NATCHEZ &045;&045; Winning a state award for their energy-saving efforts was gratifying for employees at Mississippi River Corp.

Best of all, however, is the resulting benefit to the environment and the economy, said Tanya Richardson, process engineer at MRC.

Installing a clarifier that would clean the used water in the plant gave the mill the option of re-using water rather than pulling up outside water. That saved water usage as well as the energy that it takes to heat water to the 200-degree temperature for processing pulp, with varying other degrees needed throughout the plant.

&uot;The process water, or used water, is 120 degrees. The city water comes in at 74 degrees,&uot; Richardson said, explaining the natural gas savings that it would have taken to heat the water used at the mill.

Mississippi River Corp. makes pulp that customers convert into paper products. &uot;We take in waste paper and we pulp it up to get a slurry form,&uot; Richardson said. &uot;We get rid of the ink and adhesives and bleach it back to a white state. We go through several stages of cleaning.&uot;

The process employed by the plant requires enormous quantities of water and natural gas. &uot;We have looked and still are looking into other ways to cut energy,&uot; Richardson said.

The clarifier is the second energy-saving device the company has installed, with funding in both instances coming from a low-interest loan offered by the Mississippi Development Authority Energy Division. The first project was installation of heat exchangers, used to bring water from on-site wells to exchange heat with the process water and save the energy that would be used in the cooling-down process.

Both projects have resulted in recognition from the state agency that provides the loans.

Donnie Thompson, staff engineer with the MDA energy team, said the loans to Mississippi River Corp. have resulted in exactly what the program exists to do.

&uot;The low-interest loan covers 100 percent of the project up to $300,000,&uot; Thompson said. &uot;It’s a revolving loan fund. When the money comes back, we can lend it to someone else.&uot;

Energy-saving projects often get put on the back burner because of the high costs, Thompson said. &uot;When you talk to someone about doing an energy program, most of the time people say it sounds great but they don’t have the up-front money. Now we can say, ‘here’s the money, and you pay us back with the savings.’&uot;

Savings are significant, Richardson said. For example, the first project showed a reduction of approximately 30 percent of natural gas use. &uot;Now we’re seeing another 30 percent reduction with the new project,&uot; she said.

And the clarifier will lead to big savings in water use and costs, both city water and the water from on-site wells.

Another benefit has been the cutting of the waste stream. &uot;We cut our effluent flow about 25 percent as a result of the last project,&uot; Richardson said. &uot;I think we can continue to cut back. We’re looking at buying more clarifiers. The chemicals used to treat the effluent flow are very expensive.&uot;

The company must make energy-saving decisions carefully, she said. &uot;You have to be sure what you do doesn’t affect a product our customers make.&uot;

Richardson said the company is working with the Federal Drug Administration to get approval for the pulp made at MRC to be used in food board containers. Law now does not allow recycled fiber to be used in those products.

&uot;With the rain forest depletion and other environmental concerns, more companies are putting recycled pulp into their products,&uot; she said.

Thompson said the MRC projects benefit the company, the Natchez-area community and a wider constituency. &uot;What they are doing is important to energy conservation, the environment and economic development,&uot; he said. &uot;The company obviously is more sustainable with the money they are saving. It goes back to job retention.&uot;