Refiner quality control in a CTMP plant

The refining performances of mixed poplar and eucalypt woodchips (mixture ratio 6:4) were investigated at medium and high pulp consistency via chemi-mechanical pulping (CMP). The specific refining energy consumption (SEC), fiber fraction proportion, and Canadian standard freeness (CSF) were determined to evaluate the effects of pulp consistency and NaOH dosage on the refining performances of mixed poplar and eucalypt woodchips. While the dosage of NaOH for impregnation was maintained constant, the SEC and shive content increased with increasing pulp consistency. Different fractions obtained from the Bauer-McNett classifier showed that higher pulp consistency could be expected to yield more long fibers and shive in the stock. Upon increasing the NaOH dosage, the shive content and SEC reduced significantly. When the NaOH dosage was increased to 6%, the results indicated that it was difficult to reduce the shive content to less than 1% at high pulp consistencies (25%~35%), whereas 0.18% shive fraction could be achieved at a medium pulp consistency (15%).

Spruce wood chips were produced under well-controlled conditions in a laboratory wood chipper at spout angles of 30°, 40°, and 50° at a cutting rate of 20 m s-1 and with a nominal chip length of 25 mm. The chips were then refined under thermomechanical pulp (TMP) conditions in a pilot refiner plant. The pulp properties such as freeness, average fiber length, and shives content were determined and evaluated as a function of specific energy consumption. For a first stage refining and for a freeness value of 350 ml, a decrease in specific electrical energy consumption could be achieved by performing the wood chipping at a spout angle of 50° as compared to 30° which is the spout angle commonly used. A patent application regarding this method has been filed and is pending. It is realized that a freeness value is not directly indicative of any quality measure, such as, for example tensile index and light scattering coefficient but the obtained results can be interpreted to be promising. Further studies are needed regarding the impact of the modified chipping process.

Neuro-fuzzy Soft Sensor Estimator for Benzene Toluene Distillation Column

The objective of this work is to evaluate the effect of applying industrial grade MgO with different grades of metal impurity partially substituting NaOH as the alkali source on the hydrogen peroxide bleaching process. In this study, the effects of pretreatments, such as washing in deionized water, washing in deionized water combined with chelating by EDTA, grinding by grinding machine, and grinding by grinding machine combined with chelating by EDTA pretreatments, on the removing of metal impurity from the industrial grade MgO were investigated. The residual H2O2 of bleaching effluent and the bleached pulp properties were determined. The results showed that pretreatments had positive effects on the removal of metal ions from industrial grade MgO, but there were no obvious effects on pulp properties. The bleached pulp applied MgO that was pretreated by washing in deionized water combined with chelating by EDTA had a similar brightness (75.91%) with control sample (75.41%), but which could cut16.73% of H2O2 consumption during the bleaching.

Soft Sensors (SSs) are inferential models used in many industrial fields. They allow for real-time estimation of hard-to-measure variables as a function of available data obtained from online sensors. SSs are generally built using industries historical databases through data-driven approaches. A critical issue in SS design concerns the selection of input variables, among those available in a candidate dataset. In the case of industrial processes, candidate inputs can reach great numbers, making the design computationally demanding and leading to poorly performing models. An input selection procedure is then necessary. Most used input selection approaches for SS design are addressed in this work and classified with their benefits and drawbacks to guide the designer through this step.

We present a model based algorithm for simultaneous validation of online analysers and process simulators. Reconciled on-line and historical process data satisfying balance and model equations provides the opportunity to validate and improve process models and soft sensors. Accurate simulation results and laboratory measurements can be used for the validation of online analysers. Validated and reconciled data can be used to the iterative and interactive identification of the unknown parameters of the simulator, e.g. for the determination of kinetic parameters. This method can also be used for monitoring and diagnostics of complex processes because situations when the operating conditions have been significantly changed can be discovered. The approach is illustrated by the analysis of an industrial hydrogenation system. We present the proposed iterative and interactive procedure of model development and analyser validation, the applied data reconciliation method, and the details of the case study. The results show the applicability of the proposed scheme in industrial environment and the benefits of the extracted information in the maintenance and monitoring of advanced model based process engineering tools. The developed tool can increase operating efficiency that is the key of reducing energy consumption and environmental impact. This is especially true in hydrocarbon industry where the operation of the technology is supported by process simulator and on-line analyser based advanced process control systems.

For the thermomechanical pulping (TMP) process both wood chip quality and the refining process have important effects on the resulting pulp and paper quality. Properties of wood raw material give a framework for final pulp properties. During TMP refining the specific energy consumption and refining intensity strongly impact fibre and pulp qualities. Increasing specific energy consumption benefits the development of fibres and improves their properties. However, high intensity refining tends to shorten the fibres and produces more fines content when compared with low intensity refining. This review focuses on the influence of key variables of chip qualities and the refining process on TMP pulp and paper qualities.

