Resources, Conservation and Recycling 30 (2000) 333–351

www.elsevier.com/locate/resconrec

The experience of waste minimization at a

nitrocellulose manufacturing plant
James I. Chang a,*, C.H. Chen b, George S.Y. Liu b
a
Department of Safety, Health and En6ironmental Engineering,
National Kaohsiung First Uni6ersity of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC
b
Taiwan Nitrocellulose Industrial Company Inc., Taoyuan, Taiwan, ROC

Received 27 August 1999; received in revised form 5 May 2000; accepted 15 May 2000

Abstract

This article describes how Taiwan nitrocellulose industrial company (TNC) applies the
structured methodology developed by the U.S. environmental protection agency (USEPA) to
reduce, recycle and recover the wastes generated at its Taoyuan plant. The company has
generated significantly less amounts of wastes, improved the competitiveness in the interna-
tional market and met more stringent environmental regulations since conducting the
minimization program in the late 1980s. The experience gained at the Taoyuan plant is being
applied to other plants in China and Philippines. © 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights
reserved.

Keywords: Waste minimization; Nitrocellulose; Manufacturing process; Waste acid recovery; Iso-
propanol recovery; Wastewater treatment

1. Introduction

Taiwan nitrocellulose industrial company (TNC), the largest nitrocellulose (NC)

manufacturer in Asia, and its affiliates now operate five NC plants located in
Taiwan, China, Philippines and Thailand, and produce over 24 000 metric tons of
NC product. The company started as a small family owned detergent distributor in
1950s and gradually transformed itself into a multinational corporation producing

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +886-7-6011000, ext. 2315; fax: + 886-7-5011061.

E-mail address: envjames@ccms.nkfust.edu.tw (J.I. Chang).

0921-3449/00/$ - see front matter © 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 9 2 1 - 3 4 4 9 ( 0 0 ) 0 0 0 7 0 - 7
334 J.I. Chang et al. / Resources, Conser6ation and Recycling 30 (2000) 333–351

a variety of chemicals and electronic products. To maintain an average annual

growth rate, over 20% in 40 years, is not an easy task. The company has overcome
many challenges such as harsh international competition, tight environmental
regulations, foreign product dumping, raw material shortage, and stretched its arms
into new areas such as electronics and construction since 1950s.
NC is a major ingredient of the propellants used in lacquers, ammunitions,
printing inks and decorative films. It not only maintains original colors of wooden
and bamboo furniture, athletic equipment, cosmetics, metallic and leather goods,
but adds brilliance to them. To produce NC, common cellulose materials such as
wood pulp and cotton linters are first nitrated in the mixture of nitric and sulfuric
acids to make crude NC. Then the crude NC goes through a series of treatments
such as boiling, digestion and dehydration. Though the manufacturing technology
is well established, the process is very dangerous and generates a variety of waste
streams such as waste acids, acidic wastewater containing NC and alcohol. NC
industry is very old and highly competitive. The international market is dominated
by a few chemical giants such as SNPE of France, ICI of UK, Hercules of USA
and German’s Wolff, an affiliate of Bayer. The annual world production capacity
is over 200 000 metric ton, but the demand is only 160 000 metric ton. Nearly every
plant in the world operates below its design capacity.
In the late 1980s, TNC faced two serious challenges not encountered previously
that threatened its existence. The first one was the oversupply of NC in the already
highly competitive world market, partially due to the introduction of the low-priced
products from Brazil and the former communist countries after the collapse of
Soviet Bloc. The second challenge was tight environmental regulations set by the
newly established environmental protection agency in Taiwan in 1987. To lower the
production cost and to be competitive internationally, TNC had to upgrade its
technology, increase its domestic capacity and sales to a more economic level, and
to improve productivity. To meet tight environmental regulations while expanding
its production capacity is a difficult task, because production expansion generates
more wastes and complicates the operation of the existing waste treatment facilities.
To TNC’s experience, the waste minimization is the most effective and beneficial
way to meet the challenge. Not only it reduces the amount of the process wastes,
saves the disposal cost, but meets the ever-tight environmental regulations also.
The purpose of this study is to describe briefly the waste minimization program
that TNC’s Taoyuan plant has taken since late 1980s. By conducting this program,
the company not only transforms itself into an environmentally sound corporation
and lowers the production cost by 20%, but also survives the harsh international
competition.

