Tall Oil Soap Recovery Abstract Introduction

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Tall Oil Soap Recovery Abstract Introduction Powered By Docstoc
					                                                                   The fatty acids are predominantly oleic and linoleic
Tall Oil Soap Recovery                                             acids with small quantities of linolenic, stearic and
                                                                   palmitic acid. The rosin acids are monocarboxylic
C. Douglas Foran                                                   diterpene acids having a general formula C20H30O2.
Arizona Chemical Company,                                          The predominant rosin acids are abietic and de-
Savannah, GA 31402                                                 hydroabietic acids, although numerous distinctive
E-mail: Doug.Foran@azchem.com                                      isomers occur. Both abietic and dehydroabietic acids
                                                                   contain three six-membered rings. Dehydroabietic
Abstract                                                           acid contains one unsaturated aromatic ring, and thus
This chapter describes what tall oil soap is and how               differs from abietic acid, which contains three
much should be recovered based upon the wood                       unsaturated rings. The neutral fraction, often called
supply and season of the year. It further describes                unsaponifiables, is a mixture of a variety of
the benefits of good soap recovery including                       substances including phytosterols, fatty and wax
improved evaporator and recovery boiler throughput                 alcohols, terpenes and hydrocarbons (3).
and reduced effluent toxicity. Process variables that              Table 4.3.1. Composition of crude tall oil (3).
affect soap solubility are discussed and related to
how pulping process changes affect where soap                                         South-         Northern    Scandinavia
separates. Soap removal during washing is discussed                                   eastern         USA &
as well as those variables that most affect soap                                         USA         Canada
skimming efficiency. Methods for improving soap                    Acid No. (1)        160 - 175     125-135         120-140
skimming efficiency and guidelines for soap                        Resin Acids %        35 - 45       25 - 35         20 - 30
handling equipment are also discussed. Factors                     Fatty Acids %        45 - 55       50 - 60         50 - 60
affecting soap liquor separation during storage and                Unsaps %              7 - 10       12- 18          18 - 24
handling prior to acidulation are also discussed.
Considerations affecting the recycle of tall oil plant             1.   Acid Number - The number of mil-equivalents
brine are presented.                                                    of potassium hydroxide required to neutralize
                                                                        one gram of tall oil (1)
What is Tall Oil Soap?                                             The extractives in black liquor are partially
The alkaline pulping of softwoods in the kraft                     solubilized and, as a result black liquor is a colloidal
process converts the resin acids and fatty acids in                system. The extractives may be in several different
wood to their sodium salts. Associated with the salts              states in black liquor, including true solution,
are neutral or unsaponifiable compounds. The salts                 micellar solution, liquid crystalline phases and,
and unsaponifiables separate from the spent cooking                eventually, neat soap. Most of these colloidal states
liquor as black liquor soap.                                       occur simultaneously and are in a sort of equilibrium
                                                                   with one another. The aggregative state of the soap
“Black liquor soap naturally separates from black                  depends on the concentration of the dispersed soap as
liquor at various points in the pulping process. The               well as on the salt content and solids content of the
soap separates as a lamellar liquid crystalline phase              liquor. Since the weak black liquor is concentrated
(1). It is this phase separated material that may be               in evaporators prior to combustion in the recovery
observed floating in pulp washer vats, at the surface              furnace, the black liquor colloid is continually
of filtrate and weak black liquor tanks, and in large              undergoing stresses. The stresses result from a
amounts at the foam tower and black liquor soap                    continual increase in solids content as the water is
skimmer. The black liquor soap skimmings are                       evaporated from the black liquor. As the water is
collected from various locations and are pooled                    removed, the salt content of the liquor increases,
together in a central holding tank where the                       causing a natural separation of any organics present.
skimmings are held prior to acidulation”(2).
                                                                   The fatty acid and rosin acid salts form micelles that
Black liquor soap skimmings consist of a mixture of                solubilize the neutral fraction of the extractives.
fatty and rosin acid salts, (i.e., anionic surfactants),           Micelle formation, which indicates the onset of phase
fatty and rosin acid esters, and neutral components.               separation, depends on a number of factors. These
Black liquor soap skimmings, being a natural                       include salt content, fatty to rosin acid ratio and
product, contain hundreds of different compounds.                  temperature. Generally, as the salt content increases,
The predominance of a given constituent varies with                the concentration of soap at which micelles form
tree species, pulping chemistry and genetic factors.

decreases; i.e., the soap is less soluble. The                   soap for the mills from various wood procurement
separation of the soap is dependent on many                      regions is as follows:
variables such as wood species, dissolved solids
content of the liquor, temperature and residual                  Table 4.3.4. Typical tall oil yields (3)
effective alkalinity. (3,4,5)
                                                                 Region                                             Tall Oil       Tall Oil
                                                                                                                kg /1000 kg OD lb./ODT Wood
How Much Tall Oil Soap Is Present and                                                                                Wood
Recoverable?                                                     Piedmont                                              24            48
The quantity of tall oil soap recovered by a given               Coastal                                               26            52
mill varies according to wood species, season of the             Canada                                                8.5           17
year, and wood storage practices. The quantity of tall           Southwestern                                         31.5           63
oil available in several southeastern wood species has           West of Cascades                                      7.5           15
been determined by solvent extraction (6). This                  Finland                                              19.5           39
method tends to overstate the true availability but is           Sweden                                                25            50
valid for assessing the different wood species by the
same method.                                                     Tall oil precursors in the wood vary seasonally. The
                                                                 seasonal variation in tall oil soap recovery is very
Table 4.3.2. Tall oil availability by species (6)                pronounced in southeastern U.S.mills. This is due to
                                                                 the warmer weather that promotes biological
Pine Species          Tall Oil          Tall Oil                 degradation during chip storage. Figure 4.3.1 shows
                  kg /1000 kg OD        lb./ODT                  the seasonal variation of tall oil soap availability
                       Wood                                      using data from two southeastern U.S. mills in the
Longleaf                43.5               87                    coastal plain..
Slash                   41.5               83
                                                                                                            Soap Recovery
Loblolly                35.5               71                                            52                                                     26
Shortleaf               34.5               69
                                                                                         51                                                     25.5
                                                                 Lb. CTO/ODT Pine Wood

                                                                                                                                                       kg CTO/ODt Pine Wood
Spruce                   31                62
                                                                                         50                                                     25

Tall oil soap recovery is usually somewhat lower                                         49                                                     24.5
than what is available in the wood due to wood                                           48                                                     24
storage practices process losses and differences in
                                                                                         47                                                     23.5
operating practices.
                                                                                         46                                                     23

Table 4.3.3. Tall Oil Recovery (7,8,9)                                                   45                                                     22.5
                                                                                              Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
                   Bleached Bleached Linerboard
                     Canada     S.E. US     S.E. US
                    kg CTO      kg CTO      kg CTO
                      /ADT       /ADT        /ADT                Figure 4.3.1 Soap recovery seasonal variation curve
CTO in Wood             27         61          59
                                                                 The type and duration of wood storage also affect tall
CTO lost on Pulp         4          6           9                oil soap recovery. Tall oil soap loss from wood
CTO lost to                                                      occurs very rapidly during the first two months of
 Sewers                  2          1           2                storage (10). Figure 4.3.2 shows that tall oil losses
CTO lost to                                                      can be 50 -65% after two months of storage. This
 Recovery                                                        loss is highly dependent upon the manner in which
Boilers                  9          8           5                the wood is stored. The tall oil soap loss is lower if
Recoverable                                                      the wood is stored as roundwood rather than when
CTO                     13         46          43                stored as chips.
Crude tall oil soap recovery is regularly reported by
the Pine Chemicals Association for its member
companies. Most members are located in the
southeastern U.S. The annual recovery of tall oil

                                   Impact of Storage Time on                                                                                                                       Impact of the Soap Content in Liquor
                                         Tall Oil Loss                                                                                                                               on the Evaporator Heat Transfer
                                                                                                                                                                                              Coefficient Loss

                                                                                                                Hours for 15% Lower 1st Effect U
                80%                                                                                                                                             26
Tall Oil Loss

                60%                                                                                                                                             22
                 0%                                                                                                                                             12
                                           Storage Time (weeks)                                                                                                        0                  0.5          1        1.5          2                                                                             2.5
                                                                                                                                                                                       Soap Evaporator Feed (% CTO of Liquor Solids)
                                   Outside Chips Roundwood Chips

                                                                                                                                                                                                              Pilot Plant                                Mill

Figure 4.3.2 Impact of storage time on tall oil loss
(10)                                                                                                   Figure 4.3.3 Impact of soap content in liquor on
                                                                                                       evaporator heat transfer efficiency expressed as the
                                                                                                       time for a 15% reduction in the heat transfer
Why Should the Tall Oil Soap Be                                                                        coefficient (14).
Tall oil soap should be recovered to:
                                                                                                               Heat Transfer Coefficient (of Initial Maximum)
                                                                                                                                                                                 Impact of Black Liquor Soap Content on
• Improve evaporator operation,                                                                                                                                                   Pilot Evaporator Overall Heat Transfer
• Reduce effluent toxicity,                                                                                                                                     110%

• Improve recovery boiler operation,                                                                                                                            100%

• Reduce loading on the recausticizers,                                                                                                                              90%

• Reduce accidents due to slips and falls                                                                                                                            80%
• It is a valuable byproduct of the alkaline pulping                                                                                                                 70%
Improve Evaporator Operation - In 1975, a study
(11) was done to define the nature and extent of                                                                                                                             0          3       6         9     12 15 18 21                                                  24         27          30     33
scaling problems in the alkaline pulping industry.                                                                                                                                                               Hours Running

Over 75% of the mills responding reported                                                                                                                              4.64% Soap Content 1.3% Soap Content 0.6% Soap Content
encountering one or more types of scales. The most
commonly encountered scales were calcium scales
                                                                                                       Figure 4.3.4 Impact of soap content in liquor on
and soluble Na2CO3-Na2SO4 scales. Others (12,13)
                                                                                                       evaporator heat transfer coefficient loss (14).
have shown that soap is a significant scale
component, particularly in soluble carbonate-sulfate                                                                                                                             Influence of Skimmer Outllet Residual
scales in evaporators and concentrators. Mill and                                                                                                                            on Evaporator Lost Time and Evaporation Rate
pilot plant studies (14) were done to clarify the                                                                                                  140                                                                                                                                                      340
                                                                                                       Evaporator Lost Time (Hours/Month)

importance of soap in evaporator scale formation and                                                                                               120
                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Evaporation Rate (MLb/Hr)

quantify its effect on scaling rates. The results are
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Evaporation Rate (t/Hr)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        740                                                 330

represented in Figures 3 and 4. Grace similarly                                                                                                                 80
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        720                                                 325

found that tall oil soap addition to black liquor                                                                                                                                                                                                       700                                                 320
increased calcium scaling by about 30% (11).                                                                                                                                                                                                            680                                                 315
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        660                                                 310


                                                                                                                                                                0                                                                                                                                            300
                                                                                                                                                                 0.4       0.6   0.8    1.0   1.2   1.4   1.6   1.8   2.0                                 0.4   0.6   0.8   1.0   1.2   1.4   1.6   1.8   2.0

                                                                                                                                                                           Skimmer Outlet Residual (%CTO of LIquor Solids)

                                                                                                       Figure 4.3.5 Influence of skimmer outlet residual on
                                                                                                       evaporator lost time and evaporation rate

                                                                                                       In Figure 4.3.5 and Table 4.3.5, the impact of poor
                                                                                                       soap recovery on a full scale LTV evaporator is
                                                                                                       demonstrated. It further validates the pilot studies.

