Pulp & Paper

Challenges

From forest management to stricter discharge standards, this industry is one of the most directly concerned by the environment, particularly due to its high water consumption levels. Continuous reduction of water withdrawals and impacts of discharge into the environment are key issues for existing paper mills. They are also decisive factors for obtaining permits for capacity extension and new paper mills.

Drawing on 40 years of experience in Pulp and Paper, as well as a network of subsidiaries operating in 57 countries, Veolia Water provides paper manufacturers with a selection of technological solutions covering the entire range of requirements inherent to the water cycle: production of utility water and process water, evaporation concentration of black liquor and chloride and potassium removal through crystallization, wastewater and sludge treatment downstream of the production unit. Veolia Water has installed over 1,000 water treatment facilities throughout the world in the pulp and paper sector.

Veolia Water also provides its pulp and paper clients with water treatment operation and maintenance services, with guaranteed availability of their facilities and high quality of treated water at both supply and discharge points. A partnership with Veolia Water is synonymous with:

• optimized treatment efficiency and operating costs;
• continuous compliance with environmental standards;
• high health and safety standards, facilities security.

16 Pulp and Paper manufacturers, located in Europe, North America and South Africa, have already chosen Veolia Water to handle their water treatment facilities.

Boiler feed water and process water

Boiler feed water production must not be interrupted because continuous steam supply is vital to the paper-making process.

Veolia Water provides a range of reliable, high-performance solutions for the production of demineralized water which meets the required quality standards for the type of boiler in use. In addition, Veolia Water also offers after-sales and maintenance services, aimed at optimizing the continuous operation of these facilities.

Boiler feed water requirements are closely associated with production conditions. Changes in the rate of production can therefore prove existing facilities to be inadequate. To manage these temporary variations in required volumes or quality, Veolia Water proposes Genesys ®, a service based on the leasing and operation of modular units. These solutions can be mobilized in just a few weeks, and guarantee that required volumes and quality will be produced 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

In the event of a sudden failure in a client's existing facilities, Veolia Water also provides emergency solutions. The emergency treatment units can be mobilized and demobilized in a matter of days.

Process water quality is a critical factor in the pulp and paper industry. Quality specifications are often linked to the level of brightness required for the paper produced. Veolia Water's patented Actiflo™ technology (production of process water through accelerated settling) offers an ideal solution to this problem by controlling the effects caused by turbidity, iron, aluminum and manganese contained in raw water on the paper quality.

Wastewater treatment

Wastewater from paper mills has to meet very strict standards aimed at reducing its impact on the environment (e.g. IPPC EC 96/61 in Europe). These standards target BOD5, COD, nitrogen and phosphorus content in particular.

Furthermore, the production of certain types of paper creates wastewater containing coatings and pigments, which require specific treatment processes.

As an expert in this field, Veolia Water develops innovative treatment files, combining physical-chemical and biological (aerobic or anaerobic) technologies, biological filters and also biological technologies that treat wastewater and reduce the quantity of sludge and filamentous bacteria (MBP process: Minimum Biosludge Production).

Through its operation and maintenance contracts, Veolia Water guarantees the reliability and performance levels of its clients' water treatment plants.

Sludge reduction

The pulp and paper industry produces large sludge volumes, containing high quantities of fibers, which have to be dewatered before they can be recycled. Through its subsidiary, Aquaflow, Veolia Water offers a wide variety of sludge dewatering solutions developed specifically for pulp and paper mills, such as screw presses, gravity tables and double-belt presses.

Veolia Water and its subsidiaries also provide their clients with comprehensive operation and maintenance solutions for their sludge dewatering plants, with the aim of controlling the qualitative and quantitative variations of sludge, or recovering it through land application, composting, incineration or co-incineration.

Recycling by-products (black liquor treatment) and water

Veolia Water develops technologies that allow its clients to significantly reduce their consumption of water and raw materials (fibers and filler). Veolia Water's subsidiary, Aquaflow, offers in particular a DAF™system designed specifically for pulp and paper mills. This system separates the fibers from wastewater so it can be recycled. Membranes are also used in the treatment and recycling of wastewater from the paper manufacturing process.

Veolia Water's subsidiary, HPD, with over 30 years experience in evaporation and concentration solutions, has designed a special system for treating black liquor from the wood digestion process. The first falling film evaporation system designed to treat these products, which was developed in 1985, constituted a major development for the pulp and paper industry. Today, most multi-effect black liquor evaporation systems use this falling film technology.HPD also specializes in condensate recovery and treatment (stripping).

Reducing costs and environmental impacts

Veolia Water is committed to supporting the energy efficiency measures undertaken by many paper manufacturers today. Those include reducing the quantities of energy consumed in the paper-making process, but also by peripheral facilities, such as water treatment plants.

Veolia Water is committed to optimizing the energy balances of its paper producing clients via the reduction of electricity consumption and the energy recovery of biogas from anaerobic units. Today, this activity is very much encouraged in the European drive to support renewable energies and offer subsidies for "green electricity".