FACULTY OF INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

COURSE: ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESS ENGINEERING (TCE 5104)

STUDENT NAME: MORGEN MUKAMWI

STUDENT NUMBER: N0106964V

LECTURER: Dr. J. TSHUMA

ASSIGNMENT 3

Give a detailed PFD for treatment of waste generated by a beer brewery.

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SOLUTION

Effluent from
brewery

Screening

Equalization tank
Solid waste to Lime addition
landfill

E-1

pH Adjutment

Aeration tank

pH adjustment
Lime addition

Acid hydrolysis
reactor

Filtrate for
discharge into
environment
Filter press
Aeration tank

Solid cake to
landfill

Figure 1: Process Flow diagram for The Treatment of Brewery Effluent

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Brewery Effluent Treatment plant
The beer brewing operation releases wastes of various properties from each of the unit operations
that are employed. The typical waste from a brewing plant consists of Total Suspended Solids
(TSS), high Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) and high Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) due
to the organic products involved. The treatment process for the beer brewing plant effluent
follows the order:
i). Physical
ii). Chemical
iii). Physical
iv). Biological
Table 1 below shows the types of wastes produced from the different processes in the beer
brewing plant.
Table 1: Beer Brewery waste
Unit process Waste generated
Raw materials Maize grits,
Milling Maize grits
Mashing Oils, caustic soda, sugars, detergents, spent
grains, starch granules
Sieving Spent grains, starch, sugars, oils, caustic soda
Wort kettle Sugar
Fermentation Dead yeast cells, alcohol, carbon dioxide,
detergents
Maturation Yeast cells
Filtration Yeast cells
Bottling Ethanol alcohol

The processes for the treatment of wastewater are now discussed below:
i). Physical
The first step in the physical process of treatment is screening. This stage removes large solid
particles which may hinder the subsequent treatment processes. All the insoluble solids like the
cellulose, spent grains and maize grits from the raw materials are removed as long as the screen
size is small enough to capture the particles. Screening is improved by having two screens in
series, with the first screen being of larger aperture size than the second screen. Series
arrangement of the screens increases the efficiency of the screening process. Grit is particularly
removed because it causes abrasion wear on the equipment. Smaller size grit which passes
through the screens is removed by settling chambers where the velocity of the incoming stream
is suppressed. Effluent moves by the effect of gravitational force through these settling
chambers.

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Equalization tank
The next process in the treatment procedure is through the use of the equalization tank. This tank
is used to homogenise the solution and also to collect the wastewater and store it until a
sufficiently large volume of the wastewater has been collected for economic treatment. The
equalization tank has an agitator for ensuring even mixing of the colloidal system. The
equalization tank captures effluents from the various sections of the brewery.

pH adjustment
The next stage in the treatment of the brewery effluent is the adjustment of the pH. Normally, the
industrial effluent has a pH of 2-6. This is a very acidic pH. Hence lime is added to increase the
pH to allow precipitation of any heavy metals present and also to ensure that the subsequent
processes are fed with process material of the right pH for microbial decomposition.

Aeration
In this process, the wastewater is pumped into an aeration tank. Air is sparged into the aeration
tank to aid the aerobic decomposition of the organic matter still remaining in fine suspension or
in solution as dissolved species. Examples of the components that are still dissolved and are
biodegradable are sugars or monosaccharides. The acidic solution is increased in pH by adding
lime whilst at the same time blowing in air into the solution. The sugars are converted into lactic
acid. Further oxidation of the organic substances occurs with the ultimate products being carbon
dioxide and water, provided oxygen is made continuously available.
Following the aeration process, components like cellulose are still present, and these have not yet
decomposed or degraded.
Failure to provide enough oxygen suffocates the aerobic bacteria and reduces the efficiency of
the aerobic digestion process. If aerobic bacteria die, anaerobic digestion begins to occur, and
bad odours are formed.

Acid Hydrolysis
The product wastewater from the aeration step, as alluded to above, still has cellulose matter that
is not degraded. Bacteria and other microbes cannot release enzymes that are capable of
digesting the cellulose. Hence the cellulose has to be decomposed by other means. The cellulose
has to be decomposed from being a polysaccharide into a monosaccharide. Monosaccharides can
be decomposed or biodegraded by microorganisms since the microbes can release enzymes to
biodegrade these monosaccharides. Acid hydrolysis is the method used to decompose the
cellulose into monosaccharides. The wastewater containing the cellulose is treated in a reactor in

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which an acid (H2SO4) breaks down the long chain molecules (polysaccharides, cellulose) that
are not easily bio-degradable into smaller degradable molecules that can be decomposed by
biological means. The reactor temperature is regulated by a heated jacket at 55-65 oC with a
temperature sensor being installed that relays data to a controller regulating heat added to the
hydrolysis reactor. The breakdown of cellulose is called hydrolysis.
Following the acid hydrolysis process, the final pH is low, and monosaccharides will now be
present in the acid hydrolysis reactor product. The next process is to lower the dissolved organic
content, or decreasing the BOD and COD through biological means. Hydrolysis of remaining
oils will also have occurred in this acid hydrolysis step.

pH Adjustment
The pH of the exit stream of the hydrolysis plant needs neutralization. Lime is used to neutralize
the pH. An inline pH sensor gives real time feedback on the pH and a controller regulates the
dosing of the lime into the exit line from the hydrolysis reactor. The exiting stream from the
hydrolysis reactor is fed to an aeration tank to effect the biological decomposition of the
monosaccharises from cellulose hydrolysis.

Aeration tank
Air is sparged into the tank in which bacteria and other microbes have been added to decompose
the sugars. The sugars are oxidized to carbon dioxide and water. The product effluent now will
be suitable for discharge to the environment.

Filtration
Filtration is used as a last step to remove dead microbes from the effluent which is then released
safely to the environment. In all these processes, right from the beginning, the solid wastes
produced are sent for landfilling.

Pumping Regiment
The pumping utilized in the system comprises of centrifugal pumps of different sizes as they
convey a continuous and non-pulsating supply of feed to the different components. Pumping of
the thicker sludge however can be done using positive displacement pumps like the progressive
cavity pump capable of pumping sludge smoothly.

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