Understanding pulp mills and the challenge of the black liquor excess: a practical approach

Abstract
Understanding pulp mills and the challenge of the black liquor excess: a practical approach Pulp and paper mills are extremely important in Europe, and in particular in Portugal. Our pulp companies are essential to strengthen the country’s gross domestic product and to generate direct and indirect jobs. In this presentation, I will use a simple approach to introduce the pulp mills and demonstrate the significance of this industrial activity. Then, the Kraft pulping process (the most employed in the world) will be presented and the challenges concerning the excess production of the black liquor will be discussed. An electrochemical solution for this problem, proposed by researchers from the electrochemistry group of CeFEMA will be presented and compared with other concurrent solutions currently available in the market.