VISCOSITY CHANGES IN BLACK LIQUOR WHEN BLEACH PLANT FILTRATES ARE ADDED Lars Ledung, Per Ulmgren Swedish

Pulp and Paper Research Institute (STFI) Box 5604 S- 114 86 Stockholm Sweden

The viscosity of black liquor affects evaporation, pumping and droplet formation, that are important for the firing in the recovery furnace. In this paper, we present results from viscosity measurements on two different softwood black liquors, and black liquors mixed with: D- (chlorine dioxide), P- (peroxide) and Q-stage (chelating) bleach plant filtrates. The viscosity was measured at three temperatures, l00C, 115C and 130C. The dry solids content was varied in the range of 50 to 75% by weight. The viscosity of the black liquor was not significantly affected at a given dry solids content by the addition of P-stage filtrate but increased 2-3 times when Q-stage filtrate was added. The addition of D-filtrate also resulted in an increase in viscosity, but not to the same extent as the Q-filtrate. The filtrates were added to the black liquor either by a quick mixing by pouring the components together or by a dropwise and controlled mixing. The difference in viscosity following these two techniques was negligible. From chemical analysis and a multivariate data evaluation, it was concluded that the increase in viscosity when bleach plant filtrates were added was not a result of one single variable but rather a series of compositional changes, such as a higher concentration of inorganic ions, such as calcium and magnesium ions, which cause flocculation of the lignin in black liquors, a lower residual alkali content and a lower COD-value (Chemical Oxygen Demand).

INTRODUCTION Today, two major changes are being introduced into the chemical recovery area of a kraft pulp mill: recycling of bleach plant filtrates and firing of black liquor at a high dry solids content in the recovery boiler. Bleach plant filtrate recycling is one way to reduce the amount of pollutants going to the receiving waters from the bleach plant. However, this may lead to changes in some black liquor properties, such as the viscosity and the combustion properties. The effects on the combustion properties have been reported elsewhere [ 1]. Changes in black liquor viscosity affect both the heat transfer during evaporation and the capacity of pumps. An increase in viscosity increases the pump work and decreases the heat transfer coefficient; a tenfold increase in viscosity can, for example, reduce the evaporator capacity by a factor of 1.5 to 2 [2]. The viscosity also affects the droplet formation in the recovery boiler. Empie et al. [3] have reported that an increase in viscosity by a factor of 3 results in an increase of 17% in the median droplet diameter which corresponds to a droplet volume increase of 60%. Results of viscosity measurements on black liquors have been reported by Sderhjelm et al. [4, 5]. The effects of pulping conditions on viscosity have also been investigated by Zaman and Fricke [6]. However, to our knowledge, the effects of adding bleach plant filtrates on the black liquor viscosity have not previously been reported. In this paper, we report changes in the viscosity of a black liquor due to the addition of D- (chlorine dioxide), P- (peroxide) or Q-stage (chelating) bleach plant filtrates. The effects of metal ions on the viscosity were also studied by adding 2+ 2+ compounds of Ca2+ , Mg and Mn to the black liquor. Theoretical Background Most polymer solutions are non-Newtonian, i.e. the shear stress is not a linear function of the shear rate. However, most softwood black liquors are Newtonian or almost Newtonian, whereas hardwood liquors usually are nonNewtonian [5]. The non-Newtonian black liquors are pseudoplastic, i.e. the viscosity decreases with higher shear

1998 International Chemical Recovery Conference / 157