Technical Bulletin No. 0088: A Summary of Recent Kraft Furnace Precipitator Design Criteria, Operational Problems and Performance (AQTB)

Precipitators, when first used in the United States on kraft recovery furnaces without a contact evaporator, presented severe problems in performance and operation. Information exchange on solution to these problems took several forms including special technical sessions organized by the Council, and inclusion of the subject material in Regional Meeting programs. During the course of problem analysis the Council collected survey information on the design characteristics of most of the early installations and available information on their performance as well. The attached technical bulletin describes a series of design conditions and corrective actions taken which have been noted to improve kraft precipitator performance on non-direct contact evaporator furnaces. Some of the problems are related to dry bottom precipitators which were installed to eliminate any possibility of flue gas contact with black liquor as a part of the mill odor reduction program. Others are related to flow distribution. In this manner many of the observations made, and corrective action taken, are applicable to precipitators on furnaces with direct contact evaporators.