75% Reduction in Sludge Transport Costs for Diageo
of Sludge
on Investment
££
Selling Waste
Since the unit was commissioned, it has operated faultlessly and saved the company significant money on its wet waste stream.
Baileys, Belfast
Tackling Sludge Disposal Costs
Multinational drinks producer Diageo approached us with a brief to reduce the cost of handling sludge created during the manufacturing of its Baileys Irish Cream liqueur. The company was spending vast amounts of money on transporting and disposing of wet waste.
Given the high volume of production at the site, waste removed from Diageo’s effluent by a dissolved air floatation (DAF) system resulted in large quantities of DAF sludge being produced on site.
Although this meant the DAF system was performing correctly and successfully removing contaminants from Diageo’s wastewater before discharge to improve effluent quality, it left production managers with substantial amounts of wet waste to handle.
From Wet Sludge to Dried Cake
After conducting a series of trials, chemical jar tests and wastewater lab analysis, we proposed Diageo add a containerising dewatering system to their wastewater treatment plant.
The disc screw press we design and manufacture allows the DAF sludge to be processed on site. The dewatering process removes all the water from the sludge, leaving behind only a dried cake that is transferred to a 12-tonne roll-on, roll-off skip.
Rapid Return on Investment
Diageo enjoyed a return on their capital investment in our disc screw press sludge management equipment within 11 months of installation.
This was largely due to the dewatering process removing the entire wet sludge waste stream from Diageo’s costs. The result was a 75% reduction in the company’s road haulage costs associated with the transport of wet waste.
In addition to those big savings, Diageo is also exploring options to create a new revenue stream by selling the dried cake collected by the disc screw press. The calorific content of the cake makes it suitable for use in anaerobic digestors, opening up the possibility of waste material that once represented a significant expense now generating additional income for the business.
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