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Journal articles
Magazine articles
Boiler retrofit improves efficiency and increases biomass firing rates, TAPPI Journal March 2021
ABSTRACT: Domtar’s fluff pulp mill in Plymouth, NC, USA, operates two biomass/hog fuel fired boilers (HFBs). For energy consolidation and reliability improvement, Domtar wanted to decommission the No. 1 HFB and refurbish/retrofit the No. 2 HFB. The No. 2 HFB was designed to burn pulverized coal and/or biomass on a traveling grate. The steaming capacity was 500,000 lb/h from coal and 400,000 lb/h from biomass. However, it had never sustained this design biomass steaming rate. As the sole power boiler, the No. 2 HFB would need to sustain 400,000 lb/h of biomass steam during peak loads. An extensive evaluation by a combustion and boiler technologies supplier was undertaken. The evaluation involved field testing, analysis, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling, and it identified several bottle-necks and deficiencies to achieving the No. 2 HFB’s biomass steam goal. These bottlenecks included an inadequate combustion system; insufficient heat capture; excessive combustion air temperature; inadequate sweetwater con-denser (SWC) capacity; and limited induced draft fan capacity.To address the identified deficiencies, various upgrades were engineered and implemented. These upgrades included modern pneumatic fuel distributors; a modern sidewall, interlaced overfire air (OFA) system; a new, larger economizer; modified feedwater piping to increase SWC capacity; replacement of the scrubber with a dry electrostatic precipitator; and upgraded boiler controls.With the deployment of these upgrades, the No. 2 HFB achieved the targeted biomass steaming rate of 400,000 lb/h, along with lowered stack gas and combustion air temperatures. All mandated emissions limit tests at 500,000 lb/h of steam with 400,000 lb/h of biomass steam were passed, and Domtar reports a 10% reduction in fuel firing rates, which represents significant fuel savings. In addition, the mill was able to decommission the No. 1 HFB, which has substantially lowered operating and maintenance costs.
Journal articles
Editorial: Advances in Pulp Manufacture: A review of the 2012 PEERS Conference, TAPPI JOURNAL February 2013
Editorial: Advances in Pulp Manufacture: A review of the 2012 PEERS Conference, TAPPI JOURNAL February 2013
Journal articles
3-D Computational Simulation of Paper Handsheet Structure and Prediction of Apparent Density, TAPPI JOURNAL September 2009
3-D Computational Simulation of Paper Handsheet Structure and Prediction of Apparent Density, TAPPI JOURNAL September 2009
Journal articles
Decreasing specific energy of thermomechanical pulps from reduction of raw materials variability, TAPPI JOURNAL September 2009
Decreasing specific energy of thermomechanical pulps from reduction of raw materials variability, TAPPI JOURNAL September 2009
Journal articles
Retention of PCC and GCC Fillers on Chemical Pulp Fines Surfaces, TAPPI JOURNAL September 2009
Retention of PCC and GCC Fillers on Chemical Pulp Fines Surfaces, TAPPI JOURNAL September 2009
Journal articles
Kraft pulping and papermaking properties of hot-water pre-extracted loblolly pine in an integrated forest products biorefinery, TAPPI JOURNAl, July 2008
Kraft pulping and papermaking properties of hot-water pre-extracted loblolly pine in an integrated forest products biorefinery, TAPPI JOURNAl, July 2008
Journal articles
Application of sericite to LWC coatings, TAPPI JOURNAL June 2008
Application of sericite to LWC coatings, TAPPI JOURNAL June 2008
Journal articles
Smelt spout corrosion in a recovery boiler, TAPPI JOURNAL August 2010
Smelt spout corrosion in a recovery boiler, TAPPI JOURNAL August 2010
Journal articles
CFD-Based Modeling of Kraft Char Beds â?¢ Part 1: Char Bed Burning Model, TAPPI JOURNAL February 2010
CFD-Based Modeling of Kraft Char Beds • Part 1: Char Bed Burning Model, TAPPI JOURNAL February 2010
Journal articles
Magazine articles
Flow rheology of light foams generated from aqueous solutions of polyvinyl alcohol, TAPPI Journal January 2023
ABSTRACT: Recent studies have shown that foam-assisted application of additives into a wet web has advantages over the conventional way of adding the chemicals into the pulp suspension before forming, e.g., increased mechanical retention as well as high dosage giving increased wet strength without impairing the sheet uniformity. To engineer processes utilizing this new technology, the complex flow behavior of applied foams must be quantified. At the minimum, the foam viscosity and the slip velocity at the solid surfaces need to be known to build practical models that can be used in analyzing and upscaling unit processes of the foam-assisted application.In this study, the rheological behavior was quantified for foams having polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH), a widely used strength additive chemical, as the surfactant. The foam density was varied between 100 g/L and 300 g/L, and the concentration of the PVOH solution was varied between 0.5% and 6.0% (w/w). The foams were generated with a commercial foam generator, and the rheological properties of the foams were measured by using a horizontal pipe bank. At the outlet from the generator, the volumetric flow rate, the absolute pressure, and the bubble size distribution of the foam were measured. In the measurement pipe section, the viscous pressure gradient and the slip velocity were measured, after which the foam was discharged to ambient air pressure. The viscosity and the dynamic surface tension of the PVOH solutions were quantified with commercial laboratory devices. In the viscosity analysis, the apparent shear rate was calculated from the volumetric flow rate, and the resulting apparent viscosity was translated to real material viscosity data by applying the Weissenberg-Rabinowitsch correction. The results indicated that PVOH foams can be described with high accuracy as shear-thinning power-law fluids where the detailed behavior depends on the foam density and the PVOH concentration. Slip flow, as usual, increased with increasing wall shear stress, but it was also dependent on the PVOH concentration, the air content, and the bubble size. For both the foam viscosity and the slip flow, a correlation was found that described the quantitative behavior of all the studied foams with good accuracy.