2. Manufacturing process

In 1846, Dr Friedrich Schonbein (Schonbein, 1846, 1847; Quinchon and Tran-

chant, 1989) discovered the nitration of cellulose incidentally at Basel. Since then,
many scientists had been nitrating various materials such as sawdust, paper and
 J.I. Chang et al. / Resources, Conser6ation and Recycling 30 (2000) 333–351 335

starch with concentrated nitric acid in very poor conditions (Quinchon and
Tranchant, 1989). In 1868, Abel found a way to stabilize it and several scientists
improved the preparation later (Quinchon and Tranchant, 1989). In the late 19th
century, the NC manufacturing process was well established, but the complex
mechanism of nitration process was elucidated a century after NC was discovered.
The NC manufacturing process consists of several steps of nitration, acid
removal and stabilization in which the raw materials of cotton linters or wood pulp
are converted into NC for civil or military uses. A generalized flow diagram of NC
manufacturing is shown in Fig. 1. The first and most important step is the nitration
in which cellulose reacts with mixed acids of nitric and sulfuric acids to become
crude NC:
H2SO4
[C6H7O2(OH)3]n +nHNO3 “ [C6H7O2(OH)3 − x]n + nxH2O
H 2O

Commercial NC products for civilian use that contain less than 12.6% of nitrogen
are not considered to be as explosive. In principle, to make 1 metric ton (dry basis)
of NC containing 12% nitrogen, 613 kg of a-cellulose and 541 kg of nitric acid are
required. In commercial production, a mixture of excess nitric and sulfuric acids is
used as the nitrating agent. The addition of sulfuric acid avoids the dissociation of
NC in concentrated nitric acid and modifies the speed of nitration. A small quantity
of sulfuric acid speeds up the reaction, but a larger quantity slows it down because
of the dilution of the nitrating agent and the increase in the viscosity of the reaction
mixture (Lunge and Bebie, 1901). In practice, the choice of a proper ratio of nitric
acid to sulfuric acid depends on the speed of equilibrium for a given content of
nitrogen.

Fig. 1. Flow diagram of commercial NC production process.

336 J.I. Chang et al. / Resources, Conser6ation and Recycling 30 (2000) 333–351

After the nitration process is complete, the acidic solution is centrifuged and
recycled. The crude NC is then rinsed with cold water in a dipping tank. Even such
a rinse is continued until neutral, the NC obtained is not stable if the nitration is
carried out in the presence of sulfuric acid because the presence of acids in the fiber
will catalyze the decomposition (Quinchon and Tranchant, 1989). To avoid decom-
position, crude NC has to go through the boiling and the digestion steps for
stabilization. The stabilized NC slurry is then washed with water and dehydrated
with alcohol such as ethanol, isopropanol (IPA), n-butanol. The final NC product
for commercial application containing less than 12.6% of nitrogen is impregnated
with 30% alcohol.

