Location: Eemshaven, The Netherlands
Product: : B-SMART® MBR system
Permeate: 1,584 m3/day
COD influent: 1,500 – 5,000 mg/L
MLSS: 12,000 – 18,000 mg/L
Membrane: 8 mm, PVDF, backwashable
Holland Malt B.V., part of Bavaria Brewery, is a malt producer located on the northern coast of The Netherlands. Since 1938 the company has been producing brewer’s malt for leading beer brands such as Bavaria, Heineken, Carlsberg and Budweiser.
Holland Malt is renowned worldwide for the quality of its malt production which involves three main processes: (1) steeping, (2) germination, (3) kilning and roasting. Steeping is a highly water-intensive process that increases the grain’s moisture content up to 40 %. For example, the production of 140.000 tons of malted barley requires 510.000 m3 of water, comparable in quality to drinking water so as to ensure product quality and meet strict European Union laws. Holland Malt aims to double its current capacity to 280.000 tons by 2019. Holland Malt has limited access to tap water, therefore the company is forced to reuse their process water.
As the world’s population increases, so does the level of beer consumption. Studies suggest that by 2025, global beer consumption will grow by 15 %. In order to meet the increasing demand, Holland Malt has decided to double its malting capacity in its Eemshaven plant. Unfortunately, doubling the production capacity means doubling the water consumption. Thus, Holland Malt needed a reliable and stable system that could provide high-quality permeate which can be reused for the production of malt while providing significant cost savings. After testing a few pilot systems from various manufacturers, Holland Malt chose the B-SMART® MBR filtration system from Berghof Membranes for its reliability, high quality permeate production, ease of use and low maintenance.
Berghof Membranes installed two feed-and-bleed systems at Holland Malt (double and single loop), which generates more than 1,584 m3/day of permeate at an average flux ranging between 65 – 75 l/m2/h (LMH), with a crossflow velocity of 2.0 m/s (Figure 1).
Figure 1 demonstrates that the self-regulating external filtration system maintained a high permeate production (red line) regardless of Mixed Liquor Suspended Solids (MLSS) concentration (blue line) which varied from 12,000 to 18,000 mg/L in the waste stream. The flux was stable from early September through late November at 65 – 75 LMH. A visible peak in mid-October was related to a rapid increase of the MLSS concentration. In response the system performed an automated “clean in place (CIP)” to clean the membranes and restore the flux to its initial values.
The average energy consumption during the whole period was approximately 0.6 kWh/m3 permeate. The system was able to control fouling due to its “smart monitoring” of pressure drop and transmembrane pressure (TMP). As shown in Table 1, the Berghof Membrane modules produced the high quality permeate required by Holland Malt.
| Parameter | Feed water [mg/L] range | Permeate [mg/L] average |
|---|---|---|
| COD | 1,500 – 5,000 | 133 |
| BOD | 1,000 – 3,000 | < 2 |
| Total P | 15 – 30 | 0,2 |
| PO4-P | 10 – 20 | 0,29 |
| N-total | 60 – 70 | 4,69 |
| NH4-N | 5 – 20 | 0,1 |
| Plate count | > 1,000,000 CFU / 100 m | < 500 CFU / 100 ml |
For Holland Malt, the B-SMART® self-regulating external MBR system from Berghof Membranes proved an innovative solution to reuse valuable water, produce high quality permeate, and lower overall operating costs.
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