Date: August 12 , 2011 (Finalized September 22, 2011)

Subject: Trip Report for Site Visit

– International Paper Company Risk and Technology review for pulp and paper production and combustion sources NESHAP

I

. Purpose

The purpose of the site visit to Int ernational Paper Company
, in Riegelwood, North Carolina wa s to obtain information about pulp and paper operations, equipment, and air pollution control devices. Thi s information

- gathering effort wa s part of regulatory development work for the Risk and Tech nology Review (RTR) for the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for the pulp and paper industry.

II

. Place and Date

International Paper (Riegelwood) 865 John L Riegel Road, Riegelwood, NC 28456 (910) 362

- 3309

August 5, 2011

Ma iling address: PO Box 8
, Riegelwood, NC 28456

III

. Attendees

International Paper, Inc.

• Floyd Whitmire , Mill Manager

• Ed Kreul , Environmental Health and Safety Sustainability Manager

• Gary Morrow , Environmental Compliance Supervisor

• Jeff Shumaker
, Regul atory Affairs Manager

• Marla Weinberg

• David Jordan

• Jason Hoffman

• Tim Corey

• Adam Miklos

• Brant Oberg

• Ed Senko

• John Pinkerton, NCASI

North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR)

• Russ Morgan, NCDENRU.S. Enviro nmental 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

• Nicholas Swanson, Environmental Engineer, OAQPS/SPPD/NRG

• Katie Hanks, EPA Contractor, Research Triangle Institute (RTI)

• Corey Gooden, EPA Contractor, Research Triangle Institute (RTI)

IV

. Visit Summary

The site visit began with introductions and a meeting to discuss mill background, 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, chemical recovery, wastewater treatment, bleac h plant, powerhouse, paper machines, and the pulp dryer. 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) blea ch plant, (D) paper mill, (E) chemical recovery and energy generation, and (F) wastewater treatment.

A

. General Information

International Paper’s Riegelwood mill (NEI40247, RTI174) employs approximately 750 people and produces coated and uncoated bleached p aperboard and fluff pulp. The pulp mill was built in 1951 by Riegel Paper Company , and the first paper machine (PM15) was installed in 1958. The second paper machine (PM18) was installed in 1967, just prior to being purchased in 1972 by Federal Paperboard

. In 1996, the facility became part of International Paper

. T he “Carolina King” market pulp machine (PM20) was installed in 1979 and updated in 2007 to allow for production of fluff pulp (rolls) or market pulp (bales). The mill has a paper and paperboard ca pacity of 356,900 tons per year and a total pulp capacity of 859,000 tons per year.

B

. Pulp Mill

Wood arrives to Riegelwood in the form of softwood and hardwood logs and chips
, with the supply mixture being approximately 50 % and 50 % for softwood and hardwo od, respectively ; these materials are obtained within approximately 100 miles from the mill. Woodyard operations includ e debarking, chipping, and screening, Figure 1. The mill utilizes the kraft process with both a continuous digester and 16 batch digester s , Figures 2 and 3

. Hardwood chips are processed using the continuo us digester

. The batch digesters process mostly pine, but have the capability to process hardwood as needed. The pulp capacity for the plant is 859,000 tons per year, with 510,000 tons per year available for market. Turpentine is collected as a by

- product and approximately 45 6
, 00 0 gal lon s aresold per year. Tall oil soap is also collected and sold as a by

- product, but it is not converted to raw tall oil.

Chipping and Debarking Storage Chip Screens

*HW and SW systems are separate Chips

Logs To Pulp Mill

Figure 1: Woodyard process fl ow diagram

Digester Chips Blow Tank Knotters

Brown Stock Washer O2 Delig Pressure Screens

Decker Washer To Bleach P lant Batch process

Figure 2: Batch digester process flow diagramSteaming Vessel Chips Impregnation Vessel Digester

Blow Tank Knotter Brown Stock Washer

Pressure Screens To Bleach Plant

Continuous process Decker Washer

Figure 3: Continuous digester process flow diagram

C

. Bleach Plant

The mill produces approximately 417,000 tons per year of bleached softwood kraft pulp and 442,000 tons per year of blea ched hard wood kraft pulp using elemental chlorine free (ECF) bleaching. The hardwood bleach line utilize s a D Eop D D sequence (line #3)
, Figure 4 . One softwood bleach line utilizes a D Eop D D sequence and a second softwood bleach line utilizes a D Eop D E D sequence, both with an oxygen delignification pretreatment (lines #1 and #2) , Figures 4 and 5

