Introduction support method for up-cycle system of loss in food manufacturing process, and program

Abstract

To provide a volume reduction device for decreasing a volume of loss in a food manufacturing process.SOLUTION: A volume reduction device for loss in a food manufacturing process includes: a tank 21 which accumulates loss in food manufacturing process; and a membrane processing device having a membrane for filtering the loss in food manufacturing process. Membrane concentrated water from the membrane processing device is circulated to the tank 21. The membrane processing device includes an ultrafilter membrane separation device 24. The membrane processing device may further include a reverse osmosis membrane separation device 27 for processing treated water obtained by the ultrafilter membrane separation device 24. The loss in the food manufacturing process contains distilled waste water of whiskey, broth of adzuki bean, water after washing rice, and a fluid food product (such as soy-bean milk).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a device for reducing food production loss, a method for assisting the introduction of an upcycle system for food production loss, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] Food production loss occurs in the food production process. Examples of food production loss include liquid foods (such as soy milk, vegetable juice, yogurt, etc.) that are discarded together with containers due to reasons such as poor filling into containers and unclear labels, whiskey distillation waste liquid, azuki bean boiling juice, rice washing water, or CIP drainage (Clean in Place fixed cleaning drainage) generated when changing product items (for example, changing from coffee flavor to banana flavor of soy milk).

[0003] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a food production loss treatment facility. Food production loss is introduced into the reaction tank 2 through the raw water tank 1, and a pH adjuster is added from the pH adjuster adding device 3 to adjust the pH to near neutral. At the same time, an inorganic flocculant is added from the inorganic flocculant adding device 4 and stirred by a stirrer. The stirred liquid is transferred to the flocculation tank 6, a polymer flocculant is added from the polymer flocculant adding device 7, and stirred by a stirrer to generate flocculation flocs. The flocculation liquid containing the flocculation flocs is introduced into the pressurized flotation tank 8 and separated into floating sludge composed of the floated flocculation flocs and separated water.

[0004] The floating sludge passes through the sludge storage tank 9, and an inorganic flocculant and a polymer flocculant are added from the respective adding devices 10 and 11, and dehydrated by a belt press dehydrator 12 to become dehydrated sludge.

[0005] The separated water from the pressurized flotation tank 8 is introduced into the adjustment tank 13. Low-concentration drainage from other processes is also introduced into the adjustment tank 13.

[0006] The water in the adjustment tank 13 is subjected to aerobic biological treatment in an aerobic reaction tank 14 (in this conventional example, a biofilm type aeration tank equipped with a biofilm 14a and an air diffuser 14b), and then the treated water is sent to the discharge process.

[0007] Patent Document 1 describes a method of producing and recovering methane by anaerobic digestion of waste containing organic solids such as food manufacturing waste.

Prior Art Document

Patent Document

[0008]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0009] Food manufacturing losses such as soy milk, distillation waste liquor of whiskey, azuki bean cooking juice, and rice washing water have high BOD and CODCr concentrations. When processed as shown in Fig. 4, the power cost and chemical cost for treatment are high. In addition, malodors are generated and a large amount of sludge is produced. Although food manufacturing losses may be entrusted to a waste treatment company for treatment, since they contain a large amount of liquid and have a large volume, significant transportation costs and treatment costs have been incurred.

[0010] Therefore, it has been considered to sell food manufacturing losses to an external contractor for resource recovery as raw materials for methanation or animal feed, and to obtain sales profits through upcycling.

[0011] By resource-recovering food manufacturing losses at an external contractor, while the treatment cost in a treatment facility as shown in Fig. 4 can be reduced, new equipment investments such as tanks, pumps, and modifier addition devices for storing food manufacturing losses are required.

[0012] Conventionally, it has not been clear to what extent the cost reduction effect obtained by resource recovery of food manufacturing losses and the required equipment investment amount are, and it has been difficult to judge the introduction of an upcycling system. In addition, reduction of the transportation cost of food manufacturing losses to an external contractor has been demanded.

