Fluidized-Bed Processes —
A Solution for Industrial Waste Problems
JOHN E. HANWAY, JR.,  Vice President
Engineering Department
Copeland Process Corporation
Oak Brook, Illinois 60521
INTRODUCTION
During the relatively short period that fluidized-bed technology has been
available as an industrial process, a multitude of uses have been proposed. Many
of these were ill-conceived and doomed to failure because the inherent characteristics of fluidized-solids systems were not fully understood and available design
and operational knowledge was too limited to permit optimum use. In spite of the
many false starts, however, fluidized-solids technology has now been firmly established as a useful and very valuable industrial tool. The petroleum and metallurgical industries illustrate the present and potential importance and use of fluid-
lzed-bed systems. Development has taken many years of fruition, but many new
applications are now being extensively explored.
Likewise, the use of fluidized-solids technology for industrial waste treatment
is of relatively recent origin. Utilization of the techniques for nuclear waste
treatment (1) perhaps has given impetus to development in the general waste treatment field. Certainly, successful application of this technique in treating and destroying pulping mill waste effluents has greatly accelerated present interest.
The purpose of this paper is to review briefly the development and use of
fluidized-solids technology in several industrial waste applications and also to explore its potential utilization in other areas. In many of these, use of fluidized-
solids methods represents a simple, efficient, and economic approach to ultimate
and complete solution of many of our industrial waste treatment problems.
APPLICATION IN THE PAPER AND PULP INDUSTRY
Of primary interest, at the moment, is the application of fluidized-bed treatment to waste effluent problems in the paper and pulp industry, which has long
been plagued with pollution difficulties and which, day-by-day, become more
serious (2, 3).
The first successful application of the fluidized-bed treatment of waste pulping liquor was accomplished by Container Corporation of America at their neutral
sulfite semi-chemical corrugating-medium mill at Carthage, Indiana. This application was made in 1962 and was preceded by two years of intensive experimental development at the Columbus Laboratories of Battelle Memorial Institute
in Columbus, Ohio. This initial application has continued in successful operation,
and a second unit, at the Circleville, Ohio mill of the same Company, has been
in operation since 1964. At present, six additional commercial installations are
in the process of being constructed.
Sulfite-Pulping Processes
Figure 1 shows the fluidized-bed system for treatment of neutral-sulfite pulp-
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