Studies of Transformation and Particle-Binding of Resin Acids During Oxidative Treatment of Effluent from Two New Zealand Pulp Mills

Reactor studies of aerobic degradation of effluent from the first and last ponds of the treatment system of two New Zealand pulp and paper mills indicated that filterable BOD₅, resin acids and transformed resin acids, free and bound, degraded at similar rates. During oxidative treatment the resin acids of untreated effluent became increasingly bound to particulate material and a sediment high in abiet-13-enoic acid was formed.