Pinch technology reduces wastewater at a paper mill

The pulp and paper industry is under regulatory pressure to reduce the volume of its water consumption and wastewater discharge. A systematic methodology for analyzing the ways to reduce wastewater amount and consequently reduce the freshwater consumption is called Mass Exchange Integration (MEI) or Pinch technology. The pinch technology establishes the minimum water flow rate required for the plant and thus sets the target for minimizing water consumption. In this paper an example is illustrated to show how pinch technology is effectively used for minimizing the wastewater in a paper mill. The result shows that this method is effectively used for minimizing freshwater consumption and wastewater discharge in the paper mill.