Increasing Anaerobic Digestion treatment capacity for Hain Daniels

Hain Daniels is one of the UK's leading food and beverage manufacturers, boasting brands like Hartley’s, Linda McCartney and New Covent Garden soup.

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As part of their commitment to sustainability, to generate more of their own energy, and to reduce discharge costs, Hain Daniels sought to upgrade the Anaerobic Digestion (AD) system at their jam manufacturing facility in Cambridgeshire.

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The previous AD system had been struggling to treat effluent efficiently due to the capacity of the AD reactors and issues with biomass retention. Key issues to address were:

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Significant under-utilisation of the Combined Heat and Power unit.
Increased Mogden trade effluent costs associated with the discharge of effluent to the public sewer.

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As Hain Daniels had plans to introduce a new line imminently, they were keen to upgrade their system to resolve these issues, improve performance and ensure capacity for the future.

Goals

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Hain Daniels sought a partner to help them deliver their site energy reduction program, aiming to deliver large savings now and in the future. The project involved integrating new technology into an existing plant, with limited space, and ensuring that the factory was able to continue running at full capacity.

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To enable Hain Daniels to improve efficiency we committed to deliver:

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A replacement AD system designed to treat the current effluent load and a 20% uplift for future expansion, plus an additional capacity to treat waste jam currently sent off-site for animal feed.
Improvements to the capacity and performance of the anaerobic reactor on a compact footprint
Improved capture of valuable energy that was previously underutilised

Aerial view of anaerobic digestion plant

This was a complex project that required detailed planning and execution to ensure production continued to function and that we remained compliant at all times. We had some challenges along the way, subcontractors and the extremes of the British weather, very hot combined with heavy rains but the team delivered what was required. Thank you to Alpheus and Smart Controls for delivering a robust package that continues to overperform.

Gavin Kilbourn

Head of Engineering, Hain Daniels Group

Design and Build services provided

Alpheus was selected for its specialist design and build knowledge and experience, being part of the Anglian Water Group, and for its unique ability to provide a bespoke solution from the best available technologies and equipment from across the whole market.

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Alpheus’s team of experienced engineers designed, built and commissioned a new Anaerobic Digestion plant on a compact footprint that would provide a significantly higher treatment capacity, generate more biogas for the site CHP and boilers, and reduce trade effluent charges.

The scope of the project included:

Project and site management of the design, build and commissioning of the new facility.
Civil works and site preparation.
Replacement of the Balance Tank.
Supply and installation of a Paques ICX anaerobic reactor.
Supply and installation of a Gas buffer.
Supply and installation of associated pipework, electrical and mechanical equipment.
Integration of existing equipment items that were retained into the new control system.

The Outcome

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The performance of the new anaerobic digestion system was strong from the outset. Excellent treatment results have been maintained since its’ commissioning.

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Treatment of all effluent flow arising from the site.
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Consistently high COD removal at >85%.
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15% improvement in methane produced in biogas (from 65% to >75%).
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Significant reduction in operating costs.

Increasing Anaerobic Digestion treatment capacity for Hain Daniels

Project Overview

Project Overview

Goals

Design and Build services provided

The scope of the project included:

The Outcome

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