                                                                  ... At B.C. Research, Vancouver, Canada studies
Table 4.3.5. Effect of tall oil skimming efficiency on            have provided specific toxic materials in effluent
evaporator performance                                            from a kraft mill that are acutely toxic to Coho
                      Good            Poor       Change           salmon (16). Soaps of resin acids contributed over
                    Skimming        Skimming                      80% of the toxicity of the effluent. Sodium salts of
                                                                  the unsaturated fatty acids accounted for the
Skimmer Residual         0.6           1.1         0.5            remaining toxicity.”
(%)                                                               Impact on Recover Boiler Capacity - Besides the
Downtime                 45            75          30             evaporator scaling impact, soap reduces the liquor
(hr./month)                                                       burning capacity of solids limited and steam-side
Evaporation Rate         323           315         -8             limited recovery boilers (17). In solids limited
(Mkg/hr)                                                          recovery boilers, a given mass of soap will displace
Production                                                        an equivalent mass of black liquor solids. In a steam-
(Tonnes)                                                          side limited boiler, a given mass of soap will
Unbleached             34500         32100        -2400           displace about twice the equivalent mass of black
Bleached               24700         23000        -1700           liquor solids (18). Pulping capacity will be directly
Evaporator Liquor Carryover
Soap carryover          contributes significantly to              It has been found (18,19) that the burning of soap,
evaporator liquor carryover and operational problems              even at low concentrations, increased total reduced
in the evaporator feed effects. This is particularly              sulfur (TRS) emissions. The boiler fouling rate was
true in the weak liquor effects in falling film                   also increased at a given liquor firing rate. Kubes
evaporators. The liquor carryover is essentially that             (20) has shown that a connection may also exist
of a foam. Several observations about this foam:                  between liquor soap content and the occurrence of
1. The foam is generated shortly after liquor                     blackouts in kraft recovery boilers.
     boiling begins to occur.                                     Furthermore, soap that accumulates in heavy liquor
2. The foam contains water vapor and some TRS.                    storage tanks generally does not form a well defined
3. Foam liquor carryover will occur if the height of              bed. As a result, it tends to be fed to the recovery
     a column of foam is taller than the height of the            boiler in “slugs”. To prevent black outs, operators
     vapor space in the evaporator.                               are forced to increase the primary air supply. This
                                                                  results in more oxidation of the bed and lower
     Foam Height =Vol. Evap. Rate*Avg.Bubble Life                 reduction efficiencies. In one mill that improved its
                           Foam Column Area                       soap recovery from 20 to 35 lb. crude tall oil/1000 lb.
4.   The volumetric evaporation rate increases at the             black liquor solids, reduction efficiencies increased
     lowest pressure effects in the multiple effect               from about 84% to about 92%, in addition to the
     evaporator.                                                  anticipated 10% improvement in evaporator
5.   The average bubble life is increased by lower                throughput. They also experienced improved green
     temperatures and increased soap content.                     liquor clarification.
6.   The foam column area is fixed by the evaporator
     dimensions.                                                  Reduced Loading on Recausticizers - If a mill is
7.   Removal of the soap prior to evaporation will                recaustixization limited, soap represents a larger
     dramatically reduce the average bubble life and              causticization load/ton of solids fired in the recovery
     reduce liquor carryover permitting increased                 boiler than do black liquor solids. This is because
     evaporator throughput.                                       soap burns to sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), whereas
                                                                  black liquor solids burn / reduce to a mixture of
Reduce Effluent Toxicity - Drew and Propst (3)                    sodium carbonate and sodium sulfide (Na2S). The
summarized the findings of several extensive studies              sodium sulfide does not require causticization after
of southern kraft mills, northwestern mills and                   dissolution in the green liquor.
Canadian mills. “As early as 1931, it was recognized
that resins and resin acids present in the waste
streams of kraft mills were the cause of fish kills and
resin-like taste to fish. Later it was shown that the             Soap Removal Methods
sodium soaps of the resin acids were the primary
cause of the toxicity. The resin acids had little                 Factors Affecting Soap Removal
toxicity relative to the soaps of these materials (15).

Drew and Propst (3) have prepared an excellent                                                            Mixed micelles, where the ratio of fatty to rosin acid
summary of the various laboratory and mill studies                                                        soaps is between 1:1 and 2:1, are more stable than
affecting the recovery of tall oil soap. Most of the                                                      micelles of either singular soap. Depending upon the
studies were conducted on southeastern U.S. mills.                                                        species of the woods being pulped, the ratios of fatty
A later study (4) on Canadian mills provided some                                                         acid to resin acid vary. Soaps containing a higher
clarification of several controversial effects such as                                                    ratio of fatty acids to resin acids showed lower
the impact of hardwood liquor.                                                                            solubility (4).
Liquor Solids and Temperature
                                                                                                                                                             Influence of Fatty Acid:Resin Acid Ratio on
Tall oil soap solubility in black liquor is highest in

                                                                                                          Min. Solubility (% CTO of Liquor Solids)
                                                                                                                                                           Tall Oil Solubility in Black Liquor@90 C (194 F)
weak black liquor. It reaches a minimum between 20                                                                                                   0.6
and 30% black liquor solids.             The minimum
solubility of the tall oil soap varied somewhat from
mill to mill (5) but was typically 7-15 lb. soap/ton of                                                                                              0.4

dry black liquor solids (3-8 kg. soap/tonne of dry                                                                                                   0.3
black liquor solids). The concentration of soap in
unskimmed softwood black liquor varies from 70-
110 lb. soap/ton of liquor solids ( 35 - 55 kg./tonne).                                                                                              0.1
                                                                                                                                                        0.5         1           1.5          2             2.5   3
                                                                                                                                                                     Fatty Acid/Resin Acid Ratio in Bl. Liq.
Micelle formation is independent of temperature
between 20°C and 80°C, but the soap becomes much                                                                                                                   HDWD-SWD Mixtures SWD Mill Liquors
more soluble at higher temperatures (2). The
temperature in the soap skimmer is normally fixed by
the operating temperature in the evaporator effect                                                        Figure 4.3.7 Relationship of fatty acid : resin acid
that feeds it. However, the advent of new pulping                                                         ratio to minimum soap solubility in black liquor (4).
and washing processes has tended to increase the
solids content of the liquor before evaporation. This                                                     A recent study using a newly developed analytical
has resulted in a greater tendency of the soap to                                                         procedure (1), has shown that the bulk of the fatty
separate in weak liquor storage tanks. The solubility                                                     acid component of the extractives is removed from
of tall oil soap as a function of both temperature and                                                    the black liquor during the recovery process. The
solids content is illustrated in Figure 4.3.6.                                                            rosin acid soaps are more soluble in the black liquor
                                                                                                          and make up the majority of the soaps that are
                                                      Soap Solubility                                     eventually burned in the recovery furnace. This
                                                                                                          conclusion leads one to think about which
Tall Oil % of Liquor Solids

                               3                                                                          component of the black liquor is really involved in
                              2.5                                                                         problems such as evaporator scaling, evaporator
                               2                                                                          fouling and recovery furnace blackouts due to
                              1.5                                                                         incomplete combustion of liquor solids.
                              0.5                                                                         Effect of the Residual Effective Alkali Content of
                               0                                                                          the Black Liquor
                                                   Black Liquor Total Solids (%)
                                                                                                          Residual effective alkali (REA) content of the black
                                                                                                          liquor has a marked effect on the minimum solubility
                                                     160 F 120 F    80 F
                                                     71 C 49 C      27 C
                                                                                                          of soap in black liquor (4).
                                                                                                          For good recovery it should be kept above 6 g/l in 17
                                                                                                          – 20% solids liquor or 2.9% Na2O on a dry black
Figure 4.3.6 Tall oil soap solubility as a function of                                                    liquor solids basis. The combined effect of lower
temperature and solids content                                                                            effective alkali content and fatty acid: resin acid ratio
                                                                                                          is illustrated in Figure 4.3.8.
Since black liquor viscosity increases rapidly as the
temperature decreases, it is unlikely that lower
evaporator skimmer temperatures would result in
increased skimming efficiency (2).