[0013] An object of the present invention is to provide a volume reduction device that reduces the volume of food production losses. Another object of the present invention is to provide an introduction support method and program that can calculate and present changes in processing costs and the like of food production losses by introducing an upcycle system including the volume reduction device for food production losses, and support the introduction of the system.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0014] The volume reduction device for food production losses of the present invention includes a tank for storing food production losses and a membrane treatment device having a membrane for filtering the food production losses, and the membrane concentrate water from the membrane treatment device is circulated to the tank.

[0015] The method for supporting the introduction of the upcycle system for food production losses of the present invention includes a data acquisition process in which a computer acquires the component analysis data and discharge amount data of the food production losses, a processing cost calculation process for calculating the current processing cost of the food production losses, and using the component analysis data and the discharge amount data, having a tank for storing the food production losses and a membrane treatment device including a membrane for filtering the food production losses, and a resource cost calculation process for calculating the resource cost when introducing the upcycle system to resource the food production losses in consideration of the cost of introducing the volume reduction device in which the membrane concentrate water from the membrane treatment device is circulated to the tank and the amount received for the food production losses to be recycled after volume reduction, and a comparison process for comparing the processing cost and the resource cost and outputting the comparison result.

[0016] The program for assisting the introduction of the upcycling system for food production losses of the present invention is a program for assisting the introduction of the upcycling system for food production losses, which includes steps of obtaining component analysis data and emission data of the food production losses, calculating the current processing cost of the food production losses, using the component analysis data and the emission data, having a membrane treatment device including a tank for storing the food production losses and a membrane for filtering the food production losses, and calculating the cost of introducing a volume reduction device in which the membrane concentrate water from the membrane treatment device is circulated to the tank, and the amount of the food production losses to be recycled after volume reduction, calculating the resource cost when introducing the upcycling system to recycle the food production losses, comparing the processing cost and the resource cost, and outputting the comparison result, and causing a computer to execute these steps.

Advantages of the Invention

[0017] According to the present invention, the volume of food production losses can be reduced, and the transportation cost to an external contractor can be cut. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to calculate and present changes in the processing cost of food production losses due to the introduction of an upcycling system including a volume reduction device, etc., and assist in the system introduction.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0018]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0019] Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0020] In this embodiment, when selling to an external contractor for recycling food manufacturing losses, the volume of food manufacturing losses is reduced, the transportation cost to the external contractor is cut, and the efficiency of recycling is improved. Here, recycling refers to, for example, manufacturing livestock feed using food manufacturing losses (feed conversion), manufacturing crop fertilizer (fertilizer conversion), using as raw materials for cosmetics, and converting to methane gas by fermentation. Examples of food manufacturing losses include whiskey distillation waste liquid, adzuki bean cooking juice, rice washing water, and liquid foods (such as soy milk and whey).

[0021] Figure 1 is a configuration diagram of a volume reduction device for reducing the volume of food manufacturing losses. Food manufacturing losses from a food manufacturing factory are introduced into a tank 21 via a pipe 20. A modifier addition device 22 for adding a food manufacturing loss modifier is installed in the pipe 20. Formic acid is used as the modifier.

[0022] The food manufacturing losses in the tank 21 are supplied to an ultrafiltration (UF) membrane separation device 24 by a pump 23. The permeated water (treated water) of the UF membrane separation device 24 is introduced into a tank 25, and the concentrated water is returned to the tank 21. Note that it is also possible to use a nanofiltration (NF) membrane instead of the UF membrane in the UF membrane separation device 24.

[0023] The UF permeated water in the tank 25 is supplied to a reverse osmosis (RO) membrane separation device 27 by a pump 26. The permeated water of the RO membrane separation device 27 is introduced into a tank 28, and the concentrated water is returned to the tank 21. The RO permeated water in the tank 28 is discharged into the sewage after being treated by a sewage treatment facility if necessary. It is also possible to directly discharge the RO permeated water in the tank 28 into the sewage without treatment by a sewage treatment facility.

[0024] The food manufacturing losses in the tank 21 are volume-reduced by membrane treatment with the UF membrane separation device 25 and the RO membrane separation device 27. For example, by membrane treatment, whiskey distillation waste liquid can be volume-reduced to about 1 / 2.5 and rice washing water can be volume-reduced to about 1 / 5.

