Abstract: A method and apparatus for pasteurizing comminuted wood. A housing is substantially sealed over the hatch of a ship's cargo hold before it is opened. The hold contains comminuted wood for transport, which are typically contaminated with pathogens that it is desired to destroy. Hot water is provided to combine with the comminuted wood to form a slurry. The slurry is pumped to a pasteurization vessel where it is held for a predetermined pasteurization temperature and time. Subsequent to the predetermined pasteurization time, the slurry exits the pasteurization vessel and the water is reclaimed from the wood chips. The reclaimed water is preferentially reused to slurry more chips. The method and apparatus preferably include employing an air removal and cleaning system which maintains the environment within the cargo hold at conditions tolerable for a worker to work therein, the air removal and cleaning system purifying the air obtained therefrom before exhausting it into the atmosphere.

Abstract: Extended delignification of kraft pulp in a pressure diffuser allows a pulp mill with a digester (e.g. continuous digester) to increase its production capacity without building a new line, or to decrease its demand in its bleach plant, or to increase the strength of softwood pulp it produces. Comminuted cellulosic fibrous material is kraft cooked to produce kraft pulp having a blow temperature over about 300.degree. F. The pulp is diffusion treated in the first stage of a pressure diffuser to replace the water around the pulp with delignifying liquor. The liquor has a dissolved lignin concentration of less than 12% (optimally less than about 4%), has an effective alkali concentration of at least 2 gm/l (preferably 8-55 gm/l), and a temperature of at least about 300.degree. F. Treating the pulp with the delignifying liquor significantly reduces the K-number (e.g. on the order of about 5). After extended delignification, the pulp is washed in subsequent stages of the pressure diffuser.

Abstract: Extended delignification of kraft pulp in a pressure diffuser allows a pulp mill with a digester (e.g. continuous digester) to increase its production capacity without building a new line, or to decrease its demand in its bleach plant, or to increase the strength of softwood pulp it produces. Comminuted cellulosic fibrous material is kraft cooked to produce kraft pulp having a blow temperature over about 300.degree. F. The pulp is diffusion treated in the first stage of a pressure diffuser to replace the water around the pulp with delignifying liquor. The liquor has a dissolved lignin concentration of less than 12% (optimally less than about 4%), has an effective alkali concentration of at least 2 gm/l (preferably 8-55 gm/l), and a temperature of at least about 300.degree. F. Treating the pulp with the delignifying liquor significantly reduces the K-number (e.g. on the order of about 5). After extended delignification, the pulp is washed in subsequent stages of the pressure diffuser.

Abstract: A hydraulic accumulator prevents oil with gas entrained in it from exiting the accumulator. The accumulator comprises a completely static structure which provides laminar flow of oil from a gas pad to the accumulator outlet. The laminar flow is preferably provided by a plurality of tubes disposed between the gas pad and the outlet, each tube having a substantially greater length than the largest cross-sectional dimension. The tubes are preferably rigid and circular in cross-section, and the passageways defined between the tubes also have a substantially greater length than the largest cross-sectional dimension. The accumulator can either be a low pressure accumulator or a high pressure accumulator. With a high pressure accumulator it is desirable to provide a float switch or like sensor to ensure that the tubes within a tube bundle are always fully immersed in oil.

Abstract: A method and apparatus provide for the effective centrifugal washing and/or thickening of paper pulp, using a perforated cylinder. A stock head box, located within the cylinder, applies a thin sheet of pulp on the interior the cylinder, at a high rate (e.g. about 20 meters per second), at a first arcuate position. The cylinder is rotated at high speed (e.g. 100 rpm, to provide an acceleration on the order of about 10 gs), whereby centrifugal force causes liquid in the pulp to move radially outwardly through the openings in the screen cylinder. The pulp is withdrawn from the interior of the cylinder by a vacuum roll or the like at a second arcuate position less than 360.degree. from the first position. The withdrawn pulp is moved by a screw conveyor or the like away from the cylinder in a dimension generally parallel to the axis of rotation, and the withdrawn liquid passes through channels in a drum surrounding the perforated cylinder, and is engaged by an impeller, and flows to a volute for removal.

