Explosions Due to Hydrogen and Hydrogen Sulfide Build-up
As paper mills have begun to close up their water systems and move toward zero effluent discharge, they are finding that closing a mill’s water system can lead to changes in a mill’s water chemistry. These can include a build-up of nutrients which can increase the amount of microbes in a mill’s system. In the absence of oxygen that might be found in tanks, chests, and pipes, anaerobic bacteria can thrive.
When certain types of anaerobic bacteria break down the organic material found in a mill, hydrogen sulfide and hydrogen gases can be formed and released. One group of anaerobic bacteria, sulfate-reducing bacteria or SRB, produce hydrogen sulfide gas as a byproduct of their metabolic process. Other anaerobic bacteria, including clostridia, produce hydrogen gas as a byproduct of their metabolic processes.
Both these gases, if present in sufficient amounts, can be a safety concern — particularly for explosions — in a paper mill. Monitoring for these gases can help detect harmful levels of the gases before incident occurs.
RPTA issued Technical Bulletin 16, Hydrogen and Hydrogen Sulfide Gases, which provides guidance on monitoring for these gases.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board issued a Bulletin that provides guidance on hot work in such areas.
LATEST NEWS
2023 Industry Profile Study
The 2023 Industry Profile Study has been published and distributed to members. The study included 209 grade samples off 65 paper machines at 47 RPTA-member mills. Members can access this report, and prior year reports, at this member-only page. Each member company also received custom, confidential Excel workbooks by email with the samples from their paper machines identified.
Narrow Roll Safety Guideline
Narrow rolls, also known as ribbon rolls, represent a heightened risk of injury due to their unstable configuration. A task team of RPTA members developed a guideline that provides options that mills may consider to protect employees who handle narrow rolls, or will be in the vicinity of narrow rolls. The Guideline is available at this web page.
Summer 2023 Webinar
On July 20th we held a webinar on Treatment Technologies for Wastewater Reuse, presented by Everett Gill and Kristen Jenkins of Brown and Caldwell Engineering. The webinar covered technologies that can reduce the concentration of one or more chemicals in process water or mill effluent. Presentation slides and recordings from the webinar are available to RPTA members only at this web page.
UPCOMING EVENTS
2023 RPTA Fall Roundtable
NEW PAPER MILL TECHNOLOGY
The annual member-only event will be held October 18 and 19 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. This year’s Roundtable will include:
- Seminar by Voith and Valmet
- Group Dinner
- Tour of Graphic Packaging Mill Tour
Use this link to register.
And this link for detailed information on the Roundtable, including travel information.