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The study aimed at the use of char produced during pyrolysis of mix plastic waste. It further focused on producing activated carbon from char and also found its efficacy as efficient adsorbent for treatment of pulp and paper mill wastewater. The activated carbon was characterized in comparison with raw char for their physical, surface and adsorptive properties. Batch type adsorption experiments were carried out using 100 ml wastewater to observe the individual effectiveness using five different variables such as adsorbent dose (0.25–2.0 g), pH (6–10), time (5–24 h), agitation speed (100–200 rpm) and temperature (30–50 °C) by keeping other variables constant which helped to find out the effective range of all the variables. The competency was evaluated on the basis of colour and lignin content of pulp and paper industry wastewater. Once the effective range of different variables was identified, the statistical analysis was conducted to monitor the mutual impact on the reduction in colour and lignin contents in wastewater. From the statistical design applied, the best result was obtained at activated carbon dose (1.25 g), pH (8.0), contact time (7 h), agitation speed (184 rpm) and temperature (40 °C). The study resulted in reduction of 96.48% in colour and 94.25% in lignin at optimized condition in comparison with 87.37 and 80.44%, respectively, at unoptimized conditions. A potential increase in reduction of 9.0% in colour and 14.0% in lignin content was achieved after optimization through statistical design that confirmed its usefulness.

Process-monitoring laboratories in the pulp and paper industry generally use a combination of wet chemical analyses and physical measurements to certify the fitness of a production pulp for a specific end-use. These laboratory tests require time and the effort of trained personnel, limiting their utility for real-time process control. Here we show that Raman probes of unrefined cellulosic pulps, well-suited to the online measurement of in-process materials, can predict the quality attributes of manufactured papers. The accuracy of prediction improves when the covariance is modelled in a reduced measurement space selected by a data-driven, feature-selection technique referred to as a Template Oriented Genetic Algorithm (TOGA). TOGA, combined with discrete wavelet transform (DWT), isolates functional-group features that correlate best with mechanical properties paper derived from refined pulp. Paper makers refine market pulps to build sheet strength using a beating process that decreases freeness as it increases fibre-fibre bonding. Methods demonstrated here predict manufactured sheet properties obtainable after any specified degree of refining from the Raman spectrum of an unrefined pulp. This analysis capacity will enable both vendors of market pulp and makers of sheet paper to specify in advance the amount of beating required to produce a desired product, thereby saving cost and conserving resources.

Maturity of vermicomposted end products obtained from citronella bagasse (CB) and a mixture of citronella bagasse and paper mill sludge (CB + PMS) was determined employing the epigeic earthworm species Eisenia fetida. Two of the primary biological indicators—enzyme assay and germination index—were used for evaluation of vermicompost maturity. The enzyme assay includes the changes in dehydrogenase and urease activities in the final products. The test for germination index was performed on two economically important plant species Abelmoschus esculentus and Solanum melongena. The results revealed a significant increase in dehydrogenase and urease activities in the vermicompost samples over the raw materials and traditional compost. The enhancement was recorded 215.63–225.63% in dehydrogenase and 149.89–249.31% for urease in the end products obtained after 45 days of experimental trials. Further, the higher values of germination index in the vermicompost treatments as against the control confirm the suitability and stability of the vermicomposted final products.

The present research deals with multivariate regression modeling of heavy metals uptake by cultivated Eichhornia crassipes (water hyacinth: WH) in the wastewater of paper and pulp processing industry. The WH plants were grown in different treatments of wastewater of paper and pulp processing industry (25, 50, 75, and 100%), while the control experiment was performed using borewell water. The influence of pH and metal quantity in the wastewater of paper and pulp processing industry over effective metal accumulation (∆Y: mg kg− 1) by WH was statistically modeled. Results showed that the established models had high R2 (

Huge quantity of paper mill wastes are dumped at the outskirt of factory as unwanted materials. Vermicomposting is an eco-friendly technique for beneficial conversion of different biodegradable/organic wastes into useful organic manure utilizing earthworms. Solid wastes generated in paper mills contain appreciable quantity of organic matter. Attempt was made for bio-conversion of Emami paper mill wastes with different numbers of Eisenia fetida (5–30 earthworms/2 kg substrate) for studying its influence on vermi-conversing time and quality of prepared vermicompost. Vermicomposting was carried out in trays following heap method and quality of final product was determined following both chemical analysis and bioassay on wheat seedlings. Application of more earthworms up to 20 numbers per 2 kg substrate made bio-conversion quicker but further addition of earthworm, however, delayed the process as some earthworms came out of beds and died probably due to competition for food among earthworms inside beds. Ten earthworms per kg paper mill wastes–saw dust–cow dung mixture (1:0.5:0.5 weight wise) was found as optimum earthworm population for preparing quality vermicompost having more major and secondary plant nutrients. Bioassay of this manure on wheat seedlings also confirmed the analytical findings. It is confirmed that earthworm population in vermibed played vital role in faster decomposition of paper mill wastes and releasing of more nutrients, which ultimately helped in better growth of wheat seedlings. Successful demonstration of vermicomposting technique will encourage local farmers for beneficial utilization of paper mill wastes in their agriculture.

