Paper & printing industry

Demand for paper has recently accelerated and is expected to continue rising, driven by both population and economic growth.¹ But the manufacture of paper produces dust, smoke, fumes and gases that affect air quality, as well as a toxic byproduct known as black liquor and other waste materials. At the same time, the industry is highly competitive and even the slightest changes in performance can have a huge effect on the bottom line.  

In recent years, we at Topsoe have been working hard to help the paper industry convert the byproducts and waste materials into energy and other valuable products. Our emissions management solutions enable you to meet legislation and convert sulfurous off-gases into valuable sulfuric acid. And our chemical processing solutions enable you to upgrade waste, including black liquor, into fuels and a broader range of valuable chemicals, in a cost-efficient way.  

Sulfuric acid is used in various stages of paper production. Our sulfur solutions allow you to recover sulfur from off-gases as commercial-grade sulfuric acid, and this can then be re-used within the plant. Sulfuric acid production can also be increased to meet production targets by adding molten sulfur.   

Our catalytic oxidation technology offers an affordable path to compliance when it comes to Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). Traditional thermal oxidation involves burning large quantities of fossil fuels with little thermal energy recovered. On the other hand, our CATOX™ catalyst-based processes can remove 99+% of VOC pollutants at temperatures as low as 200–250°C, and with hardly any additional fuel costs. 

Black liquor is a by-product of the Kraft process for converting wood into pulp and then paper. Traditionally recovery boilers have been used to generate energy via steam from black liquor and to recover inorganic chemicals from the mix. However, using gasification, black liquor can be turned into syngas, which can then be converted into fuel.