Dairy Industry involves processing of raw milk. The milk processing includes pasteurization, sterilization, separation, filtration and homogenization. With these process many products like pasteurized milk, condensed milk, evaporated milk, milk powder, cream, butter, cheese, curd, yogurt, ice cream and many other products are being made.
Wastewater in Dairy Industry normally generates in each stage of milk processing from spillage during receiving & storing until processing & rinsing of process equipment’s, However large amount of waste water is generated in cleaning the process equipment’s that is in contact with milk & its byproducts. On an average 2.5 liter of wastewater is generated per liter of milk being processed.
Effluents from dairy are generated in an intermittent way and the flow rates varies significantly. The volume, concentration, and composition of the effluents are dependent on the type of product being processed, the production program, operating methods, design of the processing plant, etc.
Dairy Effluent largely constitutes of fats, lactose, whey proteins, nutrients which are the main components to increase the Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD). Dairy effluent also contains detergent and sanitizing agents resulting from cleaning process which increases Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD). Effluent are white in color & slightly alkaline in nature and may become acidic quite rapidly due to fermentation.
These effluents released to the nearby stream or land without any prior treatment are reported to cause serious pollution problems. Dairy effluents decompose rapidly and deplete the dissolved oxygen level of the receiving streams immediately resulting in anaerobic conditions and release strong foul odors due to nuisance conditions. They often cause a growth of algae and bacteria that consume oxygen in the water and eventually suffocate the rivers leading to the gradual disappearance of fish. Hence it is important to consider treatment of dairy effluents.
Considering the high organic content in dairy effluent, biological treatment processes are ideally suited. Given the limitations of suspended growth activated sludge systems such as inadequate sludge settle ability and excess sludge production, it is advantageous to use more advanced processes. The solution for many facilities requiring advanced biological treatment, is Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor technology. Using Headworks BIO biofilm carrier technology, MBBR establishes a high-density population of bacteria within a compact biological wastewater treatment process, reliably biodegrading target organics in the wastewater stream for economic reduction prior to compliant discharge. The major advantage of the MBBR is a self-sustaining biological process, eliminating the need to periodically waste sludge and the requirement to supply a dilute return activated sludge. As a result, there is no requirement to supply a return sludge line. Further the operation is simplified due to the self-regulating nature of a fixed film system, substantially reducing the complexity of operator intervention.
Headworks Bio Brings Two Stage IFAS to Milk Factory in Lagos, Nigeria