[0025] As methods for reducing food production losses, evaporation concentration and centrifugation can be applied. However, evaporation concentration causes significant changes in the properties of the original solution due to heating, and centrifugation requires large-scale equipment. In contrast, membrane separation treatment can suppress changes in the properties of the original solution and reduce equipment scale, energy costs, and carbon dioxide emissions.

[0026] The reduced food production loss is transferred to the shipping tank 29 and transported to an external contractor by means of transportation such as a tank truck. By reducing the volume, the transportation cost of the reformed food production loss can be reduced.

[0027] A liquid quality sensor (such as a pH sensor or a redox potential sensor) for detecting the liquid quality (pH, redox potential, etc.) of the food production loss and a liquid volume sensor for detecting the liquid volume may be provided in the tank 21, and the detection data of the sensor may be transmitted to the management center, and the modifier addition device 22 may be controlled so that the amount of modifier added is calculated based on the detection data.

[0028] The RO membrane separation device 27 and the tank 28 may be omitted from the reduction device shown in FIG. 1, and the membrane separation treatment may be performed only by UF membrane or NF membrane treatment.

[0029] When introducing an upcycle system equipped with the above reduction device into a food production factory that processes food production losses in a processing facility as shown in FIG. 4, while the wastewater treatment cost in the processing facility can be reduced, new investments in tanks, membrane separation devices, etc. are required. Also, when introducing an upcycle system equipped with the above reduction device into a food production factory that processes food production losses in a waste treatment facility, while the commissioning cost to the waste treatment facility can be reduced, new investments in tanks, membrane separation devices, etc. are required.

[0030] FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an introduction support device 30 (introduction support device for the upcycle system of food production losses) that calculates and presents the cost changes resulting from introducing this new upcycle system into a food production factory to support system introduction.

[0031] The introduction support device 30 is a computer including a CPU (processor, not shown), a storage unit M (memory), etc. By the CPU executing an introduction support program, the functions of an analysis data acquisition unit 31, a wastewater treatment cost calculation unit 32, a waste production treatment outsourcing cost calculation unit 33, a resource recovery cost calculation unit 34, and a comparison unit 35 are realized.

[0032] The storage unit M is an HDD, an SSD, etc., and stores feed data including component information necessary for feed, fertilizer data including component information necessary for fertilizer, and the above-mentioned introduction support program. Further, the storage unit M stores calculation formula data such as a calculation formula for calculating the cost of processing food manufacturing losses in the processing facility of FIG. 4, a calculation formula for calculating the cost when outsourcing food manufacturing losses to waste production treatment, and a calculation formula for calculating the cost when resource-recovering food manufacturing losses. The data in the storage unit M may be stored on the cloud.

[0033] The analysis data acquisition unit 31 (data acquisition unit) acquires analysis data obtained by analyzing the food manufacturing losses of a factory at an external analysis center or the like. The analysis data includes data on the liquid quality (BOD, TOC, electrical conductivity, etc.) of wastewater derived from food manufacturing losses, and data on components (crude protein, crude fat, moisture, crude fiber, crude ash, etc.) of food manufacturing losses whose pH has been adjusted by adding a modifier such as formic acid. Further, the analysis data acquisition unit 31 acquires the discharge amount data of food manufacturing losses from the factory. The analysis data acquisition unit 31 may acquire data input by an input means such as a keyboard, or may acquire data from an external device using a communication unit (not shown).

[0034] The wastewater treatment cost calculation unit 32 (treatment cost calculation unit) uses the calculation formula stored in the storage unit M, the analysis data and the discharge amount data acquired by the analysis data acquisition unit 31, and calculates the cost of processing food manufacturing losses in the processing facility of FIG. 4. The cost to be calculated is the transportation cost for sludge transportation, the waste production treatment cost for treating sludge at a waste production treatment facility, the electricity cost for operating each device, various chemical agent costs, etc. The cost calculated here is the current cost without introducing an upcycle system.

[0035] The waste treatment outsourcing cost calculation unit 33 calculates the cost when the entire amount of food manufacturing loss is outsourced to a waste treatment facility, using the calculation formula stored in the storage unit M and the discharge amount data acquired by the analysis data acquisition unit 31. The cost to be calculated includes transportation costs for transporting food manufacturing loss to the waste treatment facility, waste treatment costs for treatment at the waste treatment facility, and the like.

