This is a past event.

Environmental Engineering Graduate Seminar

Courtney Andrie, EIT, Environmental Engineer, Foth Infrastructure & Environment, LLC

Abstract:

A mid-west slaughterhouse treats process wastewater on-site prior to discharging to waters of the state.  Their existing treatment system generally consists of the following unit processes – influent screening and grit removal, flow equalization, dissolved air flotation (DAF) primarily for fat, oil, and grease (FOG) removal, aeration, membrane bioreactors for solids-liquid separation, two (2) sludge digestion tanks (aerobic and anaerobic), and sludge dewatering and storage.

Due to recent regulatory changes, the facility is no longer permitted to land apply sludge when the ground is frozen.  As a result, the existing sludge storage building is significantly undersized.  Additionally, their DAF units use an exorbitant amount of coagulant and polymer, which has inflated their annual O&M costs. 

This presentation will discuss the use of anaerobic treatment as a means to reduce influent COD and ultimately sludge production to the facility’s existing treatment system.   This presentation will also discuss process engineering, including biogas pretreatment to heat and maintain a wastewater temperature of 95 deg-F and other process engineering considerations to support anaerobic treatment, as this topic is interdisciplinary with civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering.

Speaker Bio:

Courtney Andrie (Kosters) graduated from Michigan Tech in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science focused in Environmental Engineering.  Following graduation, she began her career as an environmental engineer for Foth Companies which is headquartered in De Pere, WI.  Since graduation, she has worked primarily in the industrial wastewater division focused on the food and beverage market including slaughterhouse/meat, vegetable, and dairy processors.  She is currently enrolled in a Master of Environmental Engineering program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.