Effect of pre-steaming and impregnation on the eucalyptus pulp cooking

yield

24.08.2010

Arauco
Olli Joutsimo

StoraEnso
Mats Nasman

Contents
1

Introduction ................................................................................................. 3

1.1 Limitations with laboratory cooking studies ........................................... 3

Objective of the work................................................................................... 4

Background ................................................................................................. 4

3.1 Effect of pre- steaming on liquor penetration......................................... 5

3.1.1 Effect of wood dryness on steaming and chip size ......................... 6
3.2 Chemical Impregnation ......................................................................... 6
3.3 Effect on cooking temperature and pulp yield ..................................... 10
3.4 Effect on alkali profile .......................................................................... 11
3.5 Effect on uniformity and point of defibration ........................................ 12
3.6 Mill experience .................................................................................... 13
3.6.1 Tres Lagoas.................................................................................. 13
3.6.2 Varkaus ........................................................................................ 13
3.6.3 Effect of fresh wood on impregnation efficiency and cooking reject
amount 14
4 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 15
5

Recommendations .................................................................................... 16

Experimental Part...................................................................................... 16

6.1 Pretest at RCK .................................................................................... 16

6.1.1 Methods........................................................................................ 16
6.1.2 Results.......................................................................................... 17
6.1.3 Conclusions .................................................................................. 19
6.2 Cooking with and without impregnation, Scitech study........................ 19
6.2.1 Raw material and cooking conditions ........................................... 20
6.2.2 Results.......................................................................................... 21
7 Conclusions............................................................................................... 24
8

Recommendations .................................................................................... 25

References................................................................................................ 26

Introduction
The wood impregnation is affected by the wood humidity, which is dependent
on the climate conditions and the degree of debarking of the wood. The
impregnation efficiency will depend on the impregnation time, pressure and pre
steaming of wood. The level of impregnation will affect the cooking result i.e.
amount of reject generated and cooking yield and will have important financial
effect of the pulp production. The objective of this brief study is to determine the
effect of impregnation on the cooking results in one vs. two vessel cooking
system. Other objective is also to determine effect of wood moisture content on
the impregnation time in order to gain the sufficient level of cooking yield.

1.1

Limitations with laboratory cooking studies

Generally the laboratory cooking is very uniform because of following factors:
The chip pre steaming in the laboratory is usually also very effective and will
evacuate all the air from the chips effectively and therefore ensure perfect
impregnation. The impregnation in laboratory vessels with circulation usually
yields to very efficient impregnation result because there will be no canalization,
which would inhibit heat and liquor transfer. The heat uptimes before reaching
the cooking temperature after impregnation in the laboratory are generally very
long and therefore ensure even more efficient impregnation. The effective
cooking circulations without canalization will ensure a homogenous cooking
result.
Table 1. The differences between laboratory and actual process.
Laboratory

Mill

Chips raw material

Homogenous Varying

Steaming process

Ideal

Varying

Impregnation

Ideal

Varying

Heating

Slow during
circulation

Rapid

Cooking process

Homogenous Non
homogenous

Overall process

Ideal

Non ideal

The above mentioned factors make it challenging to study this subject in

laboratory.

2 Objective of the work

The objective of this brief study is to firstly give summary of recent studies
related to pre-steaming, impregnation and effects on cooking results, secondly
in the experimental part determine the effect of impregnation on the cooking
results in one vs. two vessel cooking system. Other objective is also to
determine effect of wood moisture content on the impregnation time in order to
gain the sufficient level of cooking yield. The results are expected to show
weather one vessel cooking system is feasible and if the chip dry-matter has
any impact on the need of impregnation. The aim is to provide sufficient
information so that the cooking process can be designed based on the probable
wood dry matter content.

