Water minimization in process industries: case study in beet sugar plant

In this article, an extended and combined systematic approach for water minimization in process industries is presented. Environmental, organizational and economic aspects of water minimization were taken into consideration. Systematic approach was developed and tested with the water minimization project in a sugar plant. A detailed survey of water and wastewater streams was carried out and several options for water minimization were proposed using the heuristic approach and considering the selection criteria like costs, technical ability, reliability, complexity, impact on process/product quality, secondary waste generation etc. The implementation of water minimization options could lower the fresh water consumption by 54.23 m3/h, reducing the total volume of water used by 69 % with the payback period of 5 days. At the end, some general directions and suggestions for water minimization in process industries are introduced.