Assessment of the Impact of Soils Obtained From Sludge-Lignin Sediments (Waste from the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill) on Higher Plants

Relevance. At present, the problem of soil pollution with heavy metals, which are accumulated in the body of animals and plants, causing various toxic effects, is especially acute. Despite the existence of various methods of reclamation of disturbed lands, as a rule, their application is inefficient or expensive, especially when it comes to abnormally high concentrations of heavy metals. Thus, an extremely urgent task is to find effective and inexpensive ways to recultivate lands contaminated with high concentrations of heavy metals. The article considers one of the promising areas for the reclamation of such lands using a mixture obtained from the accumulated waste of lignin-containing sediments from the pulp and paper industry of Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill as sorbents. Aim. To study and evaluate the effectiveness of using a mixture, which includes frozen lignin-containing sediments of Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill, as heavy metal sorbent. Methods. To assess the sorption efficiency of the obtained sorbent from the frozen sediments of sludge-lignin, the samples of anomalously contaminated soils were taken from the industrial site of the former battery plant "Vostsibelement", located in Svirsk, Irkutsk region. To determine the surface structure of the obtained sorbent for the presence of micro-, meso-, and macropores, its surface was surveyed using a JEOL two-beam system. IR spectroscopy was used to establish the types of bonds between the sorbent and the extracted metals. Results. The studies have shown that the resulting sorbent from the frozen lignin-containing sediments of Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill has a porous structure with a predominance of mesopores, sorbing heavy metal ions, while a large number of micropores contributes to the occurrence of chemical sorption. The obtained IR spectra indicate the possibility of chemical sorption of lead as a result of the reaction of substitution of a hydrogen atom in various hydroxyl groups of the sorbent of the group of aromatic or carboxyl structures. At the same time, the resulting sorbent in terms of its sorption properties is not inferior to commercial natural sorbents – bentonite clay and grassroots peat. The conducted studies allow us to make a positive conclusion about the possibility of using the developed mixture as a sorbent for the immobilization of heavy metals during the reclamation of lands that are contaminated with high levels of heavy metals, including lead.

This study investigated whether previous findings of an increased risk of gliomas among workers in some pulp and paper mills could be confirmed for all Swedish pulp and paper mill workers and whether the increase could be attributed to certain occupational groups. The study was based on the Swedish Cancer Environment Register, which links the incidence of cancer from 1971 to 1990 and the 1960 and 1970 census data on codes of occupation and industry for the whole population. Standardized incidence ratios (SIR) were used to estimate the risks for men in different occupations in pulp (N = 28,142) and paper (N = 39,169) mills in 1960, 1970 or both years as compared with those of all gainfully employed men in Sweden. Maintenance workers employed in pulp or paper mills in 1960, 1970 or both years, as well aspulp workers, showed an increased incidence of gliomas in 1971-1990 [SIR 1.5, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.1-2.1 and SIR 1.5,95% CI 1.0-2.2, respectively], whereas the incidence among process workers in paper mills was lower than expected (SIR 0.6, 95% CI 0.3-0.9). Taken together, all employed men in the pulp mill industry had an increased incidence of gliomas (SIR 1.3, 95% CI 1.0-1.7). Pulp mill workers, but not paper mill workers, were found to have more gliomas in 1971-1990 than expected. There was an increased risk of gliomas among maintenance workers in both pulp and paper mills. Few risk factors for brain tumors are recognized, and the causes of the increase are not obvious.

