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Mitigation of global warming, energy security and industrial competitiveness urge the energy-intensive pulp and paper industry (PPI) to transform energy use practices. This study investigates how the PPI has responded to the need for the energy transition in the 2000s. Finland and Sweden as forerunners of energy-efficient operation and decarbonization of the PPI are used as target countries. Understanding of changes in energy consumption is complemented using decomposition analysis (Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index Method) and the energy efficiency index approach. Analysis of companies’ investments in energy technologies is used for explaining changes in energy production. Evidence of significant development towards the more sustainable operation of the PPI was found. Energy consumption per produced unit has decreased, i.e., energy efficiency has improved. Fossil fuels have been partially replaced with bio-based alternatives. Thus, the CO2 intensity has decreased substantially. The generation of renewable electricity has increased in both countries. Examples of Finland and Sweden indicate that the PPI has great potential to contribute to CO2 emission reduction worldwide in the future as energy efficiency can be further improved, and the share of fossil fuels can be decreased increasing the use of biofuels and self-generated green electricity at least in kraft pulp mills.

With the increased awareness of reusing solid wastes for higher sustainability and the concern of water pollution associated with phosphorus over-emission, there are strong interests in developing solid waste based adsorbents for purifying phosphorus-containing wastewater. As a rich calcium resource, paper mill sludge (i.e., a major solid waste from pulping industry) can be used as phosphorus removal adsorbent after calcination. Thus, in this work, a simple and clean thermally treating route has been proposed for preparing calcium-containing biochar from paper mill sludge. The effect of the physicochemical properties of paper mill sludge and its carbonization condition on phosphorus adsorption has been analyzed. Moreover, the influence of some key adsorption parameters, e.g., biochar dosage, initial pH of solution, co-existing anions, initial phosphorus concentration and contact time has also been investigated. The results showed that the phosphorus adsorption data could be fitted well with pseudo-second-order kinetic and Langmuir isothermal models. The calculated maximum adsorption capacity of the as-prepared optimal calcium-containing biochar could reach to 68.49 mg·g−1 at 25 °C. Combined with the characterization results, it can be reasonably inferred that the adsorption process was chemisorption-dominated. Lastly, the application of this spent adsorbent in agriculture field has also been discussed. In brief, this work provided a feasible strategy for converting paper mill solid waste to an environmental functional material (i.e., calcium-rich biochar) for remediation of eutrophic water.

This study optimizes a novel surfactant-assisted green liquor dregs (GLD) pretreatment of paper mill sludge (PMS), both of which are wastes from the kraft pulping industry, using a combined Response Surface Methodology (RSM) design. Optimized conditions give a maximal reducing sugar release of 16.38 g/L. A substantial reduction in heavy metals aluminum, chromium, cobalt, arsenic, lead, and copper after pretreatment illustrates the enhancement of substrate digestibility by reducing toxic elements. Separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) for hydrogen production are assessed. SSF produced a hydrogen yield of 3.72 mL/g, displaying a 36.26% increase from pretreated PMS compared to SHF. These findings provide insights into possible methods of reducing process duration, energy input, and costs incurred with waste disposal within the paper industry. Furthermore, improved hydrogen yield using an SSF process demonstrates the potential beneficiation of pulp and paper GLD and PMS wastes.

Cellulose triacetate (CTA) forward osmosis (FO) membrane from Hydration Technology Innovation (HTI), USA was tested in a locally fabricated FO system to concentrate synthetic and pulp and paper mill wastewater. The industry is among the 17 most polluted industries with intensive water consumption and wastewater generation (MoEFCC, Government of India). The CTA membrane was studied with deionized water as feed solution and 1 M NaCl as draw solution, which resulted into water flux of 5.8 L/m2h and reverse salt flux of 0.2 g/L. A concentration stepping method was used to determine the critical draw concentration with lignin solution as the model feed. There was no deviation in flux between the baseline (deionized water feed) and the lignin solution up to 1.5 M NaCl, but a marginal deviation (8% and 21% respectively at 2 M and 3 M) was seen thereafter. The average water flux after 24 h FO study with synthetic wastewater as feed solution (draw solution 2 M NaCl) was 8 L/m2h, and 80% water recovery. Similar study with pulp and paper wastewater as feed solution (draw solution of 1.5 M NaCl) was 5.4 L/m2h was with 62% water recovery. Lignin and COD rejection in pulp and paper mill wastewater was 90% and 64% respectively. The preliminary results indicate that FO is promising for water and lignin recovery from waste streams.

Paper and pulp mills generate substantial quantities of cellulose-rich sludge materials that are disposed in landfills at a large scale. For sustainability purposes, sludge materials can be bioprocessed to produce renewable fuels and useful chemicals. The enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose is the process bottleneck that affects the conversion economics directly by using zero-cost raw materials. In order to study and optimize the process, the characteristics of the sludge raw materials should be first evaluated. In this work, sludge samples were obtained from paper mills located at different locations in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Part of the sludge samples was washed (de-ashed) with hydrochloric acid while the other part remained unwashed. The samples were subjected to multiple spectroscopic analyses techniques to evaluate the morphological properties of cellulose fibers and to estimate the total structural carbohydrate content. The results showed that the de-ashing process changed some fiber characteristics and cellulose crystallinity structure in all sludge samples. Sludge sample A (obtained from Kraft pulp and recycled paper mill region) showed a high percentage of fiber, with crystalline cellulose, compared to the other two sludge samples suggesting that sludge A is a valuable source to make value-added products. Aspen Plus mass and energy calculations performed in view of the ‘zero’ cost and the reliable supply of sludge raw materials producing 2 mol H2/mol glucose. Moreover, the results showed that extracting crystalline cellulose from these sludge samples is more profitable than crystalline cellulose made from the other lignocellulosic feedstocks. The results reported here showed that the utilization of these sludge materials would be an economically attractive and promising alternative for the production of hydrogen.