There are many pulp and paper industries all around the globe and in Ethiopia as well different companies are involved in the production and distribution of paper and paper products. Most of the industries especially those in developing countries like Ethiopia produce paper from pulp obtained from wood cellulose. Ethiopia is not producing its pulp and mostly the paper industries depend on imported pulp or recycled paper. There are critical limitations in synthesizing pulp and paper from wood-based cellulose resources mainly the scarcity of wood in some countries and the impact on altering the ecological balance and through frequent deforestation and replantation practice. The present review assesses the potential sources from non-wood resources which can be used as a substitute cellulose raw material for the pulp and paper industry. The study encompasses possible beneficiation routes for manufacturing pulp from non-wood cellulose resources available in Ethiopia for diversified application in the paper industry. With this regard, potential non-wood raw materials for pulping are assed in line with the fulfilment of the target for import substitution strategy, the realization of a safe working environment, and socio-economic betterment of the nation with specific reference to the paper industry.

The X-ray diffraction internal standard method can quantitatively determine the ash content of paper, but the requirements for the experimental environment are high, the determination is not convenient and the cost is high, and it is difficult to be widely used in the papermaking enterprises. In order to determine the total ash and its components of the single filler paper samples, and meet the ash determination requirements of papermaking enterprises, the continuous X-ray method is proposed. In this paper, an X-ray tube is used as the radiation source and an ionization chamber is used as the detector. Through polynomial fitting of the total ash and voltage logarithm ratio of the single filler paper samples, the mathematical model of total ash is established; the total ash and its components content of paper are calculated according to the mathematical model of total ash and the Beer–Lambert law deformation formula; the total ash and its components content of paper are verified by the burning method. The research results show that the total ash error of the single filler paper samples is less than 4%, and the ash component error is less than 5%.

The occurrence of mineral oil hydrocarbons (MOH) in cellulose-based packaging is mainly due to the offset printing process where MOH are used as a ink pigments' solvent. The MOH migration from paper/paperboard to food is matter of concern for EFSA, members state authorities, consumers, and food industry. In this study, the feasibility to stabilize MOH by adding a sorbent into recycled paper obtained through a common washing process was investigated and the migration to wheat flour/Tenax® assessed. Among several white/pale yellow porous materials, organo-modified powder silica MCM-41-Si(CH3)3 showed the best combination between affinity for MOH (184% dw) and stability to thermal regeneration. A freshly issued newspaper with >3000 mg MOH kg-1 was used to produce recycled paper at a laboratory-scale plant. MCM-41-Si(CH3)3 was added at the pulping step (1% dw) and the sorbent-enriched pulp handled according to a washing paper production process with no effect on the paper optical brightness. The MOH content of the wheat flour in contact with the sorbent-enriched paper under accelerated migration conditions (15 days at 40 °C) resulted 20% of that contacted with control paper (4.3 ± 1.1 and 20.4 ± 5.5 mg kg-1, respectively), despite its contamination was 24% higher than the control. On the contrary, Tenax® contamination resulted 56.0 ± 10.0 and 47 ± 14.0 mg kg-1 when exposed to sorbent-enriched and control paper, respectively.

Phenol and its derivatives are pollutants present in the effluents of major industries such as paper mill, oil refineries and petrochemical plants. Removal of phenol from industrial effluent is extremely important because of its toxicity to the aquatic life and environment. In the present study, an attempt has been made to eradicate the phenol from wastewater using isolated bacteria from chronically contaminated effluent samples of a paper mill industry. The pH value of the effluent has been observed to be 8.2. The presence of high concentration of phenol has been observed in the effluent samples. The total sixteen bacterial isolates as obtained were checked for growth on minimal salt medium amended with different concentrations of phenol by flask culture technique. In the present study, the two isolate species of SP-4 and SP-8 were found to be very tolerant to degrade a phenol concentration up to 1800 mg/L.

To clarify the socioeconomic factors influencing global paper and paperboard demand, a panel data analysis was conducted covering the period 1961–2014. This study used paper and paperboard demand as the dependent variable, and a country’s economic level, Internet usage rate, plastic packaging demand, and time trend as the explanatory variables. An inverse U-shaped quadratic relationship, such as an environmental Kuznets curve, was found between economic level and paper and paperboard demand, which saturates and begins to decline as economic level increases. The economic level representing the turning point differs significantly with the use, ranging from around 37,000 US$/person for newsprint paper to around 66,000 US$/person for printing and writing paper. For both newsprint paper and printing and writing paper, demand declines owing to the spread of the Internet as the economic level rises, although this reductive effect is greater for printing and writing paper than for newsprint paper. A substitution relationship is not found between wrapping paper and corrugated cardboard on the one hand and plastic packaging on the other hand as the economic level becomes higher.

Thermostable cellulases have wide variety of applications and distinctive advantages, but their low titer becomes the hurdle in their commercialization. In the present work, an assessment of optimum levels of significant factors (temperature, moisture ratio, inoculum size, and ammonium sulfate) and the effect of their interactions on production of thermostable CMCase, FPase, and β-glucosidase by Thermoascus aurantiacus RCKK under solid-state fermentation (SSF) was carried out using central composite design (CCD) of response surface methodology (RSM). The study revealed 33, 13, and 8 % improvement in FPase, CMCase, and β-glucosidase production, respectively. Moreover, crude cellulase from T. aurantiacus RCKK efficiently hydrolyzed office waste paper, algal pulp (Gracillaria verulosa), and biologically treated wheat straw at 60 °C with sugar release of about 830 mg/ml, 285 mg/g, and 260 mg/g of the substrate, respectively. The thermostable enzyme from T. aurantiacus RCKK holds potential to be used in biofuel industry.