Background
The alkali wood impregnation implies the penetration of liquids, diffusion of
chemical reagents and also chemical reactions and swelling.
The penetration of liquors is affected by the air trapped inside of the wood
chips, which can be removed efficiently by pre-steaming. What is sufficient time
and conditions of pre-steaming are dependent on the specific features of the
wood capillaries. In practice, however, complete removal of air may be difficult
to achieve, even by applying optimal steaming conditions and long steaming
times. The specific features of the wood capillaries can limit the removal of air.
Some air cannot be removed because the pressure gradient at the end of presteaming is insufficient to overcome the surface tension forces at the liquid-air
menisci that block the air passage. In addition, some air can be trapped within
capillaries, which are sealed by extractives, or within the blind pores /1, 2/.
In the phase of diffusion of regents and reaction products are transported
between impregnation liquor and wood material. In this phase the reaction of
acetyls, acidic groups and peeling reaction of the hemicelluloses. The
deacetylation is the main reaction involved in the impregnation and is
responsible for the main consumption of the alkali. On the other and the alkali
also modifies the local ion transportation capacity and it has been shown that
the diffusion in the hardwood transverse direction is strongly affected by the
alkalinity /3, 4/.

3.1

Effect of pre- steaming on liquor penetration

The principal reason for the chip pre-steaming is preheats the chip from
ambient temperature to 100 - 120 C and remover the air in the wood void
spaces and capillaries. This removal operation is important in order to achieve
uniform penetration of impregnation liquor into wood chips. with cooking liquor
during the impregnation stage of pulping. The liquor penetration time is affected
by the pre-steaming time and temperature. Zanuttini /1/ has shown that 5
minutes of steaming eucalyptus chips is sufficient for obtaining complete liquid
penetration with pressurized impregnation (6 bar). Malkov /2/ has presented the
effect of steaming temperature (steaming time 6 minutes) on the penetration
degree and time, shown in the Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. Effect of steaming temperature on water penetration into heartwood

chips Steaming: 6 minutes; Penetration: 85 C and 5.3 bar; Chip dimensions:
25x15x8 mm /2/.
The Fig. 1 shows that the penetration of liquor into the chip can be almost
perfect even after 6 minutes of steaming time in the laboratory environment.
However it is not likely to achieve similar situation in the mill cooking process
environment. It can be considered that the steaming time have to be at least 6
minutes at 120 oC degrees in order to have 95% penetration degree and in the
mill environment the time should be most probable at least doubled.

3.1.1 Effect of wood dryness on steaming and chip size

The wood chip moisture content affects the steaming time required to evacuate
air from the chips. In the Fig. 2 is shown the effect of different steaming on the
liquor penetration of the chips with different dryness contents.

Fig. 2. The effect of steaming on the amount of floating chips. /5/

The Fig. 2 clearly shows that the steaming time is important for the air removal
of the chips. Higher dryness content of the chips is also demanding more
steaming. In the mill environment it has to be also considered that the dryness
of the chips will vary and the variation in dryness will increase the chip size
distribution in chipping which will further increase the need for pre-steaming /6/.

3.2

Chemical Impregnation
The concept of chemical impregnation describes the diffusion of chemicals
through the cell wall. It has been shown that for eucalyptus pulping an extended
impregnation stage in modified craft cooking leads to more efficient
delignification /7/. This leads to lower alkali consumption and higher yield /8/.
For the alkali impregnation /9/ the impregnation takes only place by diffusion
across the cell wall. During this diffusion process the alkali is consumed mainly
by the deacetylation reactions. During the chemical impregnation the advancing
front separates the growing swollen outer zone from the intact inner zone of the
chip /9/. The diffusion of the alkali is dependent mainly on the alkali
concentration and diffusion time. This ion diffusion capillarity is significantly
increased when pH is increased from 12 to 13. At room temperature, alkalinity
has a strong effect on the ECCSA (Effective Capillary Cross Sectional Area),
particularly when the pH is elevated from 12.5 to 13.5. However, it has been
also shown that there is a steep elevation of ECCSA is at pH 10.5 at 90 oC./10/.

In the Fig. 3 is shown the effect of concentration of Na and NaOH on the

advance of the concentration front (in the chip thickness direction, presented as
micro meters) in fresh eucalyptus wood.

Fig. 3. The effect of concentration of Na and NaOH on the advance of the

concentration front in fresh eucalyptus wood at 20 and 55min/3/.
From the Fig. 3 can be concluded that without pre-steaming of the fresh wood
eucalyptus chips needs to be impregnated at least 55min in order to have the
concentration front at the middle of the 4mm thick chip. The effect of the presteaming at different alkali concentrations with dry and fresh wood are
presented In the Fig. 4 /3/.

