Enhanced Press Dewatering and Energy Efficiency Through Enzymatic and Chemical Pretreatments, 23TAPPICon

In this paper, we report on the effect of a bio-chemo-mechanical pretreatment on press dewatering, aiming to address a critical issue linked with the future of the paper industry: achieving a significant reduction in energy-intensive drying operations to meet the Net Zero Emissions (NZE) by 2050. To that end, benchtop and pilot-scale experiments were conducted to reduce the amount of water of the paper web exiting the press section of a paper machine. Southern bleached softwood kraft (BSW) pulp was mechanically and biochemically pretreated under time and temperature-controlled conditions. The experiments showed that mild refining (~1,000 PFI revs), controlled enzymatic pretreatments (cellulase/xylanase cocktail, 11 FPU/mL, 1125 IU/mL, 45 °C, 30 min.), and addition of cationic strength aids significantly enhances the water removal during wet pressing (~3.0 wt.% absolute increase in solids) while increasing paper strength (20-60% increase). As a result, a potential reduction in the drying energy required during paper manufacture is estimated at close to 10%. This is significant since enzymatic pretreatments are used for the first time to enhance press dewatering and reduce energy consumption for papermaking.

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