US-Egypt Cooperative Research: Recovery of Sodium Hydroxide from Black Liquor Effluents of Paper Mill

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0317653CooperDescription: This award is to support a cooperative research project between Dr. Harrison Cooper, President, Bountiful Applied Research Corporation, Bountiful, Utah and Dr. El-Sayed Abdel-Aal, Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute (CMRDI), Helwan, Egypt. The PIs will pursue an investigation of a new lignin precipitation process based on adding water-soluble surface-active polymers into black liquor and acidifying the sample by adding phosphoric acid. The use of these polymers is likely to facilitate the separation of lignin from liquor by producing an easily separable coagulant. The PIs will consider defluorination of phosphoric acid enabling recovery of P-rich lignin material for use in animal feeds. Scope: The project will develop a method to treat black liquors and diminish toxic extractives thus making the residual liquor more amenable to biological treatment. High value by-products will be usable as soil amendments and fertilizers. Applications of the treatment and recovery process will improve pulp mill profitability. The ability to process non-wood black liquor can lead to utilization of fibers such as grass straw, kenaf and arundo donax in the United States of America. The potential of developing a process that economically matches small scale pulping operations in underdeveloped areas will greatly enhance regional economics and substantially reduce the environmental impact of these facilities. Dr. Abdel-Aal has a long experience in the lignin separation process, while Dr. Cooper has particular experience in the application of engineering processes into viable solutions to environmental problems. The two will be supported by advisors from the CMRDI and the University of Florida in the course of the project. This project is being supported under the US-Egypt Joint Fund Program, which provides grants to scientists and engineers in both countries to carry out these cooperative activities.