Koch Membrane Systems, Inc. (KMS) will provide membrane modules for a membrane bioreactor (MBR) for Joe White Maltings of Ballarat, Australia. The project, which was awarded to Tenix Alliance Pty. Ltd., is the second Joe White Maltings wastewater treatment system to use PURON MBR submerged membranes.
The MBR plant will be used to treat wastewater generated in “steeping” barley to convert it to beer malt. This process essentially involves soaking the grains until the moisture content reaches about 45%. After about 21 hours, the hydration stage is complete and the liquor is drained off as wastewater to be treated for reuse.
Joe White Maltings is the largest malting company in the Southern Hemisphere. The Perth plant where the first system was installed is Australia’s largest combined industrial MBR and reverse osmosis (RO) water reuse facility, turning difficult-to-treat plant wastewater into a stream of reusable water that exceeds current municipal drinking water standards. The Perth MBR system was commissioned in March 2006, and the RO system followed in April, allowing the expanded malting plant to ramp up to full production capacity in June 2006. Full analytical testing on several samples of the reverse osmosis permeate water has measured well within all current Australian Drinking Water Quality Guideline parameters.
“Malt making requires significant volumes of water in the steeping and germination processes. The implementation of the new system from KMS will help us reduce water usage and will be a valuable contribution to water conservation in Ballarat,” said Gary Hughes, general manager of operations at Joe White Maltings.
MBR systems are used for some of the toughest wastewater treatment applications, including sewage treatment for municipalities and treatment of wastewater for the beverage, textile, food, paper and chemicals industries. The PURON single header design supplied by KMS uses a free-floating membrane fiber tip combined with the centrally located air scour nozzle to deliver optimal solids management and reliable operation at peak flux rates, while using 50% less air scour energy than other submerged MBR membrane modules. Tenix selected PURON membrane filtration modules for the two Joe White Maltings water recycling facilities because the modules are energy efficient and the system is easy to operate, with features designed to provide significantly low lifecycle costs.
Source: Koch Membrane Systems, Inc.
