Klabin has successfully started up a sulfuric acid plant supplied by ANDRITZ at its Ortigueira/PR plant in Brazil. The plant is a world first and can produce 150 tons of commercial-grade sulfuric acid per day from concentrated odorous gases and elemental sulfur. It serves the pulp lines at Klabin’s Puma Unit and makes the site completely self-sufficient in sulfuric acid by recycling sulfur from the waste streams.
The sulfuric acid plant helps Klabin to control the sodium and sulfur (Na/S) balance and also the sulfidity of the mill. In addition, less sulfate will now be discharged due to the optimized Na/S balance, hence improving the efficiency of input use at the Ortigueira plant. Furthermore, there is no need in the future to transport hazardous inputs such as sulfuric acid to the plant and the unit also optimizes resources overall, with a large reduction in transportation volume. As the sulfuric acid plant meets stringent air emission limits, the process significantly improves the overall footprint of the Ortigueira mill.
The ANDRITZ scope of supply included technologies on an EPCC basis for handling elemental sulfur, combustion of sulfur and concentrated non-condensable gases (CNCG) to form sulfur dioxide (SO2), and conversion of sulfur dioxide into concentrated sulfuric acid, as well as a flue gas treatment system.