Composition of Tall Oil Soap

Soap Solubility (% CTO of Liquor Solids)     Effect of Residual Effective Alkali Content and                               soap was solubilized (4). This explanation would
                                         Fatty Acid:Resin Acid Ratio on Tall Oil Soap Solubility                           also account for much of the increase in solubility of
                                                 0.5                                                                       the NSSC-pine kraft liquor mixtures (21).
                                                                                                                           Overall Tall Oil Balance
                                                 0.3                                                                       The choice of tall oil soap recovery equipment is
                                                                                                                           dependent upon the type of process equipment. The
                                                 0.2                                                                       change from conventional batch digesters and
                                                                                                                           vacuum drum washers to cold blow digesters and
                                                         2      4          6         8         10      12                  diffusion, pressure drum or belt washers has
                                                               Residual Effective Alkali (g Na2O/l)                        dramatically altered where soap separates from the
                                                                    FA/RA = 5 FA/RA < 2                                    liquor. The increase in black liquor solids levels
                                                                                                                           before evaporation has resulted in greater soap
Figure 4.3.8 Effect of fatty acid : resin acid ratio and                                                                   separation in the weak liquor storage system.
effective alkali content to minimum soap solubility in
black liquor (4).                                                                                                          Table 4.3.6. Tall oil material balance (8,9)

                                                                                                                           Pulp Type :      Liner     Bleach      Liner
Hardwood - Softwood Liquor Blending
                                                                                                                                            board      Pulp       board
Observations on the influence of hardwood liquor                                                                           Digester :       Batch     Kamyr       Kamyr
blending have often been contradictory. First, a
distinction should be made between hardwood liquor                                                                         Washer :        Vacuum    Diffusion   Vacuum
                                                                                                                                            Drum                  Drum
resulting from the kraft process and that from the
                                                                                                                           Year :           1972       1985       1987
NSSC process. Gooding and Wilkinson (18) showed
that when hardwood liquor was blended with pine                                                                                            lb./ODT    lb./ODT    Lb./ODT
liquor from 0 - 25% on a solids basis, there was a                                                                         Tree              112         91
slight decrease in the residual tall oil soap content of                                                                   Chips to          75         74          63
the skimmed liquor. After 25% NSSC liquor solids,                                                                          Digester
the soap solubility increased sharply.                                                                                     Unwashed          74         70          57
With kraft hardwood liquor, up to about 50%, there                                                                         Filtrate                     63          46
was a slight decrease in the residual tall oil soap                                                                        Recirc.
content of the skimmed liquor (4). Above about 60%                                                                         Washer            12          7          8
kraft hardwood solids content, the solubility of the
                                                                                                                           Decker             8
tall oil soap appeared to increase rapidly (Figure
4.3.9).                                                                                                                    To Weak Liq.      62         67          52
                                                             Effect of Kraft Hardwood Solids                               Fr.Weak Liq.      60         21          31
Tall Oil, Soap Solubility (% of Liquor Solids)

                                                                 on Residual Pine Tall Oil                                 Tank
                                                 1.2                                                                       Fr. Evap.         12          9          7
                                                                                                                           To Rec. Boil.     11          9          7
                                                 0.8                                                                       Sewer              4          1          2
                                                 0.6                                                                       Weak Liquor        2         46          21
                                                                                                                           Evaporator        48         11          24
                                                 0.2                                                                       Soap
                                                    0%       20%       40%        60%            80%        100%
                                                                    Hardwood Liquor Solids
                                                                                                                           Heavy Liquor       2          0          0
                                                                         Mill A Mill B                                     Total Soap        51         58          45
                                                                                                                           Recovery         68%         78%        71%
Figure 4.3.9 Effect of hardwood liquor on soap
solubility at 194°F ( 90°C) (4)                                                                                             A comparison of soap balances around a batch
                                                                                                                           digester with 3 stages of vacuum washing, a
At high hardwood concentrations, the residual                                                                              continuous digester with an atmospheric diffusion
effective alkali level was reduced enough so that the

washer and a continuous digester with both in-                               study highlights the importance of removing the soap
digester high heat washing and a two stage vacuum                            foam before it has a chance to contaminate the next
drum washer appears in Table 4.3.5 above.                                    washing stage (see Figure 4.3.11).
                                                                             Table 4.3.7. Conventional drum washer
The first stage wash liquor in 1972 (9) had a
dissolved solids content of about 13 %. The Kamyr
                                                                             Drum                                 Dilution             Solids D.R.               Soap
liquor in the 1985 study (8) was about 17% dissolved
                                                                                                                  Factor                                         D.R.
solids. This resulted in a dramatic increase in weak
liquor soap recovery.                                                        First                                  1.8                      89%                 35%
                                                                             Second                                 2.3                      81%                  40%
In some recent batch cold blow systems, the                                  Third                                  2.3                      71%                 -72%
recirculation of soap saturated liquor presented                                                                               First Stage
significant operating difficulties. The soap separated                                                                 Solids and Soap Removal
much earlier in the washing process and produced                                                   1.5

                                                                             Displacement Ratio
large volumes of foam. Changes in the management                                                   1.0
of the liquor during heat recovery stages of the                                                   0.5
process dramatically reduced the soap recirculation.                                               0.0
The changes were dictated by soap solubility.                                                     (0.5)
Soap Removal During Washing                                                                               0.5   1.0       1.5       2.0       2.5      3.0       3.5       4.0   4.5
                                                                                                                                    Dilution Factor
Rotary Drum Washing                                                                                             Drum Wash. Solids Drum Wash. Soap Kamyr In-Dig.Solids
There is very little data on the removal of soap in the
                                                                                                                Kamyr In Dig.Soap Batch In Dig. Soap Batch In Dig Solids
washing process. A study of a three stage vacuum
drum washer was done in 1972 (9). It was designed
to determine the response relative to shower water                           Figure 4.3.11 First stage drum washer solids and
flow and temperature. No correlations could be                               soap removal.
found between tall oil soap recovery and wash water                          In-Digester Washing
flow rate or wash water temperature (see Figure 4.3.                         Kamyr™
10).                                                                         Probably the most common in-digester washing
                        Soap Removal By Stage On A Drum Washer               system is that employed in the high heat washing
                        1.20%                                                zone of the Kamyr™ digester. In this system, wash
                                                                             water from earlier stages is introduced at the bottom
                        1.00%                                                of the digester and passes upward, counter-current to
Pulp Tall Oil Content

                                                                             the pulp flow. The wash liquor is removed at the
                                                                             extraction screens. Contact of the hot cooking liquor
                        0.60%                                                with the relatively cool wash water quickly quenches
                                                                             the cooking reaction. Once again, there is very little
                        0.40%                                                data on soap removal during washing in this system.
                        0.20%                                                Table 4.3.8. Kamyr™ in-digester washing
                        0.00%                                                Stage           Dilution Solids Soap
                             Feed   1st Drum   2nd Drum   3rd Drum
                                                                                             Factor    D.R.     D.R.
Figure 4.3.10 Soap removal by stage on a drum                                In-Digester       1.7     97%      71%
washer                                                                       First Drum         3      99%      46%
The tall oil soap in the washed pulp from any stage                          Second Drum        3      64%      -10%
was directly proportional to the amount present in the
feed to that stage. The washer was more efficient at
                                                                             One unpublished report has studied soap washing at a
removing dissolved solids than removing tall oil
                                                                             dilution factor of 1.7. In this study, the in-digester
soap. In the later stages of washing, dissolved solids
                                                                             washer was effective at removing both dissolved
were removed, while the soap was not. The negative
                                                                             solids and soap. (see Table 4.3.8)
displacement ratios probably indicate that steady
state conditions had not been achieved (22). This

Pilot cooking studies have shown that at the                       Soap Removal from Weak Liquor
completion of the cook, most of the tall oil soap
remains in the cooked chips. About 10% of the soap                 Tanks
diffuses out of the chips into the cooking liquor.                 Soap removal from weak liquor before evaporation is
Therefore, the objective of the in-digester wash must              increasingly important.      As Table 4.3.5 above
be to provide time for the soap to migrate out of the              indicates, typically 40% - 80% of the soap recovered,
cooked chips. The wash liquor enters at about 190°F                can be precipitated and recovered in the weak liquor
(88° C) and 3-5% dissolved solids. At this point                   system.
essentially all of the soap is in solution. When the               Washer Filtrate Tanks
liquor is extracted from the digester, it is at 13-15%             Weak liquor soap removal begins in the washer
dissolved solids and 300-320°F (149-160° C). It is                 filtrate tanks. E.C. Cobb (25) has detailed the design
probable that the elevated temperatures permit the                 considerations for vacuum drum washers.:
soap to remain in solution.
                                                                   “As is shown in Figures 12 and 13, liquor and foam
Cold Blow Batch                                                    handling from the first stage of any multi-stage
Cold blow batch processes (23,24) have been                        washing system is the most important. Later stages
introduced to improve the energy efficiency of the                 cannot offset poor quality washing in the first stage
batch digestion process. Only unpublished data                     when using normal amounts of wash water.”
exists on the soap balance around such systems. This
data has shown that in-digester washing of batch                   “If the air bubbles in the filtrate are not allowed to
pulps is about as effective as in the Kamyr™                       rise to the surface continuously in each liquor tank,
digestion process with regard to dissolved solids                  the dissolved solids and soap will be recycled and
removal. However, soap removal is significantly less               washer performance will be decreased.
effective, even at higher dilution factors.(see Table
                                                                            Liquor Tank Baffle Arrangements for Varying Tank Diameters
Table 4.3.9. In-digester wash comparison                                                                                      10 ft. Typical
                                                                                                                                (3.0 m)
                  Dilution Solids     Soap
                  Factor      D.R.    D.R.
Kamyr               1.7       97%     71%
Cold Blow           2.7       84%      7%
                                                                              46 - 60 Ft. Diameter      31 - 45 Ft. Diameter Up to 30 ft.
Batch                                                                            (14 - 18.5 m)             (9.5 - 13.5 m)
                                                                                                                             (up to 9.0 m)

In the cold blow batch digester system, the cooked                                             Foam
chips are not in contact with the washer filtrate for as                                        Line              Decant weir for liquor
                                                                                                                  and soap removal to
                                                                      Foam           Foam
long a period of time as in the Kamyr™ in-digester                    Tank          Breaker                            foam tank

wash. The shorter contact time does not allow
enough time for the soap to diffuse from inside the                System

cooked chip mass, to the liquor outside the chip.
Furthermore when the dissolved solids content                                                  Soap & Liquor
                                                                                              Removal Trough
reaches its peak, the liquor temperature is about
                                                                      To Weak                                                                               Seal
200°F (93°C) as compared with over 300°F (89°C)                        Liquor                          Digester                                           Chamber
                                                                      Storage                          Fillback
in a typical Kamyr™ system. Thus much of the soap                                                                 Blow Tank
that might be removed is not in solution.                                                                                                      Filtrate

                                                                   Figure 4.3.12 Liquor tank baffling, first stage tank
                                                                   and foam tank plan view

                                                                   Figure 4.3.12 illustrates the roles of several critical
                                                                   elements of the filtrate tank / foam tower soap
                                                                   system. From the foam tank, the soapy high solids
                                                                   black liquor should be pumped continuously to the
                                                                   weak liquor storage tank, and should never be
                                                                   recycled into the washing system !”