The paper industry is heavily using energy during all the phases of the manufacturing process. This is especially the case in Nordic mills where pressure ground wood is the source of fiber. The purpose of this case study is to show how energy consumption behaves on a monthly basis in a Finnish paper mill that has several paper machine lines. The research examines different categories of energy usage, as well as the overall costs. The results show that the monthly energy usage varies significantly. The electricity consumption of the case mill is rather steady, but there is significant monthly variation in steam and natural gas consumption. Moreover, steam and electricity unit costs increased significantly when coming to the end of the research period. The longitudinal case data shows that it is difficult to enhance energy consumption per produced unit at the paper mill. One reason for this is the bleak demand outlook for the end products, which often result in downsizing and closing operations inside the integrated unit.

Pulp and paper industries face serious environmental challenges, especially with regard to the conservation of water resources. Chemical thermal mechanical pulping (CTMP) is a process of pulping that combines chemical and mechanical pulping. This reduces the volume of water used in the process. But on the other hand, CTMP generates an effluent with high concentration of organic matter and is difficult to treat. This study evaluated the efficiency in the combination of physicochemical pretreatment by coagulation-flocculation-sedimentation (CFS) process and advanced oxidation process (AOP) by Fenton in sequence to treat CTMP effluent of a Brazilian industry. At first, the best treatment conditions for this type of effluent were determined. To evaluate the efficiency, pH, chemical oxygen demand, biochemical oxygen demand, total organic carbon, lignin contents, color, total phenolic contents, turbidity, and solids were measured before and after treatment. The acute toxicity on Daphnia magna was also determined. The treatment with CFS showed better results in the removal of solids and Fenton in the removal of recalcitrant compounds, such as lignin, demonstrating the need to use them in sequence. Combining CFS and Fenton to treat CTMP effluent allowed to achieve a removal efficiency of 95% for TOC, 61% for COD, and 76% for lignin contents.

We synthesized a flexible lithium-ion battery (LIB) anode with a flower-like CuCo2O4 nanostructure grown on the surface of conductively-treated filter paper. The filter paper, made of cotton fibers, has good flexibility, but its poor conductivity limits its application in flexible electrodes. An Ni coating by magnetron sputtering can significantly improve its conductivity, which enables it to be used as a substrate for flexible electrodes. The flower-like CuCo2O4 nanostructure is assembled from CuCo2O4 nanowires with a diameter of 50 nm, while the CuCo2O4 nanowires are assembled from CuCo2O4 nanoparticles with a size of 10–20 nm. The gap between the stacked CuCo2O4 nanoparticles causes the porous structure of the CuCo2O4 nanowires. The high theoretical capacity of CuCo2O4, the porous structure of the CuCo2O4 nanowires, and the tiny CuCo2O4 nanoparticles lead to the excellent electrochemical performance of the CuCo2O4 flower-like nanostructure. It maintains capacity very well during cycling and delivers a high capacity of 989 mAh g−1 at a current density of 100 mA g−1. As a flexible LIB anode, the composite with the flower-like CuCo2O4 nanostructure grown on the surface of conductively-treated filter paper delivers a stable capacity of 544 mAh g−1 at a current density of 100 mA g−1 and a capacity of 304 mAh g−1 at a high current density of 2000 mA g−1. The conductively-treated filter paper substrate can significantly improve the battery property of the hydrothermally-fabricated CuCo2O4.

Sixty fungal cultures were isolated from agricultural soil, industrial soil, forest canopy soil having decomposed leaf litter and compost samples collected from different regions of India. Fifteen fungal cultures were selected qualitatively for the production of xylanase and cellulases and were identified employing ITS, NS and MNS primers. The enzyme cocktail consisting of 3811 IU g(-1) of xylanase and 9.9 IU g(-1) of cellulase from Trichoderma longibrachiatum MDU-6 was selected quantitatively for the deinking of diverse paper wastes. The enzyme production increased two fold when produced at tray level in comparison with flasks. The enzyme cocktail was effective in the deinking of old newspaper samples with significant removal of chromophores, phenolics and hydrophobic compounds and less sugar loss. While in case of examination papers and laser printed papers, ink removal was not very significant. Moreover, the sugar loss was significantly high in case of examination papers. The deinking results were further confirmed with FTIR analysis. Deinked newspaper pulp sample shows brightness of 52%, which was 9.6% high than its control sample. The ERIC value for deinked newspaper pulp was found to be 655.9 ppm. Thereafter, the deinked newspaper pulp was examined under light microscope after differential staining with safranin and malachite green and also examined under scanning and transmission electron microscope, which revealed fibrillation and perforation.

The generation of waste by the paper industry has attracted great attention over the last decades among other reasons because the demand for recycled waste paper has considerably increased. As the paper industry is closely intertwined to the rest of industries in the production system, its activity exerts both a direct and indirect influence on the volume of waste generated by its supplier industries. The purpose of this study is to shed some light on the evolution of the volume of waste generated by the suppliers of the Spanish paper industry over the period 2005–2010 using an Economic Input–Output Life Cycle Assessment Model. In particular we focus on the evolution of the volume of waste generated by firms of the own paper industry. We employ data from different waste surveys conducted by the Spanish National Statistics Institute and input–output tables extracted from the World Input–Output Database. The results obtained show that the waste generated by suppliers amounted to 1250 thousand tonnes in 2010, an important volume if we take into account that the waste generated by the paper industry in 2010 amounted to 1739 thousand tonnes. The analysis of the evolution of the waste generated by suppliers reveals that there is a high degree of concentration, both in terms of industries and in terms of waste categories. In addition, the decrease in the volume of waste generated by supplier firms within the own paper industry reflects not only the growing importance of recycled paper as raw material for paper-making but also the important investments in technology made by this industry in Spain.