Edible oils form an integral component in the human diet as well as in the industrial preparations. Any adulteration in oil is concerning from nutritional as well as economical perspective. Although analytical techniques exist for detection of adulterants in oil, most of them require sophisticated instruments, and trained professionals. Microfluidic based lab-on-a-chip technologies have rapidly progressed over the recent years and offer promising alternatives in this regard. In this work, we report development of a paper-based microfluidic lab-on-a-chip for detection of palm oil contamination in sunflower oil. We use the paper-based microfluidic colorimetric detection approach that indicates the presence of adulteration in a visual manner. The data is analyzed using digitally acquired images along with ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometry. The paper-based microfluidic device is fabricated and tested for 10–50% (v/v) palm oil adulteration in sunflower oil. Further, we employ the device for free fatty acid content tests in oil samples. Visual signal acquired from the device is optimized by varying phenolphthalein proportions. The stability of visual colorimetric signal is examined over time and is found to remain steady over the trial period of six days considered in this work. The integration of the detection device with smartphone imaging can prove to be useful for onsite data collection. We believe the approach presented here can be extended to food quality monitoring portable platforms.

The waste of paper or the paper dump is a serious problem and its occurrence is widespread in various institutions. Wastepaper can be recycled to produce some important and usable products that are ecological and biodegradable. For example, it is used to extract new paper from the old by chemical decomposition. Other products such as paper plates, paper cups, paper spoons, tiles, toys, crafts, etc. can be formed from the slurry. This project also initiates a mould that makes cups and plates from the wastepaper management circuit. With learning institutions being the main consumers, most paper are usually eliminated after its use. The waste remains undeveloped and unused, although is a valuable resource. Studying the design of a manual, economical and efficient paper recycling machine, it can be surmised that the design uses the integration of the knowledge gained about the recycling technology that exists manually from the paper recycling machines used to form a cheap but effective paper recycling system. The advantages of the machine are not only of recycled paper, but also the advantages of the interaction of the manual drive system, which will also reduce the high cost. As the design is not 100% effective, the transmission, belt and chain transmission correspond to the estimated 90% efficiency using the 90% for the design. The power consumption for the design is 450 W and since an average user can produce 100 W constant, it takes 5 people to drive the machine.

Food safety is always one of the most important issues for human being. With the variety of food, it is required to develop rapid, low-cost and convenient detection techniques for food safety. As a representative, paper-based detection techniques have developed rapidly from simple test papers to various microfluidic paper-based devices. The paper-based analytical devices combining paper platform with a variety of advanced analytical methods have shown great application prospects for rapid testing of food safety. In this review, the surface functionalization and modification of paper are introduced. Then, the construction and development of various detection techniques are discussed, including colorimetric analysis, fluorescent analysis, electrochemical analysis, surface enhanced Raman spectroscopic analysis, and multimethods on paper-based platforms for the application in rapid detection for food safety. Finally, the prospects and future challenges of rapid detection techniques in food safety are also discussed.

In society, there is widespread and growing acceptance of the value of cooperation between industry and universities being collaborative Research and Development (R&D) domain and industrial policy the fuel of knowledge-based economies. In this paper, different domains of cooperation between the University and Industry as well as their generated benefits for each partner are identified. These benefits have been assigned to each domain of cooperation, showing a large number of benefits associated to collaborative R&D. Leading us to make a statement - collaborative R&D is the key cooperation domain for sustainable long-term university-industry partnerships. Suggestions are given about how to continue this research study.

Advancements in technology have led to the use of smartphones as biosensor detectors. However, it is difficult to obtain stable color information of colorimetric sensors using multiple smartphones owing to different light conditions and image correction operations. In this study, we attempted color detection of the colorimetric paper chip using smartphone-embedded light-emitting diode (LED) and simple transformation calculation. This method enables the acquisition of stable color information using different smartphones by reducing the influence of external light sources. Moreover, we studied characteristics such as convergence and distinction of detection result details by the manufacturers and smartphones. These findings suggested the necessity of classification criteria for the use of smartphones to achieve optimal detection. In addition, white and black references were used to set the standard for color correction of various light sources. Based on our results, we conclude that this approach presents the possibility of smartphone-based colorimetric detection in practical applications.

Enormous quantities of bagasse are being used as raw material in agro based large integrated pulp and paper mills. Anaerobic technology is an effective means of biodegradation of organic substance in wastewater and energy production of biogas that can be used as an alternative fuel. This study illustrates the effect of HRT on performance of lab scale hybrid upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (HUASB) reactor on treatment of pulp and paper mill bagasse wash water. The lab scale HUASB reactor was designed for an effective volume of 0.013 m3 with bio balls as packing media at the top of reactor and operated under mesophilic condition. After startup period, the reactor was operated with HRTs of 23.55, 15.98, 12.00, 10.03 and 7.97 h for the average influent COD concentrations of 2503.6 mg/L, 3918 mg/L, 5432 mg/L, 6608 mg/L and 7996 mg/L respectively. The results showed that the maximum COD removal efficiencies and TSS removal efficiencies were in the range of 68.60–92.19% and 89.56–94.66% respectively. The minimum and maximum biogas yield of 0.32 and 0.53 m3/kg CODa were obtained at influent concentration of 2503.6 mg/L and 7996 mg/L respectively.

Unprinting of paper can reduce multiple life-cycle stages in the recycling of paper to yield significant environmental impact. Laser-unprinting has been demonstrated for uncoated paper but causes significant damage to coated paper. This work explores a scalable optical (non-laser) process for unprinting coated paper. Printed coated paper is exposed to pulsed broad-spectrum Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) from a xenon lamp and the toner is then removed by dabbing gently with an ethanol wipe. While black toner is easily unprinted, unprinting of colored prints (red, blue, green) is best realized by incorporating an initial overprint of black toner. An unprinting throughput on the order of mm2/s is achieved. Three distinct regimes of unprinting are identified based on the extent of toner removal and damage of the paper. The optical properties of the unprinted paper, characterized via UV–Visible spectrophotometry, are correlated to these regimes to understand the potential for in-situ optical process monitoring. Scanning Electron Micrography and Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy are performed to understand the underlying mechanisms that govern the occurrence of the different unprinting regimes. Further, the potential impact of the developed approach on recycling of paper is discussed in the context of the capabilities of current optical unprinting approaches and the potential elimination of life-cycle stages in conventional paper recycling.