Fig. 4. The effect of the pre- steaming at different alkali concentrations with dry
and fresh wood /3/. Front position is the position of chemical impregnation front
as a function of time into chip thickness direction.
From the Fig. 4 can be obtained that the in the perfect liquor flow conditions the
fresh eucalyptus wood chip with pre-steaming, chemical impregnation front will
reach middle of the 4mm thick chip in approx 30 min /3/.
In Fig. 4.1 it is shown how the impregnation front (impregnation front position is
the point physically in the chip thickness direction at which the concentration of
the hydroxyl ion starts to increase) is dependent on surrounding concentration
and impregnation temperature/10/. The most important factor is the
concentration. The impregnation is normally done in the range 0.5N to below
0.25 N at 100-110 C in the digester systems available for MdP. From the figure
it is possible to see that it will demand at least about 30 minutes for the diffusing
hydroxyl ions to reach the centre of the 4.4 mm thick chip /10/.

Fig. 4.1 This figure shows after which time the impregnation front reaches the
middle of a chip piece with the thickness of 2.2 mm. The different
concentrations are [OH-] /10/. Steaming applied, impregnation pressure: 0.6
MPa,
In the Fig. 5. is shown how the kappa number after cooking is affected after
different impregnation time /5/. It is clearly shown that the homogeneity
expressed as a lower kappa number achieved after the same cooking process
is improved with both applied steaming and applied impregnation time.

Fig. 5. The effect of the pre- steaming and different impregnation time on the
cooking homogeneity expressed as achieved kappa no after cooking /5/.

Eucalyptus globulus

58,0

No steaming and no
impregnation

57,5

%
d
l 57,0
ie
y
d 56,5
e
n
e
e
rc 56,0
S

30 min imp.

20min imp.

blow through + 2 min

10min imp.
Level difference
between impregnation
or not

no imp.

55,5
55,0
17

18

19

Kappa no

20

21

Fig. 6. The effect of the pre- steaming and impregnation time on screened yield
after cooking in the same cooking conditions. /5/
There is some scattering in the rejects amount/kappa no for the different
impregnation times but the difference between impregnation and no
impregnation is clear. The higher yield is obtained with impregnation.

3.3

Effect on cooking temperature and pulp yield

The shortening of the retention time in the system will increase the cooking
temperature need (h factor need) with a few degrees due to the less
homogeneity of the cook without doing any impregnation. On top of this the
cooking temperature will also be higher due to the fact that the first cooking
zone will be run at a lower cooking temperature than in the 2nd cooking zone. A
reasonable estimate of the cooking temperature increase is 2-3 C.
In Fig. 7 is presented the yield gain when cooking at 140 C to 145 C
compared to 160-165 C was 0.5-1.0 %. The results were compared at similar
residual alkali levels /11/. The effect of the cooking temperature has also been
shown by Gomide and Mcdonough /12/.

57
56
55

Yield %

54
53
E.grandis high temp.
E.grandis low temp.
E.globulus high temp.
E.globulus low temp.
E.nitens high temp.
E.nitens low temp.
E. from China high temp.
E. from China low temp.
Scan. birch high temp.
Scan. birch low temp.

52
51
50
49
48
12

13

14

15

16

17

18

Kappa no.

Fig. 7. The cooking yield is shown for different raw materials at different cooking
temperatures (cooking time 240(low temp.) or 50 min. (high temp.), L/W 4.0)

3.4

Effect on alkali profile

It is well known that the eucalyptus wood in general is sensitive to higher alkali
concentrations.
In the two vessel system which includes the impregnation vessel the alkali
charge is divided to 3 points: chip feed, digester top and to CD1. This results in
an even alkali profile without any high peaks in the alkali concentration.
In the one vessel case the alkali charge is made to 2 points: chip feed and CD1.
This results in a higher alkali (30-40 g/l NaOH) concentration in the digester top
at a temperature of 145-150 C vs the case with impregnation (15-20 g/l NaOH).
At this temperature already the cooking has started which leaves little space for
the alkali to diffuse into the fibers since it will be consumed in deacetylation and
delignification reactions. This is detrimental from cooking homogeneity point of
view. The higher alkali charge in addition to the relatively high temperature as
well will have an effect on the yield, especially the retention of the
hemicelluloses.

