAPPI and the TAPPI Journal (TJ) Editorial Board would like to congratulate the authors of the 2018 TAPPI Journal Best Research Paper Award: J. David “Dave” McDonald and Richard J. “Dick” Kerekes. Their paper, “Rewet in wet pressing of pa-per,” appeared on p. 479 of the September 2018 issue. This research was recognized by the Editorial Board for its in-novation, creativity, scientific merit, and clear expression of ideas.
Journal articles
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A study of the softness of household tissues using a tissue softness analyzer and hand-felt panels, TAPPI Journal March 2019
ABSTRACT: This study applied the reciprocal matrix approach to deduce the correlation between hand-felt (HF) and tissue softness analyzer (TSA) instrumental measurements of tissue softness. The research was conducted in three phases, which are discussed separately. In the phase one study, results indicated that systematic collection of samples and preparation of test specimens were the foundation of successful tests. TSA-HF and tensile strength exhibited a strong negative correlation. In the future, same-unit physical properties can provide a basis for discuss-ing the commonality and complementary natures of hand-felt and TSA softness measurements. In phase two, through the reciprocal matrix approach, subjective softness assessments performed by humans were reliably quan-tified. The quantified values were further applied to a statistical analysis using the t-test to distinguish and train pro-fessional panelists. In phase three of HF panel test results, all independent panels were compared to one another under a uniform scale established by four standard samples. The calibrated HF panel values were incorporated with TSA-HF results to establish technical curves between the softness and tensile strength, which were helpful for onsite workers to carry out process controls.
Journal articles
Magazine articles
Evaluation of novel drum chipper technology: pilot-scale production of short wood chips, TAPPI Journal October 2019
ABSTRACT: Impregnation of wood chips with acidic pulping liquors is improved when using short chip lengths. If the average wood chip length is too short, conventional chipping technology will generate excess small material, such as pin chips and fines. The possibility of using newly developed drum chipping technology to produce short-length wood chips was evaluated with a pilot drum chipper operating at different drum velocities and in-feed angles. With a drum velocity of 30 m/s, the average wood chip lengths and the combined fractions of pin chips and fines were 24 mm and 3.3%, 22 mm and 4.2%, and 17 mm and 8.5%. The highest fractions of total accept chips (large and small accepts), 89% to 90% without screening, were observed for drum velocities of 30•34 m/s and average wood chips lengths of 21•22 mm. The results indicate the potential of drum chipping technology for producing short wood chips with relatively high fractions of accept chips and tolerable fractions of pin chips and fines.