| Abstract: | The effect of pH on chlorate formation during chlorine dioxide delignification of oxygen delignified kraft pulp was studied. Chlorate formation was found to increase slightly when pH was increased from 1.8 to 2.5, further increase of pH decreased chlorate formation.The above phenomenon is explained by the combination of two mechanisms, one by the reaction between hypochlorous acid and chlorite, another by the effect of chlorine on the regeneration of chlorine dioxide. The first mechanism suggests that chlorate formation is highly dependent on HCIO concentration which decreases with increasing pH and causes chlorate formation to behave in the same trend. The second mechanism suggests that chlorine favors the regeneration of chlorine dioxide while HCIO favors chlorate formation, thus lowering the pH from about 4 to the acidic end should decreases chlorate formation. The two opposite effects lead to the maximum formation of chlorate at around pH 2.5. |
