PINOLA BLiSS – Black Liquor Soap Separation
PINOLA BLiSS is Head Engineering’s process for efficient separation of soap from black liquor using centrifugal separation technology. The process has been validated at full scale in a Swedish kraft mill and is designed for seamless integration into the existing recovery cycle.
By effectively removing soap from black liquor (typically < 1 g CTO per kg black liquor dry solids), PINOLA BLiSS reduces the load on the recovery boiler. This frees capacity for black liquor combustion, enabling increased steam generation and higher pulp production. In mills limited by recovery boiler capacity, BLiSS can typically support a pulp production increase of 2–5%.
At the same time, PINOLA BLiSS produces a highly concentrated soap stream with a crude tall oil (CTO) content of up to 60%. Compared to conventional gravimetric separation, the process typically increases the amount of recoverable soap by around 10%, directly improving the economics of tall oil production.
PINOLA BLiSS Skimming – Enhanced Soap Handling
PINOLA BLiSS Skimming is an add-on solution designed to improve handling and conditioning of skimmed soap. In this process, the soap is washed with fresh black liquor and further concentrated to achieve a CTO content of up to 60%.
The resulting washed and concentrated soap provides significantly improved feed conditions for downstream tall oil plants such as PINOLA TOPP. This leads to increased tall oil capacity, reduced sulphuric acid consumption in the acidulation step and improved plant operability.
By reducing fouling and deposits in the CTO plant, BLiSS Skimming can minimise or eliminate fouling-related stoppages, supporting stable and high-capacity operation of both tall oil and recovery systems.
