Valuation slagging factors and greenhouse gases emissions of paper mill reject and coal

Abstract

There are quite a lot of paper mill rejects (PMR) as a by-product of paper mills and have not been utilized, currently. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the characteristics of paper mill reject (PMR) to coal and natural biomass and estimate the greenhouse (GHG) emissions of PMR and coal. Coal and PMR taken from five paper mills were analyzed for the content of moisture, proximate parameter (ash, volatile matter, fixed carbon), sulfur (S), gross calorific value (GCV), ash mineral and ash fusion temperature (AFT). The slagging factors of materials were calculated and evaluated. The resulting greenhouse gasses (GHG) emissions was also estimated. The results show that with the high calorific value, low ash and sulfur content of PMR, it has the potential to be used as a coal mixture for boiler fuel. It is very beneficial for the environment due to the low SO2 emissions. PMR has the characteristics of a low slagging index (SI), high fouling index (FI) and Slag Viscosity Index (SVI) which is almost similar with biomass, empty fruit bunches (EFB) and rice husk. The use of PMR as a coal mixture in paper mills in the amount of 10,285 ton/year can reduce greenhouse gases of 63.5 tons CO2-equivalent/year.