. The oxygen delignification pretreatment removes approximately 60% of the remaining lignin in the softwood pulp prior to bleaching.Do Bleach Stage Unbleached Pulp Washers EOP Extraction Stage

EOP Washer D1 Bleach Stage D1 Washer

D2 Bleach

Stage D2 Washer Bleach Pulp Storage

Figure 4 : Bleach lines 1 and 3 process flow diagram

Do Bleach Stage Unbleached Pulp Washers EOP Extraction Stage

EOP Washer D1 Bleach Stage D1 Washer

E Extraction Stage E Washer

D2 Washer Bleach Pulp Storage D2 Bleach Stage

Figure 5: Bleach line 2 process flow diagramD

. Paper Mill

The total paper and paperboard capacity for the mill is approximately 356,900 tons per year, including approximately 53,500 tons per year of solid ble ached boxboard, 107,000 tons per year of food service/cup stock board, and 196,400 tons per year of other paperboard products. The mill has two paper machines and one pulp dryer. PM15 was installed in 1957 and rebuilt in 1992 , and it produces folding carto n, uncoated cup, and food service board

. It has a machine width of 236 inches and a maximum spee d of 1,200 feet per minute with two online coater s . PM18 was install ed in 196 7 and rebuilt in 199 7
, and it produces bristols (high end coated board) with one or two sided coating. It has a machine width of 236 inches and a maximum speed of 1,200 feet per minute with an online coater. The mill also has a rewinder

. PM15 and PM18 produce approximately 1,100 tons per day. The paper making process is shown in Figure 6. PM20, the “Carolina King,” produces hardwood and softwood market pulp bales and fluff pulp rolls. This machine uses a Flakt dryer instead of dryer cylinders, which is a more efficient drying process for pulp drying. This process cannot be used to dry pape r because of poor final product mechanical properties. The majority of the produced pulp is exported, and IP Riegelwood is the largest exporter from the Wilmington port.

Stock Tanks Headbox Screen

Forming Section Press Section Dryer Section P ulp

Coating Section Dryer Section Calender Section

Reel Finishing Paper to consumer

Figure 6: Paper machine process flow diagramE

. Chemical Recovery and Energy Gen eration

The mill ha d 3 recovery boilers with capacities of 1.3, 2.4 and 7.39 million pounds per day black liquor solids that were installed in 1965, 1974, and 1982 respectively. One recovery boiler was recently shutdown, but the facility is able to genera te 60

- 8 0% of its steam requirements from the two remaining boilers. Both boilers utiliz e three layers of air, with two interlacing secondary layers. The chemical recovery processes are shown in Figures 7 and 8. The steam capacity is approximately 1,210,000 pounds per hour. Non

direct contact evaporator systems and direct

- contact evaporator systems are in use at the facility. The facility also utilizes 2 lime kilns. The mill generates its electricity using 3 power boilers ( utilizing bark, oil, and natural ga s for fuel) at 700,000 pounds per hour of steam and 3 steam turbines at 58 MW. The electrical demand for the mill is approximately 2,200 MWh/day
, and approximately half is generated at the facility. The facility ceased coal burning in 2010 for economic rea sons and, since 2006, has reduced facility

- wide energy consumption by 9%, fuel oil by 67%, and fossil fuel usage by 43%. The mill participates in energy benchmarking with other International Paper facilities, as well as other facilities in the industry.

Cascade Evap Blox

Smelt Dissolving

Tank Green Liquor Clarifier To Causticizing Liquor From Digesters Evaps

Smelt Recovery

Boiler

Figure 7: Recovery area process flow diagram

Lime Mud

Washer White liquor Clarifier

Pre

- Coat

Filter Lime Kiln Green Liquor

Causticizers To White Liquor Storage Slaker

Lime

Figure 8: Causticizing area process flow diagramF

. W astewater Treatment

Approximately 34 million gallons of effluent are sent to wastewater treatment per day. The mill utilizes aeration stabilization b asins with an upstream steam stripper for effluent treatment , Figure 9

. Since 2006, the facility has reduced its water consumption by 18% and the COD of the treated effluent by 30%.



## Bar Screen Primary Clarifier No. 1 ASB

Parshall

Flume Polishing Pond No. 2 ASB

Cape Fear River Effluent

Figure 9: Wastewater treatment process flow diagram