Oxygen is increasingly important as a bleaching chemical. In the manufacture of high-quality bleached pulp, the lignin in the pulp must be removed in a bleaching process. Chlorine has been used for this purpose but new processes using oxygen reduce water pollution. Oxygen plus caustic soda can replace hypochlorite and chlorine dioxide in the bleaching process, resulting in lower costs.
In a chemical pulp mill, oxygen added to the combustion air increases the production capacity of the soda recovery boiler and the lime-reburning kiln. The use of oxygen in black liquor oxidation reduces the discharge of sulphur pollutants into the atmosphere.
