PAPTAC Bleaching Committee
1. Bleaching
Chemicals (Ross Anderson)
Oxidized White Liquor Use in the Bleach
Plant:
A
paper was presented at the 2002 PAPTAC Annual Conference, and the project is
now considered closed. The
sub-committee expressed concern that the project leader did not contact other
project volunteers to get input to the content of the paper. Corporate papers should not be presented
under the guise of a Bleaching Committee sponsored project.
Presentations on Safe Handling of
Bleaching Chemicals:
Presentation
on Chlorine Dioxide by Mark Minday, Eka Chemicals
Schedule
of upcoming presentations - Spring
2003 · Best Practices for
Chemical Unloading
Fall
2003 · O2/O3
Spring
2004 · White Liquor
(Hydrosulfite)
Safety Incidents:
Reminder that safety incidents should be
submitted to Dennis Owen, who will be
pleased
to sanitize them and ensure that the safety learnings are communicated
without site-sensitive information.
1.
ClO2 Spill: Membrane
drain valve on storage tank failed, allowing
tank to drain
into spill containment. Newly-installed
foam
system
activated, and was very effective in suppressing
vapour
release. Mill issue with keeping
employees away
from hazard
during shift change.
2. ClO2 Line Failure: ClO2 off-gas FRP line burned
from inside.
3. ClO2 Explosion: Explosion in ClO2 generator
resulted from chemical
feeds starting
without having water in absorption column.
System had been put on Manual, voiding safety interlocks. Generator tried to self-start several times,
with repeated explosions and atmospheric release.
4. H2S Fatalities: N.A. mill experienced 3 fatalities
resulting from H2S
generated from
acid addition to sewer.
5. Fire in Eop Washer: Fire, around the rim of an Eop washer, burned itself out
quickly. May have resulted from dry chlorate, which
was
ignited by a
spark generated by a mechanic working
nearby.
Successful cost reduction projects:
Laurier
Morissette presented the initial feedback on recent successful mill cost
reduction
projects. The input is being tabulated
by type of project, and provides
information on
justification, cost, benefits realized and issues overcome. The
project team
will solicit input on a continuing basis, since the data are additive to
the
information provided in the Opportunities Session.
(Team Leader:
Jim Collins, Members: Laurier Morissette, Tom Burton, Shane
Svendsen, Paul
Earl, Robert Jude, Lou Legall, Kent Ramsey)
Review of past Committee projects:
Dennis Owen is
assembling a list of completed Committee projects. The
purpose of the
list is to guide Committee members to valuable information, and to
help the
Sub-Committees identify opportunities for updating outdated information.
D)
New Projects
ECF Survey:
There
has been sufficient change since the last Best Bleaching Practices
Survey to
warrant a new ECF survey. Paul Earl asked Committee at large for
guidance on
defining the scope of the survey. The
survey will be prepared and
distributed
before the next Committee meeting.
(Team Leader: Paul Earl,
Members: Gery
Pageau, Doug Reid, Ted Tam, Jean Bouchard)
ClO2 Generator
Efficiency:
Lance Anderson will
define the scope of a project to characterize process
conditions
that optimize ClO2 generator efficiency. Tim Gilliss to work with Lance
in preparing
project.
Efficient Production of
Lower-Brightness Pulp:
Guy Normandeau to define
the scope and parameters for a project to provide
guidance for
the chemical efficient production of lower-brightness pulp grades.
2. Internet Sub-committee (Paul Earl)
Meeting attended by:
Laurier Morissette, Azim Shariff, Paul Earl
§
Use Bleaching
Committee Membership List web page (spreadsheet) to send private e-mail to any
other individual member(s)
§
Use
<[email protected]> to send a message or question to all committee members
§
<[email protected]>
is a list of e-mail addresses on the PAPTAC server
§
To reply to the
sender only, open the e-mail message and copy the senders e-mail address into
a new message
§
Senders can make it
easier to reply directly back to them:
Add line < mailto:my-email-address > to your message
e.g. Please reply directly to mailto:[email protected]
this provides a direct link back to you
§
New page with
summaries of e-mail Q+As & surveys
§
Incomplete!
