Sequential In-Situ Carbonation Process for the Preparation of Hand Sheets with Waste Lime Mud

In the pulp and paper industry, the white liquor obtained from the causticizing green liquor in the smelting process mostly contains NaOH and Na2S. These chemicals are returned to the digester for reuse in the pulping process. The lime mud (LM) material is obtained from the reaction of the causticization process in paper industries. It is mainly composed of CaCO3; it appears with a green color with a high moisture content; and it has a small proportion of impurities such as non-process elements, for example Fe, Na, Mg, Al, Si, P, and S oxides and other toxic metals. This lime mud has poor whiteness with less efficiency due to its contaminated with impurities. The recycling or reutilizing process for lime mud and solid wastes are minimizing its toxic effect on the environment. The present study proposed to improve the whiteness of the waste lime mud by the calcination and hydration process at high temperatures and reutilizing it for hand sheets, making the process improve the paper brightness. In this study, we used a lime mud sample for calcination at 1000 degrees C and 1200 degrees C for 2 h and hydration at different times (3-24 h) with different temperatures (30-80 degrees C) and measured the powder whiteness and hand sheet brightness. The results indicated that after the calcination and hydration process, the lime mud sample whiteness was improved and that re-utilization with pulp for making hand sheets also can improve the paper brightness. It can be concluded that waste lime mud sample purification and the re-utilization process are more advantageous in paper industries.