VOC Emissions From the Swedish Pulp and Paper Industry, 1992 Environmental Conference Proceedings

An investigation, financed by the Swedish Forest Industry Water and Air Pollution Research Foundation (SSVL) as part of the Miljo 93 project, has been carried out in order to quantify tropospheric ozone formation resulting from volatile organic hydrocarbon (VOC) emissions from the Swedish pulp and paper industry. The study incorporated both VOC emission/speciation measurements (phase I) and model simulations predicting ozone formation (phase II).

VOC emissions were measured at five different pulp mills (three sulfate, one sulfite and one thermomechanical) and at each mill ca 20 potential sources, including wood chip piles, were studied. The quantities and concentrations of individual VOC compounds (chromatographic techniques) were determined. It is estimated that the Swedish pulp and paper industry accounts for an emission of ca 10,000 - 20,000 tons VOC per year, which corresponds to ca 3 % of the total Swedish anthropogenic emission.

On the basis of the VOC emission/speciation data obtained, the resulting photochemical production of ozone was examined using an atmospheric chemical kinetic model. Three case studies (one sulfate, one thermomechanical and one combined sulfate/thermomechanical) were chosen at localities experiencing different background emission sources. The results indicated that only minor contributions of ozone derive from the pulp mills (ca 0.5 - 4% of ozone background levels). In addition, the ozone formation was shown to be sensitive to atmospheric NO, levels while increases in VOC emissions (terpenes) from the pulp mills had no significant effect.