§
Please summarize your
responses in a timely manner and send to group
§
If you have any old
(pre-Oct/01) summaries, please send to P. Earl
§
Question-askers are
encouraged to present results to the Committee at future meetings, along with
the results of their own mill decision and actions
§
Remember that Q+As
can also become sub-committee projects
New
password effective November 4, 2002
3. Annual Meeting (Jean Bouchard replacing
Dan Davies)
Members:
Mike Schofield, Jean Bouchard, Dave Willis,
Azim Shariff, Gerry Pageau, Murray Walters, Ralph Lunn
2003 Annual Meeting Plans/Preparations to
Date
Two Sessions:
Bleaching Pot-pourri (6
Papers)
·
Temperature and pH:
Important Variables for Deresination in Kraft Brownstock Washing
·
Preliminary Results on
Hydrogen Peroxide Addition to Chlorine Dioxide Bleaching Stages
·
Use of Xylanase in the
Production of Bleached, Unrefined Pulp at Tembec/Kruger's Marathon Mill
·
Advanced Control Schemes
·
A Chemical Reactor
Analysis of Industrial Oxygen Delignification
·
Bleach Plant Optimization
in a Multi-Species Fiberline
O2 Delignification Roundtable
Moderator - Richard Berry
Five Participant Mills:
Norske (Crofton), Alberta-Pacific, Domtar (Espanola), Tembec (SRF), Pope &
Talbot (Mackenzie)
Paper Judges:
2 mill
2 research
1 supplier
Morning session only
·
Howard Rapson award -
available only to full papers. Discussion of change in concept - all Canadian
Conference presentations to be eligible/considered. Participation to be focused on Canadian mills, but US (Europe)
not to be excluded if appropriate (ie: US Domtar mills).
Adopted
H. Rapson Award Survey Report
The H. Rapson Award - is
currently awarded for the best presentation on a Bleaching subject (in the
Bleaching sessions) at the Annual meeting in Montreal.
The Survey Questions:
Q1: Do you wish to see a change in the manner in which
the Rapson Award winner is selected?
Q2: Do you wish to limit Award eligibility to
"presented and judged" papers only (ie: major regional conferences
and the Annual), or should all papers published and/or presented, be eligible?
Total number of responses: 29
For Question 1: Current format only?
Total in favour of a Change in format: 19
Total in favour of No Change in format: 6
Undecided; either/or: 4
For Question 2: All papers or Presented/Judged only?
Total in favour of All papers: 5
Total in favour of Presented/Judged only: 22
Undecided; either/or: 2
Survey conclusions:
1 - the survey supports a change in the format of the H
Rapson Award criteria away from the current, exclusive Annual Meeting
presentation competition.
2 - the survey supports requiring that only presented
and judged papers be eligible for the Award.
Survey Comments - most common:
1 - the major Regional Conferences should be added to
the list of eligible presentation sites for the award. Most common Regional
Conferences mentioned - Joint Western, MidWest, Congrθs Francophone du Papier
2 - some effort should be made to normalise the
judging process.
3 - Regional Conference presentors/winners should be
encouraged to re-present at the ensuing Annual Meeting. Some profile should
be developed/maintained for the Annual Meeting.
4 - regardless of the number of sites used, the Award
should not be given if no presentations meet a minimum standard.
Sub-Committee Meeting Report/Recommendations
·
Presentation of Survey results -
discussion - eventual agreement with Survey conclusions
·
Discussions re: eligible Conferences,
judging standards and methods, presentation vs. content, time sequence
Sub-Committee Meeting Report/Recommendations
·
Eligible conferences to include:
PacWest and Francophonie at least. Consider Midwest and maybe Maritimes (note:
discussion in general group led to adoption of MidWest and Maritimes branch
meetings as eligible sites for the award)
·
Time sequence - Annual to begin cycle
with selected Regionals to follow in calendar year. Selection in Fall of year
with presentation at following Annual. Begin with Annual 2003
Sub-Committee Meeting Report/Recommendations
·
Judging to be standardised (form).
Committee member to be responsible for judging/selection of paper(s) at each
eligible conference. Bias (note: with discussion in the general group, Bias
was changed to strong consideration for presentation) to presentation (with
minimum technical standard to be met) at first round of selection process.
