38 Water/Wastewater
Pulling Back the Profits From Wastewater
TOC is considered by many to be the most cost-effective, accurate and timely test with less interferences than alternative parameters.
International experts concur that approximately 2-3% of the total amount of milk purchased annually by Dairy Processors is lost during processing, some of this is an inevitable part of processing output but some of the loss could be avoided. As an extra commercial headache, pollutants generated by industry are very often these same losses in production. So, not only does Lost Product cost in terms of the wasted raw materials but it also costs to treat it at the WWTP. Production and treatment of each KG of BOD in a Dairy Processing Environment is expensive, particularly since the average plant will produce millions of KG of BOD each year.
BioTector manufacture Online TOC Analysers that offer real-time visibility and quantity of product in wastewater therefore providing more informed process control and incident response.
Figure 1: BioTector has been monitoring TOC on this Dairy Wastewater pond since 1997
Across many industries with challenging processing environments particularly Dairy, PetroChemical, Pharmaceutical, Brewery & Soft Drinks, TOC analysers are recognised as a means to monitor and regulate loadings to the WWTP and to reduce Lost Product levels and waste treatment costs significantly. The patented TSAO technology from Biotector offers consistent accuracy and reliability so that clients can have confidence in the TOC measurements provided. This confidence is key to Lost Product detection and prevention.
Dairy Processing Challenges for TOC Measurement
Dairy Processing is a very challenging environment for an analyser due to the FOGS, salts and particulates that are inevitably present in process streams, see Figure 1. Many Online TOC analysers fail in these conditions.
There are however analysers available that are built to deal with these challenging environments. BioTector Online TOC analysers are an example of this as they were developed specifically for the Dairy Industry.
TOC Correlation to BOD & COD
TOC analysis in a dairy plant determines the quantity of milk products present in wastewater discharge lines at a given point in time. Product is lost in litres, gallons and kilograms not in terms of biological loading. TOC is
a more reliable method of analysis than milk-water interface (turbidity) analysers and other optical measurement methods as these cannot correctly quantify the Lost Product and are subject to clogging.
TOC is considered by many to be the most cost-effective, accurate and timely test with less interferences than alternative parameters, see Figure 2.
Lost Product Detection & Prevention
The international Dairy Industry accepts a “standard” Lost Product figure of 2-3% annually. As the Table in Figure 3 shows, even with a mid-way Lost Product figure of 2.5%, this loss can be very high in monetary terms. The cost of spilt milk is definitely worth shedding some tears…
Figure 3 details a “Typical Dairy Plant” model with processing volumes of 500 million litres per year, raw material (milk) prices averaged over a 5 year period and lost product levels of 2.5%. The model shows how this plant produces and treats more than 1.3million KG’s of BOD each year – each KG of BOD takes 9.26 litres of milk to produce, hence the actual Lost Product is 12.5 million litres of milk which equates to €4,000,000 lost each year. To look at it another way, this is the equivalent of 417 milk tankers carrying 30 tonnes each, pouring the milk directly into the drain!
This model shows that, typically, Lost Product levels can be reduced by a conservative 15% using reliable TOC monitoring. However, higher reductions have been reported and, in extreme cases, wastewater loading
Lost Product Detection and Prevention using TOC Monitoring of Wastewater: A Dairy Processing Study
Historically many processing plants viewed Production and Wastewater Treatment as two entirely separate functions. This is now changing as raw material costs increase, margins get tighter, market forces and competition becomes more intense. Cost management is more important than ever and process wastewater is known to carry valuable products away from the plant – and away from the bottom line.
Author Details: Martin Horan, Chairman,
BioTector Analytical Systems Ltd. Tel: +353 (0)21 4374237
Email:
mhoran@biotector.com Figure 2: Correlation of TOC to BOD and to COD IET November / December 2012
www.envirotech-online.com
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