In this study pre-treatment of pulp and paper mill sludge was investigated to enhance the energy recovery by anaerobic digestion. Two approaches were followed using hydrolytic enzymes or microbiological treatment at 30 °C. In the first attempt, anaerobic digestion of the whole sludge, no significant improvement of the methane production potential was found. In the second test series only the liquid phase after pre-treatment and solids separation was anaerobically degraded. This option provided up to ten times increased methane production compared to the untreated sample. Sludge mass reduction between 6 and 13 % was achieved after pre-treatment. Moreover this concept can be easily integrated in the established wastewater treatment scheme utilizing an existing upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor.

The economic benefits of the paper industry made it one of the most important industrial sectors in the world. This review will focus on the recent development of nanotechnology, in the context of additives used in the paper industry. Nanotechnology is used to alter the production process based on the changes towards resource-based and industrial knowledge, prompting the changes in a similar direction, with much greater emphasis on stability. Nanofiber, nanofiller, nanocomposites, and nanoscale chemicals used in paper applications forms the crux of the work. The application and production of nano-additives to the paper industry have attracted the attention of scientists and researchers, due to the resulting profound improvement to the properties of the produced papers, encompassing mechanical, printability, glossiness, and gas barrier properties. The purported benefits of nano-additives are numerous, among them high surface area, strength, and low weight, high stiffness, and maintained sustainability. However, the integration of nanotechnology in the paper industry could not be up-scaled or commercialized, due to a few challenges, which are increased cost, lack of compatibility among materials, and knowledge gap.

Compared with wood pulp, straw pulp and papermaking, because of lower cost and abundancy of raw material, has become an indispensable approach in paper industry of China. However, its further application is limited by huge water consumption and wastewater discharge. By employing substance flow analysis, this study built up an optimization model and a performance evaluation system of water saving for the water-use network of a straw pulp and paper enterprise, after identifying the problems in present water consumption. Accordingly, an optimization plan was proposed to combine man-made water circulation with natural water circulation system. Additionally, a contrast analysis between the present and optimized water use was conducted. At last, we applied the proposed optimization plan to one of the most important and largest enterprises of straw pulp and paper industry in China as an illustration. Theoretically, water consumption could be reduced by 75.4 % without wastewater discharge after optimization.

There are thousands of pulp and paper mills worldwide. The utilization of the waste they produce is a problem of particular importance. Many methods have already been put forward for the management of the mixture of lime mud and cellulose fibre residues. The chemical nature of its management presents a challenge because it requires costly catalysts and long retention times or raises criticisms about its environmental impacts. Several techno-economic analyses (including various modifications to anaerobic fermentation; combustion; pyrolysis and composting) have been carried out on an almost commercial scale to holistically assess the wide portfolio of management issues. The data obtained indicate that it cannot be clearly concluded that one particular method is the best for dealing with all management issues. However, the conclusions do provide an insight into how processing technologies can be adapted in specific cases.

Purpose The aim of this work is to compare greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from producing tissue paper from virgin pulp (VP) or recycled waste paper (RWP). In doing so, the study aims to inform decision makers at both company and national levels which are the main causes of emissions and to suggest the actions required to reduce pollution.

In Iran, due to abundant restrictions on harvesting wood from northern forests by implementing the preservation project and also lack of possibility for sufficient wood production, development of the area of planting poplar is quite inevitable. Poplar wood properties have special importance to produce many wood production, particularly pulp and paper. Paper factories are the major consumers of poplar wood at the global level and this is because of unique morphological, physical, mechanical and technological properties of poplar wood. Therefore, regarding the importance of using this species in making various printing and writing paper, packaging or carton, cardboard and newsprint, in this study, costs of poplar production in one hectare including planting and harvesting were examined and determined. Then, based on conversion coefficients of FAO, required round wood, productivity and the cost of poplar wood were calculated for the producing various kinds of paper. The results indicate that carton and cardboard paper or packaging allocate the lowest cost and highest return, while printing and writing paper had highest cost and lowest return in terms of poplar wood supply needed for paper production.

This study evaluates the feasibility of incorporating reject fibres from paper recycling into wet process fibreboards as a partial replacement for virgin wood fibres. The rejects were obtained from newspaper and magazine paper recycling in the form of sludges. Three sludges were obtained from the process steps: coarse screening, fine screening, and flotation. Fibre size and inorganic contents of these fibres are presented. Incorporating rejects into a single layer panel has a negative impact on the visual appearance of the panels. Therefore, a method of making multi-layer fibreboards which permits the inclusion of rejects in the core layer was developed. The board performances were assessed according to EN 310, EN 317 and EN 319. The results indicate that the quantity of rejects incorporated into the panels must be limited. The maximum amount of the rejects, which do not significantly affect board performance, is estimated to be 10 %.