Paper based assays are paving the way to automated, simplified, robust and cost-effective point of care testing (POCT). We propose a method for fabricating three dimensional (3D) microfluidic paper based analytical devices (μPADs) via combining thin adhesive films and paper folding, which avoids the use of cellulose powders and the complex folding sequence and simultaneously permits assays in several layers. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach, a 3DμPADs was designed to conduct more assays on a small footprint, allowing dual colorimetric and electrochemical detections. More importantly, we further developed a 3D platform for implementing automated and multiplexed ELISA in parallel, since ELISA, a routine and standard laboratory method, has rarely been used in practical analyses outside of the laboratory. In this configuration, complex and multistep diagnostic assays can be carried out with the addition of the sample and buffer in a simple fashion. Using Troponin I as model, the device showed a broad dynamic range of detection with a detection limit of 0.35 ng/mL. Thus, the developed platforms allow for various assays to be cost-effectively carried out on a single 3D device, showing great potential in an academic setting and point of care testing under resource-poor conditions.

The recycling of waste paper has been an effective way to achieve the environmental-friendly growth of papermaking industry. Focusing on the mixed-pulping process which has been generally employed, to ensure the required properties of the deinking pulp (DIP) and minimize the purchase cost of waste paper, an intelligent model scheduling the mixing ratio of waste paper was developed in the study. Primarily, driven by the field data of mixing ratio of waste paper and DIP properties, the prediction models of DIP properties were developed by SVM, GA-SVM, and BP-NN algorithms. Subsequently, based on the best prediction model, the scheduling model for the mixing ratio of waste paper was set up by NSGAII algorithm. The experimental results showed that, based on the obtained best BP-NN prediction model of DIP properties, the developed NSGAII scheduling model for the ratio of waste paper could achieve excellent scheduling results under the rigorous constraints and multi-objective. Compared with the previous study, the developed prediction and scheduling models in this study reduced the purchase cost of waste paper by 2.16%, and improved the acceptable proportion of DIP property from 56.07% to 100%.

The dissemination of emerging electronic devices increases considerably alongside with the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm. Some key elements considered in these devices (e.g. rare-earth) are becoming critical materials and are associated with serious environmental concerns. Therefore, there is a major requirement for designing differently our electronic technologies at the early stages of the research process. Many reports present the promising properties of paper-based electronics as meant to address this challenge. Through technical and life cycle assessments, this article discusses the main design levers in terms of material and fabrication process choices for the eco-design of paper-electronics water quality sensors. Our results suggest conscientious choices of conductive nanomaterials and additive fabrication techniques.

The pulp and paper industry in contrast to other manufacturing industries consumes a large amount of energy and emits pollutants along with greenhouse gases. The waste generated from the pulp and paper industry causes severe harm to the aquatic life, disturbs the food chain, and also causes various health implications. In this review, we have highlighted some of the primary pollutants released from the industry and their health hazards. Strict action and implementation of the regulatory model is required in this industrial sector for environmental compliance. The environmental pollution caused by the pollutants poses a threat to aquatic life as well as to plants and human beings. The effect of pollutants on the environment has been assessed many times, but their mitigation still has a significant challenge. This review highlights some recent techniques to reduce pollutants from the pulp and paper industries. Among these techniques, microbial fuel cells, anaerobic digestion, bleaching technologies, cleaner production, and transformation pathways are the most used techniques. These will help in understanding the risk of pollutants released from the industry and the techniques will help in tackling these pollutants for a sustainable environment development.

Paper-based devices are always more gaining a relevant position in the field of sensors. The continuous demand for affordable, simple, sustainable, and portable devices, is making paper as the ideal basis towards the realization of analytical tools for the easy self-testing. In this work, we demonstrate, for the first time, the development of a disposable paper-based printed electroanalytical strip for reliable, rapid, and high-throughput detection of glutathione in blood. The detection is based on the thiol-disulfide exchange reaction, which produces a detectable compound easily oxidizable at a Prussian Blue/carbon black nanocomposite involving a favorable low-interference overpotential. This nanocomposite is mixed within a carbon-based conductive ink and successively screen-printed onto a wax-patterned filter paper. The employment of paper provides a reagent-free device, as a consequence of the reagents pre-loading within the testing area. After the experimental conditions have been optimized, glutathione has been detected up to 10 mM, with a detection limit of 60 μM, and a sensitivity of (0.102 ± 0.005) μA/mM. This sensor showed satisfactory repeatability (relative standard deviation equal to 10%, for detection of glutathione 1 mM), especially by considering the hand-made manufacturing process. The “real-world” applicability of this strip has been evaluated by quantifying blood glutathione at physiological levels and by recovery studies achieving satisfactory values.

The development of renewable energy sources minimizes the burning of fossil fuels for clean and green environment. Electrochemical energy storage/conversion device pays a way towards sustainable development that concludes an emerging field in the trends of the research community. Prominently, the functional materials with suitable structure and property determine the performance and durability of the devices. In recent times, graphene with its tremendous properties play a major role in electrochemical energy device applications. Meanwhile, the graphene-based electrodes were fabricated by various coating techniques on existing electrodes that utilized for energy device fabrication. Apart from these, it is also fabricated in a paper like a form (self-supported or free-standing) with its remarkable high conductivity, flexibility, robustness and electrochemical behavior which have been nominated for fabrication of flexible energy devices. Paper-like electrodes become an emerging field to fabricate a light-weight and flexible electronic devices for future prospects. Thus, we have summarized a synthetic strategy of graphene paper and its properties that potentially focused on flexible device fabrication in both the energy storage and conversion system. Hence, this review boosts up the forthcoming researchers to enhance the device performance with interrelating free-standing graphene and other host material.

In most cases, three-dimensional paper-based microfluidic analytical devices (3D-μPADs) were fabricated manually by stacking or folding methods. For the first time, digital light processing stereolithography (DLP-SLA) 3D printing technology was adopted to automatically make 3D-μPADs. In the fabrication process, a printing pause was set between two layers to allow paper to be placed in the resin tank. The resin on the fresh paper spontaneously bonded to the former cured paper layer during curing, thus realizing the automatic bonding and alignment between different layers of paper and avoiding the human participation and errors as in stacking and folding methods. There was a gap between two vertical aligned flow paths, therefore the liquid did not flow spontaneously from the upper layer to the lower layer. Most of the fluid flow in 3D-μPADs was spontaneous or manually activated, which was not conducive to complex assays that require different regents to be delivered sequentially. Herein, we used an electric field or airflow to trigger the fluid flow and demonstrated the flow controllability by a proof-of-concept colorimetric assay. The limits of detection of glucose and albumin were 0.8 mM and 3.5 μM, respectively, which were sufficient for clinical requirements. Given the characteristic of flow controllability, we believe that the proposed 3D-μPADs have great potential to make paper-based complex assays automated and programmable.

