Stuart Scott and Gary Berndt welcomed all to the meetings

1.0 Environmental Impacts - Jeff Tolan

1. Current Mill Closure Research at Paprican - Jean Bouchard

• will arrange presentations at fall/98 meeting in Montreal

1. Cluster Rules – Nancy VanAllen (see Nancy for copy of 41 page summary)

• Regulation signed November 14/97, published April 15/98, becomes law June 15/97
• Effluent
• Three years to comply
• Best available technology (BAT) for new source includes ECF and Oxygen delignification, 90% BOD₅ removal
• Existing sources: AOX = 0.512 kg/Adt annual average
• some leniency if commit to "advanced technology"
• Best management practice (BMP) for spill recovery and risk management
• Emissions
• MACT (maximum achievable control technology) has three levels, applies to existing Kraft mill pulping vents as well as new
• must reduce hazardous air pollutants (HAPS) by 98% as methanol
• TCF bleaching systems exempted!
• Scrubber efficiency 99% reduction by weight, <10 ppm as chlorine
• Condensate collection and treatment to achieve 92% HAP removal/destruction
• Implications for Canadian Mills
• May influence our regulators?
• Border tax?
• Canadian pulp producers subject to same environmental criteria as US mills?

1. Environmental Projects of Environmental Committee (Murray Walters)

• Activated Sludge Volume Ratio Measurement and Control
• Effluent Treatment Odour Elimination
• Environmental Effects Monitoring
• COD discharges – worldwide survey and database of mill effluent levels
  

1. ISO 14000 Update

• Registered mills: EB Eddy, Avenor Thunder Bay, Crestbrook, Howe Sound

• Committed, but not yet registered: Mackenzie, Elk Falls, Crofton, AlPac, Harmac, Powell River, Kamloops, Cariboo, Celgar, Thurso
• Mills not planning on doing: none
  

1. World Effluent and Air Regulations – Current and Future (Cal Hastings)
   
2. Determine Discharges and Emissions Stage by Stage (Stan Heimburger, Jack Ayton, NancyVanAllen, Jeff Tolan)

• will get information from WCB etc. on the 575 or so compounds that WCB wants to set limits
• would like mill person to be involved
  

1. BC Zero AOX for 2002 (Doug Pryke)

• Draft Memorandum of Understanding on the table saying that if the BC industry commits to Pollution Prevention Plan, then annual average AOX would be 0.5 kg/Adt
  

1. Ontario AOX

• currently 0.8 kg/Adt, but zero is still the long term goal
  

1.9 Greenhouse Gases

• no knowledge of mills currently working on strategies

2.0 Teaching Bleaching - Rae Cunnington

1. Professional Development Committee

• Rae reported on the Committee. No minutes to distribute. Main focus is development of Tech ’99 courses.
  

2. Bleaching Course

• There were questions from Carmie Lato on the current Bleaching course. Are we happy with current format? Yes. The sub committee would like to receive the feedback from the course surveys to hear from the attendees what courses were successful and well received or otherwise. Rae will ask for this feedback. Also Rae to get the evaluation form for review. The committee felt a better definition of "sponsorship" by the Bleaching Committee should be agreed upon. Specifically, more influence on course content and speakers is desired.

• Nomination for course leader; Norm L, Doug P, Doug R, Barbara VanLierop.
• Gary Berndt, Tom Mullen , Don Olson, Paul Herar will assist in curriculum input/development
• Attendance has been high when sited at Whistler. The economy was felt to be the main reason for lower attendance at Nanaimo, with location being a secondary reason.
• While it is believed that a successful (well attended) course would result if it were held at Whistler, CPPA should canvas mills to determine if there will be sufficient attendance if the course were held in Montebello, Quebec.
• Bleaching Course - 4.5 day course will be put on in Sep/Oct, 1999 at Whistler
  

2. Pulp Washing Course

• Training short course on Pulp Washing at the Western Branch meeting in Nov/98 at Peace River – Dave Willis will be liaison with Ned Lorincz to provide input on the bleaching side

• Greg Rivett – DD Washer at Mackenzie
• Ralph Lunn – looking at installing DD Washer at Celgar
• New installations and upgrades of existing equipment, preferably from mills
• Dennis Matson, Rae Cunnington - How to measure washing efficiency, how to tell if you have problems
  

2. Process Closure and Minimum Effluent Course

• CPPA suggested this course for spring/99 – no interest in co-sponsoring, because:

• should be a sub session of an environmental course
• not an immediate need of industry
• there are TAPPI courses and symposiums available now
• we will ensure that topic is covered in the Bleaching Course
  

2.5 Suggested course – How to reduce effluent volume

• could tie in as a session in a conference, or at a future Bleaching Committee meeting
  

2.5 Future Bleaching Committee Technical Session topics:

• Stage by stage optimization – post results on our WEB site
• Fall/98 meeting will have a Do one hour topic

3.0 Bleaching Equipment – Murray Walters

3.1 Kappa Analyzer (Don McCabe)

• 28 surveys sent out, 24 mills replied, 17 mills have analyzers
• major benefits (in order of response)
• better cost control
• better information to operators
• cost/chemical savings
• major drawbacks
• calibration difficulty
• maintenance requirements
• repeatability
• two mills reported no difficulties
• full report will be presented at Fall/98 meeting
• copies of survey are available for those who have not yet completed it

3.2 Bleach Plant Scrubber Survey (Dennis Owen)

• 38 mills surveyed, 8 mills have no scrubbers, only 13 replies so far
• Use ClO₂ analyzer?
• Change of scrubbing liquor?
• Change of scrubber?
• Filtration?