The entrained air in the liquor is a critical element for                                                        elevations. The heaviest foam should be introduced
floating soap to the surface of washer filtrate tanks.                                                           at the lowest elevation to prevent sending strong first
The air bubbles increase the rise rate of the soap. In                                                           stage foam backward to the second or third stage
pressurized rotary drum filters, the filtrate tanks must                                                         filtrate tanks.”(25)
be sized to allow the soap to rise to the liquor surface
                                                                                                                 The liquor passing on to the evaporators overflows
without the flotation effect of large volumes of air.
                                                                                                                 from the filtrate tank to the foam tower. The
                    Breaker                                                                                      overflow channel to the foam tower not only allows
                                                                                                                 liquor to overflow, but also allows the densest
                                                                                                                 foam/soap in the filtrate tank to overflow to the foam
                                                                                                                 tower. It is critical that as the washer capacity is
         Liquor                                                Outlet                                            increased, the overflow line size must increase also.
         Return                                                                    Connections for D/P
                                    Slope =1 in 48
                                                                                    cell level control           This is illustrated in the following diagram from a
                                                                                                                 mill that dramatically increased washer capacity but
         Tank                                                                                                    did not increase the overflow line size. The
                                                                                                                 increased liquor height in the overflow line prevented
                              Slope =1 in 16
                                                                                     Liquor                      foam / soap overflow to the foam tower.
                               Soap & Liquor
                              Removal Trough

                                                                                                                 Liquor depth necessary
   To Weak Liquor                                                                                                to support 1800 gpm
      Storage                 Digester         Blow Tank     Vat                                                 over 196 " weir.
                              Fillback          Dilution   Dilution
                                                                                                                                                     Liquor depth necessary
                                                                                                                                                     to support 1800 gpm in
Figure 4.3.13 First stage liquor tank and foam tank                                                                                                  16.125 " channel.

                                                                                                                 Filtrate Tank Weir -
The air and foam released in the seal chamber and                                                                196 " Wide

collects on the surface of the liquor, fills the upper
                                                                                                                                                      Liquor depth necessary
portion of the filtrate tank. Some foams break down                                                                                                   to support 1800 gpm in
                                                                                                                                                      39 " channel.
by themselves, back into liquor, soap and air. All
rotary drum pulp washers continuously put air into
the drop legs. This air must be continuously vented
from the foam tank. The foam line slopes upward so
that as the foam breaks down while moving through                                                                Figure 4.3.14 - How increasing the overflow channel
the foam piping, the condensed liquor flows back                                                                 width increases the area for foam / soap removal
into its respective liquor tank. The liquor tank
system air (hot vapor) leaves the foam tank through                                                              Removal of soap accumulation can also occur in
mechanical foam breakers located on top of each                                                                  diffusion washer filtrate tanks. Such soap/foam
tank.”(25)                                                                                                       accumulations dramatically increase defoamer usage,
                                                                                                                 washed pulp sodium losses and bleaching chemical
 “Light foam carried with the vapor is readily broken                                                            costs. There have been anecdotal reports of such
down by mechanical foam breakers. The returned                                                                   accumulations in both softwood and hardwood
liquor from the foam breaker is brought back into the                                                            washing systems.
foam tank, above the liquor level, and discharged out
of the system. Foam-free vapor discharges from the                                                               Foam Breakers
foam breaker, through a large vent line. In the event                                                            The initial means of soap removal is by foam
of system overloading, some foam will discharge to                                                               breakers. These devices (see Figure 4.3.15) increase
the sewer. This could indicate the need for more                                                                 soap density from less than 0.5 up to 3 lb./gal. (0.06
foam breakers, incorrect foambreaker rotation, or                                                                up to 0.36 kg/l). It is best to send the broken foam
some plugged conditions ... Where odor abatement                                                                 and its associated liquor to a common collection
systems are used, the foam breaker may vent directly                                                             point for further densification. Recombining the
to such a system. However, care must be taken not to                                                             broken foam with the main liquor stream leads to
have auxiliary systems reduce foam breaking                                                                      soap fouling of operating equipment and re-
action!”(25)                                                                                                     entrainment in the liquor fed to the evaporators.
“Total washer system air must be released from each
tank via individual foam lines to the foam tank.
These lines should enter the foam tank at various

                                                                               Since tank levels vary considerably, another device
                                                                               that has been used with success for weak liquor
                                                                               skimming is the floating soap skimmer (8). The
                                                                               floating skimmer permits continuous soap recovery
                                                                               over a wide range of operating depths (see Figures 17
                                                                               and 18). The skimmer is a steel collector placed in a
                                                                               vessel whose buoyancy is adjusted so that it floats at
                                                                               the soap/liquor interface. The collector is connected
                                                                               to ten inch stainless steel piping by ball joints.
                                                                               Gauge board level indicators mounted on the side of
                                                                               the tank normally measure the skimmer level and the
      Foam Breaker, Courtesy         Foam Concentrator, Courtesy
  Ingersoll - Rand, IMPCO DIvision   A.H. Lundberg Associates, Inc.
                                                                               amount of soap.

Figure 4.3.15 Foam Breaker - Foam Concentrator                                 Normal practice has been to maintain a six to ten foot
                                                                               head of soap/foam above the skimmer to maximize
Weak Liquor Tank Soap Recovery                                                 soap density and minimize liquor entrainment. One
Manual Systems                                                                 mill uses pump pressure to detect when the soap /
In the weak liquor storage tanks, the soap that                                liquor interface has been reached. Due to the high
separates may be removed by withdrawal ports on                                viscosity of soap, the pump discharge pressure
the side of the storage tanks (see Figure 4.3.16).                             decreases sharply when liquor is being pumped. The
These removal ports should be at least 12 inches (30                           pressure sensor then automatically shuts off the
cm) in diameter. Determination of the soap/liquor                              pump. Other mills have used a proprietary viscosity
interface is usually done manually. Both thermal                               sensor. However, on balance, the automatic controls
conductivity and viscosity sensors have been used to                           for floating skimmers have required a great deal of
detect the soap /liquor interface successfully (26).                           attention, and have not fulfilled their promise.
Besides the significant amount of operator attention
the main disadvantage of manual collection systems                             The most successful applications pump soap for brief
is the risk of carrying over large volumes of liquor to                        periods of time, (10 -15 minutes), on a regular timed
the soap storage tanks. Tanks larger than bout 35 ft                           interval (2 – 4 hours). By keeping the collection
(10 m) diameter cannot usually beskimmed                                       funnel and internal pipe full of soap, the skimmer
effectively from a single outlet location as indicated                         remains submerged in the soap bed. If the pump is
in the upper two diagrams below. It is generally                               allowed to run continuously, the internal pipe
advantageous to have outlets at multiple elevations                            empties and the skimmers float on top of the soap
within the normal operating range of the liquor                                bed and try to pump air, requiring operator
storage tank. This is helpful since it is not necessary                        intervention.
to raise or lower the tank level to permit soap
removal.                                                                       SOAP COLLECTION SYSTEMWITH A FLOATING SOAP SKIMMER

                                                                                        WEAK LIQUOR                      LUNDBERG
                                                                                        STORAGE TANK                     SOAP
      Soap                                                                              WITH A FLOATING                  CONCENTRATOR


                                                                                        1,300,000 GAL
                                                                                                                           SOAP         STORAGE
                                                                                                                           LIQUOR       TANK
                                                                                                            EVAPORATOR                  150,000
                                                                                                                           REMOVAL      GAL
                                                                                                            SKIM TANK      TANK
                                       Common                                                               2.5
                                       Configurations for                                                   RETENTION

                                       Manual Weak                                LIQUOR
                                                                                  14% SOLIDS
                                                                                                          RETURN                          TO RAIL
                                                                                                                                          OR TRUCK
                                       Soap Skimming                           Figure 4.3.17 General equipment configuration for a
                                                                               mill with excellent weak liquor soap skimming
Figure 4.3.16 Common Configurations for Manual
Weak Liquor Soap Skimming

Automatic Systems - Floating Soap Skimmers

 Weak Liquor Soap Skimming Using a Floating Soap Skimmer              separation of the soap from solution was accelerated
                                                                      by the application of surfactants (27). The size of
                                                                      soap particles varies depending on the presence of
                                    Standpipe Height =
                                    Tank Height;                      organic surfactant, and perhaps on the type of
                                    Vented to Storage                 surfactant as well. Other microscopic examination
                                                                      indicates that a lamellar liquid crystalline phase is
                           LEVEL                                      present (28).
                                             Pump to soap
                                             storage using
                                             timers.                  Soap rises slowly, 3.5-25 ft./hr.(1.2-7.6 m/hr.). (29),
16% SOLIDS                                                            soap will not separate if it does not have enough time
Figure 4.3.18 Weak liquor skimming detail                             to reach the liquor surface. Soap particles will not
                                                                      reach the surface if their rise rate is slower than the
                                                                      liquor-settling rate, also called liquor downdraft or
Soap Removal From Evaporator                                          superficial liquor velocity. The superficial liquor
                                                                      velocity is defined as the skimmer volumetric feed
Soap Skimmers                                                         rate divided by the skimmer surface area.
Skimmer Design
Skimmer Efficiency Determination                                      Feed Rate          1000                                gpm          3780    lpm
The efficient operation of a soap skimmer is best                                        8021                                ft3/hr       227     m3/hr
determined by comparing the difference between the                    Skimmer Diameter     33                                ft            10     m
feed and discharge tall oil residual (PCA 24) with the                Skimmer Area        845                                ft2           79     m2
difference between the feed and the solubility limit.                 Superficial Liquor 9.5                                 ft/hr         2.9    m/hr
Placing the skimmer at the location where the                         Velocity
dissolved solids content is 25 - 30% is optimal. A
study (17) was done on a variety of Canadian soap                     The removal efficiency plotted against the skimmer
skimmers. The study observed wide variations in                       superficial velocity is essentially linear.    At a
soap removal efficiency. It was apparent from this                    superficial velocity of 3.3 ft./hr. (1m/hr.), the
study that simply having a large skimmer residence                    recovery efficiency was greater than 90% as expected
time was not sufficient to ensure high soap skimming                  from earlier studies (17).
                                                                                                      Effect of Superficial Liquor Velocity
                                                                                                         On Soap Skimmer Efficiency
Soap Particle Rise Rates and Liquor Downdraft                                              120%

                                                                      Skimmer Efficiency

The soap particles that form in the black liquor                                           80%
separate naturally from solution. The yield of soap                                        60%
from the process is directly proportional to velocity
at which the soap particles rise from the black liquor.
Stokes Law is often applied to estimate the
sedimentation rate of particles in a heterogeneous                                                0    1         2            3           4       5       6
                                                                                                              Superficial Liquor Velocity (mph)
                                                                                                           Canadian Mills Southeast US Mills

                V= DP (ρp - ρm)g / 18 μm
                                                                      Figure 4.3.19 Effect of superficial liquor velocity on
Where :                                                               soap skimmer efficiency
V             = Sedimentation or Rise Rate
DP            = Diameter of the particle
ρp            = Density of the particle
ρm            = Density of the medium
g             = Gravitational constant
μm            = Viscosity of the medium

The applicability of Stokes law for the case of
separation of soap from black liquor was verified and
rate constants were determined.        The rate of

