Lake States TAPPI.

Pulp, Bleaching, Environmental and Stock Prep

Conference Notes

This Lake States Conference was held April 2, 2002 at the Best Western Midway in Wansau, Wisconsin, USA. Tom Lewis, Terry Wiegert, Rick Treleven, and Todd Nielsen assembled an excellent program, and helped host the sessions.

The first speaker, Tim Matson of STS Consultants, Ltd. presented an overview of "MACT Regulations on Industrial Boilers." Matson discussed definitions relating to Section 112, the extent of how the regulations will affect industrial boilers, the proposed implementation schedule, and how to get additional information from the Internet, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Rick Osa, also of STS Consultants, Ltd., presented "Modifications to NR 445--Wisconsin's Hazardous Air Contaminants Rules." Osa explained the differences between the Federal rules and NR 445 as well as the proposed changes to NR 445, injecting a bit of humor into an otherwise complex, contentious issue.

Paul Flickenger of Metso Paper focused on the equipment and systems for pulping, oxygen delignification, bleaching, and screening. He also presented case studies showing how the equipment is incorporated into various mills around the world.

Arvind Singhal, application engineer for J&L Fiber Services, presented "Smart Plate Technology." He explained how sensors embedded in refiner plates cart help improve paper making at reduced energy consumption.

After lunch, Al Button presented "Keep it simple: pulp selection based on fundamental properties." Button addressed the factors a papermaker should consider when making mechanical papers from northern bleached softwood kraft pulp (NBSK). He focused on critical factors such as pulp testing, fiber morphology, hand sheet properties, and chemical properties.

"Improved bleaching performance" was the focus for Brian Brogdon, senior research scientist for Kemira Chemicals Inc. After presenting information on the basics of high temperature peroxide bleaching, Brogdon used case studies to show how peracetic acid and stabilizers can greatly enhance a bleaching system's performance.

Carol Greer of ONDEO-Nalco presented "Bleach plant scale control and the scaling rate monitor (SRM)." Greer explained where and how scale can form in a bleaching system. Greer also explained the development of the SRM technique, how it works, and why a mill should consider installing the SRM system.

The final session featured Mark Minday, senior process engineer with EKA Chemicals. He discussed "Adding to the bottom line while reducing emissions from your plant scrubber" and showed pictures of good and bad scrubber installations. He also explained how to improve the performance of an existing scrubber through new packings, how to make sure the packings are installed correctly, and maintenance issues.

The day-long conference provided attendees with an excellent opportunity to learn plus talk with industry peers during lunch and the various breaks or social hour sponsored by Metso Paper, ONDEO-Nalco, and Kemira.