Food Processing Facility Eliminates Sludge Management Problem
Application / Industry: Food Processing
Customer Name: Case Farms, Winesburg, OH
Consulting Engineer: Reid Engineering, Richmond, VA
Process Fluid: Waste Sludge
Process Treatment Method: Sludge Storage Tank
Challenge
Case Farms had an existing sludge storage tank that contained a mixing system that was inefficient, high in maintenance, and produced little oxygen for the process. The sludge in the tank was not homogeneously mixed, therefore anaerobic areas developed resulting in the production of hydrogen sulfide and smells from the process vessel. The inconsistency of the sludge was also affecting the performance of processing equipment downstream of the sludge tank.
Solution
Tideflex® Technologies (Red Valve Company, Inc.) provided a maintenance free Coarse Bubble Mixing and Oxygen Supply System. Tideflex® Engineering modeled the process to determine the amount of air to be applied for oxygen supply as well as adequate mixing energy. The intent of the mixing system is to provide a completely mixed tank and adequate oxygen to keep the process fluid from moving to an anaerobic state.
Results
The Tideflex® Diffusers discharge at about 2” off the floor which provides complete solids suspension and re-suspension after blower “off” cycles. Open pore style diffusers allow fluids to flow back into the piping when the blower is turned off. The check valve feature of the Tideflex Diffusers provides backflow prevention and allows the operations to use the blower on demand but not have to run it constantly. This provides a significant savings in operational costs and well as elimination of the maintenance costs. The performance of the processing equipment after the sludge tank was improved and optimized due to having a consistent and homogeneous fluid. The cost savings in operational costs and maintenance costs resulted in a capital cost recovery of about three years.