| Source
Newsletter spring 2001 |
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Brewing
Up Prevention ideas
The St. Paul brewery has saved nearly $400,000
a year over the past four years by working on pollution prevention
with SERVICE Environmental & Engineering.
MBC which produces various brands of beer
and water reopened its 136 year old facility in 1991. The
brewery wanted waste reduction alternatives with minimal to
no capital investment. It considered options, progressively,
with capital paybacks of less than three months.
The consulting firm teamed with plant production
and engineering personnel to identify all major water and
chemical flows within the plant. A plant-wide assessment identified
all leaking valves and uncapped pipes. Every major flow was
evaluated. Non-contact cooling water discharges were considered
for reuse in other parts of the plant. SERVICE identified
three potential areas for significant savings.
Water
Use
The Minnesota Brewing facility was designed for a three-shift
continuous production schedule. Initial production volumes
were lower, but the water flow control and metering systems
were not configured for the lower volumes. |
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Adjusting production steam and water
flow to match current production needs saved MBC $200,000
a year in water, sewer and energy costs. |
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Numerous leaking valves
and open pipe discharges of non-contact cooling water
were identified. Low cost repairs saved 158 gallons per
minute with annual savings of $82,000. |
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A meter that was out of calibration
over-recorded water use. Replacing the meter saved $50,000
a year in excess sewer charges. |
Chemical Use
Because water flow was not calibrated to current production
levels, excess amounts of chemical were used. Some feed pumps
discharged excess chemical because they were out of adjustment
or not synchronized with operations.
Chemical suppliers quickly volunteered their
assistance, adjusting the chemical feed mechanisms to match
the current flows and to shut off when not in use. This reduced
chemical costs by 50 percent, or about $15,000 per year.
Product Loss
Product loss was higher than industry standards because the
brewery's distribution pipes were designed for greater capacity
than current production. To reduce product loss, equipment
manufacturers and SERVICE adjusted the filling equipment and
developed filling protocols. Cleaning methods were devised
so pipes could be purged of product before being washed with
cleaning solutions. Minnesota Brewing has reduced product
losses, saving $6,000 a quarter. To reduce sewered waste,
MBC is evaluating having wasted product recycled into ethanol.
Pollution prevention
success story contributed by Jim Costello, SERVICE
Environmental & Engineering, St. Paul, 651/644-6680.
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