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Anaerobic Digestion of Whey Waste to Reduce a Carbon Footprint

The customer wanted to reduce their carbon footprint by focusing on six big impact areas of their business. Whey waste from a cheese product in the plant is at a high volume and posed a disposal challenge. They chose this project to showcase a waste-to-energy initiative using bio-methane from waste treatment systems to produce energy for the plant. 

A K400 Hydroheater^® was installed to heat the whey sludge to exact temperatures in an anaerobic digestion system. The Hydroheater heats to exact temperatures (±1°F) so the methane forming-bacteria (archaea), effectively reproduces in the process to convert the sludge solids to biogas. 

The plant now produces bio-methane from their on-site waste treatment. This process replaces 30-35% of the plant's annual natural gas needs. Put in practical terms, the anaerobic digester creates enough biogas to heat 1,000 homes.

Operating Conditions:

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Unlike heat exchangers or spargers, the Hydroheater is designed only for your process conditions and unique application. We need to know a few things about your conditions, such as temperature range, steam pressure, and flow rates to size a heater specifically for you. When you click on our application data sheet and fill in the information, we will contact you within one business day. After an initial conversation with a sales representative or one of our engineers, we will then provide you with a custom quote for the Hydroheater best suited for your process.

Yes, I want to save energy and have more control using direct steam injection. Please complete the Application Data Sheet which helps us understand your process conditions such as fluid density, flow rates and temperature parameters.