                                                                                                        4.   The soap bed is thickest and most de-
     How Skimmer Dimensions Affect Skimmer Efficiency
                                                                                                             liquored as it overflows into the soap
           40 Ft.                                                                                            collection trough;
           12.2 m
                                                                                                        5.   The soap collection trough cannot overflow
                                                                                                             since it is at the same elevation as the rest of
  Residence time 155 min
                               33 Ft.
                                                        60 Ft.
                                                        18.3 m
                                                                                                             the soap skimmer;
 Superficial Liquor Velocity   10.1 m         Residence time 158 min                                    6.   Soap can easily be pumped away using
     13 fph (3.9 mph)                                                             15 Ft.
                                        Superficial Liquor Velocity :6 fph (1,7   4.6 m                      simple start/stop level control in the soap
                                                                                                             collection trough;
   Skimmer Efficiency 75%                     Skimmer Efficiency 90%
                                                                                                        7.   Skimmer liquor level control is easily
                 Skimmer Feed Rate 2000 gpm (7580 lpm)                                                       established either using a standpipe (see
Figure 4.3.20 How skimmer dimensions affect                                                                  below) or level control using a level
skimmer efficiency                                                                                           transmitter connected to an automatic
                                                                                                             control valve.
Traditionally residence time was used to specify
skimmer performance. However, as Figure 4.3.20                                                      The following diagram illustrates how a circular soap
demonstrates, for the same residence time, a taller                                                 skimmer should be arranged and baffled to achieve
skimmer will be less efficient because it has a higher                                              the same critical features of the rectangular soap
superficial liquor velocity than a larger diameter soap                                             skimmer.
skimmer of equal volume.
                                                                                                             Circular Soap Skimmer Layout
Skimmer Layout                                                                                                                            Liquor     Collection
Although very few soap skimmers are rectangular in                                                                              Soap
                                                                                                                                            In        Trough
shape, their layout embodies the most important                                                              Baffle
elements of skimmer design.
                Rectangular Soap Skimmer Layout                                                               Soap
                                                           Liquor In                                                      Soap Bed

                                             Soap Bed

 Liquor                                                                                                                                        Liquor
  Out                                                                                                                        Soap               Out
                                                                          Collection                Figure 4.3.22 Circular soap skimmer layout
                           Soap Scraper Blades                             Trough

                                                                                                    Skimmer Baffling
                                Soap Bed                                                            The superficial liquor velocity accounted for 90% of
                                                                                                    the variability in the data shown in Figure 4.3.19.
                                                                           Pump                     There are other factors including: liquor short-
                                                                                                    circuiting, soap/liquor interface location and the
Figure 4.3.21 Rectangular soap skimmer layout                                                       relative location of the skimmer feed and outlet.
                                                                                                    Adjustments to skimmer baffling have resulted in
With reference to Figure 4.3.21,In rectangular soap                                                 marked skimming efficiency improvement (30). In
skimmers:                                                                                           general, the baffling should be kept simple. The
    1. The feed liquor enters at one end an the                                                     more changes in liquor direction, the more turbulence
        discharge liquor exits at the opposite end,                                                 is generated. Increased turbulence decreases soap
        thus maximizing the isolation of the inlet                                                  removal (see also Figure 4.3.23). There are several
        from the outlet;                                                                            recommended baffling alternatives (3).
    2. The separated soap is pushed counter-                                                        Rectangular soap skimmers provide high efficiency
        current to the liquor flow;                                                                 as do circular soap skimmers with baffling that
    3. The soap bed depth is thinnest above the                                                     provides a serpentine path. Circular skimmers with
        liquor discharge;                                                                           spiral baffles (31)     have been very effective.
                                                                                                    However, spiral baffling is not recommended due to

“line-of-sight” considerations with respect to                                      in the level of 20 ft. diameter, evaporator body. For
confined space entry when maintenance or cleaning                                   this reason, the most stable skimmer level control is
is required. The liquor linear velocity (feed rate                                  achieved using an overflow standpipe with an
divided by channel area) should be greater than 2.4                                 adjustable weir. This device provides stable level
ft./hr. (0.73 m/hr.). Lower velocities result in                                    control and a means to control the liquor interface.
excessive solids settling in the skimmer.                                           However, it is important that the inner standpipe be
                                                                                    properly sized. If the inner standpipe is too small,
Skimmer Baffling to Prevent Soap ShortCircuiting                                    this will result in excessive hydraulic back pressure
                                                                                    that will interfere with the ability to build a soap
                             Liquor Path                     Liquor Path

                                                                                                                    Skimmer Solids              29%
                                                                                                                    Temperature                 90                Deg C
                                                                                                                    Soap Density                1.03              kg / l

             Baffling                       Good Baffling                                                           Skimmer Liquor Feed Impact on Soap Bed Depth &
 Soap                                                                                                                Time to Build Soap Bed - Standpipe Undersized
To Storage
  Soapy Liquor to                Soap Bed                                                                   50                                                            10000
  Skimmer                                                                                                   40                                                            8000

                                                                                                                                                                                   Time Needed

                                                                                                                                                                                     Soap Bed
                                                                                           Soap Bed

                                                                                                                                                                                      to Build


                                                                                                            30                 7848                                       6000
                                                         Liquor                                                                                                           5000
                                                                                                            20                                                            4000
                                                                                                                                                4749                      3000
                                                                                                            10                                           3784             2000
                                                                                                             0                                                       2413 0
                                                                                                             1000       1200          1400     1600         1800       2000
Figure 4.3.23 Skimmer baffling to prevent soap short                                                                          Evaporator Feed Rate (gpm)
                                                                                                                             Soap Bed Depth           Time to Build Bed

Skimmer Liquor Level Control
                                                                                                               Skimmer Liquor Feed Impact on Soap Bed Depth &
Another source of skimmer upset is varying liquor                                                           Time to Build Soap Bed -Standpipe 50% Diameter Increase
level (31). If the skimmer diameter is significantly
                                                                                                       50                                                                  10000
larger that the diameter of the evaporator body, small                                                                                                                     9000
                                                                                      Soap Bed Depth

                                                                                                                                                                                    Build Soap Bed
                                                                                                                                                                                    Time Needed to
                                                                                                       40                                                                  8000
variations in a level of the soap skimmer result in                                                    30

large level changes in the evaporator body. For                                                        20
example, if the soap skimmer diameter is                                                               10                                      3777     3396               2000
                                                                                                                                                                     2874 1000
approximately three times that of the evaporator                                                       0                                                                   0
                                                                                                       1000          1200           1400      1600         1800         2000
bodies. This would mean that the soap skimmer has
                                                                                                                        Evaporator Feed Rate (gpm)
a surface area approximately nine times as large as
                                                                                                                            Soap Bed Depth       Time to Build Bed
the evaporator bodies. Therefore, a very small
variation in the indicated soap skimmer level, could                                Figure 4.3.24 Inflence of Skimmer Feed Rate and
result in the level of the evaporator body changing by                              Inner Standpipe Diameter on Bed Depth and Time
nine times as much. Since the precision of level                                    to Build a Soap Bed
transmitter is limited to about 1%, the evaporator
bodies level could be changing by as much as 9%                                     Since soap accumulates very slowly, one of the best
due to noise from the level transmitter.                                            ways to assess soap production is to install a level
                                                                                    transmitter and strip chart recorder for the soap in
The most stable control is the overflow standpipe                                   the collection trough. A strip chart, tracing a steady
and adjustable weir. This device provides stable                                    rise and fall of the soap trough level, (drawing
level control and a means to control the liquor                                     “M’s and W’s” regularly) is a good indication of a
interface. On most soap skimmers with a diameter                                    correctly adjusted soap skimmer.
greater than about 40 ft., the skimmer level is
controlled by the use of a standpipe. Because the                                   Soap Bed Depth
standpipe is a much smaller diameter, only real level                               The soap bed depth should be minimized directly
changes in the soap skimmer result in changes in the                                above the skimmer liquor exit (31,32). Soap beds
standpipe level.      Furthermore, changes in the                                   that are too thick result in re-entrainment of the soap
standpipe level do not result in significant changes                                particles in the liquor leaving the skimmer. Soap
in the level in the evaporator body. For example, an                                beds that are too thin result in excessive liquor
8% change in the level of a 5 ft. diameter standpipe                                carryover and cooling of the liquor being returned to
would result in less than half percent (0.5%) change                                the next evaporator effect. Thin soap beds may also

contribute to soap re-entrainment due to thermal                             solids (0.6 kg./100 kg.) on a skimmer with more than
convection currents and soap scraper convection                              three hours retention time.
currents. Soap bed depths should never exceed 2 ft.
                                                                             On smaller skimmers, or skimmers that are very tall
(0.7 m) immediately before the soap collection
                                                                             or cannot have their baffling altered easily, additional
trough. One of the best indicators of soap bed depth
                                                                             methods should be applied. These are:
is temperature. Generally the soap bed is 20-30°F
(10-15°C) cooler than the liquor temperature. Soap                           Air Injection
taps on the side of an enclosed skimmer can also be                          The simplest and least expensive method of
used to determine the soap bed depth.                                        improving skimmer soap recovery is through air
                                                                             injection. Small quantities of air injected into the
The hydraulic balance for a soap skimmer is                                  skimmer feed improved skimmer efficiency up to
illustrated in Figure 4.3.25. As the figure indicates                        22% (8,16,31). It is critical that the air be finely
the impact of the resistance to liquor flow is usually                       atomized. Although a little bit of air was good, much
negligible. However, should it not be negligible,                            more air is bad (31). All three studies showed that
increased resistance to flow would tend to reduce the                        the optimum amount of air was 1 scfm/1000 gpm
thickness of the soap bed.                                                   (7.5 L/M3).
                                                                                                                       Effect of Air Injection
              Skimmer Level Control                                                                                     90 min. Residence Time

 Soap To Storage                           Ps                                                       8                                                                   24

                                                                                                                                                                             Soap Liquor Content (%)
                                                                             Dens. & Skim. Resid.
                         Soap Bed      A
                                                     Liquor                                         6                                                                   18
Soapy Liquor to
Skimmer                                              Standpipe
                                                                                                    4                                                                   12

                                                          Liquor                                    2                                                                   6

     Soap Bed Depth A= X *(Dl/(Dl-Ds) – Ps/(Dl-Ds))                                                 0                                                                    0
                                                                                                        0        0.5          1         1.5               2           2.5
          Ds - Density of Soap; Dl - Density of Liquor;                                                                SCFM/1000 gpm Skimmer Feed
          Ps – Underflow Resistance, usually ~ 0                                                            Density (lb/gal) Residual lb/Mlb BLS Liquor Content (%)

