Zero discharge for technically demanding applications

MAJOR changes in the design and manufacture of large capacity industrial tanks for food and beverage applications are being driven by the demands of technologies involving zero discharge applications.

These demanding but increasingly common applications are vital to environmental and process requirements, including methane capture, biogas capture, anaerobic and aerobic process, ultrafiltration, steam and the demineralised water used for turbine cooling, for example.

A classic example in which leading tank manufacturer Tasman Tanks was involved recently was Pacific Beverages' environmentally sensitive Bluetongue Brewery, which makes more beer out of less water whilst using less energy. The opening of the brewery was celebrated this year with the first taste of Bluetongue Premium Lager delivered fresh off the line to celebrity guests including entrepreneur and advertising personality John Singleton and international star and former Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins.

The A$120-million brewery on NSW's Central Coast with a projected annual capacity of 150 million litres features a state-of-the-art water recovery plant, which targets best-practice water reuse standards. The water recovery plant also provides renewable energy for the brewery, reducing its dependence on fossil fuels. The system - which was designed as a model for food and beverage plants globally - was installed by a partnership of CST Wastewater Solutions and Global Water Engineering (GWE), which are respectively Australian and global leaders in environmental engineering.

CST and GWE selected Tasman Tanks as the tank, digester and liquid storage fabricator and constructor, and to deliver and install the storage solutions for Bluetongue. The nine storage solutions utilise Tasman's advanced coating and membrane liner technologies, with six FBE (FUSION 7000) sealed panel tanks for unmatched coating performance and three membrane lined tanks for the most cost-effective storage solution available for the wastewater system.

The six FBE panel tanks have the most advanced coating system from Tasman Tanks affiliated group Tank Connection that also provide another global partnership between TC and Akzo Nobel the leader in powder coatings and porcelain enamel technologies. Tank D101 at Bluetongue is a 687,000 litre fully sealed anaerobic methane reactor tank. As the bacteria breaks down the organic matter within the wastewater, a biogas is produced. This biogas is captured and reused as renewable energy to power the brewery boiler.

Zero discharge

Many radical advances in big tank design are coming in the area of bolted steel tanks, which have the major advantages of cost-efficient size potential (especially compared with welded) and their ability to isolate diverse liquids through advanced coatings that will not react with contents over time.

One of the major advances in zero discharge applications is fusion bonded coating systems such as those developed by the internationally respected Tank Connection group and Akzo Nobel, the world's largest powder coat supplier.

These factory-applied coatings are particularly suited to totally sealed applications where all the liquids involved in a process are retained on-site, such as bonded coatings in Tank Connection's ultimate fusion coated tank system its new generation proprietary LIQ Fusion 7000 FBE coating. This is approved for potable drinking water with NSF-61 international Standard approval. It is unmatched compared with all bolted and welded tank linings."

LIQ Fusion is designed as an advance on glass/porcelain enamel coatings, utilising the protective properties of an exclusive FBE epoxy powder fused to substrate with a fused external topcoat of SD Polyester. It is desiKobe AD EP Shoes EM