·
Second round of judging by
Sub-Committee at Fall meeting. All first round selections to be re-evaluated by
common panel with bias to content
/applicability. Formal paper (manuscript) required.
·
Input and concensus of full committee
- revise plan as required (done
see Notes above)
·
Inform PAPTAC of change in protocol.
Advise PAPTAC membership of new protocol (means of promoting Award and - -
Bleaching papers for upcoming conferences)
·
Review and revise judging form (prior
to Annual 2003)
·
Select judging co-ordinators for all
eligible conferences (ASAP)
·
Interface with Conference committees
of chosen Conferences
4. Environmental Impact (Dave Willis)
Attendees: 18. 11 mill, 6 supplier, 1 Paprican. Alain Bergeron, Gerry Pageau, Michel
Aucoin, Lance Anderson, Hua Jiang, Luc Thibault, Tim Gilliss, Kent Ramsey,
Caren Caffrey, Rob Jude, Ross Stacey, Chris Ho, Kari Rae, Ross Anderson, Neil
Aerts, Ralph MacDonald, Doug Reid, Ted Tam, Dave Thireault, Dave Willis
Marie Dumontier has
taken over for Ron Fujino as the Chair.
The meeting scheduled for Edmonton is likely to be cancelled. Last met a year ago. Biggest issue was what will happen with AOX
in BC. Do have surveys of COD, etc done
by a consultant. Ralph to pursue.
3) Luke Monk
-Interested in air scrubber regulatory issues and best
practices. Action: Discuss with Ray re.
include in scrubber survey. Also look
for impacts of other country regulations. Luke not present. Carryover to next meeting
New ideas were discussed related to
trends and issues;
Gerry P - Kyoto protocol How will
this impact the bleach plant? Although
more impact on the Power and Recovery side, there are emissions and energy
requirements that may impact bleaching.
Dave W to forward Ekono report for Heikki Mannisto on Kyoto impact on
P&P. Chris Ho and Doug Reid to
work on this with Gerry. Product will
be a report to the subcommittee, or to the larger group, by the next meeting.
Kent There are many requirements of customers now placed on pulp
suppliers. Examples are ISO 14000 and
Office Depot stipulation of no hypo.
Dave T Many surveys that dictate haw the mill is run, including
industrial hygiene, for example. Dave
agreed to gather these from other mill members to bring back to the Spring
meeting.
Tim Gillis will continue to keep
contact with Mike Robatialle, consultant to their mill with a broad knowledge
of International expectations concerning pulp sales.
8. Issue reminder about items, 1.5 months after Fall meeting. Dave W
5. Bleaching Protocol (Ralph Lunn)
6. Teaching Bleaching (Murray Walters
replacing Rae Cunnington)
Present: Laurier Morrisette, Alison Rowat, Dennis
Owen, Guy Normandeau, Erik Tremblay, Paul Earl, Brian Gartley, Azim Shariff,
Nancy Van Allen, Robert Montgomery, Alex Edwards, Gavin Baxter
1.
Bleaching Course
PAPTAC
is not planning to hold a bleaching course in 2002 or 2003 as they want to
ensure at least 20 participants. At the
last meeting several mills indicated their interest in holding the course in
late 2003 in Kamloops or Prince George.
Once
again this generated much discussion.
There does seem to be interest in holding a course in Prince George in
late 2003. The subcommittee decided
that an email poll of all members should be undertaken as soon as possible to
gauge "actual" support for such a course. If the support is there, the bleaching committee would approach
PAPTAC about changing their plans for 2003. It was noted that these courses
take a long time to organize, and the course leader was the most critical
arrangement to be made. It was also
generally agreed that we have to do a better job marketing the course to
committee member mills when a date is decided on. Another idea was to directly market the course to mill managers
via email. Lastly, the possibility of
customizing the course based on participants' interests was discussed. Given the advance notice required to arrange
speakers, and the tendency of most registrants to sign up later rather than
early, it was agreed that this is a worthwhile goal, but will be a difficult
one to achieve.
2.
Frequently Asked Question Database
The
new list of email Q and A's on the website will probably cover a lot of the
content that would be generated with
this project.
3.
