Terpenes emitted to air from TMP and sulphite pulp mills

Journal article, 1992

Terpenes were studied at two Swedish pulp mills processing wood from Norway spruce (Picea abies). Field samples were adsorbed from air on Tenax cartridges and analyzed in the laboratory by thermal desorption and gas chromatography. The emissions from a large thermomechanical pulp (TMP) plant consisted mainly of chemically unchanged hydrocarbon monoterpenes from the wood. The major monoterpenes were alpha-pinene (>50 %) and beta-pinene (20-30 %).The proportions of ten additional components were determined in the process emissions, which may be recovered to turpentine.The process emissions from a sulphite pulp mill consisted predominantly of the alkylbenzene para-cymene, formed from monoterpenes by acid reactions in the digestors. The contribution of the emissions to photo-oxidant formation in the surrounding region may be significant for both types of mills.