The development and production of new materials requires advanced analytical characterisation to explain the relation between the physico-chemical structure of the material and its properties. Highly integrated microelectronic structure analysis of surfaces with laser beams and X-ray fluorescence aided devices are found to be helpful for providing important information, including the interrelationships between physical, chemical, mechanical and durability characteristics of the new developed products. In most instances no single technique provides all the needed information and hence simultaneous application of several techniques becomes necessary. This study was aimed for hydration analysis, characterization and evaluation of a new novel non-Portland binder (NPB) with waste paper sludge ash (PSA) using FTIR and TG/DTA. The progressive formation of hydration products within the non-Portland binder was identified and their microstructural characteristics were analysed. The stable and non-expansive nature of secondary ettringite formation was also identified after a period of 365 days curing.

This review paper encompasses the inclusive approach of lime sludge valorization in construction materials. Research studies based on cement and aggregate replacement by lime sludge concludes that 10–30% lime sludge is gainfully utilized in sustainable concrete and mortar. Additional prospect for lime sludge application in construction material is the production of cement and ceramics. Significant use of lime sludge in combination with supplementary cementitious materials such as silica fume, nanosilica and fly ash is recommended for the production of cement components and ceramics. The recommendations are also suggested in accordance with the outcome of the study.

Graphical abstract, Highlights • Detection of cytokine storm biomarkers with mobile biosensors. • Immunosensors are made solely of cellulose modified with antibody-decorated nanoparticles. • Turnaround time under 10 min. • Detection of biomarkers in respiratory samples allows monitoring local inflammation. • Compatible with decentralized health care schemes., Decentralizing COVID-19 care reduces contagions and affords a better use of hospital resources. We introduce biosensors aimed at detecting severe cases of COVID-19 in decentralized healthcare settings. They consist of a paper immunosensor interfaced with a smartphone. The immunosensors have been designed to generate intense colorimetric signals when the sample contains ultralow concentrations of IL-6, which has been proposed as a prognosis biomarker of COVID-19. This is achieved by combining a paper-based signal amplification mechanism with polymer-filled reservoirs for dispensing antibody-decorated nanoparticles and a bespoken app for color quantification. With this design we achieved a low limit of detection (LOD) of 10−3 pg mL-1 and semi-quantitative measurements in a wide dynamic range between 10−3 and 102 pg mL-1 in PBS. The assay time is under 10 min. The low LOD allowed us to dilute blood samples and detect IL-6 with an LOD of 1.3 pg mL-1 and a dynamic range up to 102 pg mL-1. Following this protocol, we were able to stratify COVID-19 patients according to different blood levels of IL-6. We also report on the detection of IL-6 in respiratory samples (bronchial aspirate, BAS) from COVID-19 patients. The test could be easily adapted to detect other cytokines such as TNF-α and IL-8 by changing the antibodies decorating the nanoparticles accordingly. The ability of detecting cytokines in blood and respiratory samples paves the way for monitoring local inflammation in the lungs as well as systemic inflammation levels in the body.

Writing and presenting results is important for any research work. Publishing is not enough; it should be written clearly and consistently for others to read and cite. We present a review of different techniques, for improving the writing in research papers intended for publishing. These include how to write the title, whether to use active or passive voice, how long sentences should be, how to present the uncertainty, understanding the International System of Units (SI) writing conventions, how to assign authorship, how to effectively use references, how to present the work, and how to publish it in a journal. This paper is a summary of the main and most recent recommendations in the scientific field on how to write a research paper to increase its impact.

Supercapacitors are favored by researchers because of their high power density, especially with the acceleration of people's life rhythm. However, their energy density, especially from the point of view of the whole energy storage device, is far lower than that of commercial batteries. In this work, a kind of customizable full paper-based supercapacitor device with excellent self-healing ability is fabricated by simple and low-cost screen printing, electropolymerization and dip coating methods. The resultant separator-free supercapacitor device exhibits both ultrahigh gravimetric and areal specific energy (power) densities of 39 Wh kg−1 (69 kW kg−1) and 692 μWh cm−2 (236 mW cm−2), achieving excellent supercapacitor performance. Notably, the addition of vitrimers endows the whole device with outstanding self-healing properties, which is helpful for enhancing the adaptability of the device to the environment. In addition, this kind of paper-based device also displays good photothermal and electromagnetic shielding performances. These striking features make paper matrix composites attractive in the fields of supercapacitors, medical photothermal treatment and electromagnetic shielding.

Photonic crystals film that possesses periodic dielectric structure have shown great prospect in developing environmentally friendly paper alternatives due to the unique properties of dye free and non-photobleaching, but their practical application is limited by the weak interaction between colloidal particles. Although some progress has been obtained, it is still a challenge to develop photonic paper with the desired mechanical and optical properties. Herein, multifunctional hard core/soft shell nanoparticles with controlled size are fabricated by semi-continuous seed emulsion polymerization method. Compared with convention colloidal particles, these core/shell nanoparticles can facile self-assemble into large-scale dense ordered structure film via dried at room temperature due to the relatively low glass transition temperature (Tg) of the shell layers. The facile fabrication route enables the continuous high-through put production of the photonic papers. The as-formed papers not only possess the capacity to solvent (water/ethanol) rewritable and multicolor painting, but also can rapidly reversible mechanochromic. Moreover, due to the good compatibility of core/shell interface, these photonic films possess excellent mechanical properties, demonstrating that this multifunctional film makes the fabrication of novel robust rewritable papers possible and enables visual monitoring of deformation degree.

In present investigation, electroless Ni-P-SiC/Ni-P-TiO2-ZrO2 nano-composite platings have been deposited upon mild steel substrate (AISI 1040). A homogeneous and consistent allocation of SiC, TiO2 and ZrO2 nano-particles into EL Ni-P matrix is recognized in as plated and heated (400°C) coupons respectively through SEM and EDAX methods. The investigated coupons exhibited resistance against corrosion in order as: 254SMO > SS2205 > Ni-P-TiO2-ZrO2 as-plated > Ni-P-TiO2-ZrO2 heat treated > Ni-P-SiC as-plated > Ni-P-SiC heat treated > SS316L. The corrosion resistance seems too dependent upon Cr, Mo and N content and hence correlate well with the PRE number of the respective alloys. The conventional materials of construction SS 316L are not suitable for both C and D washers. Avesta 254SMO shows immunity to attack in these environments. On the basis of corrosion resistance, mechanical properties and cost comparison, Avesta 254 SMO seems acceptable material for gaseous phase of C and D washers while duplex stainless steel 2205 and Ni-P-SiC/Ni-P-TiO2-ZrO2 as-plated and heated coatings seems acceptable for the other application in these washers.

