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Purification of pulp mill condensates by an adsorptive process on activated carbon

  • José A.F. Gamelas EMAIL logo , Sofia M. Rebola , Margarita G. Evtyugina , Valdemar I. Esteves and Dmitry V. Evtuguin EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: January 17, 2019
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Holzforschung
From the journal Holzforschung Volume 73 Issue 6

Abstract

In order to close the water cycle in pulp mills with condensates instead of fresh water, the malodorous/hazardous volatile compounds and colored substances have to be removed by appropriate efficient methods. In the present work, the condensate from the evaporation of black liquor (BL) from a kraft mill was purified by a batch adsorptive process by means of commercial activated carbon (AC). The effluent was found to contain a wide range of aromatic and organosulfur volatile compounds, including toluene, ethylguaicol, syringaldehyde, dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), dimethyl trisulfide (DMTS), 2,3-dimethylthiophene, benzothiol and benzothiophene derivatives. Methanol was the major volatile organic component in the condensate (201 mg l−1), which was, however, poorly adsorbed on the AC surface. Aromatics and organosulfur contaminants were adsorbed almost completely in 2–5 min at 23°C under the optimized AC load (900 mg l−1). The treatment allowed the elimination of up to 99% of the obnoxious odor, color and turbidity of the condensate. The adsorption equilibrium followed the Langmuir model and the pseudo-second-order kinetics. The new process could be incorporated in the pulp mill with relatively low additional reagent costs.

Keywords: activated carbon; adsorption kinetics; aromatics; black liquor; evaporation condensate; organosulfur compounds

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge Guillaine Jaria, Sandra Magina and Cátia Mendes for their help in the CE and HPLC measurements.

  1. Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.

  2. Research funding: This work was developed within the scope of the project N-GENPULP POCI-01-0247-FEDER-011322 (ref. AAC n.º 16/SI/2015) financed by the Incentive System for Research and Technological Development – Compete2020 and co-financed by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement. The financial support of CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, through the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007679 (FCT Ref. UID/CTM/50011/2013), financed by national funds through the FCT/MEC and when appropriate co-financed by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement is greatly acknowledged.

  3. Employment or leadership: None declared.

  4. Honorarium: None declared.

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Supplementary Material

The online version of this article offers supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/hf-2018-0125).

Received: 2018-06-01
Accepted: 2018-12-06
Published Online: 2019-01-17
Published in Print: 2019-06-26

©2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Original Articles
  3. Phylogenetic analysis of Aquilaria Lam. (Thymelaeaceae) based on DNA barcoding
  4. The complete plastome of real yellow wood (Podocarpus latifolius): gene organization and comparison with related species
  5. Calibration of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) data of three Eucalyptus species with extractive contents determined by ASE extraction for rapid identification of species and high extractive contents
  6. Formation of heartwood, chemical composition of extractives and natural durability of plantation-grown teak wood from Mexico
  7. Investigations on densified beech wood for application as a swelling dowel in timber joints
  8. Variation of the contents of biphenyl structures in lignins among wood species
  9. Activation of glucose with Fenton’s reagent: chemical structures of activated products and their reaction efficacy toward cellulosic material
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https://doi.org/10.1515/hf-2018-0125
Keywords for this article
activated carbon; adsorption kinetics; aromatics; black liquor; evaporation condensate; organosulfur compounds

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Original Articles
  3. Phylogenetic analysis of Aquilaria Lam. (Thymelaeaceae) based on DNA barcoding
  4. The complete plastome of real yellow wood (Podocarpus latifolius): gene organization and comparison with related species
  5. Calibration of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) data of three Eucalyptus species with extractive contents determined by ASE extraction for rapid identification of species and high extractive contents
  6. Formation of heartwood, chemical composition of extractives and natural durability of plantation-grown teak wood from Mexico
  7. Investigations on densified beech wood for application as a swelling dowel in timber joints
  8. Variation of the contents of biphenyl structures in lignins among wood species
  9. Activation of glucose with Fenton’s reagent: chemical structures of activated products and their reaction efficacy toward cellulosic material
  10. Purification of pulp mill condensates by an adsorptive process on activated carbon
  11. Preparation of mineral bound particleboards with improved fire retardant and smoke suppression properties based on a mix of inorganic adhesive
  12. Influence of silane/MaPE dual coupling agents on the rheological and mechanical properties of sawdust/rubber/HDPE composites
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