3.5

Effect on uniformity and point of defibration

The effect of shorter retention times are shown to effect reject amount
significantly. The shorter the retention time is in the system the lower is the
defibration point of the eucalyptus pulp. (defibration point = kappa number at
which the reject amount starts to increase sharply) /13/.
In the Fig. 8 is shown the yield curve at normal cooking kappa no, 16-19 is
steep and with Extended Impregnation Cooking (EIC) system. Only a difference
in 0.5 units as max cooking kappa target makes a big impact on yield /13/.

Fig. 8. In these figures 1 and 2 the reject and screened yield is shown for
Eucalyptus urograndis cooked with and without impregnation before cooking.

3.6

Mill experience
3.6.1 Tres Lagoas
We do not have any extensive report from the Tres Lagoas mill. The installed
digester system is a one vessel steam phase digester similar to the suggested
one vessel digester for MdP project. However the SE/Arauco/MdP team has
been visiting the mill. The mill said to be running on lower kappa number target
than expected and this of course have an impact on the yield in the mill.
The information from the visit is that the kappa target was 16-17 instead of the
design 18. The reject amounts were 0.3% knots and 0.5% shives. The reasons
for the high reject levels were said to be the lack of impregnation and dry
wood/15/.

3.6.2 Varkaus
In Stora Enso Varkaus mill it has been tested to run with and without
impregnation vessel on birch (simply by running with different chip levels in the
impregnation vessel). The impregnation times were 5, 30 and 60 minutes
It was very clear that the reject amount increased with less or no impregnation
see Table 2.
Table 2. Effect of impregnation time on the reject amount at Varkaus mill.

Full= impregnation vessel full of chips

Int. = half filled impregnation vessel
Min = empty impregnation vessel
WD = wet disintegration
In order to reach even close to the same kappa number level the cooking
temperature was increased by 7.8 C resulting in an H-factor increase from 429
to 740 /11/.
From the Varkaus mill study can be also concluded that the alkali consumption
was higher compared at the same kappa number level and the bleachability of

the pulps with shorter impregnation time was greatly deteriorated. The results
are shown in Table 3.
Table 3. The effect of impregnation on the alkali consumption and bleachability.

3.6.3

Effect of fresh wood on impregnation efficiency and cooking reject

amount
From the literature can be also found that when fresh wood is used in the mill
environment increases the impregnation efficiency. This yields to lower alkali
consumption and cooking homogeneity is increased /16, 17/. Therefore, when
dry wood is used the importance of the sufficient impregnation time for
homogenous cooking result is even greater.

Conclusion
Based on the material reported above the following can be concluded about the
process effects when the impregnation vessel is excluded from the digester
system
Cooking without impregnation:
-

There is no sufficient time for proper chemical impregnation, which will

lead to inhomogeneous cook.

Inhomogeneous cook will result in higher reject amounts and though

lower overall yield. Also there is an obvious risk with having shives
contamination in the finally bleached pulp.

The inhomogeneous cook may cause decrease of the kappa target

kappa number compared to the level originally intended. This also
decreases yield and increases in white liquor demand. At kappa levels
between 15-19, the yield curve is steep i.e. 0.5% is gained in
yield/increased kappa unit.

The risk of inhomogeneous cook increases with different euca species

cooked in a mix. This risk increases when the impregnation is excluded
from the process as well as with increased dryness of the wood.

The alkali profile is affected when excluding the impregnation vessel,

which means that higher alkali concentration at relatively high
temperature is needed for the same kappa level. This decreases cooking
yield, especially the hemicelluloses retention is decreased.

Clear evidence from the Varkaus mill clearly shows the detrimental
effects of excluding the impregnation.

Especially in the case of Montes del Plata when wood is debarked at the
plantations and the storage is prolonged the wood will be dry, which will impair
the impregnation efficiency. Further this emphasizes the importance of good
impregnation efficiency.
In the operation of Montes del Plata during the first 10 years different
Eucalyptus species will be cooked as a mixture, which will increase the
importance of proper impregnation in order to reach high yield and homogenous
cooking result.

Recommendations
-

Based on the findings from the literature it can be concluded that the
recommendation is to keep the impregnation vessel as a part of the
digester system.

Experimental Part
The experimental part of impregnation study consists of pretest made in the
StoraEnso research centre in Sweden and study made in Scitech laboratories in
Finland.

6.1

Pretest at RCK
A pretest was done at RCK laboratory in order to see if the testing could be
done with the equipment available.