              A= 4 *1.13/(1.13-0.94) = 24
                                                                             Figure 4.3.26 Effect of air injection on soap skimmer
Figure 4.3.25 Skimmer level and soap bed depth                               outlet residual, soap density and liquor content of the
control                                                                      skimmed soap (31)
The equation in the figure can be simplified as
follows:                                                                     The use of higher air flows reduced skimmed liquor
Soap Bed Depth =                                                             soap residuals slightly. Higher flows also lowered
(Skimmer Level-Liquor Overflow Level)*(Density                               the skimmed soap density and increased the black
Liquor)/(Density Liquor- Density Soap)                                       liquor entrained in the skimmed soap.             When
                                                                             correctly adjusted, air injection should result in a
It should be recognized that small adjustments in the                        soap density of about 6.6 lb./gal. (0.79 Kg./L.).
skimmer operating level can result in long lasting
upsets. As Figure 4.3.23 illustrates, a 1 unit                               For good atomization, most mills inject the air into
increase in the skimmer depth can result in a 4 unit                         the suction side of the skimmer feed pump. At air
decrease in the soap bed depth. If the skimmer level                         flows of 1 scfm/1000 gpm (7 - 7.5 L/M3) pump
is then decreased, the soap bed depth will initially                         cavitation is generally not a problem. Several mills
be the same. However, since soap is frequently only                          have used a sintered metal tube to provide finely
about 1% of the total liquor flow, it will take a long                       atomized air on the pressure side of a skimmer feed
time to rebuild the bed of soap.                                             pump. This setup would be necessary on most
                                                                             falling film evaporator feed lines to the soap
Methods for Increasing Soap Skimmer
Efficiency                                                                   Several mills have applied air injection to large, well
Basics such as skimmer feed solids, baffling, liquor                         designed soap skimmers. They have seen little
entry point, level control and bed depth should be                           benefit in skimming efficiency. This is to be
optimized first. These basics should achieve outlet                          expected. However, they have noted that control of
residuals below 6 lb. CTO/ 1000 lb. black liquor                             the soap bed depth has been more consistent. This

should reduce the potential for soap particle re-                                           The fine particles of tall oil soap that are suspended
entrainment.                                                                                in black liquor and normally lost in the liquor going
                                                                                            to the recovery furnaces can be electrically charged.
It should also be noted that since air injection lowers                                     When charged they agglomerate and form larger
the soap density, it will also affect the soap bed                                          particles which separate readily (3, 33,34). A corona
depth. For a given skimmer operating level target,                                          wind discharge directed against the surface of the
decreasing the soap density will reduce the soap bed                                        black liquor causes the small particles to collect and
depth. Sudden changes in the air addition rate will                                         float to the top of the skim tank. The potential used
lower the soap density. If the target skimmer level is                                      varies from 10,000 V to 100,000 V. The direct
not adjusted , the relative depth of the soap bed and                                       current flow is low,          usually fractions of a
the liquor level will change.                                                               milliampere (3).

  How Air Addition Affects Soap and Liquor Bed Depth                                        Mills                 A      B     C      D    E
          at a Fixed Skimmer Level Set-Point
Liquor sp.gr.        Soap sp.gr.            Soap sp.gr.          Soap sp.gr.                Tall Oil Leaving
    1.14                0.12                   0.54                 0.96
                                                                                            Skimmer -
                                                                                            No                   12.4   22     10    6.3   13
            200                                                                             Electroflocculator
                                                                                            With                 5.5    15.5   4.3   5.2   5.5
            150                                                                             Electroflocculator
   D epth

                                                                                            Fatty Acid/Rosin     0.91   0.56 1.43    0.87 0.83
                                                                                            Acid ratio
                                                                                            Solubility Limit      5      7     3.5    5    5
                                                                                            Efficiency -
                  H igh Air Addition       Moderate Air         N o Air Addition
                                                                                            No                   80% 56% 67% 87% 63%
                                            Addition                                        Electroflocculator
                               Liquor D epth (in.)   Soap B ed D epth                       With                 99% 75% 96% 98% 98%
Figure 4.3.27 Effect of air injection on soap and                                           Improvement          24% 34% 43% 12% 56%
liquor bed depth for a fixed total head setpoint..
                                                                                            Table 4.3.10. Electroflocculator results during
                                                                                            pilot trials in five mills (33)
Figure 4.3.27 illustrates what would happen if the air
addition was suddenly shut off to a tall, narrow soap
                                                                                            A similar effect can be attained by immersing direct
skimmer that requires high levels of air-addition to
                                                                                            current electrodes into a stream of black liquor. The
effect good soap recovery. To maintain the same
                                                                                            voltage used is below the decomposition potential of
total head in the skimmer, the soap density would
                                                                                            water. A commercial process (33,34) has been
increase and this would result in an increase in the
                                                                                            reported in which by application of an electric field
soap bed depth and a decrease in the skimmer liquor
                                                                                            to a liquor stream, they were able to reduce skimmer
depth. This would also tend to upset the material and
                                                                                            outlet residuals. The performance of this device in
heat balance in the evaporator effects after the soap
                                                                                            several installations is summarized in Table 4.3.10.
skimmer, by displacing an increased liquor volume to
                                                                                            A mechanical air atomizer was used in the feed
those effects. Similarly, a sudden increase in the air
                                                                                            stream ahead of the electofloccuclator to aid in soap
addition rate would displace a large amount of soap
                                                                                            separation. About 10-20% efficiency improvement is
and increase the large volume of liquor in the soap
                                                                                            due to air flotation.
skimmer. In-effect, this would temporarily reduce
the liquor flow to the evaporator effects after the                                         In one mill that used a digester additive to enhance
soap skimmer.                                                                               liquor penetration, the additive increased the soap
                                                                                            solubility. This helped soap removal during washing.
In summary, air-flow adjustments to the soap                                                Unfortunately the soap did not separate effectively in
skimmer should be made very gradually, and should                                           the soap skimmer.          It seriously fouled the
be accompanied by adjustments in the skimmer level                                          evaporators.     The electroflocculator effectively
set point. Increasing the air flow will require                                             helped agglomeration of the soap particles and
lowering the skimmer level set-point slightly to                                            significantly improved recovery.
maintain a relatively constant soap bed depth.
                                                                                            Chemical Additives

The effectiveness of proprietary additives to help                    Positive Displacement Pumps Produce Essentially
soap recovery has been evaluated.              Several              Constant Flow That Is Almost Independent Of Pressure
commercial additives (2,17,27) were added at the
suction of the skimmer feed pump. These surfactants                                    Centrifugal Pump Curve

significantly increased soap skimming efficiency in
all mills at dosages as low as 0.6 ppm. “Results show

                                                                     Pressure (Head)
that simple surfactants, their level and point of
introduction into the process influence the separation
of soaps from black liquor. The additives function
by changing the aggregative behavior of the soap                                                                        Positive
micellar solution.      The mechanisms by which                                                                      Displacement
                                                                                                                     Pump Curve
surfactants influence the separation of soap are not
yet fully understood, however, there exists a large
amount of knowledge in the colloid chemistry                                                            Flow Rate
literature that may be applied in solving some of the              Figure 4.3.28a – Positive displacement pumps deliver
more practical problems” (2).                                      a constant flow independent of the discharge
Cationic polyamides , used to flocculate the soap                  pressure.
particles have also improved skimming efficiency,                  Unlike the centrifigual pump that decreases flow as
however their performance has been more                            the     discharge    pressure   increases,   positive
inconsistent (2,17) than that of the proprietary                   displacement pumps maintain an essentially constant
additives discussed above.                                         flow regardless of the discharge pressure due to tight
“The mechanism of action of this polymer is not                    tolerances and minimal liquid leaks from the
presently understood. It would be expected that the                discharge of the pump back to the pump suction at
cationic groups would be overwhelmed by the                        increased viscosities. Due to its normaly high
anionic material present in black liquor. Small scale              viscosity, soap is best pumped with a positive
trials in the laboratory with model polymers failed to             displacement pump, typically an internal gear pump
explain the factors involved in determining the                    or a circumferential piston pump.
efficacy of the cationic additives. The additive had                                   Internal Gear Pump – Operating Principle
                                                                                                Courtesy Viking Pump, Inc.
no effect on soap solubility in the laboratory or full-
scale mill studies.” (17)

Soap Handling Equipment
Pumping                                                                                Circumferential Piston – Operating Principle
The operating principle of centrifugal pumps and                                       Courtesy Tuthill Corporation, Tuthill Pump Division

positive displacement pumps are quite different.
Centrifugal pumps operate by imparting velocity
energy to the fluid, which is converted to pressure
energy upon exiting the pump casing. The flow
delivered by a centrifugal pump during one
revolution of the impeller depends upon the head
against which the pump is operating.
                                                                   Figure 4.3.28b Positive displacement pumps for soap
A positive displacement pump moves a fixed volume
of fluid within the pump casing by applying a force
to moveable boundaries containing the fluid volume.
The positive displacement pump delivers a                          Pressure Relief Valves - A positive displacement
definite volume of fluid for each cycle of pump                    pump operating against a closed discharge valve, will
operation regardless of the head against which the                 continue to produce flow until the pressure in the
pump is operating.                                                 discharge line is increased until the line bursts or the
                                                                   pump is severely damaged - or both. A relief or
                                                                   safety valve on the discharge side of the positive
                                                                   displacement pump is therefore absolutely

