CBB 4233: Industrial Effluent Engineering Term Paper Title: Wastewater Treatment System in Dutch Lady Milk Industries

Berhad

Nor Zaity Che Mat Zakery 12121 Chemical Engineering

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INTRODUCTION Companys profile Incorporated in 1963, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Berhad is currently the leading dairy

company in Malaysia. Its holding company is Royal FrieslandCampina NV, a Dutch multinational corporation and one of the largest dairy cooperatives in the world. Dutch Lady Malaysia manufactures and sells a wide range of quality dairy products for the home and export market, with all products enjoying a strong following with its Dutch Lady and Friso brands. Overall, there are five plants producing different type of dairy products in Dutch Lady Milk Industries Berhad. Sterilised Milk (STM) plant producing sterilized milk, Ultra-high temperature (UHT) plant producing UHT milk, Chilled plant (CHP), producing chilled products, Powder plant producing powder-based product and Milk Reception (MLR) plant functioned as to store, cook and deliver milk to all plants.

1.2 Wastewater Treatment System

According to Environmental Quality Act (EQA) 1974 (Industrial Effluent) Regulations 2009, industrial effluent is defined as any liquid waste or wastewater generated from manufacturing process. Wastewater treatment system functions as to treat the industrial effluent so that the final effluent is safe before it is being discharged to the river. Previously, there are two methods in which the contaminants are removed which are either by chemical or biological treatment (Metcalf and Eddy, 1991). Today, the processes or unit operations are group together to provide the methods known as primary, secondary and tertiary treatment. The methods involved are screening, sedimentation, biological, chemical treatment etc.

In Dutch Lady, the liquid waste coming from milk processing is sent to wastewater for further treatment before it is being discharged to the river. This is to comply with Malaysia law, Environmental Quality Act (EQA) 1974 (Industrial Effluent) Regulations 2009. The wastewater treatment in Dutch Lady is activated sludge treatment type in which air is bubbled in biological tank with the presence of microorganism. The treatment chosen is basically based on factors such as the type of influent, availability of the area and cost.

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TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS Before the treatment method is discussed, it is important to know the typical

characteristics and sources of wastewater. In Dutch Lady, the source of wastewater basically coming from three types of categories which are processing waters, cleaning wastewaters and sanitary wastewater. Table 2.1 summarized the type and sources of wastewater in Dutch Lady. Table 2.1: Type and sources of wastewater in Dutch Lady Type Processing waters Sources of wastewater Processing waters include water used in the cooling and heating process. Basically, these effluents are free from pollutant. The wastewater coming from processing water can be straightly discharged into the monsoon drain or reused. Cleaning wastewater basically coming from the cleaning of equipment in contact with milk or milk product, spillage of milk, CIP cleaning process and water resulting from malfunction and operational control. In Dutch Lady, wastewater is coming from five different plant producing different products such as yogurt, chilled products, powder-based product, UHT and sterilized milk product. The sanitary wastewater is normally piped directly to sewage works

Cleaning wastewater

Sanitary wastewater

The usages of CIP chemical such as caustic soda for dairy cleaning cause the pH variation in wastewater. Apart from that, other concern which related to CIP is the effect to biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). Therefore, a proper treatment strategy is required.

2.1 Treatment Strategy As the major wastewaters are coming from milk processing, biological wastewater treatment is the best option due to biodegradable properties of the liquid waste. In Dutch Lady, the equalization tank and biological tank is a type of sequential batch reactor (SBR). Basically, SBR uses five stages of treatment which are filling, reacting, settling, decanting and idle. Details for the treatment process are described in the next chapter.

3.0 DESCRIPTION AND JUSTIFICATION OF THE PROCESS

This chapter will explain step by step process of biological treatment which implemented in Dutch Lady. Figure 3.1 to 3.5 summarized the process.

