SUPWAT: Sustainable Process Water Treatment for the paper industry

The Swedish Pulp and Paper Industry (PPI) plays a vital role in the country´s economy but faces resource-intensive water and energy usage challenges. Improving energy efficiency in production is a significant concern. Process water accounts for 61% of water use in the PPI and is recycled at different stages.

Increasing the use of recycled water is essential for sustainability.

However, as water circulation systems are closed, the accumulation of dissolved and colloidal substances (DCS) causes problems in papermaking, impacting product quality and increasing energy and resource consumption.

Sweden´s current process-water treatment systems primarily focus on removing solids, lacking DCS removal and energy recovery options. The project aims to develop a sustainable process-water treatment system for the paper industry. It seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase water reuse, and improve process efficiency.

The project´s short-term objectives include validating an advanced internal process-water treatment system using cutting-edge technology to enhance water reuse, reduce water and energy consumption, and evaluate the impact of process-water quality on papermaking performance.

These findings will identify critical concentrations of problematic compounds in process waters, leading to strategies for improving papermaking performance through effective water management.