Chemical Engineering Department

In partial fulfilment of the requirements in

CHETE 03

A Written Report on
Utility Consumption: Power, Water and Bunker Fuel

Submitted by:
Moran, Bonn Axell
Pagdanganan, Annjanete
Palen II, Arnold Ian

Submitted to:
Engr. Rex Manuel P. Paayas
Instructor

Date submitted
February 17, 2017
POWER
Food industry is dependent on electricity, for storage, production, processing and
distribution. Many food raw materials and perishable foods need to be stored and
processed in controlled temperature environments.
Food production facilities need an uninterrupted power supply to
a) Store the raw materials in appropriate temperatures and prevent spoilage of food
b) Ensure the production line is running efficiently. Any voltage dips, fluctuations or power
outages will impair the production process resulting in financial losses.
Food warehouses and distribution companies need to comply with regulation to
ensure food safety in the event of power outage. Companies in the commercial food
supply chain use backup power to ensure smooth processes, prevent spoilage of food
and comply with regulatory standards. Backup power ensures all processes continue to
function with minimal interruption and ensure food safety. Food industries could lose a lot
of money if the food that is stored becomes a spoilage due to loss of power.
It is important to keep in mind that having a backup generator is like having
insurance for your company/business. Depending on the location of your business,
natural disasters can happen a lot more often than other places. Many business owners
simply cannot afford to ride out another power outage so instead, they are installing home
standby generators in record numbers to protect their families and investments from going
bankrupt or destroying their merchandise. It’s also important to know that your power
generator will still work even your business is closed.
Food processing, which sustains the human energy balance, requires a
considerable and continuous supply of power delivered from natural resources, principally
in the form of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas. The steady human increase
in the human population of the planet and its growing nutritional demands have produced
an annual increase in energy consumption. With these, there are need to increase the
energy efficiency utilization in food processing industries. While there are specific energy
conservation opportunities available for each type of facility, energy-saving upgrades to
existing equipment or new equipment such as refrigeration, pump and fan systems, and
combined heat and power could benefit most food processing facilities. Overall, research
indicates that facilities could realize 10-15% energy savings by implementing new
technologies.
Refrigeration
Refrigeration systems consume a large amount of electricity in food processing
facilities. However, impressive savings have been achieved with refrigeration systems;
some references quote savings as high as 30% of base electrical usage. Energy and cost
savings can be obtained through a variety of modifications to the refrigeration system
including improved insulation or tighter seals on doors. More complex changes to the
system controls and variable frequency drives for the compressors or evaporator fans
can also result in savings.
Pump and Fan Systems
Pumps and fans can account for up to 15% of the load in various facilities. Pumps
are primarily used for cleaning operations and cooling, while fans are used for ventilation
and cooling. When installed, pumps are often oversized to meet a maximum flow
requirement; piping, valves, and the rest of the system may be undersized to contain
costs. Fans are selected based on price and availability to provide a design air flow, not
on energy and operating costs, and are also often oversized.
Both pumps and fans can be evaluated for energy saving opportunities. Pumping systems
should be evaluated during the design phase and installation, though there may be retrofit
opportunities available for large process pumps that run long hours as well as large
cooling towers and HVAC systems. Fan speed should be evaluated; often, oversized fans
can be slowed, resulting in a large decrease in energy consumption. Slower fan speed
can also reduce fuel consumption. For example, slowing the fan speed can reduce the
amount of make-up air needed to be generated.
Combined Heat and Power (CHP)
CHP provides an opportunity to reduce the overall energy consumption in facilities
by generating electricity on-site and recovering waste heat from the electrical generation
for the production process. When a facility obtains its electricity from the local utility and
generates thermal energy through the combustion of natural gas, the energy conversion
process is only 33% efficient. However, using CHP to produce electric energy on-site can
result in 80% efficiency.
CHP processes convert waste heat or steam into electrical power. The food
industry produces biomass waste, which could be used as an alternative fuel source.
CHP, which requires a large capital investment, is an attractive opportunity for food
processing facilities that have high energy intensity, a flat year-round load profile, and
high thermal to electric ratios. Even facilities with an electrical demand less than 5
megawatts can benefit from CHP systems.
Utility Consumption: Water
Traditionally, the food-processing industry has been a large water user. Water is
used as an ingredient, an initial and intermediate cleaning source, an efficient
transportation conveyor of raw materials, and the principal agent used in sanitizing plant
machinery and areas.
Food processing consume huge amount of water for processing food. Table 1
shows typical rates of water use for various food-processing sectors. An abundant and
inexpensive source of water is a requirement for success in the food-processing industry.
[1]
Fruit and Vegetable Food-Processing Sector
The primary steps in processing fruits and vegetables include:
1. General cleaning and dirt removal
2. Removal of leaves, skin, and seeds
3. Blanching
4. Washing and cooling
5. Packaging
6. Cleanup
Meat, Poultry, and Seafood Sector
The primary steps in processing livestock include:
1. Rendering and bleeding
2. Scalding and/or skin removal
3. Internal organ evisceration
4. Washing, chilling, and cooling
5. Packaging
6. Cleanup
Beverage and Fermentation Sector
The primary steps in processing beverages are
1. Raw material handling and processing
2. Mixing, fermentation, and/or cooking
3. Cooling
4. Bottling and packaging
5. Cleanup

