Abbott Laboratories
North Chicago , Illinois
Intern: Virginia Palmer
Northwestern University, Evanston
Abbott Laboratories specializes in fermentation manufacturing, as well as
the production of antibiotics and agricultural-related products at its North
Chicago facility. This facility is one of Abbott’s oldest locations.
It includes more than 3,000,000 square feet of manufacturing and office space.
The
interns worked on several waste reduction and energy efficiency projects.
Results:
The intern made the following recommendations:
- Utilize waste heat from the effluent at the wastewater treatment plant
to preheat water going into the processes. This project has the
potential to save over $50,000 per year.
- Reuse the caustic water (solution of sodium hydroxide and water) which
is used to clean tanks and other equipment in the fermentation process. The
use of an ultra-filtration membrane would allow the caustic water to be reused
on site. Further analysis of this option was recommended.
- Consider sending the filtercake from the fermentation process to a composting
facility instead of landfilling the materials. The intern contacted
three facilities to inquire about the feasibility of composting the nutrient-rich
material in a pilot project.
- Conducted a lighting audit with the assistance of BLI Lighting. It
was determined that approximately $18,000 could be saved annually on upgrades
to the lighting fixtures, with a three year payback period. This analysis
did not take into account the possibility of ComEd rebates or federal tax
credits.
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