Kraft pulp mill bleaching

Figure 12.1 Illustration ofthe process steps in kraft pulp mill bleaching. The arrows indicate the flow of pulp. From Allen et al. [772], Copyright 1993, Marcel Dekker.

Chemical-mediated immune suppression has been identified from the experimental study of several wildlife species. Harbour seals fed either chemically contaminated fish from the Wadden Sea or imcontaminated fish were found to have differing immune responses, with the exposed group showing lowered immune response to microbial infections and certain types of cancer. "" Mink fed fish taken from below a discharge point for bleached Kraft pulp mill effluent have also shown impaired immune function, " showing that the non-accnmillative chemicals in this effluent can actively disrupt endocrine associated functions. 

Coullard CM, Nellis P. 1999. Organochlorine contaminants in mummichog (flindulus heteroclitus) living downstream form a bleache-kraft pulp mill in the Miramichi estuary. New Brunswick, Canada. Environ Toxicol Chem 18(ll) 2545-2556. 

Jokela JK, M Salkinoja-Salonen (1992) Molecular weight distributions of organic halogens in bleached kraft pulp mill effluents. Environ Sci Technol 26 1190-1197. 

Saski EK, A Vahatalo, K Salonen, MS Salkinoja-Salonen (1996b) Mesocosm simulation on sediment formation indnced by biologically treated bleached kraft pulp mill wastewater in freshwater recipients. In Environmental Fate and Effects of Pulp and Paper Mill Effluents (Eds MR Servos, KR Munlittrick, JH Carey, and GJ van der Kraak), pp. 261-270. St Lucie Press, Delray Beach, FL. 

A bleached kraft pulp mill requires 15,140 to 45,420 L (4000 to 12,000 gal) of water and 8.56 to 12.22 million chu (14 to 20 million Btu) of energy per ton of pulp, of which ca. 4.44 to 5.56 million chu (8 to 10 million Btu) are typically derived from biomass-derived fuel from the pulping process itself.4 Across all facilities, the pulp, paper, and allied products industry is the largest consumer of process water and the third largest consumer of energy (after the chemicals and metals industries).5,6 The large amounts of water and energy used, as well as the chemical inputs, lead to a variety of environmental concerns. 

This section describes the applicable national regulatory requirements for bleached, unbleached, and dissolving kraft mills. Potential pollutants of concern for kraft pulp mills as reflected in the effluent limitations guidelines and standards promulgated by U.S. EPA and in a sampling of NPDES permits are summarized in Table 21.12. 

For kraft pulp mills, the Cluster Rules add toxic and nonconventional pollutants to the list of regulated pollutants only for bleached papergrade kraft mills. Effluent limitations guidelines and standards were added for the following BAT and PSES pollutants (and NSPS/PSNS for new sources) chloroform, 2,3,7,8-TCDD, 2,3,7,8-TCDF, 12 chlorinated phenolic compounds, and AOX. All of the... 

Astrakianakis G, Svirchev L, Tang C, et al. 1998. Industrial hygiene aspects of a sampling survey at a bleached-kraft pulp mill in British Columbia. Am Ind Hyg Assoc J 59 694-705. 

Eggs Pacific Northwest 1991-97 near bleached kraft pulp mills vs. reference site maximum values... 

Chicks plasma near bleached kraft pulp mill June-July 1992 upstream vs. downstream ... 

Owens JW, Swanson SM, Birkholz DA. 1994. Environmental monitoring of bleached kraft pulp mill chlorophenolic compounds in aNorthem Canadian river system. Chemosphere 29(1) 89-109. 

BKME = bleach kraft pulp mill effluent DNOC = 4,6-dinitro-o-cresol l.t. = liver tissue a Van der Cost et al. (2003)... 

Occurrence of alkyl polychloronaphthalenes (RPCN) in spent bleach liquors was first time reported in 1979 [8], Their structure was deduced to contain one methyl and one isopropyl group [8] which indicates origin from wood. Later analyses indicated that most common RPCNs in kraft pulp mill effluents and sludges were mono- to tetramethyl polychloro naphthalenes (C1-4PCN) [41-45]. In sludges their total contents were 28-72 ng g1 dw and in effluents only trace levels of a few ng 1 1 [42, 45]. Their origin was suggested to be chlorination of alkyl naphthalenes abundant in oil-based defoamers used in pulp mills [42]. 