Water and Wastewater

The strict hygiene requirements of the food industry are a major cause of the high
water consumption, with most food factories performing daily cleaning operations on
process equipment. The cleaning is often automated with CIP (cleaning in place)
systems, but even these designed for water reuse can still be major consumers. Many of
the authors’ large food processing installations will use several thousand cubic meters of
water each day with population equivalent well in excess of 10000 people. All of this water
has to be supplied to the factory at the required standard and then disposed of as effluent
in a proper and environmentally acceptable way. In some food industries (e.g. brewing
and soft drinks), water is required as an ingredient in the final make-up. However, more
water is generally used for cleaning in order to maintain the required level of hygiene and
cleanliness than for product make-up.
In addition to water supply, there is often a similar daily quantity of wastewater
being generated that requires treatment before it can be returned to a watercourse. Food
industry effluent, although generally readily biodegradable, is characterized by a high
level of organic matter which is inherently polluting.
The chemical oxygen demand (COD) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) are
common measurements used to determine water quality. They measure the strength of
the waste stream by measuring the oxygen required to stabilize the wastes.
BOD- Biochemical Oxygen Demand is supposed to measure the amount of food (or
organic carbons) that bacteria can oxidize. The BOD for all food-processing wastewater
is relatively high compared to other industries. A high BOD level indicates that a
wastewater contains elevated amounts of organic material, dissolved and/or suspended
solids, minerals, nitrogen and phosphorus. COD and BOD are important to the food
processing industry because they can be used to indicate lost product and wasteful
practices. High BOD and COD levels indicate increased amounts of products lost to the
waste stream.
COD or Chemical Oxygen Demand is the total measurement of all chemicals in
the water that can be oxidized. A typical food factory effluent would have a COD of around
2000-5000 mg/L, comprising mostly of water along the traces of product and cleaning
agents. However, given the elevated COD levels in the raw products, it is clear that careful
control of wastage is required by the industry to ensure that average effluent CODs are
kept to a minimum. Even at a typical COD of 5000 mg/L, food industry would be ten times
more polluting than raw domestic sewage. The average COD of domestic sewage in the
UK varies by region but is only around 500 mg/L.[2]
 Industry shares of emissions of organic water pollutants refer to emissions from
manufacturing activities as defined by two-digit divisions of the International Standard
Industrial Classification (ISIC), revision 2: food and beverages (31). Emissions of organic
water pollutants are measured by biochemical oxygen demand, which refers to the
amount of oxygen that bacteria in water will consume in breaking down waste. This is a
standard water-treatment test for the presence of organic pollutants. Figure 1 shows the
water pollution - food industry (% of total BOD emissions) in Philippines.

Figure 1. Water Pollution - Food Industry (% of Total BOD Emissions) in Philippines[3]

Water and Effluent Costs

The cost of mains water varies significantly across the world ranging from only
35p/m3 in the USA to over 118 p/m3 in Germany and Denmark. Additionally, there has
been a substantial increase in these cost over the past ten years. In the UK, the average
standard mains water costs has risen from 65p/m 3 t0 100 p/m3, a rise of over 50%. The
increases in the UK have come about as tougher standards have been imposed together
with a higher level of enforcement by the UK Environment Agency. This trend is common
throughout the world with prices rising in order to fund the necessary improvements in
quality and the environment.
There is a similar trend in the UK for increase in trade effluent charges where food
companies choose to discharge their waste to sewer for treatment by the local water utility
company. UK food companies are faced with paying 100p/m 3 for mains water supply and
also potentially 225p/m3 as a cost for their effluent disposal. This has driven companies
to look at borehole water abstraction as well as installing on-site effluent treatment plant.
This can greatly reduce financial costs but the real challenge for the industry is to reduce
usage at source.[2]
Water and Effluent Minimisation
With water and effluent minimisation, the key again is to provide comprehensive
monitoring in order that the management can identify wasteful practices and take the
necessary action to change or correct these. It was a popular misconception in many food
factories that a wet factory floor was a clean factory floor and indicative of an efficient
operation. Today, the opposite is true and excessive hosing and liberal water usage
should be seen as poor practice and actively discouraged.
The cost of water metering is now low and a factory-wide system measuring each
department along with the key users within that department is within reach of most
factories. Linked then to a data acquisition system with simple reporting, the site then has
the tools needed to effectively minimise water consumption.
On the effluent side, many liquid-based food companies will also need to install
comprehensive effluent monitoring. This will require effluent flow measurement and
composite sampling to provide product loss equivalents. Often the level of savings that
can be achieved through the minimisation for a food factory will be ten times that which
can be achieved in water and effluent associated costs. Product loss measurement by
the department is also becoming more common and is something that companies
planning to build new factories should seriously consider.[2]