The relief valve can be internal or external. Normally              Newtonian. Although this lowers the viscosity, it
the pump manufacturer has the option to supply                      increases the volume to be pumped and significantly
internal relief or safety valves. The internal valve                reduces the pump efficiency due to increased
should in general only be used as a safety precaution,              slippage, frequently making a bad situation worse.
an external relief valve installed in the discharge line            Water addition should be limited to about 2 % of the
with a return line back to the suction line or supply               rated pump flow.
tank is recommended.
                                                                    Furthermore water dissolves a portion of the soap.
If the pump contains an internal pressure relief valve,             This dilute soap mixture ultimately drains from the
it should be set about 75% above the system                         soap and is recycled to the black liquor system.
pressure. Failure to set the internal pressure relief               Since it tends to be pumped off intermittently and
high enough will result in frequent soap trough and                 contains high concentrations of soap, it can cause
soap tank overflows.                                                significant and unexpected operating upsets,
                                                                    particularly in the feed effects of an evaporator. It is
Effects of Viscosity on Positive Displacement
                                                                    important that soap pumps be repaired as quckly as
Pumps - Unlike centrifugal pumps, positive
                                                                    possible to avoid such problems.
displacement pumps maintain, or increase their flow
rates at increased viscosity. As the viscosity of a                 Pump Inspections - As stated above, tolerances play
liquid increases, the maximum speed at which a                      a critical role in the pump's operation, worn rotors
positive displacement pump can properly operate                     will greatly reduce pump efficiency. Soap pumps
decreases.                                                          should be checked regularly for wear.
Since tolerances play a critical role in the pump's                 Piping Considerations - Spare pumps should be
operation, worn rotors will greatly reduce pump                     valved using positive closure ball valves. When not
efficiency. Positive displacement pumps can only                    in service the spare pumps should be completely
handle a limited capacity range and become                          isolated. Steam heated water clean-out lines should
significantly inefficient when pumping low viscosity                be available and used whenever a soap pump is
fluids such as black liquor at less than 30% dissolved              placed on standby. Check valves should never be
solids content. This due to slippage, the rate at which             used in soap lines since they are readily fouled by the
liquid leaks from the discharge of the pump back to                 soap. Never heat trace soap lines as this will tend to
the pump suction.                                                   dry out the soap and plug the lines.
Soap Viscosity Characteristics - The rheological                    Avoid piping restrictions in the pump suction. The
nature of the soap, is that of a pseudo-plastic, or                 viscosity of soap varies widely dependent upon the
shear-thinning fluid.      It has a lower apparent                  temperature composition and especially upon the
viscosity at higher shear rates. Such fluids are usually            liquor content (3).
solutions of large, polymeric molecules in a solvent
                                                                    Repeated frequent repairs are frequently a sign of
with smaller molecules. It is generally supposed that
                                                                    restrictions in the pump suction piping.
the large molecular chains tumble at random and
affect large volumes of fluid under low shear, but
that they gradually align themselves in the direction               Soap Densification
of increasing shear and produce less resistance. This               The first stage of soap densification occurs in the
is a good description of soap micelles in a liquor                  weak liquor storage area. Traditionally, this is done
matrix.                                                             using a foam tower. The foam tower is a tall and
                                                                    narrow tank with a foam breaker at the top.
For most soap pumping applications, the viscosity                   Mechanical soap densification equipment is designed
will be in the range from 500 to 3,000 cp at 25ºC                   to operate in two ranges. The first range is very low
(77ºF). However, very well de-liquored soap that has                density soap such as washer foam.              A foam
been in storage for some time can have a viscosity of               concentrator is a single stage centrifuge that collapses
over 25,000 cp. Therefore the soap pump must be                     the foam. The collapsed foam flows along the wall
sized so that it can pump liquor at about 10 cp or                  of the centrifuge bowl (see Figure 4.3.24). Air
soap as high as 25,000 cp. In general choose larger                 separated from the foam is discharged to the
size pumps that are designed to operate at low rpm,                 atmosphere. The collapsed foam density is normally
generally less than 200 rpm.                                        0.5-1 lb./gal. (0.06 to 0.11 kg/L) (32,35). Light soap
Occasionaly, operators inject water in the soap pump                overflows the weak liquor storage/filtrate tank into
suction to assist pumping. This dramatically lowers                 the foam tank. The mass of the liquor-laden soap
the viscosity of the mixture and makes it almost                    partially collapses and densifies the soap. The soap

is then transferred to a decanter for liquor removal.            liquids containing up to 70% air. This combination
The resulting foam is usually less than 2.5 lb./gal.             of pumps were installed to replace a a conventional
(0.3 kg/L). The liquor content of this dense foam is             positive displacement pump that leaked excessively
usually more than 50%. This material is difficult to             when pumping weak liquor soap. The evacuated
pump.                                                            medium consistency pumping system was leak-free.
                                                                 The deaerated soap / liquor mixture density was
                                                                 increased from about 0.35 kg/l to about 1 kg/l,. The
                                                                 intstallation footprint for this system was about 1.5
                                                                 m2 (15 ft2).

                                                                 Soap/Liquor Separation in Storage
                                                                 Soap storage has been traditionally designed not so
                                                                 much as storage, but as a retention tank. This tank
                                                                 allows time for the entrained liquor to drain from the
                                                                 soap. Soap discharged from the skimmer normally
                                                                 has a liquor content of 10% to 25% by weight. Weak
                                                                 liquor soap can contain as much as 50% black liquor
                                                                 by weight. Black liquor in the soap adds increased
                                                                 costs to the mill for shipping liquor to a tall oil plant.
                                                                 Commonly mills are penalized for excess liquor in
                                                                 the soap. The excess liquor in the soap also increases
                                                                 the cost of acidulation and the potential for high total
                                                                 reduced sulfur (TRS) gas emissions.
                                                                 To effectively decant the liquor from the soap, it is
                                                                 preferable to feed the soap into a tank with a conical
                                                                 bottom. If such a tank is not available, the soap
                                                                 should be cascaded through two soap storage tanks.
Figure 4.3.29 Soap Concentrator, courtesy                        Liquor that separates from the bottom of the tanks
A.H.Lundberg Associates (36)                                     should be returned to weak liquor storage. The
                                                                 distance between the liquor withdrawal port and the
The foam tank system is being replaced by the use of             soap withdrawal port should be at least 3 ft. (1 m).
a soap collection tank and soap concentrator                     Soap should only be shipped or pumped for
arrangement (8,36) in some mills (see Figures 17,18).            acidulation from the second tank in the cascade (37).
Soap recovered from the weak liquor storage is                   A minimum of three days of soap storage should be
gravity fed into a soap tank. Liquor settles to the              provided as illustrated in Figure 4.3.30.
bottom and is returned to weak liquor storage. The                                        Apparent Soap Liquor Content of Soap
soap overflows at a point about 1 m above the liquor                                                 Stored at 25 C
return line. The soap then passes through a soap                                  10.0%

concentrator. The soap concentrator is similar to the                             8.0%
                                                                 Liquor Content

foam concentrator, but produces a soap with a
density of 5-8 lb./gal. (0.6-0.9 kg/L). and can be
readily pumped in conventional soap pumps.                                        4.0%

The low-density soap results from entrained air.                                  2.0%

Historically, installation of a soap concentrator has                             0.0%
been recommended for increasing soap density.                                             0        2          4          6               8   10
                                                                                                              Storage Days
Because of the separation tank associated with the
concentrator, these devices requre an installation                                            5 Min.in Centrifuge 15 Min in Centrifuge
footprint of about 10 m2 (~100 ft2) and tend to have
frequent overflows.
                                                                 Figure 4.3.30 Effect of storage time on the apparent
An innovative solution recently employed at one                  liquor content of soap. Longer storage times allow
mill, applies a medium consistency pump connected                more liquor to drain from the soap than in standard
to a vacuum pump to pump the soap to a soap                      centrifuge tests.
collection tank. The device is capable of pumping

                                                                   In recent years a new sensor system has been
                                                                   introduced (41) and is gaining acceptance. The
                                                                   sensor system consists of three principal components,
                                                                   an external float, a sensor hose and a microwave
                                                                   radar transmitter. The interface level transmitter
                                                                   senses the position of an external float located at the
                                                                   interface by measuring the changing resistor
                                                                   attenuation signal inside of the sensor hose, which
                                                                   passes through the float assembly.          The float
                                                                   assembly is designed to float only at the liquor/soap
                                                                   interface. The microwave radar transmitter measures
                                                                   the distance between the top of the liquor storage
                                                                   tank and the top of the soap layer.

                                                                   Fiber Content of Soap
                                                                   One of the most reliable indicators of liquor fiber
                                                                   content is to measure the fiber content of the soap.
                                                                   Soap acts as a flotation medium for trapping the fiber
                                                                   in much the same way that minerals are recovered
                                                                   from ore. The fiber content of soap is usually 10 - 15
                                                                   times as high as the fiber content in the liquor. For
                                                                   example in one mill:

Figure 4.3.31 Soap Rake to enhance liquor removal                  Measured liquor fiber content:       60 - 400 ppm
                                                                   Skimmer feed liquor 5% soap,
                                                                   average liquor fiber content:        200 ppm,
A device for releasing liquor from soap was reviewed               Skimmer product liquor 1.2% soap,
(26). It consists of a rotating arm with fingers that              average liquor fiber content:        192 ppm fiber
gently move through the soap and provide both a                    Calculated soap fiber concentration: 2105 ppm fiber
collection point and a drainage path for the liquor                Measured soap fiber content:          1800-2300 ppm
(see Figure 4.3.31). The rake is installed so that the
lower end of the fingers are in the liquor layer at the                                                   Mill Soap Fiber Content
bottom of the storage tank (38). The soap rake was                                            1600
                                                                   Soap Fiber Content (ppm)

able to reduce the liquor content of the incoming                                             1400
soap by 50% or more. The main criteria to ensure                                              1200
good performance is to maintain a uniform feed rate                                           1000
within the design limits and to accurately sense and                                          800
control the soap /liquor interface. This device should                                        600
be installed in the last soap storage tank.                                                   400
Soap/Liquor Interface Detection                                                                 0
                                                                                                01-Jan 01-Mar 30-Apr 29-Jun 28-Aug 27-Oct 26-Dec
The principal problem with interface detection in
closed vessels such as soap decanters is soap fouling.                                                     Actual Upper Control Limit
Four sensors have been successful. A thermal
conductivity probe has been used to control the soap
liquor interface (26). This probe uses a three element             Figure 4.3.32 Mill soap fiber content during normal
head, one of which is a heated probe. This probe                   and upset operation
melts the soap and avoids fouling. This device only
works well in locations where there is not a rapid                 In Figure 4.3.32 above, weak liquor filter feed
flow past the probe. The others are a viscosity probe              sampling failed to identify the source of the fiber
and an ultrasonic probe that have been used to start               contamination. This was because the washer on
and stop liquor pumps.                                             which the contamination occurred did not run

