When a busy ready meals manufacturer needed a wastewater treatment system that would fit its limited floor space, it called on Aerofloat.
With more than a decade of experience working with the food and beverage industry, Aerofloat general manager of engineering, Michael Anderson, says his team was ready when one of the country’s leading ready meal manufacturers came calling.
“We were very involved with the client from the outset to ensure we understood their needs. They had outgrown their existing site and needed a wastewater treatment plant that would meet ongoing business growth,” Anderson says.
Aerofloat worked closely with the other companies fitting out the new facility to ensure it was food and beverage industry compliant. Aerofloat’s design team also ensured that they had a strong understanding of the expected effluent over time. After designing multiple ready-meals treatment plants for the food and beverage industry, Aerofloat had expert insight into the industry’s needs.
“Wastewater in ready-meals production is often dependent on season, with soups more prevalent in winter and salads in summer. Our engineers and design team ensured it understood expected flows and these seasonal changes to effluent,” says Anderson.
Despite the unusually shaped space, Aerofloat was able to incorporate its AeroCIRC DAF technology and associated process equipment, tanks, and controls to treat the process wastewater to the sewer discharge standards.
“We were able to adapt our technology to fit the narrow, tall space, allowing the client more floorspace for its production line,” he says.
The wastewater treatment plant on the existing site was basically a bolt on to the side of the existing building. The project was a fit-out construction with the client asking Aerofloat to make the plant as small as possible without compromising on process.
Aerofloat used cutting edge technology to test out potential designs before committing to the manufacturing process.
“We were able to offer 3D modelling to the client prior to manufacturing and installation. We also held several draft meetings to show how the plant would fit in the available space,” said Anderson.
This allowed the client and other construction stakeholders to offer opinions and input into how the plant would work from an operational standpoint.
“This process ensured we designed a solution that kept all parties happy,” said Anderson.
Aerofloat had recently launched its new AeroCIRC DAF and was able to modify its design to fit the limited space. The AeroCIRC DAF has a rotary scraper with a 60-degree bottom that offers a self-cleaning function to minimise maintenance requirements.
“Our AeroCIRC DAF comes in two models allowing up to 30 cubic metres of flows per hour. Aerofloat adapted its model to create a 2.6 metre diameter AeroCIRC DAF that fit the narrow space.”
“It’s a very tall product. We kept the bottom half of our standard DAF and then added the rotary scraper above. This displaces the sludge into a chute,” Anderson explains.
The addition of a well-mixed and aerated balance tanks inhibits fermentation in low flow times to avoid any build-up of microorganisms. It is also pH corrected to optimise the chemistry for solids removal in the AeroCIRC DAF.
The system was logic-controlled to allow for remote operations ensure the strict Sydney Water standards are always met. Both operators and Aerofloat’s engineers can control the system can remotely via an eWon remote access system. Aerofloat has continued to readily support operators with training when needed and offered regular plant servicing as well as chemical supply.
“Sydney Water has very strict standards for this industry, and we’ve ensured compliant effluent from day one,” Anderson says.
This article first appeared in the June/July 2023 edition of Food & Drink Business magazine.
