Pulp and paper
BLRBAC
Also known as Black Liquor Recovery Boiler Advisory Committee, BLRBAC Recommended Good Practices.
BLRBAC (the Black Liquor Recovery Boiler Advisory Committee) is a non-profit industry advisory body that publishes Recommended Good Practices governing the safe operation of kraft recovery boilers. Member mills participate voluntarily but membership and adherence are effectively universal across the North American kraft industry, with international mills adopting BLRBAC standards as best practice.
Why BLRBAC matters
Recovery boilers carry unique safety risks — primarily smelt-water explosions from any contact between molten smelt and water. BLRBAC Recommended Good Practices cover:
- Emergency shutdown procedures (ESP)
- Water-side incident protocols
- Auxiliary fuel firing
- Sootblowing system design
- Inspection programmes
- Combustion control
Implications for cleaning-system changes
Any change to a recovery-boiler cleaning system — including the addition of sonic horns or infrasonic cleaners — is reviewed against BLRBAC guidelines before implementation. Sylio's recovery-boiler installations include a BLRBAC-aligned engineering review as standard practice.
Related terms
Related terms
- Recovery boilerA recovery boiler burns kraft black liquor to generate steam, electrical power and recovered pulping chemicals. Iconic application for sonic horns on superheater cleaning.
- Smelt (recovery boiler)Smelt is the molten sodium carbonate and sulphide mixture that accumulates in the bottom of a kraft recovery boiler. It is dissolved into green liquor and recausticised to pulping reagent.
- Black liquorBlack liquor is the concentrated spent cooking liquor from kraft pulping. It is burned in the recovery boiler to generate steam, power and to recover the pulping chemicals.