Water Recycling and Reuse

With water usage, there is also the opportunity to consider recycling and reuse in
addition to the minimisation at source. Food industry standards specify that spent process
water intended for reuse (even for cleaning process) must be at least of drinking quality.
Regulations for other applications such as boiler makeup water of warm cleaning water
are even more stringent.
Water reuse in the food industry has been commonplace for many years. Dairy
companies have been using condensate from the evaporation of milk for feeding boilers
and indeed for lower grade use after simple treatment with say chlorine dioxide. CIP
systems are also commonplace in the industry, and the system of recycling the final rinse
water to a pre-rinse tank for use on the next clean has been practiced for years. More
advanced technologies are now being considered whereby the effluent streams are being
purified for reuse.[2]
BUNKER FUEL
Bunker oil is a fuel by – product consisting primarily of residual and distillate fuel oil used
to run ships, generate electricity and/or for manufacturing process in industrial plants.
Bunker oil purchased in 2010 also summed up to about 7.4 billion liters, of which the
bulk (52.8% or about 3.9B liters) was purchased by energy-intensive industries (Figure
1).

Figure 1. Percentage Distribution of Quantity of Bunker Oil purchased by establishments

by industry category and energy use, 2010 (Source: Philippines Statistics Office)
From figure 1, 87.2% (6.4B liters) of the total quantity of bunker oil purchased in 2010
were used to run machineries and equipment. Among energy-intensive industries, 91.8%
(about 3.6B liters) of bunker oil purchased were used to run machineries and equipment;
8.2% (318.4M liters) to run transport equipment and 0.03% (980,100 liters) as raw
materials and other non-energy use.
The gross energy consumption of the food products manufacturing industry is 2% of that
of all manufacturing industry. In the food processing industry, a substantial amount of
energy is consumed. Excessive use of energy is usually associated with many industrial
plants worldwide, and food processing plants are no exception. Thus energy techniques
and managements are essential. Below are some energy conservation techniques.

Promotion of energy conservation technique (Source: United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO))
Step l - Good housekeeping
Refers to energy conservation efforts, made without much equipment investment, include
elimination of the minor waste, review of the operation standards in the production line,
more effective management, improvement of employees’ cost consciousness, group
activities, and improvement of operation technique.
Examples of which include management to prevent unnecessary lighting of the electric
lamps and idle operation of the motors, repair of steam leakage, and reinforcement of
heat insulations
Step 2 - Equipment improvement
This is the phase of improving the energy efficiency of the equipment by minor
modification of the existing production line to provide waste heat recovery equipment and
gas pressure recovery equipment or by introduction of efficient energy conservation
equipment, including replacement by advanced equipment.
For example, energy conservation efforts in this step include effective use of the waste
heat recovery in combustion
Step 3 - Process improvement
This is intended to reduce energy consumption by substantial modification of the
production process itself by technological development. This step is accompanied by a
large equipment investment. However, this is linked to modernization of the process
aimed at energy conservation, high quality, higher added value, improved product yield
and manpower saving.
Table 1 shows different energy conservation techniques in the food processing industry
and application to boiler equipment.
Table 1. Energy conservation techniques in the food processing industry and application
to boiler equipment.
Sector Milk Bread Boiler
1st Step Efficient use of heat Temperature control Repair of steam
exchanger of baking furnace leakage

Combustion Control

Maintenance of
burner nozzle

2nd Step Replacement of low Waste heat recovery Waste Heat Recovery
efficiency chiller of baking furnace
Preheat of feed water

Insulation of boiler
and valves

3rd Step Increase of Operation

rate
Energy conservation techniques in boilers
Boilers are device used to create steam by applying heat energy to water. A boiler
incorporates a furnace in order to burn the fuel and generate heat. Energy conservation
techniques in boilers are employed through,
1. Waste heat recovery
Loss of thermal energy occurs in boilers. The waste gas heat in the chimneys is
particularly large, and it is recovered by the installation of economizers in the chimneys
to preheat the feed water.
2. Combustion conditions
Fuel oil is sprayed into the furnace from the spray nozzle of the burner tip.
Therefore, control of the diameter of the nozzle tip is important, because if the diameter
is increased by 20%, the spray particles can get bigger, and more excess air is necessary
for complete combustion; so periodical inspection and replacement are advisable.
3. Steam leakage
Steam generated by a boiler is passed through a pipe common to the adjacent
boiler before being sent to the factory, so even a boiler which is not running is heated if
there is a gate valve water leak, which involves a loss. It is necessary to repair factory
plumbing leaks quickly.

References:
[1]http://www.unido.org/fileadmin/import/32129_25PollutionfromFoodProcessing.7.pdf
[2]Klemes J., Smith R., and Kim J-K.. (Eds.). 2008. Handbook of Water and Energy
Management in Food Processing.Woodhead Publishing Limited.
[3]http://www.tradingeconomics.com/philippines/water-pollution-food-industry-percent-of-total-
bod-emissions-wb-data.html