3.3 Variability in the Fibreline (Gerry Pageau) (see Appendix)

• in 1996 we asked all mills in Canada to choose their best three consecutive days of operation and send in the logsheets, 21 mills responded with three mill areas, up to 100 variables on each sheet
• Coefficient of variation (CoV = standard deviation / average) is a unitless number that describes the variability
• 23 variables were defined as the key variables used by operators and the CoV was plotted. Mill variability control (CoV) varied from 2% to 10%. CoV tended to reduce through the mill.

3.4 Medium Consistency Pumping/Mixing Trends (Jim Menard)

• TSP life, MC mixing technology
• Scope not yet finalized

3.5 Mini-Oxygen Survey (Kris Holm)

• No scope yet

6. Consistency and Flow Measurement Trends (Ralph Lunn)

• Liaison with process control committee
• First installment in a series on different process sensors

4.0 Bleaching Protocol - Gary Berndt

• Dan Davies will be (again) presenting the Protocol at PacWest
• The French translation of the glossary and the protocol is now at CPPA for publishing
• The Engineering Data Sheet of the protocol is complete and has been distributed
• Looking at presenting the protocol in French at appropriate conferences, meetings, etc.
• Discussion with TAPPI occurred at San Francisco – TAPPI was interested in working together in future on protocol
• We will be putting together a list of organizations to send glossaries to – Jean Bouchard and Stuart Scott to get list for East and Murray Walters and Gerry Pageau to get list for West. Gary Berndt to purchase copies from CPPA
• Glen says that there is no obligation for this committee to update the Engineering Data Sheets, but if we are interested then we should. There are currently seven EDS that come under the auspices of this committee. The consensus of the group was to start a new project under the Bleaching Chemicals subcommittee to update the EDS. Dennis Owen volunteered to update the ClO₂ and chlorate EDS.

5.0 Annual Meeting - Chris Kanters, Jean Bouchard

5.1 Objectives

• To identify current and emerging technical topics in the area of pulp bleaching which are of interest to the industry
• To solicit technical papers/presenters in these key areas
• To evaluate technical papers submitted for presentation at the Annual Meeting
• To assemble and coordinate the bleaching committee sponsored sessions at the Annual Meeting

• Current Members: Stuart Scott, Jack Ayton, Chris Kanters, Dan Davies, Jean Bouchard, Rosanna Di Labio and Jim Collins

5.2 Annual Meeting Attendance

• Bleaching Committee Sponsored Three Sessions at 1998 Annual Meeting
• Chemical Pulp Bleaching - A Potpourri of Papers (Tues PM)

• Novel Developments in Mechanical Pulp Bleaching with Hydrogen Peroxide (Wed AM)
• Impact of Changes in Pulping & Bleaching Practives on Pulp Quality - Panel Discussion (Wed PM)
  

• So far there are no panel or specific sessions set-up for the next CPPA annual meeting.
• The tradition of giving gifts to the speakers will be continued

5.3 Howard Rapson Award

• After receiving agreement from the Rapson family, we will announce through CPPA that the Howard Rapson Award will be given every year for the best paper in the area of chemical pulp bleaching presented at the CPPA annual meeting.
• The sub-committee will prepare the rules and criteria that should be approved by the committee at the Fall meeting of 1998.

6. INTERNET - Chris Kanters

6.1 Objectives:

• To explore ways in which the Bleaching Committee can take advantage of the Internet as a communication tool
• To inform committee members of information, web sites, usegroups etc. on the subject of "Pulp Bleaching" available to them on the Internet
• Current Members: Jim Collins, Chris Kanters, Dan Davies, Dave Willis, Tony Gomersall, Doug Peeling

2. Current Web Site Capabilities

• Automatic e-mail capability to chairman, sub-committee chairs, web master will shortly be able to send e-mail to anyone on committee from web site

• Information on future Bleaching Committee meetings location, date etc.
• Electronic access to Minutes of Previous Bleaching Committee Meetings

• Objectives of various subcommittees (should we add key existing projects?)
• Upcoming conferences with technical papers on the subject of bleaching, location, date etc.
• Name, address, telephone, fax and e-mail for all members will be completed for Fall Meeting
• Hyperlinks to key industry sites

6.3 New Password – call Chris for the current password

7.0 Bleaching Chemicals – Chris Kanters

1. Bleaching Sequences vs. Pulp Strength

• Doug Reid summarized the second of three sets of papers on the subject – copies were distributed, and are available from Doug for those who did not attend the meeting
• a good panel discussion was held at the annual meeting

• Sekar will approach John Griffiths to determine the status of the last remaining part of this project