Figure 3.1 Collection Sump

Figure 3.2 Equalization Tank

Figure 3.3 Biological Tank

Figure 3.6 Sampling Sump

Figure 3.5 Sludge cake

Figure 3.4 Belt Press

Figure 3.7Final Discharge Point

a)

Collection Sump

Influent coming from processing units will be channeled to the wastewater treatment through pipeline. Overall, there are five pipelines which indicate the influent coming from five plants. The pipelines are equipped with flow meter. The influents with different flow rates will enter the collection sump in order to mix them altogether before entering the equalization tank.

b) Equalization Tank Equalization tank functioned as the damping of flowrate variations so that a constant or nearly constant flow rate is achieved. There are two types of equalization tank, in-line arrangement or off-line arrangement. Basically, for in-line arrangement, all of the flow will pass through the equalization tank meanwhile for off-line arrangement; only the flowrate above the specified limit is diverted into the equalization tank. In Dutch Lady, in-line arrangement is used since all the influent will enters the equalization tank before it is treated in biological tank. According to Metcalf and Eddy (1991), biological treatment is enhanced through the application of flow equalization tank. The reasons are: 1) Shock loading are eliminated or can be minimized 2) Inhibiting substances can be diluted 3) Stabilized the pH

Figure 3.8: Equalization tank Sometimes, air is supplied in equalization tank to control odor. c) Biological Tank

As the major wastes are mainly coming from milk processing which categorized under organic matter, therefore biological treatment is used. Generally, there are five major groups of biological processes such as aerobic processes, anoxic processes, anaerobic process, combined aerobic, anoxic and anaerobic processes and pond processes. According to Arrun (2011),

biological treatment using aerobic activated sludge process has been in practice for well over century. The wastewater treatment in Dutch Lady uses aerobic activated sludge process in which the biological treatment requires the presence of oxygen. The term biological treatment means that bacteria or microorganism are involved in degradation of organic impurities and the operating condition of the bioreactor. Therefore, the activated sludge process will take place in the presence of air and microorganism is used to eat the organic matter and convert it into carbon dioxide, water and biomass. The organic matter will act as food to microorganism and oxygen is required for respiration process. Figure 3.8 shows the activated sludge process in Dutch Lady

Figure 3.9: Biological tank Photo is taken during the sedimentation process. It is observed that clear water at the top and sludge settle at the bottom. d) Conditioning and Belt Press

Sludge settled at the bottom of biological tank is then conveyed to the belt press using pump. The function of belt press is remove water from sludge, thicken the sludge and thus reducing the volume of sludge. In order to ensure the thin sludge does not break apart, polymer is used and mix with the sludge in the conditioning tank before it is conveyed to the belt press. Thickened sludge forming the sludge cake is rolled out to the sludge container while the separated water decants to the equalization tank.

Belt press

Polymer dosing

Figure 3.10: Belt press e) Final discharged point

Treated water or effluent is channeled to the sampling sump before it is being discharged to the river. This is where the water is test to ensure that the parameters do not exceed the limit set by DOE. The six parameters are: 1) Temperature 2) pH 3) Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) 4) Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) 5) Suspended Solid (SS) 6) Oil and Grease (O&G) Sample collected is sent to Permulab for analysis.

Following the standard set by Department of Environment (DOE), Dutch Lady has ensured that the parameters do not exceed the standard. Figures below summarized the result obtained from Permulab.

Figure 3.11: pH monitoring of effluent

Figure 3.12: Temperature monitoring

Figure 3.13: COD monitoring

Figure 3.14: BOD monitoring

Figure 3.14: Suspended solid monitoring

Figure 3.15: Oil and grease monitoring

4.0 BLOCK DIAGRAM OF THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PROCESS

BLOCK DIAGRAM OF WASTEWATER TREATMENT IN DUTCH LADY

5.0 CONCLUSION As conclusion, the wastewater treatment process in Dutch Lady Milk Industries is a type of activated sludge system. Regular monitoring to the pH, BOD, COD, temperature, suspended solid and oil and grease has ensured that the parameters does not exceed the limit as required by DOE. The results obtained shows that the overall effluent quality of Dutch Lady is fairly excellent. However, a few recommendation is proposed to improve the treatment performance such as: 1) To reduce blower time so that cost can be reduced 2) To fix polymer dosing 3) To install primary clarifier to reduce suspended solid loading .

REFERENCES Environmental Quality Act (EQA) 1974 (Industrial Effluent) Regulations 2009 Tchobanoglous G, Burton L.F,(1991). Wastewater engineering:treatment disposal and reuse/Metcalf& Eddy