| Change in Operating Practice at Dairy Plant Reduces Air Emissions | Latvia | 1994 | Full scale |
MANUFACTURE OF FOOD PRODUCTS AND BEVERAGES # 20
Background:
The Joint Stock Company "Kurzemes Piens" is a regional dairy with five plants located in the Liepaja region in Latvia. The dairy's main products are milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, kefir, sour cream, and butter. The plant processes about 100 metric tons of milk per day. The main dairy unit, located in the city of Liepaja, employed 54 people in 1994.
The cleaner production measures were initiated under World Environment Center's (WEC's) Industrial Waste Minimization Program in the Baltic countries.
Cleaner Production Principle:
Process modification
Cleaner Production Application:
The five dairies operated by "Kurzemes Piens" are supported by three refrigeration plants. The refrigeration units are over fifty years old. In the past, each refrigeration plant was estimated to lose approximately four tons of ammonia refrigerant per year through leaky piping systems. The dairy usually repaired major and obvious leaks. However, manual inspections for leaks were unsafe due to the toxicity of ammonia gas. Consequently, minor leaks often were not detected and repaired.
During the waste minimization project, it was determined that rebuilding the refrigeration plants was not cost-effective. Instead, portable ammonia detectors were purchased for use at each of the three refrigeration plants. using these detectors, the plants have been able to detect and repair virtually all ammonia leaks and maintain the refrigerant systems in leak-free condition.
Environmental and Economic Benefits:
As a result of the project, a total of 12 tons/year of ammonia emissions into the atmosphere have been eliminated form the three refrigeration plants and worker health and safety has been improved.
The portable ammonia detectors were paid for by the United States Agency for International Development for a cost of $3,000. The savings per year is $9,300 with a payback period of less than four months.
Constraints:
None reported.
Contacts:
Review Status:
This case study was taken from the WEC publication "Economic and Environmental Benefits of Industrial Waste Minimization in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania" (1995). It was edited for the UNEP IE ICPIC diskette in June 1997.
Subsequently, in September 1998 the case study underwent a technical review by Dr. Prasad Modak, Environmental Management Centre, Mumbai, India.