Paper industry wastewater is the significant source of water and soil contamination due to various unknown residual organic pollutants directly discharged into the environment without proper treatment. Therefore, the study has focused on the detection of residual organic pollutants (N-(1,2,2,2-tetrachloroethyl) trimethylacetamide, octadecane, 1-iodo, Oleic acid, trimethylsilyl ester, eicosane; hexadecane, 2-methyl-; octadecane, docosane; tricosane) from paper industry wastewater sources showed endocrine-disrupting compounds and their toxicity. This experiment were carried out the effect of paper mill sludge amendments with garden soil (25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%) and garden soil was utilized as a control in a pot experiment. This study revealed the growth parameters of Triticum aestivum in seeds germination percentage and germination index values decreased with rising in sludge concentration. Further, soil amended with 25% paper industry sludge slightly reduced the growth in root length, shoot length, biomass, photosynthetic and 50% sludge amended soil had variable effects on the root, shoot, and photosynthetic pigment of T. aestivum. Moreover, the toxicity of paper industry wastewater on tubifex-tubifex worms after 48 h of exposure (>50% concentration), worms showed various changes such as movement; haemoglobin content disappeared, cell bursting, and the back of the body became white with body disintegration at the lethal concentrations of paper industry wastewater. This article has revealed that the toxicity of the organic pollutants in the terrestrial and aquatic life due to paper industry wastewater there is needed to treat adequately prior to discharge.

In this study, fabrication of microfluidic paper based analytical devices (μPADs) by microembossing was proposed. Different from the embossing methods described in the literature, the filter paper was embossed such that a protruded structure was formed, which subsequently became the channel after heating the wax at the backside of the filter paper. It was found that, when using the Whatman No. 3 filter paper, the embossing pressure needed to be larger than 50 kg/cm2 in conjunction with using a minimal 2-mm wide channel, and the wax heating time ranged from 15 to 45 s in order to obtain a reliable μPAD with repetitive and consistent results. In addition, there was no need of a hydrophobic material as the backside support. The glucose detection was demonstrated using the μPADs as fabricated and a linear relationship was obtained between 5 and 50 mM glucose concentrations. With the proposed method, the processing time of fabricating μPADs can be reduced within approximately 1 min.

Microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs) have recently emerged as a simple, portable, user-friendly, and affordable alternative to more instrument-intensive analytical approaches for point-of-care testing (POCT), food safety analysis, and environmental monitoring. However, most of the existing methods for the fabrication of μPADs still face a great challenge because of different trade-offs among cost, convenience, and the pattern resolution. In this work, we report a facile one-step approach to prepare a μPAD using an affordable, easy-to-build 3D printer to generate patterns of solid wax on laboratory filter paper. The presented wax printing method did not require the use of predesigned masks and an external heat source to form complete hydrophobic wax barrier through the use of a custom-made extruder. The results revealed a strong linear relationship (R2 = 0.985) between the nominal and the printed widths of the wax barriers. The achievable resolution of the wax barrier printed on filter paper was 468 ± 72 µm, which was lower than previously reported minimum barrier feature sizes achieved by wax printing and other wax patterning techniques, such as stamping and screen-printing. The analytical utility of the fabricated μPADs was evaluated for colorimetric nitrite and glucose detection in artificial solutions. It was found that the fabricated μPADs provided adequate accuracy and reproducibility for quantitative determination of nitrite and glucose within concentration ranges relevant to the disease detection in human saliva and urine. The wax printing approach reported here provides a simple, rapid, and cost-effective fabrication method for paper-based microfluidics and may bring benefits to medical diagnostics in the developing world.

The paper drying process has the highest level of energy consumption in the pulp and paper production process. Analysis and optimization of the energy system during the paper drying process is critical for improving the energy efficiency of the entire paper mill. In the existing model for the paper drying process, the solution requires accurate boundary conditions such as the air temperature and humidity of the pocket area and the cylinder surface temperature, which are very difficult to obtain in the papermaking process. This can result in significant deviations between the model solution and the actual production process. This paper focuses on the single-tier dryer cylinder-based paper drying process that has been widely used with high-speed papermaking machines in recent years. A mathematical model is proposed based on real-time data. The verification via industrial production demonstrates that the proposed model is reliable for the paper drying process. Based on the simulation results, two optimization operations have been proposed. The energy consumption decreases from 1.51 t steam/t paper to 1.44 t steam/t paper, 4.6% of the steam and 1.26 × 106 RMB can be saved for a medium-scale paper mill with the annual production capacity of 105 t paper.

Pulp and paper industry is one of the high priority sectors that generates large amount of solid (sludge) and liquid (paper mill effluent) wastes. Making use of this huge quantity of paper mill sludge (PMS) in an environment friendly manner is challenging and cost involving. Similarly the present wastewater treatment strategies based on physical and chemical methods encounter certain serious setbacks including secondary pollution generation with expensive mode of abatement processes. The present study aims at a “waste treats waste” strategy for the bioremediation of paper mill effluent in fluidized bed reactor (FBR) using another waste of the same industry, PMS as immobilizing matrix for Planococcus sp. TRC1, a wastewater bacterial isolate. This study simultaneously explores this isolate for the yellowish orange pigment it produces (2.3 ± 0.2 mg/gm of dry bacterial biomass) and characterizes it as a member of the pharmacologically important carotenoid pigment family via UV-Vis spectrophotometry, TLC, FT-IR and 13C NMR. The antioxidant potential of this pigment was studied by DPPH assay (IC50 = 33 ± 0.4 μg/ml) and H2O2 assay (IC50 = 147.4 ± 2.2 μg/ml). In FBR, the PMS immobilized bacteria showed removal of phenol, lignin, colour and COD from the effluent by 96%, 74%, 81% and 85% respectively after 60hr of treatment. The experimental data on immobilization fitted well with pseudo second-order (R2 = 0.955) and Freundlich adsorption isotherm (R2 = 0.996) models. The alterations in PMS before and after bacterial immobilization, as revealed by SEM and FT-IR, depicted the success of PMS as immobilization matrix. Phytotoxicity (90% seed germination) and mutagenicity studies confirmed that the treated effluent was substantially less toxic than its raw state. This study highlights a novel utilization possibility of PMS in an eco-friendly and economic way as immobilization matrix for Planococcus sp.TRC1 for paper pulp mill effluent treatment along with production of carotenoid pigment from this potential bacterial isolate as value added product.