Biotechnological processes have the potential to reduce environmental pollution through their application in processes aimed at resolving waste dumping problems. In this study, Bacillus cereus was assessed for its efficiency to decolorize pulp and paper industrial effluents. The impact of carbon source, nitrogen source, temperature, initial pH and incubation period on color reduction was also studied. The optimum pH and temperature were found to be 6.5 and 45 °C, respectively. B. cereus was efficient at decolorizing the effluents in the presence of glucose, xylose and starch (84, 45.5 and 66 %, respectively), but maximum color reduction (90.6 %) was obtained with 0.5 % sucrose as the carbon source in the presence of 1 % ammonium sulphate. The substantially high load of chemical oxygen demand and biological oxygen demand was decreased by about 61 and 66 %, respectively, by B. cereus. The molecular size distribution studies of control and bacterial-treated effluent samples revealed the degradation of high and medium molecular mass compounds. The results demonstrate the high potential of B. cereus as a significant candidate for color removal from pulp and paper mill effluents.

Looking at the past, among the main modalities of transmission of knowledge (alongside with manuscripts and printed treatises and with respect to the various ‘precepts’) we would have found also various professional figures. This is even truer with regard to the training and dissemination of knowledge among military engineers, who used to be real ‘living vehicles’ in national and international cultural systems. This is also true for what concern that circumscribed set of knowledge of geometrical-mathematical theories, including their application to the codes of architectural Representation and Design. This research aims to investigate the example of the military engineer Gaspare Beretta (Milan 1620–1703), whose theoretical production both on architectural graphic and on various applications of Geometry is still unpublished. With the aim of developing the relationship between geometry, architecture and the transmission of knowledge, we will go through his practices of the regular fortress tracing on ‘paper and ground’, in order to verify the resulting connections between geometric reconstruction and Author’s intentions.

This study is aimed at assessing the biobleaching activity of fungal xylanase on paper pulp isolated from Tirumala forest, Eastern Ghats of India. Of the 98 fungal isolates obtained after initial screening, eight isolates were selected and one potential strain was further cultivated under submerged fermentation for production of xylanase. The biobleaching efficiency on waste paper pulp and paper industry effluent was tested with crude enzyme. Xylanolytic activity by the chosen organism in submerged fermentation reached the maximum (981.1 U ml−1) on the 5th day of incubation. Molecular characterisation of the isolate led to its identification as Trichoderma asperellum which exhibited the production of enzyme even at alkaline pH of the culture medium. Xylanase pretreatment of paper pulp had shown reduction in the Kappa number by 4.2 points and increased brightness by 4.0 points. FTIR and SEM studies revealed loosening of pulp fibres after enzyme treatment. In conclusion, xylanase of Trichoderma asperellum was effective as a pulp biobleaching agent and the process is economical as well as eco-friendly.

Based on in situ generation of CdS quantum dots (QDs) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) enhancement between CdS QDs and Ag nanoparticles (NPs), an innovative paper-supported photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensing platform was constructed for real-time intracellular H2S detection. SiO2 shell was coated on the Ag NPs to improve the stability of Ag NPs. H2S was used to trigger the formation of CdS QDs, thereby inducing an improvement of photocurrent response. CdS QDs grown on the Ag@SiO2 core–shell NPs worked efficiently to absorb visible light. The resulting CdS QDs–Ag@SiO2 core–shell NPs exhibit improved PEC behavior, which was attributed to the surface plasmon-resonance effect of Ag NPs. Meanwhile, the separation of cell binding from the photoelectrode would eliminate the commonly existing affection during the biorecognition processes. This novel SPR-enhanced PEC sensing platform not only achieved satisfactory analysis results toward H2S, but also showed excellent sensitivity, selectivity, low cost, and portable features. The strategy of the SPR through the in situ generation of semiconductor nanoparticles on the surface of noble metal semiconductor paves way for the improvements of PEC analytical performance.

The effects of alkali-enhanced microwave (MW; 50-175 °C) and ultrasonic (US) (0.75 W/mL, 15-60 min) pretreatments, on solubilisation and subsequent anaerobic digestion efficiency of pulp and paper mill waste-activated sludge, were investigated. Improvements in total chemical oxygen demand and volatile suspended solids (VSS) solubilisation were limited to 33 and 39 % in MW pretreatment only (175 °C). It reached 78 and 66 % in combined MW-alkali pretreatment (pH 12 + 175 °C), respectively. Similarly, chemical oxygen demand and VSS solubilisation were 58 and 37 % in US pretreatment alone (60 min) and it improved by 66 and 49 % after US-alkali pretreatment (pH 12 + 60 min), respectively. The biogas yield for US 60 min-alkali (pH 12)-pretreated sludge was significantly improved by 47 and 20 % over the control and US 60 reactors, respectively. The biogas generation for MW (150 °C)-alkali (pH 12)-pretreated sludge was only 6.3 % higher than control; however, it was 8.3 % lower than the MW (150 °C) reactor, which was due to the inhibition of anaerobic activity under harsh thermal-alkali treatment condition.

