RECOVERY OF ORGANIC FEEDSTOCKS FROM KRAFT PROCESS STREAMS BY PERVAPORATION

THE KRAFT PAPER-PULP PROCESS PRODUCES A NUMBER OF VERY LARGE AQUEOUS STREAMS CONTAINING HIGH LEVELS OF DISSOLVED ORGANIC COMPOUNDS. THESE STREAMS ARE EITHER CONCENTRATED AND BURNED, OR DISCHARGED TO A BIOLOGICAL TREATMENT SYSTEMS. CHEMICALS FROM THESE STREAMS COULD BE RECOVERED BY THE NEW SEPARATION PROCESS OF PERVAPORATION. RECOVERY AS A CHEMICAL FEEDSTOCK IS A FAR HIGHER VALUE USE OF THESE CHEMICALS THAN BURNING FOR FUEL, AND COULD MAKE A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION TO THE PLANT'S PROFITABILITY. IN THE PROPOSED PHASE I PROGRAM, SAMPLES OF VARIOUS PROCESS STREAMS FROM SEVERAL KRAFT PROCESS OPERATIONS WIL BE OBTAINED. THE PERFORMANCE OF A LABORATORY-SCALE PERVAPORATION SYSTEM WITH THESE SAMPLES WILL BE VALUATED. BASED ON THE RESULTS, AN ESTIMATE OF THE TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY OF THE PROCESS WILL BE MADE. UN PHASE II, AN EXISTING PILOT-SCALE SYSTEM WILL BE USED TO DEMONSTRATE THE TECHNOLOGY WITH THE MOST PROMISING PROCESS STREAM, FIRST IN THE LABORATORY AND THEN IN A FIELD TRAIL.