SBIR-STTR Award

Non-Meat and Poultry Product (Non-MPP) food processing plants manage their effluent to satisfy environmental regulations concerning waste discharge. Currently, many non-MPP plants mechanically screen out large pieces of organic material (biosolids) that are processed for use as livestock feed. However, minute biosolids in liquid suspension collected from the food plant's effluent are generally disposed of by land application or by land filling due to contamination by chemicals used to flocculate the biosolids out of the wastewater. APS will test the feasibility of using PFC, a new flocculation compound, across a broad spectrum of non-MPP processing industry segments to recover unadulterated digestible nutrients useable as livestock feed. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this project are to 1) estimate the optimum injection rate of a new patented wastewater flocculating compound identified as PFC, 2) estimate and prioritize the nutritional and economic value of biosolids reclaimed utilizing PFC, and 3) estimate the variable cost impact of utilizing PFC versus the current wastewater treatment program in use at numerous non-Meat and Poultry Product (non-MPP) food processing plants. APPROACH: This study will include the analysis of liquid samples and solid samples generated during bench tests at individual non-Meat and Poultry Product (non-MPP) food processing plants using PFC, a recently patented wastewater flocculating compound. This evaluation will include the collection of information concerning waste and wastewater treatment costs currently experienced at ten (10) non-MPP processing plants from across food industry sectors which will include corn, potato, bakery, vegetable, and fruit processing. Adjustments to the PFC treatment protocol including pH adjustment, PFC concentration, and PFC formulation will be evaluated to optimize PFC effectiveness in wastewater treatment at each individual food processing facility. The numerous liquid fractions collected over the course of the remote site testing will be analyzed individually for Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Phosphorus (P), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN), Nitrogen Ammonia (NH3), pH, Magnesium (Mg), and Aluminum (Al). The numerous solid fractions (biosolids) collected over the course of the remote site testing will be consolidated into a single, homogeneous sample at each individual facility and dewatered into a cake using a portable bench top belt press simulator to approximate the moisture content and material consistency expected from industrial grade belt press systems. The cake will be analyzed for Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN), Individual Amino Acids, Fat, Ash, Phosphorus (P), Magnesium (Mg), Aluminum (Al), and Moisture Content (post portable press). The solid fraction analysis will be used in a comparison study to estimate nutrient content and economic value of the cake relative to comparable livestock feed ingredients. Confidential discussions with management at each of the non-MPP food processing plants will be used to identify the total cost for treating, processing, and disposing of the biosolids collected from the wastewater treatment system at each individual food processing facility. This information will include current biosolid disposal transportation cost per ton, current biosolid disposal cost per ton, current biosolid generation per 1,000 gallons of wastewater, current gallons of wastewater generated per day/week, current wastewater treatment cost per 1,000 gallons, and current wastewater treatment direct labor cost. This costing information combined with other data developed during the course of this research plus other relevant capital asset information will be used to estimate the variance in total wastewater treatment costs at each individual plant using the PFC treatment protocol versus the current wastewater treatment program in use at any particular non-MPP food processing facility. This analysis will be used to generate the expected variance in capital equipment cost, the expected variance in energy cost, the expected variance in chemical cost, the expected variance in labor cost, the expected variance in total biosolid disposal cost, and the expected variance in total waste/wastewater treatment cost

Non-Meat and Poultry Product (Non-MPP) food processing plants manage their effluent to satisfy environmental regulations concerning waste discharge. Currently, many non-MPP plants mechanically screen out large pieces of organic material (biosolids) that are processed for use as livestock feed. However, minute biosolids in liquid suspension collected from the food plant's effluent are generally disposed of by land application or by land filling due to contamination by chemicals used to flocculate the biosolids out of the wastewater. APS previously demonstrated the technical and economic feasibility of using PFC, a new flocculation compound, across a broad spectrum of non-MPP food processing industry segments to recover from non-MPP plant processing/waste water unadulterated digestible nutrients useable as livestock feed. The first objective of this project is to determine the actual cost impact of utilizing PFC under full-plant operating conditions to collect significant amounts of biosolids from the processing/waste water generated from a select number of non-MPP food processing plants. The second objective of this project is to conduct livestock feeding trials to determine the impact on growth performance and feed efficiency from utilizing the PFC-collected biosolids as significant inputs in test rations. The third objective of this project is to conduct tissue and bone analysis from a cross-section of test animals to evaluate the retention by these animals of the residual chemical components of PFC contained in the test diet. APS will temporarily modify the processing/waste water treatment system at each targeted non-MPP food processing plant to allow for the treatment of the effluent with PFC in a manner that will allow for the recovery of the biosolids contained in liquid suspension and to record the necessary input and output parameters to satisfy objective one. The recovered biosolids will be utilized in university-based and monitored feeding trials required to satisfy objective two. The