Wastewater Treatment and Reclamation: A Review of Pulp and Paper Industry Practices and Opportunities

Abstract

The pulp and paper (P&P) industry worldwide has achieved substantial progress in treating both process water and wastewater, thus limiting the discharge of pollutants to receiving waters. This review covers a variety of wastewater treatment methods, which provide P&P companies with costeffective ways to limit the release of biological or chemical oxygen demand, toxicity, solids, color, and other indicators of pollutant load. Conventional wastewater treatment systems, often comprising primary clarification followed by activated sludge processes, have been widely implemented in the P&P industry. Higher levels of pollutant removal can be achieved by supplementary treatments, which can include anaerobic biological stages, advanced oxidation processes, bioreactors, and membrane filtration technologies. Improvements in the performance of wastewater treatment operations often can be achieved by effective measurement technologies and by strategic addition of agents including coagulants, flocculants, filter aids, and optimized fungal or bacterial cultures. In addition, P&P mills can implement upstream process changes, including dissolved-air-flotation (DAF) systems, filtration save-alls, and kidney-like operations to purify process waters, thus reducing the load of pollutants and the volume of effluent being discharged to end-of-pipe wastewater treatment plants. Keywords: Wastewater treatment; Pulp and paper manufacturing; Advanced oxidation; Membrane technologies; Clarification; Activated sludgeContact information: a: North Carolina State University, Dept. of Forest Biomaterials, Campus Box 8005, Raleigh, NC 29695-8005; b: WestRock Company, Water and Waste Treatment, 600 S 8th St, Fernandina Beach, FL 32034; c: Department of Agricultural and Forestry Engineering, University of Valladolid, Campus Duques de Soria, E-42004 Soria, Spain; d: Complutense University of Madrid, Department of Chemical Engineering, Ingn. Quim, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Ciudad Universitaria s/n,S-N, E-28040 Madrid, Spain; e: Concordia University, Dept. Bldg. Civil & Environm. Engn., 1455 Maisonneuve Blvd, West Montreal, PQ H3G 1M8, Canada; f: University of Jyväskylä, Dept. Chem., Box 35, FI-40014 Jyväskylä, Finland; g: Department of Biology, Center for Environmental and Marine Studies, CESAM, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal; h: Department of Environment and Planning, Center for Environmental and Marine Studies, CESAM, Aveiro & Department of Materials and Ceramics, Institute of Materials, CICECO, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal; i: FPInnovations, 570 St. Jean Blvd., Pointe Claire, PQ H9R 3J9, Canada; * Corresponding author: hubbe@ncsu.edu Contents of the Article INTRODUCTIONThe pulp and paper (P&P) industry occupies a challenging position with respect to the natural environment. On the positive side, the industry is based on the usage of renewable, photosynthetic resources. On the other hand, the industry discharges huge quantities of aqueous effluents. Large volumes (up to 70 m 3 ) of wastewater ...

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