NY-based dairy collective gains from GWE wastewater tech

CAYUGA Milk Ingredients (CMI) is all set up to produce a range of dairy products this summer.  Based in Auburn, New York, it is a new processing plant set up by Cayuga Marketing LLC, a collective of dairy farmers based in the Finger Lakes Region, to lower their milk-hauling costs. To further reduce carbon footprint, the dairy collective invested in an anaerobic treatment process from Global Water & Energy (GW&E) for their wastewater treatment facility.

Cayuga’s completed Superflot-Biogas? system

Natascha Janssens, an engineer at GWE recommended the FLOTAMET? system as a suitable treatment solution for Cayuga and dairy plants in general. The system consists of the ANAMIX? reactor for high rate anaerobic treatment; a biomass recovery in a combined sludge separation system which consists of the SUPERSEP-CF; and the Dissolved Biogas Flotation (DBF) unit SUPERFLOT-BIOGAS?.

The Cayuga plant can treat 950 m3/d of wastewater and 95 m3/d of whitewater, or a total COD (Contained Oxygen Deficit effluent pollution) load of 6,000 kg/d.  About 80% of the COD load 85% of the BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) load and is removed in the FLOTAMET system, with the waste removed converted to biogas. This results in the production of up to 1,900 Nm3/d (at 75% CH4) of biogas, with an energy content of 590 kW.

The biogas will be used partially to heat up the wastewater for optimal anaerobic digestion, said Ms Janssens. As such, the anaerobic treatment plant does not create an additional energy demand to the factory for heating purposes. In a second phase it is the intended to use the remaining biogas to generate electricity in order to meet CMI’s goal to further decrease the carbon footprint of the factory.

The anaerobic effluent from the FLOTAMET system is treated in a conventional aerobic treatment by GW&E followed by a Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) for solids separation. The aerobic polishing of the anaerobic effluent ensures that the discharge from the plant to the local sewer will meet the strict discharge limits applying.

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