Abstract: Chip gates are provided adjacent the lower end of an inlet chute to a presteaming vessel for a digester in a pulp production system. The chip gates are operated to maintain a level of chips within the inlet chute sufficient such that the chips preclude egress of noxious odorous gas from the presteaming vessel, while simulataneously the chips are discharged into the vessel.

Abstract: Ozone and chlorine are used to bleach cellulosic fibrous material pulp in the production of kraft pulp for paper and paper products, being applied together in a mixture. When the ozone and chlorine are applied simultaneously it is possible to achieve delignification to a greater extent than is possible utilizing chlorine at any level. The total chlorinated ring compounds in the bleach plant effluent are remarkably reduced utilizing the ozone-chlorine mixture, compared to all chlorine, with resulting decrease in the fish toxicity of the bleach plant effluent. Utilizing an O.sub.3 /Cl.sub.2 E.sub.o D bleaching sequence (only three stages) it is possible to obtain pulp with 90 TAPPI Absolute, or greater, brightness.

Abstract: A small deaeration tank which may be either at atmospheric pressure on under low pressure or vacuum and a system of operating this tank which allows pulp which has been treated with oxygen to be deaerated before being washed. A closed tank would allow steam or oxygen to be recovered. Preferably it would be the same diameter as an oxygen reactor so that it could be placed on top of the reactor and be supported by the reactor. It would have no moving parts, so there would be no need for motors to be mounted on or near the tank. The deaerator is a small open tank having an inlet pipe, an outlet pipe, and a tangential swirl inducing inlet pipe. The locations and sizes of these pipes provide optimum deaeration. The swirl inducing fluid is the filtrate from the washer after the oxygen bleach.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for reducing or eliminating the transfer of chemicals across a washer when reusing washer filtrate as a washing medium in a counterflow system. The flow of washing fluid on the washers before and after a treatment stage is split and the liquid in the pulp mat leaving the washer is principally the type used to treat the pulp after the washer, and the filtrate from the washer is principally the type used to treat the pulp before the washer.

Abstract: Process and apparatus for mixing a wood pulp slurry with a chemical at the consistency at which the slurry exits a washer or the subsequent steam mixer, 7 to 15%. The chemicals would include noncondensable or unsaturated gases such as oxygen, ozone, air, chlorine, chlorine dioxide, sulfur dioxide, ammonia, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, hydrogen chloride, nitric oxide or nitrogen peroxide. Highly superheated steam can also be mixed with the pulp.In the process, the pulp slurry would pass through a mixing zone having a swept area in the range of 10,000 to 1,000,000 square meters per metric ton of oven-dry pulp. The preferred range is 25,000 to 150,000 square meters per metric ton of oven-dry pulp and the optimum is considered to be around 65,400 square meters per metric ton of oven-dry pulp.The pulp slurry passes through an annular mixing zone. Specific designs of the various elements of the mixer are disclosed.

Abstract: A wood pulp slurry is treated with oxygen in a mill with little change to the process or structure of the mill. No special pressure tanks are rquired. The consistency of the pulp need not be altered for the treatment step. It may be treated at the usual process consistency of the pulp; e.g., it may be treated at the usual consistency of the pulp leaving a washer or subsequent steam mixer without additional dewatering or additional dilution.The oxygen is added into a closed section of the system so that it cannot immediately vent to the atmosphere. Alkali should also be present when the oxygen is mixed with the slurry. The mixing should occur near to the point of oxygen addition.An existing extraction stage within the system may be used as a source of alkali. In an existing extraction stage, the mixer and upstream oxygen line would be placed in the line between the steam mixer and the extraction tower.The mixing occurs in a relatively small mixer that intensively mixes the slurry and the gas.