Pulp and paper mills generate varieties of pollutants depending upon type of the pulping process being used. This paper presents the characteristics of wastewater from South India Paper Mill, Karnataka, India which is using recycled waste paper as a raw material. The raw wastewater consists of 80-90 mg L( - 1) suspended solid and 1,010-1,015 mg L( - 1) dissolved solid. However, pH varied from 5.5-6.8. The biochemical oxygen demand and chemical oxygen demand ranged from 200-210 and 1,120-1,160 mg L( - 1), respectively. Aerobic treatment of raw effluent attribute to significant reduction in suspended solid (range between 25 to 30 mg L( - 1)) and total dissolved solid (range between 360 to 390 mg L( - 1)). However, pH, temperature, and electrical conductivity were found superior after treatment. Copper, cadmium, iron, lead, nickel, and zinc were found in less quantity in raw effluent and were almost completely removed after treatment. The dendrogram of the effluent quality parameters clearly indicate that South India Paper Mill does not meet Minimal National Standard set by central Pollution Control Board to discharge in agricultural field.

Xylanases are hydrolytic enzymes which cleave the β-1, 4 backbone of the complex plant cell wall polysaccharide xylan. Xylan is the major hemicellulosic constituent found in soft and hard food. It is the next most abundant renewable polysaccharide after cellulose. Xylanases and associated debranching enzymes produced by a variety of microorganisms including bacteria, actinomycetes, yeast and fungi bring hydrolysis of hemicelluloses. Despite thorough knowledge of microbial xylanolytic systems, further studies are required to achieve a complete understanding of the mechanism of xylan degradation by xylanases produced by microorganisms and their promising use in pulp biobleaching. Cellulase-free xylanases are important in pulp biobleaching as alternatives to the use of toxic chlorinated compounds because of the environmental hazards and diseases caused by the release of the adsorbable organic halogens. In this review, we have focused on the studies of structural composition of xylan in plants, their classification, sources of xylanases, extremophilic xylanases, modes of fermentation for the production of xylanases, factors affecting xylanase production, statistical approaches such as Plackett Burman, Response Surface Methodology to enhance xylanase production, purification, characterization, molecular cloning and expression. Besides this, review has focused on the microbial enzyme complex involved in the complete breakdown of xylan and the studies on xylanase regulation and their potential industrial applications with special reference to pulp biobleaching, which is directly related to increasing pulp brightness and reduction in environmental pollution.

The Swedish pulp and paper industry accounts for half of industrial final energy use in Sweden and 2.3 % in EU-27. On the basis of a disaggregated set of physical production data, a Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index decomposition method is applied to disentangle the influence from activity, structure and energy efficiency improvement (EEI) on its fuel, electricity and primary energy use. An extended analysis tracks the fossil energy use and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to discern past and present developments of industrial decarbonisation. In 1984–2011, the total production output increased by 49 %, whereas growth in primary energy use was limited to 26 %. Compared with an activity-based scenario, 50 PJ of primary energy use has been avoided through EEI and 6 PJ through structural change. The production has become oriented towards more electricity-intensive but less fuel-intensive segments. The electricity use EEI was negligible until year 2000 but sizeable thereafter as it started to outpace the counteracting impact from structural change. Results are consistent with previous bottom-up evaluations, and the policy context is further elaborated in a discussion about the role of relevant energy and climate policies in facilitating the enhanced EEI observed over the last decade.

Microbial communities play a vital role in maintaining soil health. A multiphasic approach to assess the effect of pulp and paper mill effluent on both the structure and function of microbial soil communities is taken. Bacterial communities from agricultural soils irrigated with pulp and paper mill effluent were compared to communities form soils irrigated with well water. Samples were taken from fields in the state of Uttarakhand, India, where pulp and paper mill effluent has been used for irrigation for over 25 years. Comparisons of bacterial community structure were conducted using sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene from both isolates and clone libraries attained from the soil. Community-level physiological profiling was used to characterize the functional diversity and catabolic profile of the bacterial communities. The multiphasic approach using both physiological and molecular techniques proved to be a powerful tool in evaluating the soil bacterial community population and population differences therein. A significant and consistent difference in the population structure and function was found for the bacterial communities from soil irrigated with effluent in comparison to fields irrigated with well water. The diversity index parameters indicated that the microbial community in pulp and paper mill effluent irrigated fields were more diverse in both structure and function. This suggests that the pulp and paper mill effluent is not having a negative effect on the soil microbial community, but in fact may have a positive influence. In terms of soil health, this finding supports the continued use of pulp and paper mill effluent for irrigation. This is however only one aspect of soil health which was evaluated. Further studies on soil resistance and robustness could be undertaken to holistically evaluate soil health in this situation.

Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit. is native to Central America and Mexico, but now grows naturally in most tropical areas globally. It is a neglected and underutilized; medium to small sized tree of multiple values. It is commonly known as wild tamarind in English and subabul in Hindi. In recent years, Leucaena has gained a great attention for its utilization as raw material on large scale for pulp and paper industries and manufacturing of packaging material. Present paper deals with distribution, morphological description, current utilization, future prospective and propagation of this species. During the present study we have standardized macro-propagation technique for L. leucocephala. We used fly ash amended sand to develop rooting media for vegetative propagation of L. leucocephala and assess its potential as a rooting media. Root formation was significantly high (p

