Custom pulp and paper mill effluent treatment systems for the Global South – proposed cost-effective process model configurations for COD removal, solids production and CHP applications

Custom pulp and paper mill effluent treatment systems for the Global South – proposed cost-effective process model configurations for COD removal, solids production and CHP applications | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Custom pulp and paper mill effluent treatment systems for the Global South – proposed cost-effective process model configurations for COD removal, solids production and CHP applications Eliasu A. Teiseh, Gervais Kounou Ndongo, Manga Veronica, Daniela Conidi This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9295455/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 8 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract In addition to the deficiencies in appropriate technological solutions and weak environmental regulatory frameworks, critical stakeholders involved in wastewater treatment in developing countries are often insufficiently informed about available industrial wastewater treatment configurations that can effectively reduce COD, sludge production, with additional CHP benefits. This study employs a hybrid calibration technique utilizing generic effluent wastewater data from a pulp and paper mill to develop four BioWin simulation model configurations for the treatment of effluents from such facilities. The base case (BC) model, which incorporated a single-stage anaerobic digester, demonstrated the highest CHP performance, generating up to 1024 kWh annually. Nonetheless, the COD removal efficiency for the BC was limited to 41%. Power generation increased across the other three configurations, following the sequence: BC+CEPT (661.8 kWh) < BC+CEPT+2SAD (670.1 kWh) < BC+2SAD (781.2 kWh). When employing a two-stage digester, the COD removal rate stagnated around 20% (20.68–20.40) for SRTs varying from 36.29 to 30.21. Unusually low removal rates of 0.47 to 0.9% were observed for SRTs in the range of 4.36–14.6 for the BC+CEPT arrangement. However, this increased to approximately 80% (SRT of 17.96 days) upon the addition of a coagulant in the BC+CEPT+2SAD configuration. The BC configuration achieved a BOD L removal efficiency of 38.4%, necessitating bio-augmentation strategies. Conversely, the BC+CEPT+2SAD configuration removed approximately 88.0% of total carbonaceous BOD. Both the BC and BC+CEPT+2SAD configurations produced nearly identical daily sludge outputs, of 166 kg/day and 172 kg/day, respectively, at concentrations of 134,073 mg/L and 88,400 mg/L. CHP COD removal sludge production hybrid calibration simulation model configurations Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files GraphicalAbstractCleanTechnologyJournal.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviews received at journal 06 May, 2026 Reviews received at journal 29 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 22 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 20 Apr, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 20 Apr, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 07 Apr, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 03 Apr, 2026 First submitted to journal 01 Apr, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9295455","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":627787857,"identity":"e3509ab8-5b59-418a-a44d-1259f9dd9659","order_by":0,"name":"Eliasu A. 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This study employs a hybrid calibration technique utilizing generic effluent wastewater data from a pulp and paper mill to develop four BioWin simulation model configurations for the treatment of effluents from such facilities. The base case (BC) model, which incorporated a single-stage anaerobic digester, demonstrated the highest CHP performance, generating up to 1024 kWh annually. Nonetheless, the COD removal efficiency for the BC was limited to 41%. Power generation increased across the other three configurations, following the sequence: BC+CEPT (661.8 kWh)\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;BC+CEPT+2SAD (670.1 kWh)\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;BC+2SAD (781.2 kWh). When employing a two-stage digester, the COD removal rate stagnated around 20% (20.68\u0026ndash;20.40) for SRTs varying from 36.29 to 30.21. Unusually low removal rates of 0.47 to 0.9% were observed for SRTs in the range of 4.36\u0026ndash;14.6 for the BC+CEPT arrangement. However, this increased to approximately 80% (SRT of 17.96 days) upon the addition of a coagulant in the BC+CEPT+2SAD configuration. The BC configuration achieved a BOD\u003csub\u003eL\u003c/sub\u003e removal efficiency of 38.4%, necessitating bio-augmentation strategies. Conversely, the BC+CEPT+2SAD configuration removed approximately 88.0% of total carbonaceous BOD. Both the BC and BC+CEPT+2SAD configurations produced nearly identical daily sludge outputs, of 166 kg/day and 172 kg/day, respectively, at concentrations of 134,073 mg/L and 88,400 mg/L.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Custom pulp and paper mill effluent treatment systems for the Global South – proposed cost-effective process model configurations for COD removal, solids production and CHP applications","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-04-28 11:42:07","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9295455/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-05-06T11:38:50+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-04-30T01:23:06+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"13819161330217920070221520311317336043","date":"2026-04-22T13:18:41+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"270275770194123622937154760564200520011","date":"2026-04-21T03:43:17+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-04-20T10:19:40+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-04-07T20:50:20+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-04-03T13:13:39+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy","date":"2026-04-01T19:08:10+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"clean-technologies-and-environmental-policy","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"ctep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy](https://www.springer.com/journal/10098)","snPcode":"10098","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/10098/3","title":"Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"77818032-a3ff-4c91-9673-2e41c18d7f71","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 28th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-05-06T11:38:50+00:00","index":24,"fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-04-30T01:23:06+00:00","index":23,"fulltext":""}],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-28T11:42:07+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-04-28 11:42:07","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9295455","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9295455","identity":"rs-9295455","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}