When "whey" turns into energyWhen “whey” turns into energy Specializing in the processing and recovery of liquid and solid by-products for the food industry, the Valbio engineering company of the Valgo group offers to transform milk residues into energy. A good way to achieve energy independence for a site, and to develop all of the milk by-products, without waste.
July 08, 2016 batiweb.com
Faced with the steady fall in milk prices, players in the dairy and cheese industry are looking for alternatives to enhance their entire production, at a lower cost.
“Thirty years ago, milk residues also called“ whey ”or whey were used to feed pigs. This residue may also be dried in one of two large French units, based in the north of France, to make a powder intended for animal feed. However, this often generates additional transport costs and is not necessarily profitable, ”underlines François Decker, Deputy CEO of Valbio.
This is why this company, which specializes in the processing and recovery of liquid and solid by-products for the food industry, simply offers to make energy out of it through its newHey offer.
“First of all, we promote this“ whey ”, by producing new derived dairy products, such as ricotta, crème fraîche, butter or even protein powder. This creates real added value. What cannot be reused is then redirected to the methanisation unit, ”specifies François Decker, who had to“ adapt the technology to this complex product ”.
In the methanizer, the remaining liquid, sweet and charged with microorganisms, will transform under the action of bacteria into biogas, rich in methane. The unit - having two patents - allows with biological treatment, to obtain a purifying yield of 99%. The treated water can then be discharged into the natural environment, without the risk of pollution.
"Compared to a conventional treatment station, electricity consumption is divided by 10 and the formation of sludge by 5, which makes it an economical treatment solution", underlines François Decker.
Electricity production of 1 inhabitants
Last year, Valbio set up its largest unit of this type in Alberville in 2015 for the Union des Producteurs de Beaufort.
Called Savoy Milky, the plant processes 200 liters of whey every day, or 000 million liters per year, and the site produces 55 million KWh per year - the equivalent of the electricity consumption of 3 inhabitants.
"Newhey will allow milk and cheese producers to expand their production and open up new commercial outlets, while becoming producers of green energy, 100% renewable", says François Decker.
This offer also has good potential for the years to come. “We believe that the French market will develop, because our offer makes it possible to give autonomy to manufacturers and producers. In numbers, this could translate into the establishment of a hundred units in Europe, "advises the Deputy CEO cautiously.
The company does not focus solely on the French market. It has already set up around twenty methanisation units in Canada between 2008 and 2011 "a country which cares more for the environment than the cost of energy, inexpensive" and will install a first unit in Chile next October " where access to energy is difficult ”.
Claire Thibault