Pulp and paper mill industry is already known as an extensive water user and hence produces large volume of wastewater. Phytoremediation has merits to offer due to its environmentally friendly, relatively low cost and easy maintenance. This work focused on the performance of a continuous pilot subsurface flow (SSF) system of constructed wetlands in removing chemical oxygen demand (COD) representing organic carbon, colour and suspended solids from recycled pulp and paper mill under 5-day hydraulic retention time (HRT) for 95 days. In this study, there were two tanks based on the SSF system; one tank planted with Malaysian native bulrush (Scirpus grossus) and another tank without plants acting as a control. It was found that the SSF system with S. grossus was much better compared to the SSF control. Throughout the 95-day exposure, the planted SSF system have achieved removals of 66.1, 55.8 and 87.2% for COD, colour and suspended solid (SS), respectively. However, the control SSF system without plants has lower performance for all the three parameters (62.4% COD, 44.4% colour and 84.8% SS), giving evidence that constructed wetlands is an efficient technology to phytoremediate COD, colour and SS from recycled pulp and paper effluent.

Flexible sensing devices have drawn tremendous attention in the past decades due to their potential applications in future hand-held, potable consumer, and wearable electronics. Here, we firstly developed an ultrasensitive wireless potentiometric aptasensor based on flexible freestanding graphene paper for kanamycin detection. Flexible graphene paper made from a simple vacuum filtration method was used as a biocompatible platform for effective immobilization of aptamer. A nuclease-assisted amplification strategy was introduced into this potentiometric biosensing system in order to significantly improve the detection sensitivity through a classic catalytic recycling reaction of target induced by the nuclease (DNase I). As expected, an ultra-low detection limit of 30.0 fg/mL for kanamycin was achieved. Furthermore, the developed potentiometric enzymatic aptasensor exhibits high selectivity, favorable flexibility, excellent stability and reproducibility, which holds great promising for its routine sensing application.

In this study, a waste pickling liquor from a steel mill, which is rich in iron and acid, was used as the main raw material to prepare a composite coagulant: polymeric ferric aluminum sulfate chloride (PFASC). The as-prepared PFASC was used, together with PAM, for the tertiary treatment of papermaking wastewater to decrease its COD and Chroma. The Results from FT-IR and XRD of PFASC, supported the conclusion that polymeric ferric aluminum hydroxide hydrates compounds/ complexes are formed in the synthesized PFASC. When applied to a waste water sample from a paper mill, PFASC, together PAM, leads to decreases in COD and Chroma by 65.3% and 71.2%, respectively (initial pH 7.5, 1 ml/L PFASC, 1.0 ppm PAM). The technology has been implemented at a paper mill, and the obtained results are consistent with those from the laboratory.

In recent times, it has been witnessed that wireless systems based on IoT-based have developed rapidly in various sectors. The IoT (Internet of Things) is the network in which physical devices, equipment, sensors and other objects can communicate among themselves without human involvement. The WSN (Wireless Sensor Network) is a central component of the IoT, which has proliferated into several different applications in real-time. The IoT and WSNs now have various critical and non-critical applications impacting nearly every area of our everyday life. WSN nodes are usually small and battery-driven machines. Thus, the energy effective data aggregation techniques that increase the lifespan of the network are highly significant. Various approaches and algorithms for energy-efficient data aggregation in IoT-WSN systems were presented. This paper reviews the literature with specific attention to aspects of wireless networking for the preservation of energy and aggregation of data.

To evaluate the effect of brown-rot fungi Oligoporus placenta and earthworm Eisenia fetida on decomposition of paper mill sludge, the paper mill sludge was mixed with cow dung in 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% proportions and changes in physicochemical quality of waste mixtures was carried out for 28 days. All waste mixtures were treated with: Setup-I (E. fetida), Setup-II (O. placenta) and, Setup-III (E. fetida + O. placenta). A decrease in total organic carbon, C/N ratio and cellulose but an increase in total kjeldhal nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium and pH was recorded. The paper mill sludge in 50–75% proportion in feedstock showed the better results and rate of mineralisation were in order: Setup-III > Setup-I > Setup-II. The proportion of CD has direct role in waste mineralisation. The microbial population (bacterial, fungal and actinomycetes) and earthworm biomass were also high in Setup-III, suggesting the influence of brown-rot fungi on paper mill sludge humification. Results indicate that fungal inoculate in vermicomposting was effective in decomposing cellulose-rich industrial sludge.

The non-process-elements (NPE's) in the pulp and paper production, in particular chloride (Cl−) and potassium (K+), eventually accumulate in a sodium sulfate recovery cycle of a paper plant, especially on boiler fly ashes (flue gas cleaning). This accumulation often leads to fouling and corrosion. Thus, in order to reduce such problems, a leaching unit is typically integrated aiming to remove Cl− and K+ and recover sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) from boiler fly ashes. In this context, this research is focused on investigating the effects of temperature, ash concentration and pH on the separation efficiency (Cl− and K+ removal and Na2SO4 recovery) of recovery boiler fly ashes using design of experiments in a devised laboratory setup. As expected from the literature, the results obtained reveals that concentration has the most significant effect on the response variables followed by temperature; whereas pH, not mentioned in this application so far, also has a significant effect. The optimum operating condition, which yields 84 wt% of Na2SO4 recovery and 97 wt% of Cl− and K+ removal, is achieved at 60 °C, 50 wt% of ash and pH 9.0. For practical applications, this optimal condition reduces the accumulation of NPE‘s and mitigates the risks of fouling and corrosion.

