Environmental Assessment on Paper Sludge to Electricity in Paper Mills in Thailand

Abstract

In the paper production industry, typically, waste from the papermaking process, such as woody waste, waste reject, and paper sludge, is used for internal energy recovery. Our research focuses on paper sludge that has high moisture content. Our previous study that showed that hydrothermal treatment can convert paper sludge into solid fuel. In this study, we calculated the CO₂ emissions from the paper sludge valorization to generate electricity in actual paper mills in Thailand. As a result, when hydrothermal treatment was applied on paper sludge and the product was cofired with coal, it was better in terms of an environmental perspective and technical feasibility in the case of the small- and medium-size boilers, 50 and 80 t/h.