C & F Packing
Lake Villa, Illinois
Intern: Sai Archana Kuchimanchi
Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago
C & F Packing Company is a meat processing company, specializing in the making
of sausages and pizza toppings.
Results:
The intern’s project focused on studying alternatives for treating wastewater generated at the facility. The intern made the following recommendations:
- Redesign the strainers in the cooking area to reduce the discharge of solid particles along with water. Their capacity should be increased if possible and they should be closely monitored. As soon as the strainers get filled with solids, they should be emptied and fitted again to help minimize the contamination of the wastewater stream with solids.
- Design the gravity tank for a longer retention time, keeping in mind the future rise in production and commensurate usage of water. The tank should be built of stainless steel material. This will ensure that the tank remains durable and resists scaling.
- Use chemicals such as sodium hydroxide, sodium carbonate, lime etc. to help control the pH of the wastewater in the tank.
- Incorporate an equalization tank into the system to maintain constant flow and pH levels.
- Add oxidizing agents to the waste stream to help minimize the formation of organic
matter, thus reducing the chemical oxygen demand. The company could save $72,000
a year.
- Install auto VAC filters to dewater sludge. This could savings $99,388 annually.
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