6.1.1 Methods
Veracel chips were used as raw material. Dry chips was used, ca 90% dryness.
The chips size distribution was as shown in table 4.
Table 4. chips size and thickness distribution.
Thickness distribution

>10mm
8mm
6mm
4mm
2mm
<2mm

%-weight
0
0
9,6
42,6
44,3
3,5

Size
distribution
>dia.45mm
//8mm
Dia.13mm
Dia. 7mm
Dia. 3mm
Saw dust

%-weight
0
0,5
76,6
21,3
1,4
0,2

The normal circulation flow used in the digester is 3.7 l/min. In this study this
was reduced and it was possible to use a circulation flow of about 1.5 l/min
during the cooking. At a L/W ratio of 4.5 this corresponds to a retention time of
the liquor in the digester of 3 minutes. Testing conditions were as presented in
table 5.

Table 5. (conditions 1st cook/2nd cook, if only 1 condition is presented the

same was used in both cooks)
Case 1
Impregnation
+ cooking
impreg.
Steaming time,
min
Vacuum
Time, min
L/W
EA NaOH, %
Temp., C
Target h-factor
Sulphidity, %

Case 2

cooking zone 1

Cooking
cooking
cook. Zone 2
zone 1

10
5/none
45
4
8,9
105
31,6

45, (10min heat)

4,5
6,8/6,3
154/152

120
3
1,6
154/152
650/550

10
5/none
45 (15/20
min heat)
4,5
15,7/14,7
140/144

cook. Zone
2

120(10/8
min heat)
3
1,6/2,1
156,5/154
650/550

31,6

The residual alkali was measured with SCAN N30:85 and rejects as gravimetric
evaluation with 0.15 mm slots.

6.1.2 Results
The shives contents of the pulps were at very low level and no difference could
be seen between two cases.
The total yield was also on the same level for the two cases (Fig. 8).

Yield %, total

Veracel chips
60
59
58
57
56
55
54
53
52
51
50

Impregnation 45 min
No imp. (but heat up time 15-20
min)

no vacuum

15,5

16

16,5

17

17,5

18

18,5

Kappa no
Fig. 8. Yield versus kappa number.
The achieved kappa number after a certain H-factor was lower in the case when
impregnation was used (Fig. 9). The difference was however small.

Veracel chips
18,5
Impregnation 45 min
18,0
No imp. (but heat up time 15-20
min)

Kappa no.

17,5
17,0
16,5
16,0
15,5
540

560

580

600
H-factor

Fig. 9. Achieved kappa number at certain H-factor.

620

640

660

6.1.3 Conclusions
In RCK laboratory it is difficult to show any difference between the two cases
because of:
o The heating up time in the non impregnation case was 15-20min.
During this time already impregnation is taking place
o The circulation flow could not be reduced as much as expected
which resulted in a short liquor circulation retention time, ca 3
minutes (but anyway lower than normal)
Further can be also concluded that:
- Reject and yield were at the same levels
- Indications on that the achieved kappa level in the impregnation case is
lower at the same H-factor (more homogenous)

6.2

Cooking with and without impregnation, Scitech study

After discussions taking into account the previous test and other knowledge
available it was decided to try to study the impregnation in a larger circulation
digester which allows the cooking to be done with 5.8 kg OD chips. This
circulation digester is a jacketed circulation digester that allows a circulation
flow of 3 l/min which corresponds to a circulation liquor retention time of 8.7 min
at a L/W of 4.5 m3/Bdt. This is almost 3 times less circulation than the
circulation that was possible to keep at RCK laboratory. The heating up time
was between 16-19 min (including white liquor fill for the non impregnation
case). The laboratory study provider was SciTech in Rauma, Finland.

6.2.1 Raw material and cooking conditions

The chips samples were prepared in Uruguay (Latu) before they were sent to
Finland. The chips were dried before shipment and the dry content was 93% for
mix 2 and 91% for mix 3 (analyzed at Scitech).
The chips dry content was adjusted to 80% before the cooking experiments
were done. This was done by rewetting and conditioning in plastic bags. The
steaming for 10 minutes further reduced the chip dryness to 71% for both
mixes.
The raw material mixes was according to table 6.
Table 6.