Dewatering and handling of pulp and paper mill sludge is challenging and often comprises more than half of the overall wastewater treatment costs at a mill. Primary sludge is usually more dewaterable than biosludge (waste activated sludge), and the ratio between both types of sludge largely determines the dewaterability of the sludge mix. This study has quantified the benefits of adding primary sludge to biosludge to enhance the dewaterability in terms of cake solids and filtrate/pressate solids content. Furthermore, the effects of the particle size distribution and the monovalent to divalent cation ratio of the various types of sludge were investigated. Biosludge and three types of primary sludge from a Canadian pulp and paper mill were mixed at various ratios and tested for dewaterability using a Crown Press®, a bench-scale device which simulates industrial belt press dewatering. Results show that after addition of primary sludge at up to 40% mass proportion (dry solids basis) the dewatered cake solids content increased substantially, from 10.4% to 18.7–19.9%, depending on the type of primary sludge added. Further addition of primary sludge led to comparably only small improvements. Primary sludge addition also resulted in decreased total suspended solids (TSS) concentrations in the combined gravity filtrate / Crown Press pressate. Primary sludge content of only 10% in the sludge mix was sufficient to decrease the TSS concentration from 1.8 g/L to 0.2 – 0.4 g/L. The study shows that only less than half of the sludge mix needs to consist of primary sludge, in order to achieve adequate dewaterability. This opens up the possibility of retaining more primary fiber within the pulping process, without compromising downstream sludge dewatering.

The pulp and paper industry, which provides cellulose pulp and paper, bio-based energy and chemicals, is one of the largest energy consumers, greenhouse gases (GHG) and pollutant emitters among manufacturing industries. Although the environmental impact of the pulp and paper industry has been extensively studied, life cycle assessment (LCA) results have not yet reached a consensus. By means of a systematic review and meta-analysis, this article contributes to the quantification and harmonization of the life cycle environmental impacts of pulp making and paper making systems. Based on the screening of 45 cases of paper making and 18 cases of pulp making, we found that 1 t of paper results in about 950 kg carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent (CO2-eq) GHG emissions on average. However, there are distinct differences between countries and pulp and paper categories. The dominant factor influencing GHG emissions is energy use. In paper making, the pulp making process is responsible for 62% of energy use, 45% of GHG emissions, 48% of acidification potential, and 49% of eutrophication potential. The kg CO2-eq emissions of three different types of pulp were as follows: Kraft, 508 kg CO2-eq/t; chemi-mechanical, 513 kg CO2-eq/t; and recycled pulp, 408 kg CO2-eq/t. Excluding emissions from electricity and steam production, the convergence of carbon emissions is observed within the same categories of pulp. Straw-based pulp caused far more environmental impact than any other type because of the intensive inputs in agricultural activities as well as in the pulp making process. This research highlighted the inconsistencies in functional units, system boundaries, and methodologies and carbon neutrality assumptions in different LCA studies of pulp and paper making. Future studies should focus on the environmental impact of straw-based pulp making, system boundary unification, and calculation of biogenic carbon emissions.

In remote areas, such as India, Africa and Southeast Asia, typically not connected to the natural gas distribution network, tissue paper production is currently carried out using a Yankee cylinder and two hot air hoods heated with saturated steam produced in conventional boilers. In this way the drying air is heated at medium temperature, around 160-180 °C, with consequent low levels of dried paper production. In this context, the present study intends to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of using a wood biomass fixed bed downdraft gasification plant for the production of syngas to be used as fuel in gas hoods, in order to reach high drying temperatures (around 500 °C), comparable with those of the current modern hoods powered with natural gas. Using previously developed calculation codes, an evaluation of energy performance of the paper drying system and of the gasification plant has been performed. The present study also evaluates the possibility of applying a CHP plant, powered by biomass, for the production of steam and electric, this last obtained adopting a steam turbine, thus covering all the electrical and thermal needs of the paper mill. Results show that, for a paper mill with a production of about 80 t/day of paper, two gasification reactors with a thermal output of about 1.95 MWt, and a consumption of dry biomass of 0.86 t/h, are required. For the steam system, the net electric power needed to meet the needs of the paper mill is about 3100 kW with a consumption of 4.72 t/h of moist biomass and a net efficiency of 23.9 %.

Activating flux is made up of inorganic material mixed with a volatile medium. The objective of this study is to identify and review the literature in activating flux, and different type of welding techniques. For that purpose, a structured review method is adopted and the Scopus database is used as a primary source for the selection of papers. The papers were identified using the string term of “Activating flux” OR “Activated flux” in the title of papers. And a total of 238 papers were identified for the study. Besides the above few other papers were also reviewed and the materials used, the type of flux used, and the findings of different combinations were highlighted in the form of tables. The findings of the study provide a comprehensive understanding of the different type of welding techniques focusing on TIG welding, and the different combination of flux used and their impact was summarized.

This paper describes a simple, low-cost, and highly flexible rapid prototyping method to construct electrochemical paper-based analytical device (ePAD) for multiplexed analyte determinations. The ePAD was composed of two electrochemical cell (EC) compartments, separated by hydrophobic barriers of wax, and screen-printed electrodes (SPEs) deposited directly over the surface of the filter paper. The ePAD was entirely constructed using an inexpensive craft cutter printer with no needed of a wax printer. The rapid prototyping method involves two steps: the deposition of the SPEs and the creation of the wax barriers. In this case, the SPEs were screen-printed on filter paper by using adhesive tape as mask by cutting the electrodes pattern with the cutter printer. Following, the wax barriers were created using stamps made of filter paper also cut with the printer and impregnated with wax. In the ePAD, each ECs containing an array of 4-working electrodes, allowing up to 4 replicates in a single measurement. Both ECs shared one counter and one reference electrodes, permitting the simultaneous multianalysis. The ePAD was successfully applied to simultaneous detection of paracetamol (PAR), caffeine (CAF), and ascorbic acid (AA) in drugs. PAR and CAF were detected in a sample using one EC and AA was detected, in a different sample, on the other EC, both with no chemical modifications in the working electrodes. Limits of detection of 0.04 mmol L−1 for PAR, 0.22 mmol L−1 for CAF, and 0.40 mmol L−1 for AA were obtained. The construction process proposed provide an easy way to implement screen-printing electrodes and wax barriers in filter paper to create electrochemical devices for fast and simultaneous multianalysis.

