Contech proposes to solve the dilemmas of industrial sustainability by combining advanced treatment processes with chemical and mechanical intelligence
Regardless of the peculiarities of each segment or market niche, the fact is that there are many challenges facing the Pulp & Paper industry today. However, six of them, that are undoubtedly determining factors for value creation stand out.
1. Loss of machine efficiency over time;
2. Deficiency in quality attributes (e.g. paper holes);
3. High energy consumption (non-renewable sources);
4. Toxicity to human health (carcinogenic materials);
5. High water treatment costs (regulation);
6. Environmental impacts (waste disposal).
In order to face them, it is urgent that a set of innovative chemical and mechanical strategies be offered to the market, capable of effectively and synergistically tackling the issue of industrial sustainability.
Aiming at creating intelligent sustainable solutions for industrial processes, Contech turned to the development of technologies for the treatment of contaminants and the reuse of wastewater in the process, even though the company’s technological platform still includes solutions under development for the areas of process control and by-products derivatization.
ll technologies are protected by patents and are part of the so-called 3WAY® concept, which faces the problem of contamination (organic and inorganic) in the paper process in a “holistic” way, considering that one cannot act only on the “effect” (when the deposit is already formed, compromising productivity), but also on the “causes” that lead to the formation of such deposits.
In this sense, three combined technologies are used through a “hybrid system”, attacking both the “effect” through the machine parts treatment and system of clothing, as well as the “causes” when simultaneously treating mass (cellulosic pulp) and wastewater, enabling its reuse within the process itself.
The integrated action of this hybrid treatment system allows not only the effective control of contaminants in pulp and paper mills but also above all the greater closure of the water circuit by continuous purification, avoiding overloading the Effluent and Water
Treatment Plants (ETE / ETA) and unnecessary consumption of water drawn from rivers or from the public supply network. This is a highly desirable aspect due to the trend observed in recent years of water scarcity with the consequent increase in the cost of collection and treatment.
In addition, as the water circuit is closed more and more, deposit problems get worse due to the accumulation of process contaminants, such as pitch and stickies, originating from the natural resins of wood and recycled fiber, respectively. Therefore, in order to maintain the productivity levels and the paper quality, the dosage of chemical additives ends up being increased, thus increasing, even more, the contents of organic and inorganic solids.
That is the dilemma that Contech set out to solve with the 3WAY® concept in order to bring smart sustainable solutions to industrial processes. Discover the technologies that integrate advanced treatment processes with chemical and mechanical intelligence!
he recently introduced solution involves the combination of advanced treatment processes, performance of which is significantly superior to that of the “state of the technique”. Let us look at its main attributes.
Advanced Cleaning Process: it cleans contaminant deposits present on clothing (felts and wires) or other parts of machines (roll, suction boxes, etc.) using hermodynamic equipment that integrates water, steam, and biodegradable chemicals to produce an “active” cleaning solution with high detergency. This is a market-proven solution, with numerous case studies that attest productivity to average increases of around 3%*, gains in clothing life of more than 20%*, reductions of around 3%* in specific steam consumption, and the total elimination of machine stops.
Advanced Adsorption Process: allows achieving levels of fixation and “detackfication” never aimed at by first-generation products, removing a good part of the contaminants from the mass preparation circuit together with the fibers and without side effects. Disruptive innovation is configured with a mix of adsorbents involving an unprecedented synthetic microparticle for the control of pitch and stickies
(talc substitute), thermodynamic equipment capable of promoting homogenization and friction between the slurries, maximizing the exposure of the sites adsorption assets and also the joint action with polymers (organophilization in situ) enhancing efficiency. The graph below shows the fixation with up to 70%* efficiency, while similar programs did not exceed 20%*!
*The gains vary according to other unique characteristics of the process.
Advanced Reuse Processes: the focus is on the segregation of “complex waste streams”, avoiding disposal to STS, which ends up “spreading the problem”, increasing treatment costs. They normally correspond to volumes below 20 m3/h, being treated and reused within the process itself, such as the makeup of fresh industrial water in cases of closed water circuit regimes or even in more “noble” applications, such as DESMI water.
Those currents are mapped to determine the “recalcitrant” of organic pollutants and the level of inorganic ones. Thus, one or more advanced reuse processes are defined as membrane filtration (ultrafiltration followed by reverse osmosis), advanced oxidation and/or distillation. However, the “pre-treatment”, through the multi-oxidative fluid reactor, constitutes the main challenge overcame by this system.
Evidently, in order to achieve the ideal results in terms of contaminant control, it is necessary to combine the three advanced processes presented here in the same solution, attacking “effect” and “causes” at the same time. This is the smartest solution, with a “unique” proposition of value to tackle some of the main challenges in the pulp and paper industry.
Only when innovation and sustainability move together that we are able to lay the foundations for disruptive technologies to flourish. The “technological hybridization” strategy (3WAY®) is there to prove this idea.