E. globulus
50%
25%

MIX 2
MIX 3

E. dunnii
20%
70%

E. grandis
20%
5%

Other
10%
-

The chips size distribution was analyzed according to the SCAN-CM 40:94
method and the results are shown in table x.
Table 7.
>45 mm
Mix 2
Mix 3

0.2
0.0

>8 mm
slot
4.0
2.5

>13 mm

> 7mm

> 3 mm

< 3 mm

63.6
57.6

29.4
35.6

2.5
3.9

0.2
0.2

The cooking conditions are presented in table 7. The alkali charge was split to 3
dosage points in the impregnation case: Impregnation/cook zone 1 /cook zone
2. In the non impregnation case two dosage points were used: cook zone 1
/cook zone 2. Alkali charges were set to achieve the target residual alkali levels.
Table 8.
Sulphidity
steaming, time

%
Min

35
10

Impregnation (if any)

Time
Pressure
L/W
temp.
residual alkali
1st cooking zone

Min
Bar
t/t Wood
C
g/l

40
6
4
105
6-8

Time
Pressure
L/W
temp.
residual alkali
2nd cooking zone
time
pressure bar
L/W
temp.
residual alkali

Min
Bar
t/t Wood
C
g/l

45
6
4,5
145
6-8

Min
Bar
t/t Wood
C
g/l

120
6
3,5
Varied
6-8

The residual alkali was measured with SCAN N30:85 and rejects as gravimetric
evaluation with 0.15 mm slots. The rejects were analyzed on 0.2mm slots
screen.

6.2.2 Results
Alkali consumption
The alkali charge had to be increased with 0.2% EA NaOH on wood for the
mixes cooked without impregnation in order to keep the residual alkali within
given frame. However when calculating the alkali consumption based on the
charges, liquor mass balance and residuals there is a difference in alkali
consumption only for mix 2. The difference is about 0.4% EA NaOH, see Figs.
10 and 11.

M2, with imp.

M2, no imp.

155,0

160,0

165,0

consumed NaOH kg/Bdt wood

Fig. 10. Alkali consumption for mix 2.

Montes del Plata

Kappa no.

Kappa no.

Montes del Plata

22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
150,0

22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
145,0

M3, with imp.

M3, no imp.

150,0

155,0

consumed NaOH kg/Bdt wood

Fig. 11 Alkali consumption for mix 3.

The kappa number s achieved after a certain H-factor showed no differences for
mix 2. The results for mix 3 were also too close to each other in order to draw
reliable conclusions (Figs 12 and 13).

Montes del Plata

M2, with imp.

M2, no imp.

350

450

550

Kappa no.

Kappa no.

Montes del Plata

22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
250

22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
250

M3, with imp.

M3, no imp.

350

450

550

H-factor

H-factor

Fig. 12. Achieved kappa no vs H factor Fig. 13. Achieved kappa no vs H factor
for mix 2.
for mix 3.

Reject
The reject levels were on the same level on the achieved kappa numbers in the
lower range. On the highest kappa number for mix 2 the rejects were higher for
the case without impregnation, see Figs. 14 and 15.
In general the shives content are on a high level for both mixes.

1,2
1,0
0,8
0,6
0,4
0,2
0,0

Montes del Plata

M2, with imp.
M2, no imp.

10

15

20

25

Kappa no.

Fig. 14. Shives content for mix 2.

Shives % on wood

Shives % on wood

Montes del Plata

1,2
1,0
0,8
0,6
0,4
0,2
0,0

M3, with imp.

M3, no imp.

10

15

20

25

Kappa no.

Fig. 15 Shives content for mix 3.

Yield
When analyzing the yield results one has to remember that no impregnation
liquor was circulated to the cooking. This means that for the impregnation
cooking it is actually a hemicelluloses extraction phase and this does not apply
for the non impregnation case. For mix 2 there is no difference between the
impregnation/non impregnation case, in practice this means that yield actually is
be higher when the results are equal.

The yield of mix 3 is on a higher level than mix 2. At lower kappa levels for mix
3 it seems like the no impregnation case gives higher yield. This result can be
explained with hemicelluloses extraction and dissolution because of higher
cooking time to lower kappa numbers. However the same can be stated as with
mix 2 when the results are equal in practice the yield is higher with the
impregnation option.
The total yields are shown in Figs. 16 and 17.

Fig. 16. Total yield for mix 2.

Fig. 17. Total yield for mix 3.

The screened yields are found in Figs. 18 and 19.