Future Technical Sessions
Spring
2003 - Cost Saving Opportunities
Presentations
from the project of the same name will form the basis of this session. The group looking after that project in the
Bleaching Chemicals Subcommittee will organize the session. (Jim Collins/Laurier Morrisette)
Fall
2003 - Future Environmental Trends and Issues or Bleach Plant Control
4.
Chlorine Dioxide Generator Users Group Meeting
At
the last subcommittee meeting it was decided that the bleaching committee would
not participate in such a meeting unless both Sterling and Eka were
participating. Sterling and Eka have been canvassed about organizing some sort
of session, but nothing has come back to the committee from them to date.
5.
Other Discussion
Should
we consider delivering the bleaching course by video conference similar to
TAPPI's Virtual Seminars? Positive and
negative comments from the group, with no-one coming forward with any positive
suggestions or recommendations.
Suggestion was tabled until the next meeting.
7. Bleaching Equipment (Murray Walters)
Present:
Dennis Owen, Guy Normandeau, Erik Tremblay, Brian Gartley, Robert Montgomery,
Alex Edwards, Irene Yaraskavitch, Lance Anderson, Dave Thireault, Ralph
MacDonald, Ross Stacey, Caren Caffrey, Kari Rae, Tim Gilliss, Michel Aucoin,
Erik Tremblay, Bob MacLeod, Jim Hopmans, Luc Thibault, Gord Homer, Dave willis,
Ted Tam, Alain Bergeron, Doug Reid, Neil Aerts, Gerry Pageau, Gordon Matson
1.
Chlorine Dioxide Storage Tank Containment, Spill Mitigation,
and Risk Asssessment Survey -
Murray Walters
Coded
results from the 12 mills that responded to the survey were emailed to members
in early October. The results suggest
that there is not yet a "standard practice" for dealing with ClO2
storage tank leaks and failure, though recent experience at HSPP suggests that
a dyke and foam vapour suppression system is one workable solution. This project is considered complete.
2.
Kappa Analyzers -
Gerry Pageau, Guy Normandeau.
Brian Gartley
Stan
Heimburger had prepared a questionnaire with input from Rae Cunnington. Since Stan has been hard to track down in
the last year, the chair solicited volunteers to take over this project, and they
have been listed above. Murray Walters
will get hold of the work done so far and forward it to the new project
team. The intent of this survey is to
expose how kappa analyzer results are used in mills, and is the last facet of
this project.
3.
Extraction Stage pH Control - Doug Reid, Michel Aucoin, Laurier Morrisette
The
goal of this project is to characterize the pH of various mill's extraction
stage filtrate. Samples are currently
being solicited.
4.
Bleach Plant Energy Benchmarking - Dave Thireault
Information
regarding this topic will be pulled from the current bleaching survey. Desired
info includes bleach plant steam demand, filtrate recycle scheme, fresh water
use, and fresh water temperature.
5.
Update Bleach Plant Scrubber Survey - Rae Cunnington
Kari
Rae and Guy Normandeau made presentations on the modifications to their
scrubbers at this meeting. The updated
survey will be completed and sent out.
Dennis Owen will help Rae Cunnington get this done.
6.
Bleach Plant Mixers - Don McCabe
As
Don has left us for a career in hot liquor, and the project had not really been
kicked off, this project was dropped.
7.
Listing Past Sub-Committee Assignments - Dennis
Owen
Dennis
has completed this listing back to the early 1990's. Anyone with minutes from earlier meetings should contact Dennis
so he can compile project data from them.
The list will be converted to an easy to read format and posted on the
web site.
8.
New Projects
·
Bleach Plant
Corrosion
Ted
Tam volunteered to arrange a speaker to talk on general bleach plant corrosion
issues at a future meeting.
Ralph
Lunn volunteered to summarize his findings on suitable piping materials for
sodium chlorate at a future meeting
·
Chlorine
Dioxide Generator Equipment
Tim
Gilliss volunteered to review the last survey of this type done by Dennis Owen
et al some years ago. If there is more
up to date material required a new survey will be initiated. The Bleaching Chemicals sub-committee is
currently organizing a survey on ClO2 generator chemical efficiency, so we have
to make sure there is no duplication.
9.
Other Business
Michel
Aucoin will take over as chair of this sub-committee as Murray takes on the
Western Vice-Chair role.