3. Waste minimization assessment

Before an effective waste minimization program is developed, management

commitment is required. Since the establishment of the company, TNC
management has supported the projects that improve the productivity, increase the
capacity and meet the environmental regulations. Thus, any waste minimization
project has no problem to be approved by the upper management. In the late
1980s, a task force consisting of engineers and production managers from both
the development division and the plant led by vice president of the de-
velopment division was formed. The task force conducted a waste assessment
process using the methodology developed by the U.S. environmental
protection agency (USEPA). As presented in Fig. 2 pictorially, the waste assessment
process contains three basic steps, (1) assessment preparation; (2) assess-
ment; (3) feasibility analysis. This process has been covered in detail elsewhere
(Drabkin, 1988; USEPA, 1988) and only an overview with specifics will be given
here.
In the assessment preparation step, the task force first identified the waste
streams, which had the minimization or recovery potentials and developed the
characteristics and preliminary mass balance for each waste stream. Those data
provided the basis on which the team was able to track over time, to identify the
trends of waste generation in the future, and to measure the performance after the
waste minimization projects were implemented. In addition to the mass flow data of
the waste streams, the process conditions, the on-site and off-site disposal costs, the
raw materials and the production information, current regulations and future
trends were also collected for reference and reviewed. The task force also studied
how other NC producers solved similar problems and learned from their past
experience.
In the assessment step, the following tasks were carried:

“ site inspection;
“ generating options to minimize waste generation such as adjusting operating
conditions, replacing raw materials, improving operating procedures and mate-
rial handling;
 J.I. Chang et al. / Resources, Conser6ation and Recycling 30 (2000) 333–351 337

Fig. 2. The waste minimization assessment procedure (Drabkin, 1988; USEPA, 1988).

“ generating options to recycle or recover waste streams on-site to save off-site

disposal cost;
“ selecting options for feasibility study.
338 J.I. Chang et al. / Resources, Conser6ation and Recycling 30 (2000) 333–351

Fig. 3 illustrates the options that the task force generated and screened. The
improvement in administrative and operating procedures could be carried out
immediately by the plant personnel. Those that required significant amount of
investment, equipment or process modification were subject to further study.
The screened waste minimization options then underwent a more detailed
feasibility analysis. Like that carried out for any new project, the feasibility analysis
for the waste minimization options also involves the following:
“ technical evaluation to determine if the option is workable and technology
available;
“ economic evaluation using the standard measures of profitability;
“ selecting options for implementation.

Unlike regular new project, the reduction of the environmental and safety
liabilities should be considered for waste minimization project. Sometimes, the
benefit of the risk reduction was hard to quantify and to be expressed in a dollar
figure for the cost-benefit comparison. The task force had to present its consider-
ation in detail to the upper management and let the upper management decided if
the project were funded. Fortunately, TNC’s board of directors was aware of the
importance of those risks and fully supported the recommendation of the task
force.
After the feasibility analysis was conducted, the task force made a list of selected
options for implementation. The implementation process was similar to any other

Fig. 3. Waste minimization options.

 J.I. Chang et al. / Resources, Conser6ation and Recycling 30 (2000) 333–351 339

project that involved funding, scheduling, process design, equipment procurement,

installation, start-up, etc. The commitment of upper management to waste mini-
mization was critical at this stage, since there were many projects subject to funding
at the same time. In case the management lost the enthusiasm, a waste minimiza-
tion project could be delayed indefinitely or dropped eventually. Once a project was
implemented, the evaluation of the performance should be carried out. The result
of the evaluation process will help the task force to find out if the project performed
were as expected. If not, further modification was needed or the project was
considered to be a failure and abandoned.
Though the replacement of cotton linters with wood pulp as the feedstock
reduced waste acids generated in NC production significantly, the decision was
mainly based on other considerations such as raw material cost saving by 30% and
yield improvement. It was not considered to be as a waste minimization project.
The use of wood pulp as the feedstock had an advantage previously overlooked.
Due to three-fold increase of the yield per reactor, TNC was able to boost the
production from 2000 to 6000 metric tons per year with minor process modification
at the Taoyuan plant and to consolidate all the three domestic production sites to
one at Taoyuan later. The consolidation not only saved the production and
management expenses, but further reduced the wastes generated.