continuously. It was typically in service for 8 - 16             LFSD=MSD*(1-LC)
hours at a time. The problem was corrected during
an extended outage on the washer. During this                    Black Liquor Tall Oil Residual Content
period of time the soap fiber content was much more              The residual tall oil (soap) content is probably the
consistent than the liquor fiber content.                        single most useful test when determining skimmer
                                                                 performance. The only widely accepted method is
Useful Analytical Methods                                        the modified Buckeye procedure, PCA 24 (38). A
Soap Liquor Content - One of the simplest methods                new method has been proposed (2) that appears to
of determining the liquor content (LC) of soap is to             have improved accuracy and can distinguish the
centrifuge a 15 ml. sample at 1500 G-force for 15                quantity of rosin acids and fatty acids removed on
min. The sample should first be weighed in a tared               each unit operation.
centrifuge tube. The sample should be kept at 25°C               The single most important step is sample collection.
to assist reproducibility. The liquor content can be             As was noted above, when liquor cools, at a given
determined by observing the location of the soap                 solids concentration, soap comes out of solution.
liquor interface.                                                Once out of solution, it is very difficult to return the
LC= ml Liquor*1.1/grams of sample                                soap into solution. A small portion usually remains
                                                                 on the wall of the sample container. To prevent the
Soap Density                                                     soap from coming out of solution during storage
Since most of the processing equipment is sensitive              before analysis, the liquor should be sampled into
to soap density, this is one of the most useful and              water. There should be enough water present to
simplest measurements. It can readily be determined              ensure that the diluted solids do not exceed 4%
using a one-liter beaker. The beaker should be filled            dissolved solids.
and leveled using a spatula. The measured density
should be adjusted for the liquor content. The                   Always dilute the sample directly from the process
Table 4.3.11 Black liquor sampling dilution data                 sample point into water. Never, take an undiluted
                                                                 liquor sample back to the lab and dilute the sample
Proportions necessary to obtain 4% solids                        for residual tall oil determination.
Bottle Size    1 Pint          1 Quart                           Soap particles will separate in-transit to the lab and
              473 ml           946 ml                            be poured non-uniformly into the dilution bottle.
Black         Liquor Water     Liquor Water                      Table 4.3.11 above shows the quantity of water that
Liquor                                                           should be used for collecting 500 ml. and 1 l samples
Solids         ml       ml        ml       ml                    at different feed liquor concentrations.
     55         34      439       69      877                    Calculations:
     45         42      431       84      862
                                                                 Let B= ml. black liquor necessary (unknown)
     40         47      426       95      851
     35         54      419      108      838                    T = Total volume of black Liquor + water desired
     30         63      410      126      820                    (ml)
    27.5        69      404      138      808
                                                                 S = Black Liquor solids content (%)
     25         76      397      151      795                    0.04= S*B*0.01/T
     20         95      378      189      757
     15        126      347      252      694                    Spent Acid Assimilation
                                                                 In mills where the black liquor soap is converted to
     10        189      284      378      568
                                                                 tall oil, an additional complication is how to recycle
     7.5       252      221      505      441                    the Tall Oil Plant spent acid.
      5        378      95       757      189
                                                                 Acidulation Process Description - Spent acid is a
                                                                 byproduct of the black liquor soap acidulation
adjusted, or liquor-free soap density should be used             process. Kraft black liquor soap is converted to
for diagnostic purposes. The measured soap density               crude tall oil in a cariety of ways. The most common
(MSD) can be adjusted for the liquor content (LC) to             method is by reaction with sulfuric acid in batch,
calculate the liquor free soap density (LFSD) as                 semi-continuous and continuous processes (3,39, 40).

For each tonne of well de-liquored tall oil soap,                    Evaporator Feed
approximately 100 kg (220 lb.) of concentrated                       The water in the TOP brine is evaporated at an
sulfuric acid is added along with about 0.6 tonne of                 economy of about 4-5 in most mills. Once again the
water and steam to increase the reaction mixture to                  pH should be controlled above 10. The feed rate
95 - 100ºC (200 - 212ºF). Upon completion of the                     should not exceed about 1.5% of the total liquor fed
reaction, the reaction mixture, at pH 2 – 3, separates               to the evaporator(s). At this rate it will decrease the
into several phases, that usually include: precipitated              soluble scale precipitation point 1-2% (12,27). If the
calcium sulfate, a sodium sulfate brine solution at 15               feed rate is likely to exceed 1.5% of the total, the
– 20% dissolved solids, a precipitated lignin-tall oil               settlable solids fraction in the TOP brine should not
layer and a crude tall oil layer.                                    be returned. This fraction contains about 80% of the
                                                                     unrecovered soap content in the TOP brine. The
Historically it has been most common to separate
                                                                     soap contained in the TOP brine adds to the load on
these layers by gravity separation. In recent years,
                                                                     the soap skimmers. Furthermore it contains fiber and
the tall oil layer is more frequently being isolated by
                                                                     calcium salts that could accelerate evaporator
centrifugation at about 4000 g-force.
                                                                     fouling. By removing the solids, soluble scalants e.g.
Independent of the separation process, the combined                  soap, are also removed.
sodium sulfate and lignin layers, commonly called
                                                                     The settlable solids material in the dilute spent acid
Tall Oil Plant spent acid are usually treated with
                                                                     (13-17%) is less dense than the black liquor solids at
caustic soda for return to the kraft process.
                                                                     22-25%. Therefore this material separates in the
Brine Assimilation in the Kraft Process - Although                   skimmers inefficiently. If not removed, it represents
the Tall Oil Plant spent acid is usually called                      a voluminous material which can easily plug the
neutralized spent acid, it is neither acidic nor neutral.            evaporator tubes.
It should more accurately be called Tall Oil Plant
                                                                     Additional caustic soda (NaOH) used to increase the
Alkaline Brine. Mills successfully return the TOP
                                                                     pH above 12 to solubiliize the lignin is of marginal
brine at three separate locations:
                                                                     value.    This would lower the critical solids
1.   To the batch digesters as fillback liquor,                      concentration for Na2CO3-Na2SO4 saturation. This
2.   In the feed to the black liquor evaporator(s),                  would likely increase soluble scale formation.
3.   In the feed to the recovery boiler concentrators.
                                                                     Return to the Heavy Liquor System
In all three locations, strict control of the TOP brine              If the TOP Brine is returned to the heavy liquor
pH is recommended. Return of the TOP brine at a pH                   system it must be carefully metered in at a point
below 7 will result in the evolution of toxic hydrogen               where it can be well mixed. It will decrease the
sulfide (H2S) gas. In most mills the pH of the tall oil              overall solids level. Evaporation of the water will be
plant brine is controlled above pH 10.                               at an economy of less than one. If fed to a liquor
                                                                     crystalliser/concentrator, its effect on soluble scale
At pH 10 the unrecovered resin acids and fatty acids
                                                                     formation is minimal since these devices are
are fully saponified. Depending upon the point of
                                                                     designed for supersaturated Na2SO4 solutions. It is
return, it may need to be controlled to a higher pH.
                                                                     critical that the brine be treated with 50% NaOH to
The TOP brine will have some residual salts and dirt
                                                                     neutralize any residual acids and to fully re-dissolve
in it. CaSO4 and others. The TOP brine storage tank
                                                                     the lignin. Typically about 9 lb. NaOH/Ton (4.5
must be well agitated. A recycle stream off the pump
                                                                     kg/t) of soap is required. White liquor cannot be
out line is recommended to control pH and to help
                                                                     used for this purpose, because it can only increase the
keep the tank clean.
                                                                     pH to about 11. This is not high enough to re-
                                                                     solubilize the precipitated lignin.
Batch Digester Fillback
Return of the TOP brine to the batch digesters should
be done at a pH above 10. The TOP brine should be                    Literature Cited
returned to the fillback liquor holding tank. On low                 1.   Roberts, K., Osterland, R. Axberg, C., Tappi,
level in the tank, 1st stage washer filtrate should be                    59(6) 1976, pp. 156-159
used for level control. Return to the digesters results              2.   T.McGinnis,J.Svarz,R.Gabel, 1998 Tappi
in an increased evaporator load. The water is                             Pulping Conference Proceedings, Book 2, pp.
evaporated at 4-5 steam economy in most mills.                            919

3.    Drew, J. and Propst, M., “Tall Oil”, Pulp                    20. Kubes, G.J., “The Effects of Wood Species on
      Chemicals Association, New York, p. 22-34,                       Kraft Recovery Furnace Operation - A
      1981                                                             Investigation Using Differential Thermal
4.    Uloth, V.C., Wong, A., Wearing, J.T., Factors                    Analysis”, 69th Annual Meeting of the CPPA
      Affecting Tall Oil Soap Solubility in Kraft Black                Technical Section, Montreal, P.Q., Feb. 3-4,1983
      Liquor, 1987 TAPPI Pulping Conference,                       21. Gooding, C.H., Wilkinson, W.G., Southeastern
      Washington, D.C., Nov. 1-5, 1987                                 TAPPI Annual Awards Contest, Jacksonville,
5.    Rousseau, R.W., Kassebi, A., and Zinkel, D.F.,                   Fla., March, 1971
      “Effects of Solids Content, Settling Temperature             22. Laxen, T., “Dynamic and physical-chemical
      and Liquor Source on Tall Oil Solubilities”,                     aspects of sulphate pulp washing”, Pulp and
      A.I.Ch.E. Symposium Series, Vol. 80, No. 239,                    Paper Canada, 87:4 (1986), p. 49-53
      p.1-8, 1984.                                                 23. Baines,G., Blevins, T., “Checkout and Operation
6.    Keyes, W.W., Am. Pap. Ind., 54 (12),41, (1972)                   for an RDH Batch Digester Control System”,
7.    Tikka, P.,Kovasin, K., Laxen,T., “Solving Soap                   1989 TAPPI Pulping Conference, Book 1, p.
      and Turpentine Related Process Problems in                       297-301, Seattle, WA, Oct. 22-25
      Softwood Kraft Mills”, FPAC Spring                           24. Sjoblom, Hartler, N. and Sjodin, “A New
      Conference, Western and Pacific Branches,                        Technique for Pulping to Low Kappa Numbers
      Whistler, B.C. May 2001                                          in Batch Pulping”, Tappi 66,no. 9, p 97-102,
8.    Chancey, S., Naval Stores Rev. 96 (4),7 (1986)                   September 1992
9.    Cox, J.B., Rhyne, J.B., Drew, J., Joyce, E.R.,               25. Cobb, E.C. “Fundamental Design Principles for
      “Effects on Tall Oil Recovery”, Southern Pulp                    Vacuum Brown Stock Washing Systems”, 1993
      and Paper manufacturer, June, 1973, p. 16 - 19                   TAPPI Brown Stock Washing Short Course,
10.   Thornburg, W.L., “Effect of Roundwood or                         Richmond, VA, April 18-21,1993
      Chip Storage on Tall Oil and Turpentine                      26. Stoner, R.W., “Union Camp’s Experience with
      Fractions of Slash Pine”, TAPPI, August 1963,                    an A.H.Lundberg Soap Rake”, Pulp Chemicals
      p. 454                                                           Assoc. Meetings, Pine Isle, Ga. (1984)
11.   Grace, T.M., “A Survey of Evaporator Scaling in              27. Lichutina, T.F., Sazhinov, A.A., Krasnova,
      The Alkaline Pulp Industry, Institute of Paper                   O.M., Gidroliz. Lesokhim. Prom., No. 4, pp 18-
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