Fig. 18. Screened yield for mix 2.

Fig. 19 Screened yield for mix 3.

Conclusions
No or small differences could be noticed in this study
o Higher alkali consumption when running without separate
impregnation for mix 2.
o If the impregnation liquor would have been recirculated the yield
with impregnation would have been higher.
Main reasons why results did not show similar results as found in literature and
which were expected:
o No recirculation of the impregnation liquor
no hemicelluloses
precipitation
decrease in yield
o Steaming has been obviously near to perfect
o Heat up time too long compared to mill case
o Even though the circulation flow in the digester was reduced with
2/3 compared to the pretest levels used in the RCK laboratory it
was not possible to achieve reliable results.
In the end we must take into account that
o There will be variations in the raw material flow in the mill resulting
in non uniform process performance
 Variations in wood species
 Variations in chip humidity
 Variations in chip quality and size
 Variations in steaming of the chips
o Separate impregnation will improve the process result during
operations in such conditions
o Existing results from mill trials and mill experience supports the
fact that separate impregnation is giving favorable process results
(see literature report)
o Impregnation vessel enables a possibility to further optimize the
alkali profile for both yield and quality reasons

Recommendations
It is obvious that this subject is difficult and very demanding to be studied in
laboratory in order to obtain differences, at least when applying steaming on
normal chip sizes.
Due to this, the above conclusions and the conclusions made in the literature
study our recommendation is to keep the impregnation vessel in the scope of
the project Montes del Plata.

References
1. Inalbon M.C., M. Citroni, V. Marzocchi,C. Pieck , M. Zanuttini. Impregnation
of eucalyptus and pine wood in alkaline pulping processes.Effects of
steaming and pressurized impregnation. ABTCP 2004.
2. Malkov, S., Tikka, P., Gullichsen, J. (2002) Towards complete impregnation
of wood chips with aqueous solutions. Part 4. Effects of front-end
modifications in displacement batch kraft
pulping. Pap. Puu. 84:526530.
3. Zanuttini, M., Citroni, M., Mocchiutti, P., Inalbon M.C. Alkali impregnation of
hardwood chips. Tappi Journal 2(2005) pp. 28-30.
4. Inalbon M.C., Mussati, M. C., Zanuttini, M., Experimental and theoretical
analysis of the alkali impregnation of eucalyptus. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 48,
4791-4795, 2009.
5. Internal Stora Enso report. 1243e.
6. man, M., Sderstam, G., Comparison of stored green wood raw materials.
Pap. Puu 83(2001)11 pp. 50-57.
7. Silva, F., Maciel, P., Silva, M., Peixoto, M. Implentacao de uma eficiente
etapa de impregnacao na pulpacao kraft de eucalipto 14-17, Oct., ABTCP
2002,.
8. Weipang, B., Lucia, L., Tappi J., 2(3):32(2003)
9. Stone, J., Green, H., Pulp and Paper Mag. Can. 59(1958)10 pp.223.
10. Inalbon M.C., Zanuttini, M., Citroni, M., Mocchiutti, P., Experimental and
theorethical analysis of the alkali Alkali impregnation of eucalyptus wood.Ind.
Eng. Chem. Res,48(2009) pp. 4791-4795.
11. Tolonen, L., Hiltunen, E., Helttunen, J., Sixta, H. Effects of impregnation
time on hardwood kraft pulp characteristics and papermaking potential a
mill study. APRIL 2010 | TAPPI JOURNAL
12. Gomes, F. and T. J. McDonough (2002). "Lo-solids pulping of eucalyptus:
effect of production rate." O Papel(January): 69-81.

13. H Wedin, M Ragnar, M Lindstrm, accepted for publishing in NPPRJ,

Extended impregnation in the kraft cook-an approach to improve the overall
yield in eucalypt kraft pulping
14. Gustavsson, C. (2006). On the interrelation between kraft cooking conditions
and pulp composition. Stockholm, KTH. Doctoral thesis.
15. Notes from SE/Arauco/MdP team visit to Tres lagoas mill, PB
16. Oman M., Soderstam G., Comparison of stored and green wood raw
material. Paperi ja Puu. 83(2001):1,50.
17. Metsateho Markku Mkel, raportti 071, 2001 Varastoinnin vaikutus
kuitupuuhun j asen merkitys sellun valmistukssessa 15p.