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
RPTA Announces 2021 Scholarship Recipients
Click here for details.
2021 Summer Webinar
On July 21, 2021, the RPTA Operating Board hosted a webinar on Brown Fiber Re-Pulping and Reject Handling Best Practices.
Presented by Steven Johnson, Applications Engineer, Kadant Black Clawson, and moderated by Dave Pearson, General Manager, Westrock.
The Webinar recording and a pdf file of the slides are available at this member-only site.
Industry Profile Study
Sampling is complete. Samples were coded for anonymity and sent to contract labs for testing. Included are 204 samples, off 62 machines at 47 mills. The 2021 Profile Study report will be published in September.
Members can access the Profile Study reports from prior years by clicking here.
RPTA Certification of Member Mills
RPTA continues the certification program first implemented in 2018 for RPTA member mills. RPTA uses a rigorous auditing process conducted by NSF to assure members and brand owners that products produced by certified mills are suited for direct food contact packaging applications. For more information, click here.
For a complete list of certified mills, click here.
UPCOMING EVENTS
2021 Fall Roundtable
Water Reuse in Recycle Mills - Challenges & Solutions
If the COVID-19 situation allows, our annual Roundtable is planned for October 6 & 7. The free Seminar will be held on October 6th at the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Hotel & Convention Center.
We will tour Greif’s Sweetwater mill in Austell, Georgia, on the 7th.
The Roundtable registration is exclusive and free for RPTA member companies.
For all the details, including seminar and hotel reservation links, click here.
Early registration is encouraged for planning purposes.
The RPTA Operating Board may have to convert the in-person event to a hybrid live/virtual event or a full virtual event. We will communicate any change to registrants soon after a decision to change is made.
2022 Winter Webinar
The Operating Board is tentatively planning a webinar on Building a Training Program from Within for sometime in January. Details TBD.
2022 P-T Seminar
RPTA’s annual Production-Technical Seminar will be held in Charlotte, NC on May 2nd and 3rd, co-located with TAPPICon 2022.