This article proposes a method for the modeling and control of a two stage thermo-mechanical pulping process (TMP). Experimental data was collected from operational refiners without affecting the pulp production and with no modifications to the facility. The experimental data is used to identify the model parameters. The model predicts refiner motor load and the pulp properties of Canadian standard freeness (CSF), shive content and long fibre content as a function of the production rate, the infeed dilution water flow rate and the refiner plate gaps. The model of the plant is used as a guide, whereby the plant operators can predict the future output pulp properties.

Chapter 21 - Artificial intelligence for wastewater treatment

A compartment model for risk-based monitoring of lactic acid bacteria cultivations

In this study, action of ultrafiltered xylano-pectinolytic enzymes from a bacterial strain has been evaluated for bleaching of rice straw soda-anthraquinone pulp. Maximum bio-bleaching effect and release of non-cellulosic impurities were noticed with xylano:pectinolytic enzymes dose of 6.0:2.1-IU/g pulp, treatment time of 180min at 10% pulp consistency, pH8.5, and temperature 55°C. Microscopic images of bio-bleached rice straw pulp also confirmed the efficacy of ultrafiltered enzymes, as bleaching agent. This bio-bleaching treatment resulted in 15.38% and 32% reduction in kappa number and active chlorine dioxide dose, respectively, along with increase in various physical properties, burst index (12.50%), tear index (19.07%), breaking length (14.30%), double fold number (26.31%), Gurley porosity (45.32%) and viscosity (16.17%). This bio-bleaching approach not only improved the pulp quality but also reduced environmental pollution load by decreasing effluent parameters values of BOD and COD by 23.67% and 27.44%, respectively. This study indicates that use of ultrafiltered xylano-pectinolytic synergism for rice straw pulp bleaching will ultimately help in making the process eco-friendly, along with better quality pulp. This is the first report on use of ultrafiltered xylanase and pectinase, produced from a bacterial isolate, for bleaching of rice straw pulp.

This review covers the effect of mechanical pre-treatment of wood chips on the energy consumption in refining and the quality of pulp. To understand the mechanisms of mechanical pre-treatment, a short description of relevant refining theory and reported effects of pre-treatment on wood morphology is given. Mechanical pre-treatment offers a chance to utilize the energy needed to defibrate chips in a more efficient way, minimizing the cyclic elastic deformations which are the main defibration mechanism in refining. Studies of fibre morphology indicate that compressive pretreatment mechanically introduces favorable weak points in the S1 and S2 fibre walls where defibration proceeds easier upon subsequent refining. Published results which cover the effect of the pretreatment on energy consumption and pulp properties are reviewed. Energy reduction of between 10% and 30% is reported in the literature. High ratio of volumetric compression is necessary. Pressurized conditions are required to ensure that the fibres are not damaged during the pre-treatment. Other effects of compressive pretreatment include a more uniform chip size and moisture content, better penetration of chemicals and removal of extractives from the chips. A list of equipment used for chip pre-compression is provided together with published results of pilot-scale and mill-scale operation.

Increased wood softening and refining intensity have earlier been utilized to improve refining efficiency in mechanical pulping. We have evaluated a combination of increased softening by low dose sulphite chip pretreatment and increased intensity by feeding segment design in a TMP line for production of high quality printing papers. Norway spruce wood chips were preheated, compressed in an Impressafiner and impregnated with water or sodium sulphite solutions (Na2SO3 charges 3.6 and 7.2 kg/t). Chips were refined in two parallel 68” double disc refiners using two different refining conditions: standard bidirectional segments at normal production rate (9 t/h) and feeding segments at increased production rate (11.1–12.1 t/h). The feeding segments enabled a 30 % increase in production rate. Refining with feeding segments at 12.1 t/h production rate combined with chip pretreatment with 3.6 kg/t sodium sulphite reduced the specific energy 360 kWh/t (19 %) compared to refining with standard segments and no pretreatment. Pulp properties were similar for the two configurations. The combination of feeding segments and chip pretreatment with water reduced the specific energy 180 kWh/t (9 %). Implementation of most of the technology presented has reduced the electrical energy use for the mill by approximately 80 GWh/year.

In this investigation, the relationship between fiber properties and papermaking properties of 22 non-wood materials at the unrefined and refined states was assessed. The fiber length had positive and the cell wall thickness had negative correlation on the strength properties for the refined pulp. The relationship between papermaking properties with pulp quality, such as fines, curl index, kink index, external fibrillation, and coarseness, was also determined. The correlations of multiple regression equations of fiber quality parameters were 70.4% for the tensile index and 84.9% for the tear index for the refined pulp. The correlations of multiple regression equations of chemical characteristics of the samples were 81.9% for the pulp yield and 42.7% for the kappa number. Holocellulose and α-cellulose had a positive and lignin had a negative effect on the pulp yield.

Organosolv pulping — methods and pulp properties