research conducted at the targeted non-MPP food processing operations is expected to show that the use of PFC is both practical and cost effective. In addition, the follow-on livestock feeding trials are expected to show no significant negative impact to growth performance or feed efficiency from utilizing PFC-collected biosolids as part of a properly designed and nutrient-balanced feed ration. Finally, analysis of the bone and tissue samples from the feed test animals required to satisfy objective three is expected to show no significant uptake of any residual PFC chemical components that may be found in the test diets. This project is expected to show the use of PFC in the recovery of nutrient-rich biosolids from processing/waste water generated at non-MPP food processing facilities can be cost effective and will produce low cost and/or cost competitive unadulterated feed ingredients usable in livestock feeding programs. Finally, a byproduct of the successful diversion of valuable nutrients from waste disposal to a value-added use is the environmental benefit of eliminating or reducing a significant and costly waste stream. OBJECTIVES: The first objective of this Phase II SBIR project is to determine in multiple full-scale, plant-wide operating environments the actual cost impact and physical practicality of utilizing the Parthenocarpic Flocculation Compound (PFC) which has been shown in bench-top testing to facilitate the removal and possible reuse of residual proteins, fats, carbohydrates (i.e., biosolids) and phosphorus from the wastewater effluent generated from a broad spectrum of non-Meat and Poultry Product (non-MPP) food processing plants. The full-plant testing is expected to occur over a continuous period of 60 - 90 days at each of several pre-determined non-MPP food processing operations where the PFC treatment protocol will be utilized twenty-four hours-a-day, seven days-a-week, or as prudently required based upon operating conditions. The second objective is to complete university-based livestock feeding trials utilizing PFC-collected biosolids obtained during the full-scale plant testing that will help determine what impact the residual chemical components of PFC contained in the collected biosolids may have on animal growth performance and feed efficiency. These feeding trials are expected to include cattle, swine and poultry species. The feeding trials are expected to cover the entire growth/finishing phase of the selected species, or to include a significant portion of the growth/finish phase of a particular species in a manner conducive to making sound scientific conclusions from the data generated from the feeding tests. The final objective is to obtain tissue and bone samples from a cross-section of test animals that will be collected and analyzed to determine to what extent the residual chemical components of PFC contained in the collected biosolids may be absorbed by the test animals. The expected outputs for this project include the verification of PFC as a viable processing and wastewater treatment product available to food processing operations for the recovery of valuable biosolids for value-added use in livestock rations. In addition, it is expected that the involvement of and participation by numerous food processing companies and food processing industry associations in conducting the full-plant PFC tests will allow for the field demonstration of the compound in various industry settings to various food processing industry representatives. APPROACH: This project's objectives are to 1) measure the cost/benefit from utilizing the Parthenocarpic Flocculation Compound (PFC) to collect nutrients (biosolids) from the processing water generated at non-Meat and Poultry Products (non-MPP) food processing plants, 2) conduct university-based multi-species feeding trials utilizing PFC-collected biosolids, and 3) conduct tissue and bone analysis to evaluate residual chemical retention of PFC chemical components contained in the test diets by the test animals. As part of the previous Phase I SBIR feasibility study, bench tests at a cross-section of non-MPP food processing plants generated a database of information detailing expected initial treatment requirements based upon each individual food processing plant's raw material input and finished product output. The focus of this Phase II study will be to measure actual costs and benefits during extended, 60 - 90 day full-plant tests using PFC while adjusting and modifying as appropriate the actual treatment protocol from the initial expected treatment point. As part of the Phase I SBIR feasibility study, small samples of biosolid cake (i.e., dewatered biosolids) were collected from a cross-section of individual non-MPP processing plants and analyzed for nutrient content. This nutrient analysis of the non-MPP biosolid cake samples with currently available and comparable livestock feed ingredients will allow for nutrient balanced test rations to be formulated. These feeding trials will be used to identify the impact on growth performance and feed efficiency from utilizing PFC-collected biosolids in feed rations. The tissue and bone analysis will evaluate the retention by the test animals of the residual components of PFC deposited in the PFC-collected biosolids utilized in the feeding trial test rations. The involvement of and participation by numerous food processing companies and food processing industry associations in conducting the full-plant PFC tests will allow for the field demonstration of the compound in various industry settings to various food processing industry representatives. The posting of relevant portions of the results from this research project on the corporation website as well as expected briefings to food processing companies and industry associations will serve as additional avenues to disseminate the knowledge generated as the result of this study. Briefings are expected to occur at food processing companies, food processing industry association meetings/seminars/conferences, and other food/wastewater treatment gatherings/expositions. The validation of PFC as a viable and cost effective processing/waste water treatment product suitable for use in the food processing industry will be completed upon the incorporation of this product in the effluent treatment program at food processing companies