A Review of the Valorization of Paper Industry Wastes by Thermochemical Conversion

Abstract

The paper and pulp industry is the sixth largest consumer of energy in the U.K. Furthermore, the industry produces a significant amount of fibrous sludge and reject waste material, containing high amounts of useful energy. Currently the majority of these waste fractions are disposed of by landfill, land-spread, or incineration. These disposal methods not only present environmental problems but are also very costly. This review explores how paper industry wastes can be valorized into useful energy vectors via advanced thermal conversion routes, thus providing not only a solution for waste disposal but also a means of producing useful sustainable energy at paper mill sites. The scope of this work explores the application of advanced thermal conversion methods (gasification and pyrolysis) for the conversion of secondary fiber paper mill wastes into energy vectors. The order of the paper follows a specific structure. Initially, a detailed description is given concerning which wastes are generated from secondary fiber paper mills. This is followed by a brief review of the state of the art in waste management and energy systems currently used by paper mills. Then, a review on advanced thermal conversion pathways as a solution to the dual issue of waste management and energy generation for secondary fiber paper mills is given, including details regarding the feasibility of integrating them into the current mill infrastructure. Finally, a discussion of the challenges associated with the proposed conversion pathways is given.

Thermochemical conversion of agricultural wastes applying different reforming temperatures

“…Biofuels are considered one of the most efficient routes for reducing transportation emissions and dependence on fossil fuels [1,2]. Among many possibilities of biofuel production and supply, fuels from biomass are interesting because they can potentially lead to significantly reduced CO 2 emissions and additionally this option reduces the amount of biogenic wastes and residues entering landfill and incinerators [3,4]. Additionally, the use of agricultural waste such as sugarcane bagasse (SB) and oat hulls (OH) is advantageous for the biofuels sector because it does not compete with food production and land use to grow energy crops [5].…”

Ga/HZSM-5 Catalysed Acetic Acid Ketonisation for Upgrading of Biomass Pyrolysis Vapours

“…However, biomass-derived fuels are incompatible with existing distribution infrastructure and vehicle engines without (catalytic) upgrading to improve their physicochemical properties [2,3]. A range of thermochemical technologies exist for bio-oil production, including hydrothermal liquefaction [4,5] and pyrolysis [6,7], or gasification [8,9] and subsequent Fischer-Tropsch synthesis [10,11]. Pyrolysis routes have gained particular attention over the past 30 years, offering a high liquid (bio-oil) yield which can be used directly as a drop-in fuel, blended with conventional diesel, or as an efficient energy vector [12,13].…”

Effects of Hemicellulose on Recycling Performance of Paper Based on Sisal Fibers

“…Simply discarding it for natural degradation or incineration would cause a waste of biomass resources. Meanwhile, it was likely to cause environmental pollution and unexpected natural accidents, such as soil pollution and re disaster (Ouadi et al, 2019). Therefore, an environmentally friendly strategy to utilize waste paper and produce new recycled paper was of importance (Jeong et al, 2018).…”