4. Waste minimization projects

Table 1 lists the options selected for implementation, their cost and savings. The
implementation took almost 10 years to complete at the cost of 8 million dollars.
The accumulated benefit is roughly 4 million dollars per year. Based on the annual
production of 10 000 metric tons in 1999, the unit production cost reduction is 400
dollars. This figure does not include raw material and management cost savings due
to the switch from cotton linters to wood pulp as the feedstock. During the 10-year
period, the original plan was reviewed and modified several times, and a few
original members on the task force were replaced for various reasons, but the
minimization program went on as a continuous program. The task force not only
continues to look for new opportunities at the Taoyuan plant, but also helps to
establish similar programs at two production sites in China and one in the
Philippines.
Three major projects, acid re-concentration, IPA rectification and wastewater
treatment, are briefly described in this study.

4.1. Acid re-concentration

As mentioned before, NC is produced in the excess acidic solution of nitric and

sulfuric acids. As shown in Fig. 4, to produce 1 metric ton of dry NC using wood
pulp as feedstock, 582 kg of mixed acids was sent to a offsite facility for recovery
at $129 and 1252 kg of mixed acids eventually went into wastewater treatment
facility. The neutralization of the mixed acids required 1739 kg of 45% caustic soda
 340
J.I. Chang et al. / Resources, Conser6ation and Recycling 30 (2000) 333–351
Table 1
Major waste minimization projects selected for implementation

Waste source Waste minimization option Waste reduction Annual savings Capital cost Payback period Year
(kg/ton of NC) ($1000) ($1000) (month) implemented

Acid gas Acid gas removal – – 200 – 1988

Mixed acids Acid re-concentration unit 1 1630 1801 4000 27 1989
Wastewater New wastewater treatment – 350 1400 48 1995
facility
Alcohol/water Pusher centrifuge for 200 75 250 40 1996
dehydration
Alcohol/water Isopropanol rectification 340 130 260 24 1996
(to 99%)
Alcohol/water Isopropanol concentration 1200 100 200 24 1998
(to 85%)
Mixed acids Acid re-concentration unit 2 1630 1600 1600 12 1998
Total 5208 4056 7910 23
 J.I. Chang et al. / Resources, Conser6ation and Recycling 30 (2000) 333–351 341

Fig. 4. Original acid balance diagram per 1000 kg of NC (dry basis) production.

at the cost of US $206. The overall acid disposal cost was $335 per dry metric ton
of NC produced. In other words, a plant producing 6000 metric tons per year of
NC product containing 70 wt.% of NC required $1 407 000 per year for acid
disposal. A better way of acid disposal was definitely needed.
After extensive study, the task force decided the following:

“ to use a pusher centrifuge to replace existing screw centrifuge for better acid
removal from the crude NC; and
“ to construct an acid re-concentration unit for onsite nitric and sulfuric acids
recovery.

Pusher centrifuge is a continuous filtration centrifuge equipment used extensively

in industries such as bulk and fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, mining and minerals,
and fiber materials to separate crystalline and cellular solids from free flowing
suspensions or from very thick slurries. It has several advantages over the screw
centrifuge used by TNC then such as low residue liquid content, high solid
throughput and yield, low energy consumption, reduced particle damage, and
uncomplicated rotor assembly. The solids are also rinsed with mother liquor by a
washing process ensuring maximum product purity.
Table 2 lists the comparison to the test results of the two types of centrifuges
based on 1 metric ton of dry NC produced. In the primary stage (filtrate 1), pusher
centrifuge recovers less acids than screw centrifuge, but the overall recovery (filtrate
1 plus filtrate 2) from the pusher is 13.7% higher, because screw centrifuge has no
counter-washing and secondary recovery (filtrate 2). The amount of acids carried by
the solid NC cake is also less by 1048 kg. Significant amounts of water in the
dipping and washing operations and caustic soda required for neutralization in the
wastewater treatment unit can be saved.
342 J.I. Chang et al. / Resources, Conser6ation and Recycling 30 (2000) 333–351

The technology to re-concentrate waste acids is well established. The basic acid
process consists of three major parts:

“ a nitric acid concentration/bleaching unit;

“ a two-stage sulfuric acid re-concentration unit;
“ a NOx absorption column.