The removal of colour, organics and phosphorus from pulp and paper mill effluent and the development of colour of the wastewater were investigated. These contaminants are considered to be the most important due to their resistance over common treatment applied by the mill. Two approaches, adsorption and coagulation, were chosen for investigation of the removal of colour, organics and phosphorus from aqueous discharges of a bisulphite pulp and paper mill. Additionally, the colour generation induced by UV irradiation of the treated effluents was investigated. This study was carried out to explore the possibility of UV-induced colour development of the effluent over the long term and to characterize the colour producing species from the wastewater. Cheap and highly abundant brown coal (or lignite) was utilized as adsorbent for colour, phosphorus, and organics from the industrial effluent. Knowledge on the mechanism of brown coal adsorption, selectivity, the effect of pre-treatment and physical properties of brown coal is crucial for the future application of brown coal in the water industry. The mechanism of brown coal adsorption was investigated using various brown coal samples differing in physical and chemical composition and two model dye solutions, cationic (safranin) and anionic (alizarin red) dyes. The capacities of some brown coals (Loy Yang high Na and Yallourn) were higher than commercial coal-based activated carbon. However, the adsorption capacities of all brown coal samples for an anionic dye were very low, less than 3% of that for activated carbon. This result reveals the potential of brown coal to remove positively charged contaminants from aqueous solutions and suggests cation-exchange as the major mechanism involved. Effects of brown coal pre-treatment, drying and washing, were investigated. The equilibrium adsorption data were analysed using the two most popular adsorption isotherms, Langmuir and Freundlich. The Langmuir isotherm fitted most adsorption data of brown coal better than the Freundlich isotherm, supporting the concept of monolayer adsorption and the role of chemical adsorption in the mechanism. When applied to actual wastewater from a magnesium bisulphite pulp and paper mill, brown coal exhibited multi-component adsorption of colour, organics and phosphorus from the solution. Brown coal showed an ability to remove phosphorus from the wastewater, which could not be achieved with activated carbon; yet brown coal had significantly lower adsorption capacities for colour and organics than did activated carbon. This can be explained by the nature of organics and colour that carried negative charge in the wastewater as indicated by the zeta potential analysis. Another powerful technique for organic removal, coagulation, was then chosen to significantly reduce colour and organics content of the effluent. Coagulation using trivalent salts was selected to efficiently remove colour, organics and total phosphorus in the treated and untreated wastewater solution. Selectivity of salt-induced coagulation was achieved and showed the following trend of removal efficiency: colour ~ total phosphorus > TOC. The removal of colour and total phosphorus from concentrated pulp mill effluents were above 90%. The coagulation method was proven to be superior for the remediation of both treated and untreated effluent from pulp and paper industry. However, a small amount of colour and organics still persisted in the wastewater which may lead to colour development after treatment at the collecting discharge point. The Photometric Dispersion Analyzer (PDA) and Focused Beam Reflectance Measurement (FBRM) techniques were utilised to study the coagulation kinetics of the wastewater upon addition of salt. The involvement of fast aggregation and adsorption in the coagulation mechanism were revealed. The high critical coagulation concentration (CCC) and the significant role of trivalent salts in the coagulation process indicated the involvement of complexation reactions prior to coagulation. In coagulation, pH was also found to be a dominant factor affecting efficiency. The UV-induced colour generation of the effluent from pulp and paper industry was studied using UV-irradiation at 302 nm and 254 nm. Lignin derived compounds were suspected to be responsible for colour growth of pulp and paper wastewater. Three model compounds, lignosulfonic acid, humic acid and vanillin, were selected and studied as comparison. The yellowing rate of the wastewater solution was found to be similar to that of the model lignosulfonic acid solution supporting the occurrence of lignin compounds in the wastewater. The yellowing rate of humic acid was lower than the wastewater solution, but the yellowing rate for vanillin was significantly higher than that of the wastewater solution. The irradiation products were analysed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), UV spectroscopy, Electrospray Mass Spectrometry (ES-MS), Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H-NMR) and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). The mechanism of wastewater yellowing upon irradiation was suspected to mimic the mechanism of photo-yellowing of paper. The result also suggested that UV-induced chemical reactions may be important in the aqueous discharge of pulp and paper mill effluent that could potentially enhance its colour.

Present study was conducted to characterize the physico-chemical parameters of pulp and paper mill effluent. Out of these 15 bacterial isolates 2 were selected (1 each from treated; Alcaligenes faecalis (strain-1) and untreated effluent; Bacillus cereus (strain-2)) on the basis for their COD removal capacity of their respective effluent. Physico-chemical analysis confirmed the levels of various pollutants in pulp and paper mill effluent and further shown that treatment of effluent using Alcaligenes faecalis (strain-1) and Bacillus cereus (strain-2). This study revealed that the highest COD reduction (63.2%) was obtained with bacterial strain -2 (Bacillus cereus) at 35 C after 10 days of incubation period day at pH 6. At various optimized conditions such as pH, temperature, nutrient sources etc., bacterial strain Bacillus cereus (strain-2) was found to be more efficient than the other studied bacterial strain Alcaligenes faecalis (strain-1) in terms of COD removal from pulp and paper mill effluent.

A series of industrial experimental tests on the freeze treatment of colloidal sludge lignin precipitates was carried out under natural conditions. Changes in the physical and chemical properties of the precipitates were studied. It is established that three fractions are formed following the freeze treatment of colloidal sludge lignin precipitates, including demineralized water (up to 25 %), mineralized water (up to 15 %) and a restructured colloidal precipitate (up to 60 %). The total volume of the precipitate is shown to decrease to 40 %. Freezing precipitation of colloidal lignin slurry of "the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill" leads to a decrease in toxicity from the third to the fifth class of danger. On the basis of frozen sediments, the lignin sludge of OJSC Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill with the addition of other waste from the Baikal region, a fertile soil was obtained that corresponds to GOST R 54651-2011 "Organic fertilizers on the basis of sewage sludge. Specifications".

