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AAK ­ Responsible Growth 2012-2013 - UK

Water Water consumption In addition to being energy intensive, vegetable oil processing requires large amounts of water, mainly for cooling and steam production. Most of our products do not contain water on leaving the plants. Combined, our production plants use 45,000,000 m3 of surface water. This water, which is used for cooling, has no contact with products or pollutants and is returned to the source without any change in quality. The discharged water may, however, be slightly warmer than when entering our system. Surface water consumption stayed at the same level as last year. Ground water and municipal water used in processing totalled 2,100,000 m3, an increase of 13.8 percent compared to 2011. Calculated as processing water per tonne produced, consumption has increased by 11.4 percent. This is partly due to the shifting and startup of new equipment. 24 | AAK Responsible Growth Waste discharge When water is discharged, its quality is measured by two different methods: BOD5 (biochemical oxygen demand) and COD (chemical oxygen demand). This determines the degree of pollution and has to be within stipulated limit values. The method used is defined by the local authorities. Total BOD5 for sites using this method was 9 MT while COD was 1,015 MT. Measurements are within the stipulated limits. All discharged water from AAK sites is treated at our own or municipal treatment plants. Per unit processed material 50 percent reduction in water consumption Focus on water consumption In Aarhus, we have continued the past year’s focus on water, energy and fuel conversion into biofuel. If the target is to decrease the use of water, it is necessary to first measure water consumption. In 2012, one of the focus areas was to improve the re-use of condensate for steam production. We succeeded in doing this by appointing one person responsible for finding reasons for the contamination of condensate, for the entire the plant. In this way, the re-use of condensate has increased from 74 percent in 2011 to 87 percent in 2012. The re-use of condensate is one of the main reasons for this year’s 30 percent decrease in water consumption. The fact that we are measuring water consumption, and performing water balances for all production areas, 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 involves a lot of employees who talk to their colleagues and, consequently, lots of people learn to focus on water savings. The increased focus on water has caused many minor improvements and optimisations. In this way, all the employees have contributed. Henrik Wessman Service Manager, Denmark As part of our continuous improvement program, in 2012 we started a distinct project to reduce water consumption in the Zaandijk factory and thereby also reduce our discharge into the sewer system. During the project’s start-up, we analysed the primary areas where water is used and identified three that bore greatest responsibility: boiler feed water, cooling tower water and cooling water in heat exchangers. To achieve a reduction, we looked at the usage behind the processes. In most cases, water is used because it is available, cheap and regarded as “unlimited”. We were able to create new focus and change mind-sets by showing the team involved that water has a high cost, is not unlimited and – above all – is very expensive to clean. Our first corrective measure was to install a mechanical vacuum in the vacuum system for the deodoriser. By doing this, we saved steam and that meant using less boiler feed water. Then, we optimised the heat recovery from the deodoriser and the boilers, which reduced the steam consumption even more. Total steam consumption was reduced by over 50 percent, in spite of growing production volume. All steam tracing was replaced with hot water. Return water is now re-used. Furthermore, the use of cooling water was optimised by storing it in underground tanks, which made it possible to retire the cooling tower. Since cooling towers consumer a lot of water, this moved our project even further in the right direction. By the end of 2013, we will see a total reduction in water consumption of more than 50 percent compared to 2011, and we believe that our objective for 2014 will be to use less than 13,000 cubic meters for the full year. This would represent a 60 percent reduction compared to 2011. Marcus Bense Technical Director European Supply Chain and Managing Director, The Netherlands 1.6 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.0 X 1000 M3 X 1000 M3 Water consumption Water consumption Water discharge 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 2009 2009 2009 2010 2010 2010 2011 2011 2011 2012 2012 2012


AAK ­ Responsible Growth 2012-2013 - UK
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