The nitric acid concentration/bleaching unit is basically a process of extractive

distillation with sulfuric acid as dehydrating agent. As shown in Fig. 5, the spent
acid is preheated in feed heater (E201) before entering into the denitration column
(C201). Additional 85% sulfuric acid necessary for the separation is admitted at the
top of the column. The heat of reaction and the heat supplied by the column
reboiler (E202), cause nitric acid to evaporate. The nitric acid vapor leaving at the
top of the column is condensed in the condenser (E203) and subsequently bleached
in bleaching columns (C202.1/202.2) by air. The dissolved nitric oxides stripped by

Table 2
Comparison to the test results of the two types of centrifuges

Number Type Pusher centrifuge Screw centrifuge

Quantity (kg) Acid balance (%) Quantity (kg) Acid balance (%)

1 Total liquids in
Nitric acid 4434 100.0 4484 100.0
Sulfuric acid 3114 100.0 3038 100.0
Water 2688 1431
Subtotal 10 236 8953 100.0
2 Filtrate 1
Nitric acid 3100 69.9 3517 78.4
Sulfuric acid 2451 78.7 2596 85.5
Water 1178 1285
Subtotal 6729 73.5 7398 81.3
3 Filtrate 2
Nitric acid 981 22.1 0 0.0
Sulfuric acid 595 19.1 0 0.0
Water 735 0
Subtotal 2311 20.9 0 0.0
4 With solid cake
Nitric acid 122 2.8 664 14.8
Sulfuric acid 68 2.2 442 14.5
Water 775 146
Subtotal 965 2.5 1252 14.7
5 NOx vapors 231 5.2 303 6.8
6 Acid recoverya
Nitric acida 4081 92.0 3517 78.4
Sulfuric acida 3046 97.8 3038 85.5
Total acidsa 7127 94.4 7522 81.3

a
The sum of respective acid in row 1 (filtrate 1) and row 2 (filtrate 2).
 J.I. Chang et al. / Resources, Conser6ation and Recycling 30 (2000) 333–351 343

Fig. 5. Flow diagram of nitric acid concentration/bleaching unit.

the air are sent to the NOx absorption column and the condensed nitric acid at the
concentration of 98% is sent to storage for future reuse.
The sulfuric acid re-concentration unit first concentrates the 70%+ sulfuric acid
from the bottom of the nitric acid concentration column to 85% by flashing under
vacuum condition. A fraction of the 85% sulfuric acid recovered is recycled to the
nitric acid concentration column as dehydrating agent, and the rest is sent to a
packed bed column under vacuum where additional water is stripped off. The final
product is 96% sulfuric acid.
NOx gas from the nitric acid concentration unit is absorbed by process water in
the NOx absorption column to make 55–60% nitric acid. The effluent gas from the
top of the column containing less than 200 ppmv of nitric oxides is vented to
atmosphere.
There are several problems listed below needed to be solved:

“ effective removal of suspended NC fines;

“ material of construction to resist the correction of concentrated sulfuric acid at
high temperature in sulfuric acid re-concentration unit;
“ efficiency of the NOx absorber;
“ engineering quality, operability and safety associated with concentrated acid
handling.
344 J.I. Chang et al. / Resources, Conser6ation and Recycling 30 (2000) 333–351

The members of the task force studied the proposals provided by various vendors
in details and visited several plants in Europe recommended by vendors. They finally
selected a reputable German firm (vendor C in Table 3) which had proven records
to solve the above-mentioned problems associated with the project to design the unit
and provided the essential equipment. Table 3 lists the comparison to the past records
and technologies of three vendors. It is apparent that the selected firm does have the
cutting-edge technology over the other two firms.
The overall project was completed in 1989 at the cost of US $4 million. It included
the following:

“ a pusher centrifuge at a capacity of 800 kg solid throughput;

“ a 1 ton/h acid re-concentration unit consisting of all the three major parts
mentioned above;
“ utilities expansion such as cooling and chilling water systems, chiller, high pressure
boiler, electrical wirings, etc.;
“ storage tanks, pre-filtration equipment, building, etc.;
“ piping, instrumentation, and control equipment;
“ site preparation, labor and construction cost.

