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Newsletter 2004 issue 2 |
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Getting a Taste of Winning
Kerry
Bio-Science wins Industrial Environmental Achievement Award.
As one of Minnesota’s fastest
growing cities, Rochester must build a new wastewater treatment
plant to meet demand. While waiting three to five years for
the new facility to come online, the publicly owned treatment
works (POTW) is working with its largest industrial users
to keep loads as low as possible because it is near capacity.
Kerry Bio-Science (formerly Quest
International) was among the companies asked to evaluate its
effluent. The company produces flavors and food ingredients.
Water scrubbers, cooling applications and extensive-cleaning
needs generate significant amounts of effluent, with high
levels of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), total suspended
solids (TSS) and phosphorus.
A MnTAP
intern worked full time at Kerry
Bio-Science during the summer of 2001 to identify high volume
wastewater streams in order to reduce loading and ingredient
losses.
The intern’s research laid the
groundwork for changes at Kerry Bio-Science, including:
- Automating a sterilizer. This tightened
control of key process parameters and reduced the number
of diverts of unsterilized product to the drain.
- Automating a system to concentrate
and collect solids in both dryer impinger systems.
- Pumping centrifuge desludges to
the byproduct collection system instead of sending down
the drain.
- Improving dry cleanup of dryer
solids prior to beginning the clean-in-place cycle.
“All of the changes we made came
from the initial work that Katie [the MnTAP intern] did,“
said Greg Hitchcock, engineering and maintenance manager.
Kerry Bio-Science is proactive in
complying with environmental regulations. It also wanted to
help out the city until the POTW got its expansion put in.
“The changes were for good business
reasons. Less product going down the drain means there’s
more to sell,” Hitchcock noted. Annually, Kerry Bio-Science
saves $15,400 by reducing TSS charges and $2,300 by reducing
BOD charges. Reduced product loss generated additional savings.
“The company continues to expand,
increasing production while reducing waste. Without these
reductions the company would have more wastewater compliance
issues,” said David Lane, POTW pretreatment coordinator.
The Central States Water Environment
Association gives the Industrial
Environmental Achievement Award to one industry per year
to recognize outstanding waste minimization, pollution prevention,
environmental compliance and environmental stewardship.
“Winning the award was a lot
of personal satisfaction for me. It was nice being able to
show the award to the city and to corporate. We had proof
that we are doing a good job,” said Hitchcock.
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