Environmental Aspects of Small Agro Residue Pulp Mills: Recovery and Treatment of Waste Liquors, 1997 Pulping Conference Proceedings

Small is beautiful. But in the case of small agro residue pulp mills (50 tpd) this dictum generally does not hold good. Though they contribute 36% of paper and board production in India, the single biggest technical problem which has so far eluded solution for small paper mills is the absence of a dependable, economically viable chemical recovery system.

The presence of significant amounts of silica and the highly viscous nature and lower heat value of black liquor make the choice of recovery system technically difficult. Small capacity further makes difficult the use of proven conventional recovery systems.

The stringent pollution control measures initiated by Government may force closure of small pulp mills if a solution is not found immediately.

This paper describes the present status of environmental aspects of small agro residue pulp mills with special reference to India and also the new emerging technologies in this area.