7.2 Safe Handling of Bleaching Chemicals – the Continuing Saga

• Sulphur Dioxide (Steve Paolone)
• Liquefied compressed gas, UN 1079, TDG 2.3 (immediate danger to health)
• Colourless, strong pungent odour, does not burn or explode
• Pressure increases as temperature increase, so store outside away from flammable material
• SO₂ vapour reacts with ammonia to form white vapour, so very useful to detect leaks
• Soluble in water, solubility reduces as temperature of water increases, forms sulphurous acid
• Health Risk – forms sulphurous acid in moisture, so need to avoid contact with eyes and skin, forms acid in lungs
• Equipment Risk – 500 ppm is very corrosive, so dry air (or dry nitrogen padding) must be used to pad storage tanks (dew point –40⁰C)
• Rail cars constructed of mild steel inner tank, 225 psig pressure relief valves
• Trucks are stainless steel, unlined, 125 psig pressure relief valves
• No longer use cam-lock fittings for off loading due to industry standardization to threaded fittings
• Mills are changing away from on-site storage tanks to using rail cars as the storage because rail cars can be capped if there is a failure
• Piping – mild steel for very low moisture, but SS preferred for unloading
• Do not overfill – maximum 85% to allow for temperature expansion
• Ensure safety relief valve cannot be isolated
• First aid treatment – WATER
• Plant safety issues – monitor wind direction, NDTesting, unloading hoses checked, safety showers close, operator checklist
• Spill response – contain spill with a dike, knock down vapour cloud with water, neutralize with lime rock
• Chlorine dioxide – fall 1998
• chlorate – spring 1999
• oxygen – fall 1999
• caustic – spring 2000

3. Engineering Data Sheets

• Dennis Owen volunteered to update the ClO2 and Chlorate Engineering Data Sheets (see Protocol minutes).

3. Acidification of Brownstock Prior to Do Bleaching (Ralph Lunn)

• Sept 97 survey – some mills have still not responded (you know who you are!)
• Reviewed 1996 experience at Celgar
• Wide variety of opinions – some say ClO₂ savings, others say pitch deposition
• Lab trials
• bump tests showed Kajaani increased ClO₂ by 10 kg/Adt, but brightness increased. Found that acid affected the residual signal.
• Acid on or off for one week at a time – found no change in ClO₂ for same brightness
• 28 mills responded representing 36 bleach lines, data missing from 10 bleach lines
• Results:
• All that really matters is end pH (range 2-4)
• Whether you arrive there or not depends on ratio of ClO2 to Na2SO4, and whether Do filtrate is used for dilution (not diluted if Do is medium consistency)
• Sources of acidity in first stage are ClO2 and recycled filtrate
• Calculated the theoretical ratio of ClO2 to saltcake, then determined if acid was required, found that of the 8 mills requiring acid, 6 were using it
• Most mills used acid, 1 used CO2, 2 used SSQ
• Reasons mill gave for using acid:
• Bleaching 10
• Pitch 5
• Enzyme 3
• Washing 1
• Conclusion – bump tests are easy to do, so mills should consider turning the acid off and on to see if, in fact, they are getting any benefit

3. Safety Incidents

• Cariboo – acid storage sprung a leak because of a steam leak impinging on the tank, resulting in a localized temperature of 290⁰F on the tank
• GP, Port Hudson – operator fell into chlorate rail car at 185⁰F (temp too high, so lots of steam, difficult to see, knelt down, then toppled in). Recommendation is to put grid covers over hatches.
• Crestbrook – 93% sulphuric acid line failed due to hydrogen grooving – should measure the thickness at the top of the pipe since that’s where grooving occurs. Recommend always have acid flowing, butt welds only
• Thunder Bay – methanol injection nozzle in R10 failed – requires regular inspection

3. Alternatives to SO₂ For Anti-Chlors (Ross Anderson, Chris Kanters, Kris Holm) (see Appendix)

• 10 sulphur based chemicals that can be used as an anti-chlor
• relative costs per kg ClO₂
• sulphur dioxide $0.33
• peroxide $0.25
• bisulphite $0.62
• caustic $0.18 (but is reversible depending on pH)

• Cornwall is planning to convert from sulphur dioxide to peroxide as their anti-chlor

• Concerns about using peroxide
• Metallurgy – pH and corrosion
• Ion formation
• How do you test for peroxide?
• Verification of reaction?
• Over-application could affect machine felts
• Quality Impacts
• Final brightness equal for peroxide, so don’t believe SO₂ is doing any brightening
• pH higher for peroxide, but still below 7
• SO₂ could raise b* (yellowness)
• Residual peroxide reduces brightness reversion
• Environmental and Safety
• Large SO₂ spill in 1996, so want to eliminate hazardous chemical from site
• ISO 14000
• General health and safety
• Cost Benefits
• Theoretical 9.4:1 ratio of SO₂:H₂O₂, actually got 5.9:1, so some room for improvement
• SO₂ requires cold water, so more energy
• Higher pH lowers amount caustic required
• Lower maintenance
• Eliminate demurrage penalties

7.7 New Projects

• ECF Best Practices
• High Temp Peroxide (P_HT)
• Pulping vs. Oxygen Delignification