A novel visual and fluorometric-sensor paper is prepared for the monitoring of atmospheric humidity and ethanol. The paper contains a combination of copper nanoclusters (CuNCs) and carbon dots (CDs), immobilized on a filter paper. This makes it a dual-emission system. The visual sensor shows bright fluorescence and has a diameter of ∼8 cm with uniform and homogeneous surface. The detection mechanism of the sensing paper is based on the fluorescence intensity variation of CuNCs in different environments. Desirable linear relationship is observed between fluorescence intensity ratio (red/blue) and humidity. Visible color transformation of this sensor paper is observed in the humidity range ∼40-80%, implying utility for easy and facile atmospheric humidity determination. Furthermore, due to the water and ethanol have different impacts on the spectrum, this paper-based fluorescent probe shows excellent response to ethanol. Therefore dual-emitting sensing paper, when suitably calibrated, shows promise for visual and fluorometric sensing platforms aimed at humidity or ethanol detection.

Small companies encounter difficulties to adapt to new markets with a sustainable perspective. The subject of this article is a paper transformation company which has been eager to develop the organic farming market by developing a new plant support. Alternatives made from plant fibres or plastics exist, such as jute and polypropylene. The main difficulty of this project was to ecodesign a paper product with a multicriteria approach. The factors considered have been divided into two categories. Firstly, the environmental impacts calculated according to the Life Cycle Assessment methodology (on raw material extraction, manufacturing and end-of-life) are summarised. Secondly, the characteristics of the product are discussed in regards to these results and sustainability questions as part of the interpretation phase. Finally, ways of improvement of the LCA methodology to improve the study in terms of geographical representativeness and societal considerations are discussed.

The objective of this work is to investigate the influence of the main operating parameters (design and process) on a paper converting process. A production plant was selected on the basis of its current transformation from a traditional embosser to an innovative one with a fast roll changer. The quality of the paper products with the two different embossers have been evaluated in terms of mechanical strength and tissue softness. The experimental activity and related testing of products are fully described.

The construction of a photoelectrochemical (PEC) strategy for multi-component detection represents a great challenge in the field of sensing. To address these challenges, herein we presented a hollow-channel paper-based PEC analytical platform based on chemiluminescence (CL) addressable strategies excited PEC strategy for multiplexed sensing application. Sandwich-structured CdS quantum dots (QDs)/reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/ZnO nanorods arrays (NRAs) heterostructure where CdS serves as visible light sensitizers, RGO acts as an electron relay between ZnO NRAs and CdS QDs, were simply assembled on the gold nanoparticles modified paper working photoelectrode (Au-PWE). The PEC performance of the CdS/RGO/ZnO can be greatly improved benefiting from the formation of type II band alignment between CdS QDs and ZnO NR as well as the super charge collection and shuttling property of RGO. Multiplexed CL emission could be achieved through controlling the CL co-reagents transport. By the virtue of CL addressable technique and the excellent PEC activity of CdS/RGO/ZnO, a highly sensitive, and selective multiple microRNAs (miRNAs) quantification method was achieved. Such a tailored strategy would break the bottleneck of the current PEC detection techniques in multiplex tracing, as well as serve as a novel concept for designing multi-channel PEC sensing method.

Using waste paper as fuel for domestic heating is a beneficial recycling option for small island developing states where there are lacks of resources for energy and waste treatment. However, there are concerns about the impact of air pollutants emitted from the burning of the self-made paper briquettes as household air pollution is recognised as the greatest environmental risk for human. In this study, combustion tests were carried out for paper briquettes made in one Pacific island and three commercial fuels in Australia including wood briquettes, kindling firewood and coal briquettes in order to: 1) characterise the emissions of three criteria air pollutants including particulate matters, CO and NOx including their emission factors (EF) from the tested fuels; and 2) compare the EFs among the tested fuels and with others reported in the literature. The results showed that waste paper briquettes burned quickly and generated high temperature but the heat value is relatively low. Paper briquettes and coal briquettes produced higher CO concentration than the others while paper briquettes generated the highest NOx level. Only PM2.5 concentration emitted from paper briquettes was similar to kindling firewood and lower than wood briquettes. Burning of paper briquettes and wood briquettes produced particulate matter with large average count median diameter (72 and 68 nm) than coal briquette and kindling firewood (45 and 51 nm). The EFs for CO, NOx and PM2.5 of paper briquettes were within the range of EFs reported in this study as well as in the literature. Overall, the results suggested that using paper briquettes as fuel for domestic heating will not likely to generate higher level of three major air pollutants compared to other traditional fuels.

Signal amplification in colorimetric biosensors usually requires labile reagents and/or additional steps, which are not ideal for in-field measurements. Here we show that the limit of detection of a gold nanoparticle-labeled colorimetric immunosensor can be decreased 10-fold by performing the assay on a folded piece of paper. In this approach, the intrinsic porosity of the substrate enables generating multiple signals with a single drop of reagent. This yields combined signals with higher optical density thanks to the semitransparent nature of the wet material. It will be shown that this method can decrease the limit of detection 10 times in a model immunosensor for the detection of immunoglobulins. The procedure is so straightforward that it could be easily implemented to decrease the limit of detection of microfluidic paper-based analytical devices with colorimetric readouts.

Paper is a perfect example of the circular economy as it remains the furthermost recycled product in Europe, creating significant environmental benefits and raw materials resources to the industry. Indeed, maintaining a consistent level of quality whilst limiting the environmental footprint of the product has become a major challenge for the industry. In this direction, paper is proving to be the promising feedstock for biorefinery and biomaterials. The future of paper recycling is slowly going beyond fibre recovery to address the needs of other industries because for the earth's environmental well-being various paper products need to be recycled and reused persistently. In this article, we outline the ambitious use of wastepaper (WP) for high-value applications such as; production of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC), composite reinforcement, high performance electrical components and biofuels.

Anaerobic treatment of sedimented fibers collected from bottom of a bay that had been receiving pulp and paper mill wastewater for about 70 years were studied for the first time in semi-continuously fed continuously stirred tank reactors (CSTR). Anaerobic treatment of the fiber sediment was shown to be feasible, without dilution and with nitrogen and buffer supplement, at organic loading rates (OLR) up to 2.5 kg VS/m3d and hydraulic retention times (HRT) of 60 d resulting in methane yields of 201 ± 18 L CH4/kg VS. Co-digestion of sedimented fiber with sewage sludge at an OLR of 1.5 kg VS/m3d and HRT of 20 d resulted in a methane production of 246 ± 10 L CH4/kg VS. The techno-economic feasibility of mono and co-digestion process together with several case dependent factors such as maximum operable OLR, digestate utilization needs to be evaluated before making further conclusions for larger scale remediation applications. acceptedVersion