Paper manufacturing could become cleaner and more efficient in the future if a University of Missouri-Rolla ceramic engineer's research is successful.
Dr. William Headrick, post-doctoral fellow of ceramic engineering at UMR, recently received the first of three, $200,000-per-year grants from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop new, more efficient materials for "black liquor" gasification, a crucial step in the paper-making process.
Headrick has designed and built equipment at Oak Ridge National Laboratories in Oak Ridge, Tenn., to evaluate containment materials such as black liquor, which is produced as a byproduct during the paper-making process. Black liquor is eventually recycled into "white liquor," which is used to digest wood to make pulp for paper.
In his laboratory, Headrick is creating new refractory materials to enable a more economic and environmentally friendly way to obtain the white liquor.
"When all the challenges of perfecting this process are met, it will provide energy, environmental and economic benefits," says Headrick.
According to Headrick, this system would result in savings of $12 million to $17 million a year and significant reductions in carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide emissions. Paper manufacturers such as Weyerhauser and Georgia Pacific have expressed interest in Headrick's work.
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