Oxidant Comparison
PeroxyMAXTM vs. Other Oxidants
PeroxyMAX is an effective alternative to traditional oxidants used in pulp and paper mills. The chemistry exhibits many performance similarities to peracetic acid (PAA) while its unique properties provide better results and greater process flexibility.
Like PAA, which has been extensively studied and used in pulp and paper mills, PeroxyMAX can boost post-bleach brightening/whitening in the HD chest and increase color stability, often with better results. Unlike PAA, it performs rapidly at neutral to alkaline pH for delignification and brightening applications in the bleach plant or brownstock wash stages without extra pH adjustment. This difference is provided by the reactive oxygen chemistry in PeroxyMAX which enhances performance and is highly selective towards lignin and color forming materials.
A major advantage of PeroxyMAX is that it can be rapidly and safely brought to mills for widespread use. This is because the technology avoids the costs, hazards and complexities of distilled PAA (dPAA) storage, handling, and safety controls which have limited its use to only a few mills in a concentrated geographic area. PeroxyMAX is generated on-demand near the point of use from standard chemicals already at the mill plus one additional, non-hazardous ingredient. The automated system for generating and dispensing PeroxyMAX has low capital and operating costs and a small footprint that can be easily retrofitted into a facility.
Once generated, the PeroxyMAX “parent” solution of sodium peracetate undergoes transformations to evolve reactive oxygen. Common bleaching chemical characteristics can be extended to PeroxyMAX based on its intrinsic properties and demonstrated performance.
Oxidant Characteristics
Name | Formula | Reactivity | Selectivity | Efficiency | Environmental Implications |
Chlorine | Cl2 | High | High | High | High |
Chlorine Dioxide | ClO2 | Medium | High | High | Medium |
Oxygen | O2 | Low | Medium | Low | Low |
Hydrogen Peroxide | H2O2 | Low | High | Medium-Low | Low |
Sodium Hypochlorite | NaOCl | Medium | Medium | Medium | High |
Ozone | O3 | High | Medium | High | Low |
PeroxyMAX | C2H3O3Na | Medium-High | High | High | Low |