[0036] The resource recovery cost calculation unit 34 calculates the cost when introducing an upcycle system to resource-recover food manufacturing loss, using the calculation formula stored in the storage unit M, the analysis data and discharge amount data acquired by the analysis data acquisition unit 31. The cost to be calculated includes the cost of introducing the volume reduction device in FIG. 1, the membrane replacement cost of the membrane treatment device of the volume reduction device, transportation costs for transporting the volume-reduced food manufacturing loss to the facility for resource recovery, the amount received for food manufacturing loss, and the treatment cost of the treated water of the volume reduction device (for example, RO permeate water in tank 28).

[0037] For example, the resource recovery cost calculation unit 34 determines the membrane replacement frequency of the UF membrane separation device 25 and the RO membrane separation device 27 using the liquid quality and discharge amount of food manufacturing loss, and calculates the membrane replacement cost. Further, the resource recovery cost calculation unit 34 determines the volume of the food manufacturing loss after volume reduction using the liquid quality and discharge amount, and calculates the transportation cost to the resource recovery facility.

[0038] The resource recovery cost calculation unit 34 may determine whether the food manufacturing loss is suitable as a raw material for feed or suitable for the fertilizer data, using the analysis data acquired by the analysis data acquisition unit 31, the feed data and fertilizer data stored in the storage unit M, and calculate the amount received for food manufacturing loss based on the determination result. When the food manufacturing loss is suitable as a raw material for both feed and fertilizer, it is preferable to use the one with the higher amount received.

[0039] The comparison unit 35 compares the calculation results of the wastewater treatment cost calculation unit 32, the industrial waste treatment outsourcing cost calculation unit 33, and the resource recovery cost calculation unit 34, and outputs the comparison result. That is, the comparison unit 35 outputs the comparison result of the current treatment cost of treating food manufacturing losses with the treatment equipment in Fig. 4, the cost when outsourcing the entire amount of food manufacturing losses for industrial waste treatment (industrial waste treatment outsourcing cost), and the cost when introducing an upcycle system to reduce and resource-recover food manufacturing losses (resource recovery cost). The comparison result may include not only the cost (amount of money), but also the impact and effects on the environmental aspects such as odor intensity, chemical usage, and electricity usage.

[0040] The comparison unit 35 may output the comparison result using the output unit 40. The output unit 40 is, for example, a liquid crystal display or a printer. When the output unit 40 is a liquid crystal display, the comparison result is displayed on the screen. When the output unit 40 is a printer, the comparison result is printed out. An example of the comparison result is shown in Fig. 3.

[0041] In the comparison result of Fig. 3, the "resource recovery support cost" corresponds to the cost of introducing the reduction device and membrane replacement, and the "compensation amount" corresponds to the amount received for food manufacturing losses.

[0042] Based on the comparison result as shown in Fig. 3, the factory staff determines whether to introduce an upcycle system. For example, from the comparison result in Fig. 3, it can be seen that by introducing the upcycle system, the cost can be reduced compared to the current situation, while suppressing the odor, chemical usage, and electricity usage, and contributing to the regional contribution of local production for local consumption.

[0043] In this way, according to this embodiment, it is possible to calculate and present changes in the treatment cost of food manufacturing losses due to the introduction of the upcycle system, etc., and support the introduction of the system.

[0044] In the above-described embodiment, the feed data stored in the storage unit M may be feed data for each type of livestock (pigs, chickens, cows). Also, the fertilizer data may be fertilizer data for each type of crop. Thereby, the resource recovery cost calculation unit 34 can determine which livestock feed raw materials are suitable for food production losses and which crop fertilizer raw materials are suitable for food production losses.

[0045] The storage unit M may store information regarding the demand for feed and fertilizer. Thereby, the resource recovery cost calculation unit 34 can calculate the amount receivable when using food production losses as raw materials for highly demanded feed or fertilizer.

