Setonian,
WRAP will never be a testing facility.....they are more of a funding organization. Aylesford Newsprint in Kent is where the demonstration plant is located, call it the testing facility if you must.
With the deployment of the KDS at Aylesford.......the industry eyes that will be monitoring the events that occur there....make this the most stringent/difficult/important and possibly the most rewarding event to occur in the history of FASC and the KDS.
I believe the outcome will be in FASC's favour.........due to ALL THAT DAMN TESTING THAT HAS TAKEN PLACE ALREADY.......there are more KNOWNS at this stage than UNKNOWNS..........
...............................Paper mill sludge is the main waste product from the manufacture of white recycled papers, and can represent as much as 40% of the material input in the production of higher quality paper grades. In total, UK mills generate around one million tonnes of sludge per annum, and end uses for this material have been limited. As a consequence, most of the sludge is either landfilled, land-spread or incinerated.
“With higher quality requirements for paper, and rising landfill costs, the volume and cost of sludge disposal is becoming an inhibiting commercial factor for the further expansion of recycled paper manufacture,” explains David Powlson, WRAP’s Technical Manager for Paper. “This WRAP project will use new technology to explore the potential for overcoming this barrier and improving the economics of producing new paper products from recycled fibre.”
Up until now, the potential to recycle the sludge has been limited because of its composition. Typically, it is made up of 50% fibre and 50% fillers (minerals used to increase smoothness, gloss and opacity); two components that can be recycled more easily individually than in combination. What the FASC equipment can do is cost effectively dry the sludge into a fluff, as opposed to a compacted residue, allowing the fibre and fillers to be separated out.
The project divides into three stages. Initially, the moisture content of the sludge is reduced from 50% to 10% by the KDS Micronex. The resulting sludge fluff can then be split into its fibre and filler constituents using screening equipment, and the materials assessed for their recycling potential. In the case of fibre, possible end uses include insulation, lower grade paper applications and fuel briquettes, and the filler material has properties that could be beneficial in the manufacture of a range of products, particularly for the construction sector...............
Hongcouver
