VPE 511: Environment and Environmental Hygiene (2+1)

Distillery Industry

DISTILLED INDUSTRY

• Molasses is one of the most important raw materials used in fermentation industries due to its low cost and ready availability. Molasses Waste Water (MMW) from the above industries, however, contains high pollution load and a large amount of dark brown pigment, melanoidins, which is poorly decolourised by physiochemical methods and the usual biological treatments, such as activated sludge systems, aerated lagoons and anaerobic methods viz. anaerobic lagoon, anaerobic digester, anaerobic contact reactor, anaerobic filter, Up flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket reactor (UASB) and anaerobic fluidized and expanded bed reactors.
• Benzo(a)pyrene, a Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) and phenolic compounds are also seen in the molasses wastewater, and this appears to be one of the causes of toxicity to flora and fauna. The high organic load of the effluent causes eutrophication When disposed in soil, MSW acidifies soil and affects agricultural crops. About 2.7 billion litres of alcohol is produced by about 285 distilleries in India, servicing as a basic chemical for a large number of chemical industries, therefore, increasing the demand for alcohol in the future.
• Molasses spent wash in such effluents is nearly 15 times in volume of the total alcohol production, about 40 billion litres of MSW effluent, if disposed of untreated in water courses can cause great stress on aquatic life. Anaerobic digestion of MSW containing effluents results in dark brown sludge which is used as a fertilizer, and other value added products biogas, food and feed and commercial products.