Tripathi CS and Allen DG. EeasibiUty study of thermophilic aerobic biological treatment of bleached kraft pulp mill effluent. International Environmental Conference and Exhibition, Vancouver, Canada, April 5-8, 1998, 1189-1201. 

Use of pure oxygen, (i.e., their UNOX system), was once proposed by Union Carbide for the rejuvenation of highly eutrophic lakes. Certainly, this system provided excellent oxygen transfer conditions, and was made feasible with the availability of low-cost processes for oxygen enrichment of air. More recently, the UNOX system has been used for rapid treatment of high BOD waste streams from a fully bleached kraft pulp mill before discharge [36]. 

R.R. Fulthorpe, S.N. Liss, andD.G. Allen, Characterization of Bacteria Isolated from a Bleached Kraft Pulp-mill Wastewater Treatment System. Can. J. Microbiol. 39(1), 13—24 (1993). 

Gibbons, W.N., Munkittrick, K.R. and Taylor, W.D. (1998) Monitoring aquatic environments receiving industrial effluents using small fish species 1 response of spoonhead sculpin (Cottus ricei) downstream of a bleached-kraft pulp mill. Environmental Toxicology and... 

Janz, D.M., M.E. McMaster, K.R. Munkittrick and G. Van Der Kraak. Elevated ovarian follicular apoptosis and heat shock protein-70 expression in white sucker exposed to bleached Kraft pulp mill effluent. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 147 391—398, 1997. 

The observed responses are shown as either an increase ( ), decrease ([) or no change (nc) compared to the controls. DMBA dimethylbenz[a]anthracene BNF 3-naphtho(lavone BKME bleached-kraft pulp mill effluent RTG rainbow trout gonadal CHSE Chinook salmon embryonic RTH rainbow trout hepatoma. Unpublished work is from Vijayan s laboratory. 

Munkittrick, K.R., G.J. Van Der Kraak, M.E. McMaster and C.B. Portt. Response of hepatic MFO activity and plasma sex steroids to secondary treatment of bleached kraft pulp mill effluent and mill shutdown. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 11 1427-1439, 1992. 

Jokela, J.K. and M. Salkinoja-Salonen. 1992. Molecular weight distributions of organic halogens in bleached kraft pulp mill effluents. Environ. Sci. Technol. 26 1190-1197. Jones, J.B. and T.C. Stadtman. 1981. Selenium-dependent and selenium-independent formate dehydrogenase of Methanococcus vannielii. Separation of the two forms and characterization of the purified selenium-independent form. J. Biol. Chem. 256 656-663. 

Saski, E.K., R. Mikkola, J.V.K. Kukkonen, and M.S. Salkinoja-Salonen. 1997. Bleached kraft pulp mill discharged organic matter in recipient lake sediment. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 4 194—202. 

Van der Kraak, K.R. Munkittrick, M.E. McMaster, C.B. Portt, and J.P. Chang. 1992. Exposure to bleached kraft pulp mill effluent disrupts the pituitary-gonadal axis of white sucker at multiple sites. Toxicol. Appl. Pharmacol. 115 224—233. 

M. Paleologou, R.M. Berry, R. Thompson, and J.T. Wearing, Electromembrane process for the treatment of Kraft mill electrostatic precipitator catch, US Pat. 5,567, 293 H.-J. Rapp and P.H. Pfromm, Electrodialysis for chloride removal from the chemical recovery cycle of a Kraft pulp mill, J. Membr. Sci., 1998, 146, 247-261 P.H. Pfromm, S.-P. Tsai and M.P. Henry, Electrodialysis for bleach effluent recycling in Kraft pulp reduction Simultaneous control of chloride and other no-process elements, Can. J. Chem. Eng., 1999, 77, 1231-1238. 

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