A food manufacturer has reduced water treatment chemical consumption and sludge disposal costs by using different products in its wastewater treatment plant.
Many businesses are aiming to save resources and protect the environment through stable and safe processes in their on-site wastewater treatment. This can be achieved by using alternative chemical products to treat the water. This results in a reduction in both the consumption of water treatment chemicals and the cost of sludge disposal.
An innovative food industry service provider processes spices and supplements for the food sector. The wastewater this produces is pretreated in a Lugan® 10000 flotation plant. The resultant flotate sludge is disposed of externally. To reduce the associated wastewater treatment costs and sludge disposal, EnviroChemie developed a custom solution for the client.
EnviroChemie carried out laboratory research to develop a concept that would reduce costs and the volume of sludge for disposal. The result was water treatment chemicals which were not only more efficient and specifically matched to the water but which could also replace the water chemical products currently being used to treat the wastewater. The coagulant previously used was therefore replaced with ECSO 8635, a product specially developed by EnviroChemie, which covers a wider range in the event of fluctuations in the wastewater.
To set the pH value, the classic caustic soda was replaced by an ECSO 8620 neutraliser. This has an additional coagulant effect which means both neutralisers and coagulants can be reduced. At the same time, there is a positive side effect of a reduction in the quantity of sludge produced.
In addition to this, the flocculating agent used for wastewater treatment was also adjusted. This allowed the dry matter content in the flotate sludge to be increased and the disposal costs to therefore be substantially reduced.
The process devised from the laboratory tests was checked in an on-site operating test and the wastewater quality analysed. After changing the products and subsequent process review, the dosage quantities could be reduced further
The Lugan® 10000 flotation plant operates with significantly lower levels of chemicals but is still able to compensate production-related fluctuations in the wastewater composition. It was therefore possible to reduce the costs for water treatment chemicals in the flotation plant by up to 30% without affecting process stability. At the same time, the volume of sludge produced was reduced and disposal costs fell significantly.
Application of water chemicals