[0046] As a result of intensive studies, the present inventors have found that a concentrated solution (grain concentrate) obtained by reducing the volume of the distillation waste liquid of grain whiskey is more suitable for use as feed than a concentrated solution (malt concentrate) obtained by reducing the volume of the distillation waste liquid of malt whiskey. By adjusting the operating conditions of the UF membrane separation device 25 and the RO membrane separation device 27 of the volume reduction device, it has been found that the quality of the malt concentrate can be made closer to the quality of the grain concentrate. For example, when reducing the volume of the distillation waste liquid of malt whiskey, by adjusting the operating conditions (such as flow rate and pressure) of the membrane separation device so that the content of dry matter and crude protein approaches that of the grain concentrate, the amount receivable for the malt concentrate can be increased.

[0047] At least a part of the introduction support device 30 described in the above-described embodiment may be configured by hardware or may be configured by software. When configured by software, a program that realizes at least a part of the functions of the introduction support device 30 may be stored in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, read into a computer, and executed. The recording medium is not limited to removable ones such as magnetic disks and optical disks, and may be a fixed-type recording medium such as a hard disk device or a memory.

[0048] Further, a program that realizes at least some functions of the introduction support device 30 may be distributed via a communication line such as the Internet (including wireless communication). Furthermore, the program may be encrypted, modulated, compressed, and then distributed via a wired or wireless line such as the Internet, or stored in a recording medium and distributed.

[0049] Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments as they are, and at the implementation stage, the components can be modified and embodied without departing from the gist thereof. Also, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of components disclosed in the above embodiments. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiments. Furthermore, components from different embodiments may be appropriately combined.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0050] 21 Tank 22 Modifier Addition Device 24 UF Membrane Separation Device 27 RO Membrane Separation Device 30 Introduction Support Device

Claims

1. A tank for storing food manufacturing losses, A membrane treatment device having a membrane for filtering the food manufacturing losses, Comprising, A device for reducing the volume of food manufacturing losses, wherein the membrane concentrated water from the membrane treatment device is circulated to the tank.

2. The food manufacturing loss volume reduction device according to claim 1, wherein the membrane treatment device includes a ultrafiltration membrane separation device.

3. The food manufacturing loss volume reduction device according to claim 2, wherein the membrane treatment device further includes a reverse osmosis membrane separation device for treating the treated water obtained by the ultrafiltration membrane separation device.

4. The food manufacturing loss volume reduction device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the food manufacturing loss is a distillation waste liquid of whiskey.

5. A method for assisting the introduction of an upcycle system for food manufacturing losses, comprising: A computer A data acquisition process for acquiring the component analysis data and discharge amount data of the food manufacturing losses, A processing cost calculation process for calculating the current processing cost of the food manufacturing losses, Using the component analysis data and the discharge amount data, having a tank for storing the food manufacturing losses and a membrane treatment device including a membrane for filtering the food manufacturing losses, and the membrane concentrated water from the membrane treatment device is circulated to the tank. A resource cost calculation process for calculating the resource cost when introducing the upcycle system to resourceify the food manufacturing losses, considering the cost of introducing the volume reduction device and the amount received for the food manufacturing losses to be recycled after volume reduction. A comparison process for comparing the processing cost and the resource cost and outputting the comparison result, A method for assisting the introduction of an upcycle system for food manufacturing losses, which executes the above.

6. The introduction assistance method according to claim 5, wherein the computer calculates, as the current processing cost, the processing cost of the food manufacturing losses in the existing processing equipment or the waste treatment commission cost when entrusting the processing of the food manufacturing losses to a waste treatment facility.

7. An introduction assistance program for an upcycle system for food manufacturing losses, comprising: A step of acquiring the component analysis data and discharge amount data of the food manufacturing losses, A step of calculating the current processing cost of the food manufacturing losses, Using the component analysis data and the discharge amount data, introduce a volume reduction device having a membrane treatment device including a tank for storing the food production loss and a membrane for filtering the food production loss, and the membrane concentrated water from the membrane treatment device is circulated to the tank. Calculate the resource recovery cost when introducing the upcycle system to resource-recover the food production loss, considering the cost of introducing the volume reduction device and the amount received for the food production loss that is resource-recovered after volume reduction. Compare the treatment cost and the resource recovery cost, and output the comparison result. A program for causing a computer to execute.

Images