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Processing

drink Technology + Marketing · November 2010

rect conflict with the needs of the local community. Situations like these initiate accelerated governmental legislation and obligatory investments by the breweries. In such cases, breweries step forward on the path of sustainability in order to avoid being subjected to public scrutiny that damages their costly-established brand and reputation.

An extensive range of water manage-ment technologies uniquely qualifies Norit to assist breweries with the im-plementation of a sustainable water stra- tegy. The company's activated carbon, membranes, pumps, quality control equipment, CO

2 systems and hygienic

valves rank among the world's best. Brought together in an integrated design such as the Sustainable Brewing Concept, these advanced technologies achieve water savings of more than 50 % compared to traditional plants.

Norit developed the turnkey Sustainable Brewing Concept in close co-operation with Meura, a brew house. The concept is operational in both Belgium and China and Norit's membrane technology for water filtration and wastewater treat-ment are playing a very important role in achieving the best-of-the best results.

Due to the low water consumption and low beer losses with the Sustainable Brewing Concept, a brewery is able to produce a relatively small amount of wastewater with a low biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). For wastewater treatment, a Membrane BioReactor (MBR) was designed; an aerobic reactor where the effluent is filtered by membranes, based on the proprietary Airlift™ technology. This technology also contributes to a low Total Cost of Ownership, while the concept needs low energy and has a high performance. The effluent can be

By implementing water management programs, providing training to em-ployees and investing in water filtration technology, setting a goal of three to four hectoliters of water consumption per hectoliter beer produced is considered the minimum requirement.

The sense of urgency to address this issue is high. Increasing water costs, business disruption risks, poor water quality in some areas, and a global growth of fresh water demand are forcing breweries to take action now. Even though water scarcity does not affect breweries throughout the world in the same way, none can afford to risk the loss of business continuity or ignore the pressure of water and water effluent costs on their operational expenditures.In several countries, including India and Tanzania, there are incidences where breweries' water consumption is in di-

Water Treatment in the Brewing and Beverage IndustriesFaced with the fact that more than 70 % of the water intake ends up as effluent,

breweries are forced to look into water saving programs. Global beer and beverage

companies, such as SABMiller, Heineken, Coca Cola, Pepsi and Nestle, have made clear

and ambitious goals for water reduction in their sustainability reports.

by STAN BERGENHENEGOUWEN

Due to Norit’s Membrane BioReactor (MBR) for wastewater treatment, water consumption is lowered. Reuse of wastewater.

Photo: Norit

19drink Technology + Marketing · November 2010

reused after treatment with additional membrane technology. The effluent can also be directly discharged to the surface water since it has a low BOD, which means there are no suspended solids, bacteria or viruses.

Other examples of the company's water technology’s potential in the brewing and beverage industries is Holland Malt, one of Europe's largest malt houses in Eemshaven, the Netherlands and the Obolon brewery in Obolon, Ukraine. In 2005, Holland Malt put Norit's first turnkey Crossflow MBR into operation.

Shortly afterwards, representatives from the brewing company Obolon visited this plant as they were considering applying the same technology for their greenfield malt house in Ukraine. In December 2006, Obolon choose Crossflow MBR and the contract for the project was signed.

The construction of Obolon's malt house was divided into two phases. The first phase of the project produced an average wastewater stream of 1,500 m3/d with another 900 m3/d added to this wastewater stream after completion of the second phase, resulting in a total wastewater stream of 2,400 m3/d. At the Obolon brewery, the influent enters the wastewater treatment plant at the pump pit where the incoming solids are removed by sedimentation. As the wastewater travels from the pump pit to the buffer tank, two curved screens in parallel remove the barley husks that result from the germination process in the malt house. In addition to these curved screens, the wastewater passes through another set of screens as it is pumped from the buffer tank to the bio- reactor. These fine screens remove re-sidual solid matter in order to prevent accumulation in the bioreactor. The bio- reactor removes chemical oxygen de-mand (COD) and nitrogen in a predeni-trification process. Phosphate can also be removed by dosing iron (III) chloride.

The treated water is separated from the activated sludge by the Crossflow membrane technology. The principle of this side-stream membrane process is based upon velocity. The high velocity

inside the membranes ensures turbulent conditions that decrease the fouling potential of the membranes, leading to longer filtration times and less frequent cleaning. In the UK, the company installed a comprehensive water purification and recovery system as part of the upgraded water treatment plant at Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd's (CCE) flagship site in Wakefield, North Yorkshire. The new plant incorporates an activated carbon filtration system for dechlorination and organic scavengers and an ultrafiltration system consisting of four skids capable of processing 7,000 m3 of water a day.

In Venezuela, the AirliftTM MBR has set new standards for recycling industrial wastewater at the Polar Brewery. The brewery in Venezuela is one of the first in the world to use this new, advanced technology, which employs vertical, tube-shaped membrane modules positioned on the exterior of the bioreactor. The Norit AirliftTM MBR is energy-efficient, has a small footprint, is easy to operate and maintain, and is fitted with robust, sustainable membranes. Moreover, it uses ultrafiltration to produce the highest quality product water. Polar is using the AirliftTM MBR technology because the brewery was expanded and the quantity of water available for the new brewery is limited. By recycling wastewater the brewery can increase beer production.

The company has bundled its collective worldwide water and brewing experience into a comprehensive water audit. During a Water Audit, the company and a team from the brewery will determine the brewery's water footprint by examining the various water streams. The assessment identifies opportunities for water reduction along with potential technical and system modifications to further reduce water consumption. The audit concludes with a financial overview since it is commonly recognized that sustainability measures must also make good business sense. With its technological portfolio as well as the gained experience in a broad field of water management in both beverage and brewing, Norit is well equipped to help companies around the globe to meet current and future water saving targets. Key No. 74268

GEA Mechanical Equipment

GEA Westfalia SeparatorWerner-Habig-Straße 1 · 59302 Oelde (Germany)Phone +49 2522 77-0 · Fax +49 2522 77-2089www.westfalia-separator.com

Surplus yeast and tank bottoms have a beer content of up to 90 percent. If you don’t want to waste this potential, rely on beer recovery with GEA Westfalia Separator. Our high-perfor-mance separators, high-perfor-mance decanters and cross-fl ow fi ltration with ceramic elements assure effi cient processing for every size of operation. No mat-ter whether a 1-stage or 2-stage process is used: the recovered beer can be recycled back into production without a deteriora-tion in quality. This means that the volume of saleable beer is increased considerably without additional use of raw materials.

A sample calculation: given an output of one million hl per annum, a tank bottom volume of around 40,000 hl is produced from which 60 percent beer can be recovered. Given a fi gure of 5 to 10 Euros per hl, this corresponds to an annual additional revenue of 120,000 to 240,000 Euros. Calculate and compare – we do it also and can advise you on all options.

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Tap Your SurplusResources!

BE-2

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10 – 12 November 2010 Hall 7 / Stand 602Nuremburg, Germany

Liquids to Value

Key No. 72463