After start-up, following benefits based on 1 ton of dry NC were realized:

“ reduction in nitric acid (98%) purchasing from 1770 to 950 kg;
“ reduction in sulfuric acid (98%) purchasing from 640 to 143 kg;
“ reduction in 45% caustic soda usage from 1739 to 295 kg;
“ significant saving (roughly 30%) of water usage in dipping and washing
operations;
“ 45% return of invest (ROI).

The investment was recovered in 27 months. The new acid balances are shown in
Fig. 6.
Since 1994, the production of NC plant has increased gradually. To handle
additional waste acids generated by the projected 1998 production of 10 000 tons of
NC, the unit was first improved to handle 1.8 ton/h of acids in 1995, then a second
unit was built and started up in the fall of 1998. For the utilities were already
available, the second plant without the sulfuric acid column only needed 1.66-million
dollar. It was roughly equal to the annual offsite disposal cost based on the projected
1998 production of 10 000 tons of NC. The investment was recovered in a year.

4.2. Isopropanol rectification

The first IPA rectification unit was built in 1978 after ethanol was replaced with
IPA as dehydrating agent. The unit consists of a two-phase distillation column and
a three-phase azeotropic distillation unit. The two-phase distillation column first
concentrates the spent IPA liquid from the washing and dehydration operations to
85% and the three-phase unit purifies IPA to 99%+ . The three-phase unit used
benzene as the extractive solvent to form a ternary azeotrope with water and IPA
Table 3
Comparison to the technologies of major vendors

J.I. Chang et al. / Resources, Conser6ation and Recycling 30 (2000) 333–351

Number Item Vendor A Vendor B Vendor C

1 Nitric acid recovery

Technology Extractive distillation Extractive distillation Extractive distillation
c of Projects 42 Projects since 1963 28 Projects since 1963 53 Projects since 1949
installed
c of NC projects 2 6 38
Maximum 192 270 1300
capacity (ton per
day)
2 Sulfuric acid recovery
Technology Flashing and stripping under vacuum Flashing and stripping under vacuum Flashing and stripping under
(10 mmHg, 175°C); temperature may (70 mmHg, 230°C); temperature high vacuum (70 mm Hg, 230 C); temp.
not be high enough to decompose enough to decompose organics; high enough to decompose organics;
dissolved organic chemicals circulation by natural convection forced circulation, special pump
does not perform well occasionally required
c of Projects Four projects since 1976; one in Taiwan 14 Projects since 1970 93 Projects since 1952
installed
c of NC projects One NC project Nine NC projects
Maximum 312
capacity (ton per
day)
3 NOx absorption
Technology Absorption by water Absorption by water Absorption by water
c of Projects No record 38 Projects since 1947
installed
c of NC projects One NC plant
Maximum 150
capacity
(nM3/min)

345
 346
J.I. Chang et al. / Resources, Conser6ation and Recycling 30 (2000) 333–351
Table 3 (Continued)

Number Item Vendor A Vendor B Vendor C

4 Plant tours
Location One in UK and one in France One in Italy Two in Switzerland
Capacity (ton per 10 and 168 24 28 and 50
day)
NOx control NOx absorber of one plant designed by NOx absorber designed by plant Both designed by vendor; no yellow
vendor; yellow smoke found engineer; no yellow smoke smoke
Operator required One operator in each plant One operator in each plant One operator in each plant
Engineering quality Fair; acid leaking found Good; no leakage Good; no leakage
 J.I. Chang et al. / Resources, Conser6ation and Recycling 30 (2000) 333–351 347

Fig. 6. New acid balance diagram per 1000 kg of NC (dry basis) after pusher centrifuge and waste acids
recovery system are installed.

