Objective
To reduce in a major way the process water requirements of and waste water generated by the paper and pulp industries.
The waters to be recycled are only lightly loaded with fibres and fillers, and in case of reclaimed paper with ink and dirty particles. At the present time, these waters are filtered with standard and filter systems, such as disk filters, which tend to clog and do not achieve the water quality necessary for recycling. The filtered water, therefore, is discarded as waste and treated, if at all, downstream in special sewage treatment plants. Because of the volumes involved (10 to 50 M3/min), frequently these are built specifically for the paper manufacturing plant.
The cross-flow membrane technology proposed solves the problems of end filters as proven in small scale preliminary tests in France and Germany. However, the permeate flux of today's membranes and modules is much too small for economically treating the huge volumes of waste waters of pulp and paper mills. The R&D proposed will be aimed at three innovations: membranes with optimized pore size, new type of multi-hole microfiltration tubes, and new type of modules with improved flow characteristics. Each of these innovations is expected to improve the flux at least by a factor of 2. Together they should improve the cost/performance ratio sufficiently for economic application in the paper and pulp industries.
The proposal combines the capabilities of 5 specialised organisations from 3 EC member countries. They have already reached preliminary agreement for the utilization of the technological results of the proposed project for the benefit of the environment throughout the EC, including other industries having very large fresh water requirements, such as the textile and food processing industries.
Fields of science
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
1970 CA Ijmuiden
Netherlands