The goal was to determine dissolution potency of betulinol and wood sterols (WSs) from pulp and paper mill-contaminated sediments and the current stratification for assessment the load due to potential erosion in the river-like watercourse. Both compounds are wood extractives, which may be toxic to benthos and fish. This research continues a study in which other wood extractives, resin acids and their derivative, retene, were analysed. Sediments were collected from 1, 3.5, 12, 15, and 33 km downstream from the pulp and paper mills, and from 2 upstream reference sites. The dissolution potency into sediment-water elutriates (1 + 4 v/v) was studied by two agitation times and temperatures. The vertical amounts of extractives were determined from the uppermost 20 cm of sediment. The amounts of extractives potentially released were estimated from the sediment layers 0-2 and 2-5 cm by using spatial interpolation. According to the interpolation, the total amount of betulinol and β-sitosterol was calculated as kg/ha in the whole sediment area. Significant concentrations of betulinol (1,666 μg/g, dw) and WSs (2,886 μg/g, dw) were measured from the sediments. According spatial interpolation, the highest calculated amount of betulinol (4,726 kg/ha) and that of the most abundant WS, β-sitosterol (3,571 kg/ha), were in the lake where the effluents were discharged. In the dissolution experiment, the highest concentration of betulinol in sediment (0-10 cm) and elutriate was 412 μg/g (dw) and 165 μg/l, respectively. For WSs, concentrations were 768 μg/g (dw) in sediment and 273 μg/l in elutriate. In a worst-case scenario, betulinol may be desorbed to water in concentrations which are hazardous to aquatic animals. Instead WSs are not a risk in this study area. The amount of desorption varied depending on the concentration of contaminants in sediment, the nature of disturbance, and the sediment organic carbon content.

Hundreds of junk-science papers have been retracted from reputable journals after fraudsters used ‘special issues’ to manipulate the publication process. And the problem is growing. Hundreds of junk-science papers have been retracted from reputable journals after fraudsters used ‘special issues’ to manipulate the publication process. And the problem is growing.

The total demand for freight transport in Europe has increased significantly in recent decades, but most of it has been handled by road transport. To fulfil the modal shift targets set in the EU White Paper 2011, it will be necessary to double rail’s market share from today’s 18 %, by 2050. Translating this into reality means rail will have to handle 3 to 4 times the cargo volume it does today. With this in mind, the paper develops a vision of an efficient rail freight system in 2050. To achieve the above objective, the research applies literature survey and group discussion methodology and applying a system approach. Keeping on board the EU Transport White Paper 2011 modal shift targets, as well as future freight demand and customer requirements, the current research attempts to answer the following three critical questions: The authors find that the service quality can be improved by better planning, application of appropriate ICT-systems and adoption of an integrated supply chain approach. A more customer-orientated service can also be achieved by further deregulation of rail. There is also an urgent need for a faster implementation of Rail Freight Corridors (RFC). As well as liner trains, future rail freight services should be offering end-point trains, with semi/ fully automated loading/unloading equipment in hub-terminals, as well as terminals at sidings to improve the availability of intermodal operation. To offer a competitive price and reliable service, a reduction in operating costs will be vital by implementing a number of measures, including operation of heavier and longer trains, wider loading gauge, higher average speed, and better utilisation of wagon space and all assets. This will bring increased capacity, as well as better timetable planning, signalling systems and infrastructure improvements.

Wet oxidation (WO) is used to degrade persistent organic or inorganic impurities present in industrial wastewater. The process utilizes severe oxidation conditions (i.e., high temperature and pressures) to achieve the efficient degradation of pollutants. To obtain high degradation at lower operation conditions, catalytic WO process is being suggested. The wastewater generated from a pulp and paper mill contains several recalcitrant compounds like lignin, hemi-cellulose, phenols, sulfides etc. Therefore, pulp and paper mill effluent have low biodegradability and are not amenable for conventional biological process. With the implementation of stringent regulations, pulp and paper mill operators need a cleaner disposal route for the wastewater. In this mini-review, the results obtained from the recently published studies on WO treatment for pulp and paper mill effluent are compiled and presented. Finally, the recommendations for the future work are also given.

This paper builds on previous work by reviewing the key literature relating to the rise in co-authorship in economics and by presenting further new evidence on several features of co-authorship in articles in economic journals. The empirical analysis draws on around 175,000 articles in the top 255 journals, over the period 1996–2014. The rises in quarto-plus and cross-country co-authored papers are striking, as are the differences in citations per article and citations per author. There is evidence of an alphabetical ordering of authors as the standard in co-authored papers in top journals with no downward trend evident over time. A correlation between co-authorship and career stage is observed with young authors publishing significantly more solo-authored articles.

The environmental aspects of paper as a consumer good have been extensively studied. However, the paper machine has been mostly neglected in the literature. The purpose of this article is to present a LCA case study that explicitly focuses on the system of a newsprint paper machine and its environmental impacts and not on the system of the consumer good paper. The relevance of the paper machine as capital equipment is analyzed, and conclusions for the environmental improvement of paper machines are drawn based on identified hotspots. The article hereby answers the more general research questions of whether capital equipment has rightly been neglected in other studies regarding pulp and paper and which impact categories are important for analyzing the environmental burdens of a paper machine. The study has been executed in collaboration with Voith Paper, an original equipment manufacturer. Hence, in distinction to literature-based studies, primary data on the paper machine was available resulting in a high overall data quality. Based on the ISO 14040 (2006) and 14044 (2006) standards, this article pursues a cradle-to-grave approach for the paper machine. It assesses the environmental impacts in the impact categories defined by the ReCiPe impact assessment methodology. Different types of energy generation are examined in a scenario analysis with combined heat and power generation (CHP) as the baseline case. For interpretation, a normalization and a sectoral analysis are performed. The normalized results indicate fossil resource depletion and global warming as the most important impact categories. Global warming impacts are highly dependent on the energy processes and result to 432.7 kg CO2e per production of 1 t of paper for CHP and to 701.7 kg CO2e for EU25 grid mix. The sectoral analysis shows that the machinery's operations/use phase is clearly dominating most impact categories due to its long lifetime. An exception is the metal depletion, for which the materials and manufacturing processes are most important. These findings prove that for most categories, the operations/use phase of the paper machine is the most important life cycle stage. In systems focusing on the consumer good paper, it is therefore sufficient to model the operation of the paper machine, whereas the manufacturing, transport, and end-of-life processes regarding the paper machine equipment can be neglected, unless metal depletion is important to the study.

