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The process allows valuable chemicals to be produced from a renewable resource, with the added benefit of providing treatment for a waste stream.
About
About Each litre of whisky produced generates around 8 litres of pot ale. Consequently the industry is estimated to generate in excess of 4 billion litres of pot ale per annum. Whilst major distilleries have embraced treatment recovery technologies, small-medium sized distilleries have, on the whole, been reluctant to invest in technology. The experiments carried out have proven that under anaerobic conditions most of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the pot ale is converted into a mixture of volatile fatty acids (acetic, propionic, butyric and caproic), and alcohols, mainly ethanol. The process uses undefined mixed (i.e. non-pure) microbial cultures. The effluent is a liquid-solid phase which contains some unfermented organic matter of the original pot ale in addition to the microorganisms produced in the process. It is estimated that around 60% of small-medium sized distillers generally contract with an outside third party to spread pot ale to land as low grade fertilizer. On the basis that this material can be harnessed and the process replicated at scale then production volumes could be in the order of tens of thousands tonnes per year. Based on current market values and yields obtained to date, the potential revenue obtained from the sale of these chemicals could be in the region of millions of US$ per year. Additional income can be generated by charging distilleries a treatment fee. The University together with the SME is seeking partners to exploit this technology commercially. Key Benefits The process allows valuable chemicals to be produced from a renewable resource, with the added benefit of providing treatment for a waste stream. The process requires minimal pre-treatment of the feed and does not need sterilisation. The process can be carried out at ambient pressure and at temperatures close to ambient values, without addition of catalysts and chemicals except for the requirements of pH control. The process is much faster than traditional anaerobic digestion which yields methane. Incubation periods are estimated to be 24-48 hours, in contrast with traditional anaerobic digestion where this can take up to 30 days. The process can bring extra revenue Applications Treatment of wastewater from the whisky industry. Production of valuable chemicals, including volatile fatty acids and alcohols. IP Status Drafting priority application.