Technical Bulletin No. 0029: Sulfite Waste Research Report: BOD Reduction by Heat Hydrolysis

Of the four exploratory waste sulfite liquor projects conducted at Oregon State College during 1949, by far the most productive has been the work on heat hydrolysis reported herein. The data presented are of course, of a preliminary nature. However, herein may lie a workable process for reducing the pollutional value of the waste without enormous investment in the equipment end high operating costs or without the production of other nuisances such as fly ash, stack odors or residue requiring disposal. While the Council has filed a patent application on this treatment method the process, if it proves successful will be made freely available to members. Naturally, some problems remain to be solved before this process can become applicable or even reach the development stage. However, results to date are most encouraging, and laboratory studies will be conducted to establish the basic controlling variables and to eliminate obvious short-comings. It is anticipated that this will be followed by the erection and operation of a large-scale laboratory unit, which will provide the engineering information required for further development, should worthwhile results be obtained.