Information about disputable phenomenon of control processes in pulp and paper industry is limited and exclusive. The manuscript is concentrated in problems to optimize and control the production process. Online data of wood and paper companies of Mazandaran corresponding to 165 variables were available. Data series were normalized. The study steps include the following; liner regression or stepwise, genetic algorithm and neural network. Mean error and mean absolute percent errors of model tester were calculated. The number of effective variables in the bursting strength of printing paper and newsprint were 16 and 12, respectively. As the results of Gamma test shows, effective variables of printing paper have been as following: Optical-Additives & Stock, RPM-Fan Pump2 and P-Take off DOC P & Life 4. Also, newsprint variables of Machine Consistence-Additives & Stock and Stock Valve-Additives & Stock have been the most amounts of Gamma test scales. Newsprint variable of Level-Condensate Collection Tank and variables of printing and writing paper such as; Broke Tower Level-Broke Tower Level and 7-Calendr (zones pressures) can be kept constant.

Efficient waste paper recycling has a significant role in the sustainable environment. Recyclable waste paper as a fundamental ingredient of municipal solid wastes (MSWs) is indeed an “urban ore”. Waste papers are considered as the solid recovered fuel which is recovered from MSW. Recyclable waste papers are segregated into various grades to produce high-quality products. Moreover, sorted paper streams save energy, chemicals, and water, as well as reduce sludge and rejects. Information technology is widely integrated with the waste management industry into its operations such as recycling, reuse, segregating based on categories and so on. This review article focuses on the life cycle of waste paper and existing waste paper sorting techniques. In the paper industry, many types of sensors are used in different mechanical and optical waste paper sorting systems. Such sensors include lignin, gloss, stiffness, mid-infrared, infrared, and color sensors. In this review, also described the effectiveness of different waste paper sorting systems, and finally, recommended appropriate waste paper sorting techniques based on effectiveness and low-cost implementation.

Doctor blades are commonly used in paper machines to keep the surface of rollers clean. Due to higher demanding conditions, the requirements for doctor blades have steadily increased. The wear rates must remain low, while simultaneously their cleaning function has to be ensured. For this reason, the paper industry has developed a high degree of empirical knowledge concerning the cleaning of roller surfaces. However, up to now, no systematic approach has been successfully applied to optimize the cleaning performance of the doctor blade-roller tribosystem. This study presents an attempt to model the system based on the force equilibrium conditions at the blade tip between hydrodynamic and contact forces. The change of the blade geometry due to wear is also taken into account. By these means, a non-dimensional group involving the key parameters is obtained. This allows for a systematic improvement of the cleaning efficiency, by targeted changes of the process parameters.

Earthworms have been successfully used in the vermicomposting of different organic residues to produce vermicompost. Therefore, three different earthworm species Eisenia fetida, Eudrilus eugeniae, Perionyx excavates were utilized for the conversion of dewatered sludge (DS) of pulp and paper mill into stable compost. DS was mixed with saw dust (SD) in four different proportions such as (50:50, 60:40, 70:30 and 80:20). Stability analysis of compost was study by stability parameters i.e. C/N ratio, oxygen uptake rate, CO2 evolution and biodegradable organic matter. Compost stability studies revealed that the final compost became stable in all proportions with every earthworm species. However the substrate combination of DS and SD (70:30) proved to be the best mixture on an overall basis with earthworm species E. fetida.

Wastewaters from pulp and paper mills are highly toxic and around 250 xenobiotic compounds have been reported in the effluents. Tannic acid degrading bacterium, Enterobacter sp. was isolated from soil by tannic acid enrichment. This isolate was used for bioremediation of pulp and paper mill effluents. Parameters like temperature, agitation, inoculum size and treatment duration were optimized by using Qualiteck-4 software. Reduction in lignin 73% and colour up to 82% was also observed. Encouraging results were observed is reduction of COD, BOD with 16-h retention time in batch culture.

Background, aim, and scope Pulp and paper production is one of the most important Portuguese economic activities. Mostly based on eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus), nearly 70% of the pulp produced is exported, mainly to the European Union. The aim of this paper is to compare the environmental impacts of the production of Portuguese printing and writing paper based on eucalyptus with those from the production of paper from industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa).

A paper cup forming machine can produce a maximum of about 140 paper cups a minute. If the rate of production is increased to improve productivity, the contact force in the barrel cam increases, producing more vibration. Therefore, a method for reduction of cam vibration is needed. The profile of the barrel cam is optimized by using a multibody dynamics model. The objective of the optimization is to minimize the contact force that occurs between the rollers and the barrel cam. An experiment is carried out using the optimized barrel cam. The reduction of vibration at higher rates of production than the current rates validated the optimization.