Fig. 7. Flow diagram of IPA rectification unit.

348 J.I. Chang et al. / Resources, Conser6ation and Recycling 30 (2000) 333–351

Table 4
Comparison between azeotropic distillation and membrane pervaporation processes

Number Item Azeotropic Membrane pervaporation

distillation

1 Technology Well-established Relatively new

2 Flexibility Low High; can take feed of different composition
3 Process design Custom design Modular
4 Plant operation One operator No operator required
required
5 Purity control Difficult Simple
6 Electricity Lower 150% Higher
7 Steam 280% Higher Lower
8 Total utilities 90% Higher Lower
cost
9 Extractive Cyclohexane None
solvent
10 Replacement Almost none Membrane
parts
11 Operating cost Equivalent Equivalent
12 Equipment cost Lower 30% Higher
13 Personnel None 15% of Project cost
training
14 Project cost Lower 65% Higher
15 Pollutants Volatile organics Very low

that has a higher ratio of water to IPA than the IPA-water binary azeotrope (Fig.
7). It was designed to recover 4 tons of 99%+ IPA daily and could only handle the
spent IPA liquid for a daily NC production of 20 tons (6000 tons per year). Though
the unit worked well for the first dozen years, it gradually deteriorated due to
corrosion. A new unit with larger capacity was needed to handle the additional
amount of IPA-rich liquid due to rise in production from 6000 to 10 000 tons per
year.
The task force studied several options including membrane pervaporation.
Though membrane pervaporation had used extensively for alcohol purification
since 1990, and it had several advantages over traditional azeotropic distillation
such as higher flexibility, lower fuel cost, modular design, lower IPA loss and
volatile organic compounds (VOC) emission, the technology was relatively new and
the project cost was 65% higher (Table 4). The task force decided to use the
traditional process again, because the plant personnel were more comfortable than
the old technology.
The second unit has several advantages over the first unit:
“ cyclohexane used as the extractive solvent to replace benzene, a carcinogenic
agent;
“ stainless steel used for major equipment and piping;
“ equipment support sand-blasted and coated with acid and alkali resisting
epoxies;
 J.I. Chang et al. / Resources, Conser6ation and Recycling 30 (2000) 333–351 349

“ 250% increase in capacity.

The new rectification unit was completed in 1996 at the cost of $260 000. The
investment was recovered in 2 years.

4.3. New wastewater treatment plant

The wastewater treatment facility consisting of neutralization, precipitation and

limited aeration had worked well since early 1980s, but it would be unable to
handle additional amount of wastewater generated in production expansion and the
effluents would not meet the 1998 national effluent standards listed below:
“ COD less than 100 mg/l;
“ BOD less than 30 mg/l;
“ nitrate nitrogen less than 50 mg/l;
“ suspended solids less than 30 mg/l.

In 1993, TNC contracted Union Chemical Laboratories (UCL), Industrial Tech-

nology Research Institute (ITRI) to conduct an engineering study on facility
upgrading. Collaborating with TNC plant engineers, UCL engineers first evaluated
the operating modes of production units, water flow rates, patterns, timings, and
compositions of various wastewater streams, and then developed following strate-
gies to solve the problem:
“ developing and implementing a program to reduce, reuse and recycle wastewater;
“ developing a state-of-art process to treat the wastewater to meet the effluent
standards of 1998.

The water reduction and reuse program included the following:

“ adjustment of operating mode and rescheduling the washing timing to smooth
the flow rate to the treatment system;
“ collecting wastewater from batch operations in temporary containers to mini-
mize sudden release of large amount of wastewater to treatment;
“ reusing and recycling water.