Pulp and paper mills emit effluents that are often tainted with color substances. Most often, lignin fragments form chromophores that impart a yellow-brown color to the effluent; making colored paper also causes residual dyestuffs to infuse the effluent with colors. Despite otherwise adequate effluent parameters, the color in effluents evokes a perception of uncleanness and often leads to environmental confrontations; thus this issue needs to be resolved. In this study, we explored several means of color removal from effluents. The results indicated that the colored substances in effluent were often difficult to agglomerate due to their small particle sizes, but adsorption using activated carbon and more cheaply, fly ash, could achieve good removal. Membrane treatment using ultrafiltration (UF) films with a molecular weight cut-off of 5000 Da could effectively remove colors from pulp mill and OCC mill effluents. Certain colored paper effluents could also be treated with good effect as well. The advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) applied to various effluents achieved mixed results, with red-dyed paper effluent showing strong resistance. Reductive treatments were effective against ligneous chromophores, but this was often not so for chemical dyestuffs. Most treatments entail high costs or residual environmental concerns. Electrochemical means including dipole induction and flocculation were found to be able to decolorize dye-stained white water, but was less effective toward the decolorization of bleaching effluent.

Waste handling is a concern in all pulp and paper mills. Best available techniques for reducing waste is to minimize the generation of solid waste and/or reuse these materials, wherever practicable. One of the most important solid wastes is lime mud which is generated from the kraft pulping in its chemical recovery process. This paper explores the composition of lime mud resulting from the chemical recovery unite of kraft pulp mill and investigation of this waste for re-using beneficially on sub grade and pavement of forest road as a alternative disposal method. Lime mud obtained from the re-causticising process in SEKA pulp mill that utilizes wheat straw and reed as the principal raw material was supplied with % 47 water content and its chemical and physical characterisations was performed according to standard methods. Dried waste to environmental condition was mixed with certain amount to composite cement for using on pavement and sandy clay, loamy clay and clay soils for enriching forest road sub grade properties. In order to investigate the lime mud addition on pavement and sub grade properties necessary physical tests were performed. As a consequence this study reveals that while waste of lime mud causes environmental and economical problem with conventional disposal techniques and/or abandoning to environment, this waste can be used as good stabilisation materials on forest road sub-grade and pavement without any environmental problem.

The pulp and paper industry converts roundwood and recycled fibre, collected from wastepaper into printing and writing papers, and other specialty grades of paper. The pulp and paper mills in Ontario have been facing extreme competitive pressures, which have affected their performance leading to several mill closures. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and compare the relative performance of three types of Ontario's pulp and paper mills (using all fibre, only roundwood fibre, and only recycled fibre). This study uses bootstrap data envelopment analysis in analyzing and comparing the operational efficiency of the Ontario's pulp and paper mills, with 224 sample data observations over a period of 17 years. The results indicate low levels of overall technical and managerial efficiencies in the pulp and paper mills using recycled fibre. The results of the study highlight that the pulp and paper industry needs to divert their attention to streamlining the manufacturing processes, reducing costs, improving raw material usage, and making capital investments in the new and improved technology, in order to improve the operational efficiency and competitiveness of the Ontario's pulp and paper mills. The pulp and paper mills using recycled fibre require huge capital investments, especially for installing the latest de-inking technology. The results of this study provide policy makers with detailed performance analysis so that future input resources can be reallocated to improve the performance of the pulp and paper mills in Ontario.

Pulp mills have been biorefineries since the invention of the Tomlinson recovery boiler. Unfortunately, the paper industry has done a poor job explaining that concept to the general public. A number of bioproducts in everyday use have been produced by pulp mills for several decades, and new products are routinely being developed. Modern research efforts over the last couple of decades have focused on producing even more products from pulp and paper mills through capacity enhancement and the development of value-added products and liquid transportation fuels to enhance paper mill profitability. Some of these efforts, often referred to as modern biorefineries, have focused so heavily on product development that they have ignored operating and process realities that limit the transformation of pulp and paper mills from the current limited number of bioproducts produced today to economic scale production of these value-added products. In this paper, several of these limitations are addressed. In addition, there are several supply chain, marketing, product quality, and economic realities limiting the value potential for these wholesale conversions of pulp mills into multiproduct modern biorefineries. Finally, the conservative nature and capital intensity of the pulp and paper industries provide a difficult hurdle for conversion to the modern biorefinery concept. These issues are also reviewed.

