CHARACTERIZATION OF EFFLUENTS FROM AGRO-RESIDUES BASED SMALL PULP AND PAPER MILL

Abstract

Wastewater characterization is the grassroots of process design and selection in a waste management system. Characterization studies provide information on flow variation, waste loading fluctuations and treatment efficiency and flexibility. For installation of a treatment facility, the designer essentially rely on emperical values identified / obtained from the plant practice. The small pulp and paper mills using agricultural residues form a large proportion of the paper making capacity. These mills do not have any chemical recovery system and as a result large quantities of black liquor are discharged into the drains along with other effluents. These eventually lead to either internal water bodies or for land irrigation, causing enormous amount of environmental impact. Chapter - I gives a review of the state of the Indian paper industry, from this angle. In order to analyse the amount of pollution loads, created by agro-residues based small pulp and paper mills, a mill in the nearby area was selected, which produces unbleached kraft paper from primarily agricultural residues with small quantities of secondary fibres. The Second Chapter discusses the mill configuration with its operating parameters.