Waste to Energy in Food & Beverage Industry

Greater implementation of Water Treatment Innovations in the Food and Beverage Manifacturing Companies,According to a Frost & Sullivan Analysis

The global food and beverage industry is under mounting pressure from growing populations and widening water scarcity and is being forced to reassess its water management strategies and embrace more modern treatment solutions. These trends are driving a fast-growing and future-
oriented water and wastewater treatment market that is inclined towards innovations and technological upgrades related to sustainable water management.

The analysis, which covered the food and beverage industry's increasing focus on water footprint and sustainability, also found that rising costs associated with process water requirements and wastewater discharge tariffs are influencing the adoption of advanced water treatment solutions, including closed-loop systems for water reuse and energy recovery.

Large amounts of water are required in food and beverage manufacturing, and wastewater generated from process operations is generally characterized as high-strength organic, with fats, oil and grease (FOG), suspended solids and high biological oxygen demand (BOD). While food and beverage wastewater can be complex and highly variable, the high-strength organic qualities also present the opportunity to implement anaerobic digestion treatment processes for recovering energy.

The potential to generate energy and reuse treated effluent is emerging as a key trend in food and beverage, largely driven by environmental and sustainability considerations, said Mitch Laginestra, service line leader for industrial water and waste management at engineering, architecture and environmental consulting company GHD. "Being biodegradable, food and beverage high-strength wastewater is not particularly difficult to treat, but because the wastewater characteristics differ significantly between food and beverage sectors, there is no distinct treatment solution."

BIOPAQ Anaerobic Flotation Reactor Treatment Technology

GHD, in partnership with biotechnology company Paques and water and wastewater technology provider Aquatec Maxcon, was recently involved in the pilot testing of an advanced anaerobic wastewater treatment technology at a milk processing facility in Australia. The plant previously operated a dissolved air flotation (DAF) unit with chemical addition to process wastewater before discharge to the municipal sewerage system. However, due to recent stricter sewerage system discharge limits, additional biological treatment was required.

The solution involved implementing a relatively new technology named the BIOPAQ® Anaerobic Flotation Reactor (AFR) -- the first such installation in Australia. The system does not require pre-treatment to remove FOG upstream of the anaerobic reactor, thereby reducing solids management and chemical dosing costs while maximizing the amount of biogas produced.

Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor Treatment Technology

In Marlborough, Mass., Ken's Foods, a large-volume producer of salad dressings, marinades and barbeque sauces, installed the first full-scale anaerobic membrane bioreactor (AnMBR) in the U.S. -- an anaerobic treatment system that utilizes submerged membranes for biomass retention and solids-liquid separation. The food manufacturer had been experiencing rapid growth and was in need of a treatment system upgrade after adding new production lines to accommodate the increased wastewater flows and higher organic loading.

The new AnMBR system is able to produce a very high-quality effluent with essentially no suspended solids while also increasing the amount of biogas generated.

"There is a lot of emphasis now in terms of environmental impact and carbon footprint," Wilson said. "This solution represents a sustainable approach in that biogas production will be maximized and utilized to recover energy. Plans are underway to install a gen set for generating electricity from the biogas. Heat will also be recovered in the process and used to preheat water within the process plant, which will further increase the energy savings."

Scott Christian, vice president of business development at ADI Systems, added that AnMBR treatment is a very effective option for certain applications. "This technology is a solution for niche markets and works best with wastewaters that are high strength," he said.

Being constrained in terms of land availability, planning behind the treatment strategy had to also take into account the site's limited amount of space. "This is where AnMBR technology presented a real advantage -- it enables for a high degree of treatment on a compact footprint," Christian said. "By utilizing existing tankage and converting the plant into an AnMBR system, we were able to treat about 60 percent more wastewater flow and load."

With the AnMBR system, Ken's Foods is able to produce effluent with very low BOD and TSS concentrations -- much lower as compared to conventional anaerobic treatment. "Although the flows and organic loading to the AnMBR system have increased, it is still removing COD and BOD in excess of 99 percent," Christian noted. "To achieve that consistently is exceptional in the industry."

Source: WaterWorld

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• Waste Water Treatments
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