H.E.A.T. A New Sustainable Green Solution for Treating and Evaporating Hide Brine Wastewater

Abstract

Salt curing of hides releases a significant amount of excess water that must be disposed. In larger abattoirs this can result in production of tens of thousands of gallons of saturated salt brine that is also contaminated with biological material from the hides. These brines are often stored in enclosed impoundments that ultimately fill and need replacement, or the facility must build multiple impoundments. The proprietary, biologically based, sustainable Halophilic Evaporative Applications Technology (H.E.A.T.) process has been developed as a method to accelerate the evaporation of salt saturated brines. The process has been tested for 18 months in a full-scale lagoon located at an operating American beef plant. The process successfully evaporated an additional 31.99 inches of brine (866,900 gal) acre-1 of concentrated hide brine in one year, nearly drying out the South lagoon. Ambient evaporation of the same brine in an identical control lagoon at the site was only 19.19 inches (520,000 gallons) acre-1 representing a 1.66x increase in brine evaporation from the H.E.A.T. microbes. During 2020, the plant produced 3,376,000 gallons of brine, meaning H.E.A.T. evaporated 100.4 % of plant production in one lagoon in its first year. This was accomplished without additional infrastructure, equipment or external heating. During this test, Biochemical Oxygen Demand in the lagoons decreased over 98% with concomitant odor reduction. Beginning in October 2020, the lagoon began receiving all brine produced daily by the plant. This continued over the winter period, during which time the process evaporated over 34% of the inflow. Continued fertilization and microbial augmentation are essential for the continued healthy development of the system. Overall, the process and its essential microbial populations were stimulated by continuing inflow of fresh hide brines. The microbial process increases brine evaporation of concentrated salt brines, reduces odors and represents a new environmentally friendly mechanism for solving an industrial problem that has long plagued hide producers.