Extractable organics and colour in a bleached kraft mill effluent land application system and recipient ground waters
type: CreativeWork
description: This thesis describes a study of the behaviour of extractable organics and colour in a land application system used to treat highly coloured, organic-rich, alkali extraction stage and foul condensate effluents from a traditional bleached kraft mill. The land application system comprised 44 unlined seepage basins, totalling 86 ha in area, into which approximately 10,000 m³ d⁻¹ effluent was loaded for approximately eight months of each year. The study aimed to determine (1) the effectiveness of the system for treating major effluent organics, including monoterpenes, fatty acids, resin acids, chlorophenolics, and colour, and (2) the effects of the system on organic contamination of sediments, aquifer materials, and ground waters. The study was carried out in four parts, investigating: (i) the behaviour of extractable organics and colour in the effluent drains and seepage basins; (ii) the penetration of extractable organics into the sediments beneath the seepage basins; (iii) the organic chemistry of shallow ground waters beneath the seepage system, and of deeper off-site ground waters; and (iv) behaviour of extractable organics and colour in laboratory soil-column simulating the land application process. In addition, a review of land application of pulp mill effluents was carried out, and analytical methods for determining extractable organics in effluents, sediments, and ground waters were developed. Concentrations of extractable organics and chlorophenolics were reduced by >95% over a 40 day period in the seepage basins. Removal rates decreased in the order fatty acids > chlorophenolics ≈ monoterpenes > resin acids. Resin acids underwent reductive and oxidative transformations, producing transient intermediates including 13-abietenoic acid and 13β-hydroxyabietanoic acid. A suite of relatively stable transformed species, dominated by the saturated compound abietanoic acid, remained in the seepage pond after 40 days. Colour removal over the same period was approximatel…
abstract: This thesis describes a study of the behaviour of extractable organics and colour in a land application system used to treat highly coloured, organic-rich, alkali extraction stage and foul condensate effluents from a traditional bleached kraft mill. The land application system comprised 44 unlined seepage basins, totalling 86 ha in area, into which approximately 10,000 m³ d⁻¹ effluent was loaded for approximately eight months of each year. The study aimed to determine (1) the effectiveness of the system for treating major effluent organics, including monoterpenes, fatty acids, resin acids, chlorophenolics, and colour, and (2) the effects of the system on organic contamination of sediments, aquifer materials, and ground waters. The study was carried out in four parts, investigating: (i) the behaviour of extractable organics and colour in the effluent drains and seepage basins; (ii) the penetration of extractable organics into the sediments beneath the seepage basins; (iii) the organic chemistry of shallow ground waters beneath the seepage system, and of deeper off-site ground waters; and (iv) behaviour of extractable organics and colour in laboratory soil-column simulating the land application process. In addition, a review of land application of pulp mill effluents was carried out, and analytical methods for determining extractable organics in effluents, sediments, and ground waters were developed. Concentrations of extractable organics and chlorophenolics were reduced by >95% over a 40 day period in the seepage basins. Removal rates decreased in the order fatty acids > chlorophenolics ≈ monoterpenes > resin acids. Resin acids underwent reductive and oxidative transformations, producing transient intermediates including 13-abietenoic acid and 13β-hydroxyabietanoic acid. A suite of relatively stable transformed species, dominated by the saturated compound abietanoic acid, remained in the seepage pond after 40 days. Colour removal over the same period was approximatel…
author: Mills, Geoffrey Newton
license: https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstreams/54099c3e-96d8-4ce6-987b-5d88a78188cd/download
date published: 1997
date modified: 2026-07-24T05:57:41Z
provider: University Waikato
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: The University of Waikato