NAMS 2002 Workshop - ICOM 2008

Drinking and Wastewater Applications I – 1 – Keynote
Monday July 14, 9:30 AM-10:15 AM, Maui
Reuse/Recycle Water Opportunities and Challenges in Food/Bio
Processing Industry Using Membrane Technology: Is this Myth or Reality?
H. Muralidhara (Speaker), Cargill Inc., Savage, MN, USA, Hs_Murali@cargill.com
The food processing industry uses an enormous amount of water. The water is
used as a reactive ingredient during processing as a cleaning agent for heating
and cooling/chilling, and for transportation. The amount of water used has been
increasing for a variety of reasons during the last few years. Scarcity of quality
water will be a major issue in the upcoming years.
Water availability is arguably the most pressing resource issue in the world.
Fresh water is key to sustainable development. An inadequate water supply
reduces opportunity for food production/processing, and also has a detrimental
effect on the environment. With the advent of biofuels, the balancing act is
absolutely essential. Membrane technology should be explored to mitigate this
problem.
The pressure posed by lack of fresh water supplies portends rising water costs,
which makes apparent the urgent need to improve water use efficiency.
Recycle/reuse of water, if achieved economically, will provide greater operational
flexibility and more competitive cost structure in a water-stressed world. There is
indeed a dire need to address this issue.
Ninety-five percent of the U.S. fresh water is underground. North America s
largest aquifer, the Ogallala, is being depleted at a rate of 12 billion cubic meters
per year. The Ogallala stretches from Texas to South Dakota and irrigates
approximately one-fifth of the country’s farmland. There are also several foodmanufacturing
plants along the aquifer, and the water stress could have major
impact on many of these operations.
This keynote will address the importance of recycle/reuse opportunities for water
in the food and bio processing industries to promote sustainable development. I
will focus on actual case histories to demonstrate efficiency improvements of
water usage in processing, using membranes that have also had a significant
impact on energy efficiency. High performing membranes with longer lifetime will
expand the scope of recycling/reuse opportunities around the globe. I will
conclude by discussing some of the most important future challenges and
opportunities in the field on a global basis.