Annual commercial roundwood removal in Finland has reached approximately 50 million m3, delivering almost 1.6 billion Euros of stumpage earnings to forest owners. The aim of this dissertation is to study and model the production costs of saw-, pulp and paper mills and the combined heat and power (CHP) plant, which are the branches of forest industry that create most of the industry’s wood-paying capability. The modelling was performed by implementing the activity-based costing (ABC) method for virtual greenfield mills located in Finland. Firstly, according to the principles of ABC, mill productions were divided into processes. The sawmills consisted of eight processes, while the pulp and paper mills of ten each and the CHP plant consisted of four processes. Secondly, all required production resources of each process were defined and quantified. Thirdly, the costs of each process caused by using the wood processing or energy use resources were allocated to the products or raw materials with cost drivers. Results of the example calculations indicated that the cost structures of the studied mills shared some similarities: wood, pulp or paper drying was a relatively expensive process. The share of drying was 40%, 39% and 18% of the annual costs in the sawmill, pulp mill and paper mill, respectively. The fluidized bed boiler represented 47% of the total costs of the CHP plant. Taking into consideration the practical limitations of the test calculations, the profitability of the pulp and paper mills and CHP plant were on a healthy level. The sawmilling case was left out of the profit calculations due to lack of market price information. According to the results, ABC was well-suited to the demands of forest industry. The models provide useful tools for cost-based decision-making for both forestry specialists and the forest industry. The results indicate that the sawing pattern is a very important cost factor in sawmilling, while energy production was crucial for the pulp and paper industry and the utilization rate was in a key position for CHP. From the forest industry viewpoint the models directly aid in performance analyses; results of the calculations revealed that the relatively high share of drying costs in the industry signals that the most cost-effective improvements could be found from energy savings, which has been the tendency in past years. These results can be combined with the forest end of the supply chain, whereby forest engineers have access to better control over tree-bucking optimization and different parallel value chains of forestry can be compared and evaluated with high accuracy.

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of gaseous pollutants for cleaner production in pulp and paper mills

UASB reactors R-I and R-II each with an effective volume of 6.0liters were used to study the treatability of actual bleaching effluent obtained from NSSC pulp and paper mill at mesophilic temperature and neutral pH. Methanol as a source of an easily biodegradable substance along with an activated carbon of effective size 1.5-2.5mm was added to the reactor R-I to evaluate its efficiency. It was observed that corresponding to an OLR of 2.14kg-COD/m 3 -day the overall COD removal efficiency of the reactors R-I and R-II was 83% and 64%, respectively. And the AOX removal efficiency was noticed as 71% and 49% for reactor R-I and R-II, respectively. During the study it was observed that the treatability efficiency of reactor R-I was comparatively better but the amount of its biogas production was slightly lower. The average biogas gas production in reactors R-I and R-II during the course of study was observed as 0.19L/g-COD removed and 0.32L/g-COD removed , respectively, with mean methane composition of 58-60% in both the reactors. The results of this study suggest that the use of methanol and an activated carbon in a UASB reactor to biodegrade the bleaching effluent of NSSC pulp and paper mill at mesophilic temperature and neutral pH reactor is a feasible and viable technique.

The dynamics and efficiency of the use of frozen lignin-containing deposits of the pulp and paper industry and soils obtained on the basis thereof for the intensified reclamation succession of disturbed lands were analyzed. It was proved that over a four-year experimental period, an active process of self-overgrowing occurs with a change and an increase in the species diversity of phytocenoses with the stabilization of chemical and agrochemical composition of dumps of frozen lignin-containing sediments and soils as per the norme of GOST 54534-2011 “Resource saving. Sewage sludge. Requirements for disturbed lands for reclamation”.

The article presents results of microbiological monitoring of artificial soils. These soils were formed in the process of reclaiming technical lignin in special drives of the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill (Irkutsk region). The test drives are in Solzanskom landfill, which is located between the vil. Solzan and the r. Bol'shaja Osinovka south of Irkutsk - Ulan-Ude highway. Investigations were carried out in drives № 1, № 4, № 5, № 6. Soil samples were homogenized in a selected point on three levels. Evaluation of sludge lignin was conducted in accordance with generally accepted sanitary and microbiological methods of investigation of soils, using the integral index of general contamination of the soil. The research shows the role of aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms, bacteria and fungi in microbiocenosis. The degree of contamination of the soil is strong. The ratio of prokaryotic to eukaryotic microorganisms is 3:1 on the average. This suggests a significant role of bacterial forms in lignin biodegradation. The prevalence of the aerobic microorganisms over anaerobic ones shows that in the lower layers of sludge lignin biodegradation process is slow. The materials demonstrate that the methods of microbiological monitoring are proximate and provide a comprehensive assessment of the ecological status of the soil.

Efficient energy systems with CO2 capture and storage from renewable biomass in pulp and paper mills