Method and apparatus for recovering wash water from pulp and paper mill effluent
AssigneeModell Environmental Corporation
InventorsMichael Modell, Edward G. Hauptmann, Stuart A. Gairns
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for recovering wash water from effluent generated by a pulp and paper mill. The method includes filtering at least a portion of the effluent to form a filtrate stream and an organic solids feed stream. The organic solids feed stream is exposed to a temperature and a pressure which are supercritical for water to cause a substantial portion of the organic component to oxidize and form a product stream that, when cooled, includes a gaseous component, an inorganic solids component, and a liquid wash water component. The wash water component is separated from the gaseous and inorganic solids components, thereby recovering wash water.
Claims20
A method for recovering wash water from effluent generated by a pulp and paper mill, comprising the steps of:
- a) filtering at least a portion of the effluent to form a filtrate stream and an organic solids feed stream;
- b) exposing the organic solids feed stream to a temperature and a pressure which are supercritical for water to cause a substantial portion of an organic solids component of said feed stream to oxidize and to form a product stream that, when cooled, includes a gaseous component, an inorganic solids component, and a liquid wash water component;
- and
- c) separating the wash water component from the gaseous and inorganic solids components, thereby recovering the wash water.
An apparatus for recovering wash water from effluent generated by a pulp and paper mill, comprising:
- a) filtration means for filtering at least a portion of the effluent to form a filtrate stream and an organic solids feed stream;
- b) a reactor for receiving the organic solids feed stream from the filtration means and for exposing the organic solids feed stream to a temperature and pressure which are supercritical for water, whereby a substantial portion of an organic solids component of said feed stream is oxidized to form a product stream that includes a gaseous component, an inorganic solids component, and a liquid wash water component;
- and
- c) separating means for separating the wash water component from the gaseous and inorganic solids components to thereby recover the wash water.
In a method for recovering wash water from effluent generated by a pulp and paper mill, said effluent being filtered by ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis to form an organic solids feed stream:
- the improvement comprising exposing the organic solids stream to a temperature and pressure which are supercritical for water, to cause a substantial portion of the organic solids to oxidize and form a product stream that, when cooled, includes a gaseous component, an inorganic component, and a liquid wash water component.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.