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Magazine articles
Pulp and paper mills: The original biorefineries — past performance and limitations to future opportunities, TAPPI Journal October 2023
ABSTRACT: Pulp mills have been biorefineries since the invention of the Tomlinson recovery boiler. Unfortunately, the paper industry has done a poor job explaining that concept to the general public. A number of bioproducts in everyday use have been produced by pulp mills for several decades, and new products are routinely being developed. Modern research efforts over the last couple of decades have focused on producing even more products from pulp and paper mills through capacity enhancement and the development of value-added products and liquid transportation fuels to enhance paper mill profitability. Some of these efforts, often referred to as modern biorefineries, have focused so heavily on product development that they have ignored operating and process realities that limit the transformation of pulp and paper mills from the current limited number of bioproducts produced today to economic scale production of these value-added products. In this paper, several of these limitations are addressed. In addition, there are several supply chain, marketing, product quality, and economic realities limiting the value potential for these wholesale conversions of pulp mills into multiproduct modern biorefineries. Finally, the conservative nature and capital intensity of the pulp and paper industries provide a difficult hurdle for conversion to the modern biorefinery concept. These issues are also reviewed.
Journal articles
Magazine articles
Kraft pulp viscosity as a predictor of paper strength: Its uses and abuses, TAPPI Journal October 2023
ABSTRACT: For bleached kraft pulps, two factors govern paper strength: the individual fiber strength, and the bond strength that adheres the individual fibers together in the paper matrix. Inherent fiber strength is related to the length of the carbohydrate polymers, also known as the degree of polymerization (DP). Average DP (DP) is inferred by performing pulp viscosity measurements. Under certain circumstances during kraft pulping and bleaching, the average polymer lengths can be shortened, resulting in lower pulp viscosity, and may indicate fiber damage. Fiber damage typically manifests itself as a reduction in tear strength for well-bonded handsheets.This paper will review the literature on how pulp viscosity can predict paper/fiber strength and how it can be used as a diagnostic tool. It can be a means to monitor pulp quality during pulping and bleaching, as well as to alert when such operations approach a critical threshold. However, viscosity losses must be carefully and judiciously analyzed. Like most diagnostic tools, viscosity measurements can be misused and abused, which can lead to incorrect inferences about intrinsic fiber strength. This review will also cover these misuses. The overall goal is to provide the papermaker a better understanding of what pulp viscosity is, how it correlates to potential sheet strength, and what its limitations are. It will be illustrated that when pulp viscosity drops below a critical value, it will indicate an appreciable deterioration in the paper’s tear and tensile strength.
Journal articles
Improving energy efficiency of existing recovery boilers 15FEB105
Improving energy efficiency of existing recovery boilers, TAPPI JOURNAL February 2015
Journal articles
Design of refractory linings for balanced energy efficiency, uptime, and capacity in lime kilns 15FEB141
Design of refractory linings for balanced energy efficiency, uptime, and capacity in lime kilns. TAPPI JOURNAL February 2015
Journal articles
Chemical, anatomical, and technology aspects of Eucalyptus benthamii and Eucalyptus dunii for use in an integrated pulp and paper mill 15-Feb-73
Chemical, anatomical, and technology aspects of Eucalyptus benthamii and Eucalyptus dunii for use in an integrated pulp and paper mill, TAPPI JOURNAL February 2015
Journal articles
Optimization of a brownstock washing line 15-Feb-83
Optimization of a brownstock washing line, TAPPI JOURNAL February 2015
Journal articles
Impact of wood chip leaching pretreatment on wood chemical composition 15-Jan-09
Impact of wood chip leaching pretreatment on wood chemical composition, TAPPI JOURNAL January 2015
Journal articles
Recovery boiler sootblowers: History and technological advances 15-Jan-51
Recovery boiler sootblowers: History and technological advances, TAPPI JOURNAL January 2015
Journal articles
New challenges regarding nonprocess elements in the liquor and lime cycle, TAPPI JOURNAL July 2015
New challenges regarding nonprocess elements in the liquor and lime cycle, TAPPI JOURNAL July 2015
Journal articles
Upgrading aeration system performance in secondary basins treating pulp and paper wastewater: A review, TAPPI JOURNAL June 2015
Upgrading aeration system performance in secondary basins treating pulp and paper wastewater: A review, TAPPI JOURNAL June 2015