{"id":70,"date":"2021-03-17T17:38:17","date_gmt":"2021-03-17T21:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seniordesign.digitalscholar.rochester.edu\/che2021\/?p=70"},"modified":"2022-04-13T11:52:39","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T15:52:39","slug":"riddikulus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hajim.rochester.edu\/senior-design-day\/riddikulus\/","title":{"rendered":"Characterization and Optimization of Spirits and Beverages Waste Streams"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Part 1: Introduction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Project Motivation<\/strong><\/summary>
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The LiDestri facility processes hundreds of different beverages and spirit products through eight lines. Due to the nature of their quickly changing environment, they produce inconsistent and difficult to characterize wastewater. While the company faces issues with maintaining an appropriate pH (between 5-12), the financial cost relating to the excess of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) as well as the complexity of their wastewater are the main focuses of this project.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/details><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Team Members<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Katerina Connor<\/strong><\/td>		kconnor7@u.rochester.edu
LinkedIn Profile<\/span>
<\/a>B.S. ChE, Class of 2021<\/td><\/tr>
\"\"
JunSeok Jeon<\/strong><\/td>		jjeon6@u.rochester.edu
LinkedIn Profile<\/span>
<\/a>B.S. ChE, Class of 2021<\/td><\/tr>
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Connor Pope<\/strong><\/td>		cpope5@u.rochester.edu
LinkedIn Profile<\/span>
<\/a>B.S. ChE, Class of 2021<\/td><\/tr>
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Brian Yegela<\/strong><\/td>		byegela@u.rochester.edu
LinkedIn Profile<\/span>
<\/a>B.S. ChE, Class of 2021<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Project Sponsor<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Project Mentors<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
UR ChE Mentor:<\/strong><\/td>Prof. Doug Kelley<\/td><\/tr>
LiDestri Sponsors:<\/strong><\/td>Chris McCormick
Fabio Scuruchi
Randy Kehl
Peter Tadio<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part 2: Project Background<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Background Overview<\/strong><\/summary>
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The processing of hundreds of different products through eight manufacturing lines creates inconsistent and arduous wastewater characterization. Treatment, or lack thereof, results in various sewer surcharges based on the excess of materials that make wastewater difficult to dispose of. These materials include biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), total suspended solids (TSS), fats, oils, and grease (FOG), ethanol, and numerous other components. Based on conversations with the main stakeholder of this project, LiDestri, the team decided to characterize various lines and products. The aim of this was to understand the waste streams and identify the most significant contributor to the BOD problem. The team also explored various techniques to reduce the BODs and made a recommendation on a prototype that would aid in mitigating cost.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/details><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Project Requirements<\/strong><\/summary>
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\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Outline of requirements as described by the sponsor, LiDestri<\/p>\n<\/div><\/details><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Part 3: Technical Approach<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Yeast Selection and Activation Profile<\/strong><\/summary>
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The yeast chosen to perform trials were selected based upon criteria including fermentation rate, flocculation ability, and temperature range. Four yeast strains were used throughout this project including two wine yeast (EC-1118, K1-V1116) and two beer yeast (Saflager S23, Safale S04). These yeast were then activated using a similar profile to initial beer wort and initial wine, with a specific gravity or concentration of sugar in the solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Connor looks excited to calculate the yeast activation profile shown on the right. On the left are the yeast trials with the diluted solutions<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/details><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Activated and Unactivated Yeast Trials\u00a0<\/strong><\/summary>
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For addressing the BOD surcharge concern, the team first investigated yeast as a potential solution. Prior to delving too far into the proposed yeast approach, it was essential to test its feasibility early in the design process. This initial testing is what the team coins \u201cquick and dirty\u201d<\/strong> experiments, which were strictly visual investigations to determine if yeast would react within a simulated wastewater environment. The team then used activated and unactivated yeast for trials using dilute product combinations (designed to try and mimic wastewater), a dilute chocolate cream liqueur, and actual wastewater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Trials using unactivated yeast<\/p>\n<\/div><\/details><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Characterization Approach<\/strong><\/summary>
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For characterizing the wastewater provided by LiDestri, Team Riddikulus employed various characterization techniques to test for specific components present. After perusing ingredient labels and discussions with the LiDestri team, it was determined that the principal components present in the wastewater were sucrose, ethanol, citric acid, and acetic acid<\/strong>. A word of caution is necessary due to the fact that the wastewater is heavily dependent on which lines are currently in operation, where the team was only able to characterize two days of wastewater. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first method was coined as the brute force separation method<\/strong>, where the wastewater was filtered to remove any suspended solids. Then, gas chromatography<\/strong> (GC) was used to determine the relative significance of ethanol within the wastewater. High performance liquid chromatography<\/strong> (HPLC) was used to identify the dissolved components within the wastewater, principally acetic acid and citric acid. Sucrose cannot be detected in the HPLC, thus this was not considered for this instrument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n