This document summarizes a presentation on water and wastewater sustainability in the food and beverage industry. It discusses trends toward cradle-to-cradle engineering and treating wastewaters as co-products. Anaerobic digestion is presented as a key technology for energy production and carbon footprint reduction. Case studies of co-product recovery at Slane Distillery are described. The presentation concludes that future technology must be led by sustainability and that wastes should be designed to ultimately recycle in a cradle-to-cradle approach.
1. Water & Wastewater Sustainability in
the Food & Beverage Industry
Seamus Crickley (Director , WEW Engineering Ltd)
Sustainable Food & Beverage Conference October
2018
2. WEW Profile
WEW Engineering
Process/ Mechanical / ICA / SCADA Consulting
Engineers, 40 yearsexperience & 500+ projects.
Specialist team: Chemist, Chartered Engineers, R&D
expertsand 3D AutoCAD Plant Designers.
Energy / Water / Carbon / nutrient Engineering with
costed alternatives.
Turnkey BATdesign with PSDP, tender documentation
assessment and project management.
Mainstream AD with high quality polishing with most
sustainable end-of – pipe solutions
3. Sustainability Trends
Cradle-to-Cradle Engineering becoming a
norm
“Wastewaters” of past are now co-products
for further use – Not disposal
Concept of Product Recovery
Increased productivity from co-product
recovery
Energy production via steam or CHP co-
generation using Anaerobic Digestion
Carbon Footprint reduction Water Cycle /
Water Stewardship
Masterplan studies for sustainability policy
Commercial justification applies in all cases
using carbonation studies
MASTER PLAN
WATER/WASTEWATER
4. Ongoing industry rationalisation since the 1970s
Intensification / Optimisation of production
Product loss to productivity relationship
Continuous R&D challenge to maximise earnings
from waste by-products
Modernisation / Automation of production
techniques
Developing international alliances in R&D /
Technology e.g. IDF etc
Cooperation to address environmental challenges
Industry Trends
5. Fundamental Sustainability Criteria
Carbon, Nitrogen, Water Cycle
Wastes: Solid & Liquid
Energy Potential
Sludges (biological / chemical)
Soil Nutrient
Advanced Wastewater Treatment – Re-Use
6. Applicable Standards (EU)
BAT
o 2013-84-TAN_Tanning of hides and skins
o 2016_902_CWW_Wastewater and waste gas treatment in
the chemical sector
o 2016_1032_NFM_Non-ferrous metal industries
o 2017_302_IRPP_Intensive rearing of poultry or pigs
o 2017_1442_LCP_Large Combustion Plants
o 2017_2117_LVOC_production of large volume organic
chemicals
o 2018_1147_Waste Treatment
BREF
o Economic and Cross-media Effects (ECM)
o Monitoring of Emissions to Air and Water from IED
Installations (ROM)
Alimentarius
o Global food standards of EU and WHO
7. Water in Production
Source water – Rivers, lakes, main distribution system
o In Ireland – source water is currently considered “free” (excluding costs related to
pumping, tanks etc)
o European Water Stewardship(EWS) – i.e. use water more efficiently7
o Water Footprint8
Innovative R&D defines product related water demand
8. Conclusions & Comments
Future Technology must be sustainably led
Decisions, Pre-planning and Evaluation of alternatives require Business Assessment
Sustainability index (Capex / Net reduced capitalised opex) should replace ROI
(Return on Investment)
Forthcoming legislation on FDM BAT and limited Permissible water usage require
action to facilitate intensification (Pending)
Where possible “wastes” liquid and solid are co-products with ultimate Cradle – to
– Cradle recycle as the design/decision guide (Bjorn 2012)
Water re-use characterisation, specification and loop designs should align with the
operation being addressed, e.g. cooling, evaporation, compound quality etc
Ongoing Sustainable R&D has introduced a gasification bio-energy for production
and processing bio-fuelled service station
9. Conclusions & Comments cont’d
For membrane re-use applications pre-analysis, proper pre
treatment and careful selection of the tertiary and fourth level
pre-treatment technology is necessary
Selection criteria is established for decades but for specific
applications, bench pilot runs often pay well versus future
difficult and costly operation.
Designs applied R&D must urgently include online control
using modular based FDS which incorporates inline pathogen
monitoring / control
Water footprint assessment provides a sound foundation of quantitative analysis, which can be used to develop a corporate water strategy and become a water steward
Water Stewardship – “The use of water that is socially equitable, environmentally sustainable and economically beneficial, achieved through a stakeholder – inclusive process that involves site and catchment – based actions…..”
