A laboratory aerobic incubation study was performed during 18 weeks under controlled conditions to assess the effects of applying different doses of pulp mill inorganic wastes on the physical-chemical properties of an acid Dystric Cambissol. Three different inorganic wastes were tested - wood ash, dregs and grits, and an agriculture limestone was used as reference. Results showed that increasing the dose applied of the different inorganic wastes tested always led to significant raises of soil pH at different incubation times demonstrating that its use as alternative-liming materials could be a valid and less expensive option to the use of commercial agricultural limestone. Moreover, no immediate concerns seem to be expected related to soil exchangeable sodium (Na) content, at least for the doses needed to increase soil pH until the targeted value 6.5. Particularly for wood ash a pronounced increase on soil extractable potassium and phosphorous was observed, indicating that besides the liming effect this waste can contribute to improve soil fertility by supplying significant available amounts of these nutrients. Finally, metals do not seem to be a limiting factor for the application to land of these by-products.

High levels of chloride in the kraft recovery cycle of pulp mills can cause serious problems, particularly in recovery boiler operation. The treatment of ash collected from the electrostatic precipitator (ESP) for chloride removal was investigated experimentally using the ion-exchange process based on an amphoteric resin (BIORAD AG 11 A8). Saturation and regeneration experiments in a fixed bed were carried out for different flow rates. Experimental adsorption results obtained in the saturation step were well predicted with a mathematical model that takes into account dispersed plug flow for the bulk liquid, external mass-transfer resistance, intraparticle mass transfer by pore diffusion, and instantaneous equilibrium of adsorption at the pore/wall interface. The equilibrium was modeled using an extended Langmuir-Freundlich isotherm for three components (Cl -, SO 4 2-, and CO 3 2-) based on single-component equilibrium data. The resin performance was tested during cyclic operation, in which a chloride removal efficiency of higher than 89% was achieved, along with a sulfate recovery of 67-74%.

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