Date: August 12, 2011

(Finalized September 22, 2011)

Subject: Trip Report for Site Visit – MeadWestvaco of Virginia, Inc.

Risk and Technology review for pulp and paper production and combustion 

sources NESHAP

I. Purpose

The purpose of the site visit to MeadWestvaco of Virginia, Inc. in Covington, Virginia, 

was to obtain information about pulp and paper operations, equipment, and air pollution 

control devices. This information-gathering effort was part of regulatory development 

work for the Risk and Technology Review (RTR) for the National Emission Standards 

for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for the pulp and paper industry.

II. Place and Date

MeadWestvaco of Virginia (Covington Mill)

104 East Riverside Street, Covington, VA 24426

(540) 969-5385

August 11, 2011

Mailing address:

104 East Riverside Street, Covington, VA 24426

III. Attendees

MeadWestvaco of Virginia

• Jim Taylor

• Gregory Hansrote

• Tim Morse

• Tom Botkins

• John Pinkerton, NCASI

• Ashok Jain, NCASI

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

• John Bradfield, Environmental Engineer, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards 

 (OAQPS)/Sector Polices and Programs Division (SPPD)/Natural Resources Group

 (NRG)

• Kelley Spence, Environmental Engineer, OAQPS/SPPD/NRG

• Karen Thundiyil, Office of Policy & Resources Management (ORPM)/Policy & 

 Regulatory Analysis Division (PRAD)

• Rafael Sanchez, Monitoring Assistance and Media Programs Division (MAMPD)/ Air 

 Branch (AB)

• Katie Hanks, EPA Contractor, Research Triangle Institute (RTI)
IV. Visit Summary

The site visit began with introductions and a meeting to discuss mill background, 

environmental air operations, safety, and the agenda of the visit. Following the meeting, a 

tour of the facility was provided and the following areas were observed: woodyard, 

unbleached pulp mill, recovery, wastewater treatment, bleach plant, powerhouse, and No. 

1 and No. 2 paper machines. The information obtained during the site visit and from the 

Information Collection Request (ICR) response is discussed below. The topics discussed 

are (A) general information, (B) pulp mill, (C) bleach plant, (D) paper mill, (E) chemical 

recovery and energy generation, and (F) wastewater treatment.

A. General Information

The Covington mill (NEI759, RTI146) is the world’s largest solid bleached sulfate (SBS) 

mill, with a paperboard capacity of over 900,000 tons per year. The facility is real estate 

limited, but is located in one of the world’s largest areas of available forestland, as well 

as one of the world’s most productive hardwood forests. The facility has access to the 

port of Norfolk, which it uses to ship to countries worldwide. MWV is the largest 

customer of the port, as it exports 40-50% of its product, and it is the 10th largest exporter 

in the US. The facility is also located in an area where 50% of the manufacturing in the 

US occurs, allowing it to service the surrounding companies. The mill employs 1,156 

people, and the main grades produced are solid bleached boxboard, liquid packaging 

board, food service/cup stock board, and other paperboard.

In 1852, the Luke family from Scotland came to the United States to found a paper 

company similar to those his family owned in Scotland; he founded the West Virginia 

Pulp and Paper Company in 1988. The first paper machine was a Pusey and Jones 

machine and it started up in 1900. This machine remained running until 1970, when it 

was shut down for economic reasons. The second paper machine (PM8) was installed in 

1953. In 1985, the facility started the biggest industrial expansion in Virginia history 

($346 million capital investment), involving the construction of PM1, PM2, a new 

recovery boiler, a new evaporator train, a new lime kiln, and a new wood yard. The two 

new paper machines were commissioned in 1986 and 1993, providing the mill two of the 

most modern board machines in the world. The mill recently announced that it will 

construct a new biomass boiler with a total investment of $285 million. This project is 

expected to enable the mill to become self-sufficient in electrical power and steam 

generation. 

B. Pulp Mill

Wood is received as logs and chips at approximately 70% hardwood and 30% softwood. 

The logs are debarked and chipped, and then sent to chip piles, where they are combined 

with other chips. Chips from the chip piles are collected and sent to chip screening and 

chip bins for storage, Figure 1. The softwood and hardwood chips remain separate during 

these processes. 
The facility performs chemical pulping utilizing the kraft process with 18 batch digesters, 

Figure 2. Approximately 250,000 gallons per year of turpentine is collected and sold as a 

by-product. There are two traditional brown stock washer lines and one pressurized 

compaction baffle washer line. The facility also utilizes closed screening and knotting. 

NCGs from these processes are sent to a thermal oxidizer (with the lime kiln as back-up).

Approximately 2,200 air-dried tons of unbleached pulp per day is produced.

Chipping 

and 

Debarking

Storage Chip 

Screens

Chips

Logs To Pulp Mill

Figure 1: Wood yard process flow diagram

Digester

Chips

Blow Tank Knotters

Brown 

Stock 

Washer

O2 Delig Pressure 

Screens

Decker 

Washer

To Bleach 

Plant

Batch process

Figure 2: Pulping process flow diagram

C. Bleach Plant

There are three elemental chlorine free bleach plant lines. Line 001, which bleaches a 

blend of softwood and hardwood, is a D Ep D D sequence with a production of 1320 airdried tons of bleached pulp per day, with an oxygen delignification pretreatment. Line 

002, which bleaches a blend of softwood and hardwood, is a D Ep D D sequence with a 

production of 1540 air-dried tons of bleached pulp per day, Figure 3. Line 012, which 
bleaches hardwood only, is a D Eop D sequence that utilizes an oxygen delignification 

pretreatment, Figure 4. This line produces 1320 air-dried tons of bleached pulp per day. 

