ACC’s Modern Upgrade with Hydroflux for Enhanced Meat Processing Efficiency
Australian Country Choice (ACC) is a privately owned family business in Queensland that first commenced operations in 1955. The company expanded into rural activities in the Roma district in 1965 and developed one of Australia’s first commercial beef cattle feedlots at Brindley Park in 1968.
Since 1974 the company has regularly supplied grain-fed cattle to a range of leading Australian supermarkets and export customers.
In 2016 ACC engaged Hydroflux to upgrade their wastewater treatment plant enabling an increase in production. Although they had existing infrastructure, the site needed a modern upgrade to both improve performance and increase throughput.
The upgrade was quite comprehensive and included a new rotary screen for the red stream wastewater, a mixed balance tank, a heat exchanger to reduce the temperature for optimum DAF performance, a HyDAF dissolved air flotation unit for fat and solids removal and installed an additional clarifier for waste activated sludge removal after the existing aerobic lagoons. The treated wastewater from the red stream DAF combined with the treated wastewater from an existing green stream DAF prior to further treatment in the existing aerobic lagoons and clarifier.
The HyDAF is ideal for the primary treatment of wastewater generated by meat processes to effectively help reduce the volume of oils and grease in the wastewater. For every application, the HyDAF is scientifically modelled to ensure that when put into operation, it will meet and exceed all performance and operational expectations.
In this case a HyDAF HD100S customised for a 90 kL/h capacity was installed. The DAF system is achieving over 90% removal of fats without the addition of any chemicals.
Heavy solids that settle in the base of the DAF are automatically discharged to the sludge tank and blended with the waste activated sludge from the secondary process.
After assessing the grease sludge removed by the DAF and its management, Hydroflux proposed and later installed a HUBER Q440 Inclined Sludge Press (ISP), The HUBER ISP is an advanced dewatering technology preferred worldwide in many dewatering applications. Despite the high fat content of the sludge being dewatered, the HUBER ISP exceeded expectations and produced one of the direst cakes seen in this application.
