A filtrate phase perspective to organic matter balance in ECF bleached kraft fiberline

In the process of making high quality pulp from wood chips, much water will continuously be needed. The fate of the used water with the organic and inorganic impurities remains optional. Mills with zero liquid effluent have been mentioned as the target in environmental loading minimization of pulp and paper mills with hardly any debate. To avoid inappropriate solutions when approaching this target, thorough knowledge of loading element behavior in liquid streams of production processes should be available before decisions are made for development alternatives. Based on empirical measurements of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in liquid streams of fiberline and utilizing them together with routine mill data in process simulation, this study aims at mapping DOM and its fate in elemental chlorine free (ECF) softwood kraft pulp production. The results of this study act as a demonstration for determining the essential fates and their quantities in the ECF fiberline.