Do Bleach 

Stage

Unbleached 

Pulp Washers

EP 

Extraction 

Stage

EP Washer D1 Bleach 

Stage D1 Washer

D2 Bleach 

Stage D2 Washer

Bleach Pulp 

Storage

Figure 3: Bleach lines 001 and 002 process flow diagram

Figure 4: Bleach line 012 process flow diagram

D. Paper Mill

There are three fourdrinier paper machines at the Covington facility. PM1 was installed 

in 1986 and has a machine width of 304 inches and a maximum speed of 1,750 feet per 

minute. PM1 also has an online coater (blade style) and produces solid bleached 

boxboard at a capacity of 314,000 tons per year (approximately 990 tons/day). PM2 was 

installed in 1993, and has a machine width of 278 inches and a maximum speed of 2,500 

feet per minute. This machine also has an online coater (billblade) and produces food 
service/cup stock board (capacity 7,000 tons per year) and solid bleached boxboard 

(capacity 223,000 tons per year, with a total production of approximately 1070 tons per 

day). PM8 was installed in 1954 and rebuilt in 1981 and 1992. The machine width is 219 

inches and has an online coater (double head coater). Grades produced on PM8 include 

food service/cup stock board (capacity 25,000 tons per year) and solid bleached boxboard 

(capacity 175,000 tons per year, with a total production of approximately 570 tons per 

day). The paper making process is shown in Figure 5. 

Stock 

Tanks Screen Headbox

Forming 

Section

Press 

Section

Dryer 

Section

Pulp 

Coating 

Section

Dryer 

Section

Calender

Section

Figure 5: Paper making process flow diagram

E. Chemical Recovery and Energy Generation

The mill has two recovery boilers, installed in 1991 and 1973, with a solids capacity of 

9.5 million pounds per day and a steam capacity of 1,500,000 pounds per hour. Both 

systems utilize tertiary air and one is a non-direct contact system (NDCE) and the other is 

a direct contact system (DCE). For No. 2 recovery, approximately 3,700 tons of black 

liquor solids are burned per day. Six power boilers are used at the mill with a capacity of 

1,700,000 pounds of steam per hour, utilizing bark/waste, coal, and natural gas as fuel. 

Two boilers are coal-fired burners with low NOx burners, a scrubber, and an ESP. Two 

boilers are combination coal and wood burners with overfire air, a scrubber, and an ESP. 

The two remaining boilers burn natural gas, one of which is equipped with low NOx 

burners. The mill generates 70% of its electricity (25 Hz and 60 Hz), approximately 

2,030 MWh/d, and purchases 920 MWh/d from the grid (total demand is 2950 MWh/d). 

The chemical recovery systems are show in Figure 6 and 7.
Recovery 

Boiler Blox

Smelt 

Dissolving 

Tank

Green 

Liquor 

Clarifier

To Causticizing

Liquor 

From 

Digesters

Evaps

Smelt

Figure 6: Recovery process flow diagram

Lime Mud 

Washer

White liquor 

Clarifier

Pre-Coat 

Filter Lime Kiln

Green 

Liquor

Causticizers To White 

Liquor 

Storage

Slaker

Lime

Figure 7: Causticizing process flow diagram

F. Wastewater Treatment

Approximately 32 million gallons of effluent per day is sent to wastewater treatment, 

which utilizes the activated sludge process. The mill has various containment and 

diversion equipment to minimize the impact on the WTP. The mill is equipped with a 

condensate stripper which uses steam to remove organic compounds (primarily methanol) 

from certain pulping process streams to decrease the organic loading on the WTP and to 

lessen emissions from the pulping process. The mill wastewater is collected in mix tanks; 

however, samples from each source flowing into the mix tank can be obtained from a 

sampling sink to determine the properties of each incoming stream. If an issue is noted 
with the incoming stream (e.g. there is black liquor coming from the recovery area), 

actions can be taken to isolate certain streams, contain them, or alter the WTP operations 

to lessen or eliminate the impact on the WTP. The effluent flows from the mix tank to 

one of three primary clarifiers. The clarifier overflows are sent to a cooling tower to 

reduce temperature before going to the aeration basins, where biological degradation 

occurs for approximately a retention time of 3-4 hours. Overflow from the aeration basin 

passes through the final clarifiers and is eventually discharged to the river. Secondary 

sludge settled in the final clarifiers is returned as recycle material to the aeration basins to 

allow for continued biological treatment.

Sludge from the clarifiers is collected and dewatered. The dewatered sludge is then 

landfilled in one of 5 facility landfills. The facility is unable to burn the large amount of 

generated bark from the woodyard; therefore, it landfills the sludge instead of burning it. 

The facility installed the activated sludge treatment system in 1955, which was the first 

AST in the paper industry, due to its real estate limitation. As a potential emission control 

strategy for Phase II of MACT I, a UNOX system was investigated recently as a potential 

upgrade, but its technical feasibility was questioned.

Primary 

Clarifier

Cooling 

Tower

Aerator 

Basins

Final 

Clarifiers

River

Effluent

Figure 8: Wastewater treatment process flow diagram