After implementing the water reuse and reduction program, the plant was able to
reduce the water use of wastewater by more than 20%. This reduction also reduced
the capacity and the investment for a new treatment facility significantly.
Fig. 8 illustrates the process flow of the new wastewater treatment system. The
wastewater from different sources is first collected in different wastewater tanks.
Those containing solid fines such as those from various NC production steps in
general areas are filtered in a rotary filter. The filtrate then flows to the pH
adjustment unit where the pH value is adjusted to a value above 1.5. The water
from IPA rectification unit also flows to the pH adjustment unit. After the pH
adjustment, the wastewater flow to two parallel aerobatic fluidized bed reactors
(AFB) where the bacteria at anaerobic condition convert the nitrate and nitrite into
nitrogen gas in the presence of organic carbons such as methanol, IPA, etc.:
350 J.I. Chang et al. / Resources, Conser6ation and Recycling 30 (2000) 333–351

5 5
3 + (organic C) “ 0.5N2 + OH +
NO− −
CO2 + wH2O
x x
5 5
NO− 2 + (organic C) “ 0.5N2 + OH +
−
CO2 + zH2O
y y
The AFB reactors are able to convert the acidic wastewater at the pH value
between 1.8 and 2.05 into the weak alkali solution at pH between 7.04 and 8.78
without using any neutralization agent such as caustic soda or lime, and to remove
97% of nitrate nitrogen and 95% of COD. To further remove the residual nitrate
nitrogen and COD, a fixed film aerobic unit is used. The resident times of the
wastewater in the AFB reactors and the aerobic unit are 3 and 6 h, respectively.
After the major pollutants are removed, 10% poly-aluminum chloride [(AlCl3)n ]
help to precipitate the solids in the precipitator and polymer (anion exchangers) to
remove metal ions are added. The final effluent to the public sewer system has an
average nitrate nitrogen concentration of 7 mg/l and COD of 37 mg/l, far below
those required by the 1998 national effluent standards. The sludge from the
filtration unit is sent to offsite treatment facility for final disposal.
Table 5 lists the operating parameters and removal efficiencies of the new
wastewater system. The system was completed in 1995 at the cost of $1 400 000.
The investment was recovered in 4 years if only the saving of the 45% caustic soda
was considered.

Fig. 8. Flow diagram of new wastewater treatment facility.

 J.I. Chang et al. / Resources, Conser6ation and Recycling 30 (2000) 333–351 351

Table 5
Operating parameters and removal efficiencies of the new wastewater treatment facility

Item Wastewater inlet AFB reactors Aerobic contactor (oxidation)

pH range 1.80–2.05 7.04–8.78 7.58–8.57

Nitrate-N
Average (mg/l) 702 21 7
Range (mg/l) 580–755 1–68 1–31
Removal efficiency (%) – 97 67
COD
Average (mg/l) 1864 95 37
Range (mg/l) 1321–2095 59–204 30–52
Removal efficiency (%) – 95 61
Residence time (h) – 3 6
kg Nitrate-N/m 3 day
Average – 5.6 –
Range – 4.6–6.0 –

5. Conclusion

Using the structured methodology developed by USEPA, TNC has conducted a

successful waste minimization program at its production plant at Taoyuan, Taiwan,
since the late 1980s. The company has generated significantly fewer amounts of
wastes and improved its competitiveness in the international market while produc-
ing twice more NC since implementing the minimization program. The combined
benefit of five major projects reduced the unit production cost by $400/metric ton
of NC. This figure does not includes the material and the management savings due
to the feedstock switch from cotton linters to wood pulp. The effluents from the
plant also meet the stringent environmental regulations. The plant is now working
on ISO14000 certification process and expects to be certified in the coming year.
The experience gained at the Taoyuan plant is being applied to other plants in
China and Philippines. The preliminary results are promising.

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USEPA. The EPA manual for waste minimization opportunity assessments. EPA 1988;600/2-88/025.