Abstract: A wood pulp slurry is treated with oxygen in a mill with little change to the process or structure of the mill. No special pressure tanks are required. The consistency of the pulp need not be altered for the treatment step. It may be treated at the usual process consistency of the pulp; e.g., it may be treated at the usual consistency of the pulp leaving a washer or subsequent steam mixer without additional dewatering or additional dilution.The oxygen is added into a closed section of the system so that it cannot immediately vent to the atmosphere. Alkali should also be present when the oxygen is mixed with the slurry. The mixing should occur near to the point of oxygen addition.The mixing occurs in a relatively small mixer that intensively mixes the slurry and gas. The mixer has a mixing zone with a swept area of 10,000 to 1,000,000 square meters per metric ton of oven-dry pulp.

Abstract: A wood pulp slurry is treated with oxygen in a mill with little change to the process or structure of the mill. No special pressure tanks are required. The consistency of the pulp need not be altered for the treatment step. It may be treated at the usual process consistency of the pulp; e.g., it may be treated at the usual consistency of the pulp leaving a washer or the subsequent steam mixer without additional dewatering or additional dilution.The oxygen is added into a closed section of the system so that it cannot immediately vent to the atmosphere. Alkali should also be present when the oxygen is mixed with the slurry. The mixing should occur near to the point of oxygen addition.The oxygen is inserted into the pulp slurry and mixed with the pulp slurry between a pair of washers. The second washer may be a vacuum, pressure or diffusion washer.The mixing occurs in a relatively small mixer that intensively mixes the slurry and gas.

Abstract: Washed wood pulp from a continuous digester is treated with oxygen in the blow line from the digester. Most of the treatment occurs within the mixer. The mixer has a mixing zone with a swept area of 10,000 to 1,000,000 square meters per metric ton of oven-dry pulp. A preferred range is 25,000 to 150,000 square meters per ton of oven-dry pulp and an optimum range is around 65,400 square meters per metric ton of oven-dry pulp. Following mixing, the pulp may be taken to a subsequent process, a diffusion washer, or to a storage tank.

Abstract: A wood pump slurry is treated with oxygen in a mill with little change to the process or structure of the mill. No special pressure tanks are required. The consistency of the pulp need not be altered for the treatment step. It may be treated at the usual process consistency of the pulp; e.g., it may be treated at the usual consistency of the pulp leaving a washer or subsequent steam mixer without additional dewatering or additional dilution.The oxygen is added into a closed section of the system so that it cannot immediately vent to the atmosphere. Alkali should also be present when the oxygen is mixed with the slurry. The mixing should occur near to the point of oxygen addition.The oxygen is inserted into the pulp slurry and mixed with the pulp slurry between a washer and the subsequent storage tank.The mixing occurs in a relatively small mixter that intensively mixes the slurry and gas. The mixer has a mixing zone with a swept area of 10,000 to 1,000,000 square meters per metric ton of oven-dry pulp.

Abstract: A design of a distribution unit allowing a gas or other material to be uniformly supplied to a mixing device close to the point of mixing. The distribution unit can be used for mixing chemicals into pulp at a refiner inlet.

Abstract: In bleaching wood pulp with ozone a small amount of alcohol enhances the bleaching. The effect appears to be most pronounced with aliphatic alcohols having the hydroxyl group on an end carbon. The concentration of alcohol is in the range of 0.0000001 to 0.03 moles per liter of the liquid phase.

Abstract: A slurry of cellulosic fiber and water having a consistency in the range of 0.017-4.9% of the total ungassed weight of fiber and water is bleached with ozone. This is done without the usual addition of organic additives. The water can include impurities created by the bleaching process. Rapid reaction times under 8 minutes and preferably under 5 minutes are achieved.The reaction is enhanced in the consistency range of about 0.017-0.7%.The slurry is mixed using a mixing energy of 0.002-1.0 horsepower per cubic foot of gassed slurry. The mixing energy will determine whether the gas-liquid or liquid-solid interface will limit the speed of the reactions. The passage of ozone from the gas to a liquid phase will be the limiting factor below about 0.2 horsepower per cubic foot of gassed slurry. The increasing presence of ozone in the liquid as the horsepower increases from about 0.2 to about 0.