Mohammad Haghighipodeh

Dr. Mohammad Haghighipodeh is sustainability/compliance senior principal engineer and technical lead for water and wastewater projects at Frito-Lay North America a division of PepsiCo. He has been with PepsiCo for over 22 years and fulfills several roles including corporate environmental compliance manager, senior EHS manager, and senior technical engineer. He received his doctoral degree in Environmental Engineering specialized in water and wastewater from Tulane University in 1991. He has more than 36 years of experience in environmental engineering, academic teaching/research, and environmental analytical laboratory management. He has published more than 35 technical journal articles and conference papers at national and international level. Dr. Mohammad Haghighipodeh was the technical lead in developing the concept, pilot-scale study, full-scale and start-up of the first water recovery and reuse plant at Frito-Lay North America/PepsiCo.

Titles from this speaker

Description: Advanced Process Water Recovery and Reuse Plant at Frito-Lay Casa Grande, AZ, 11...

Advanced Process Water Recovery and Reuse Plant at Frito-Lay Casa Grande, AZ, 11 Years of Continuous Operations

Abstract

Freshwater scarcity has become a serious global issue. The U.S. is experiencing water shortages in California, Arizona, Georgia and Texas, and water costs are increasing due to prolonged depletion of groundwater. Rising water/wastewater treatment costs and enforcement of new direct discharge limits are accelerating the need for evaluation and implementation of water recovery and reuse projects. Water reuse prevents the reduction of groundwater tables and protects freshwater resources for future generations.
Frito-Lay has a snack foods production plant in Casa Grande, AZ that produces corn and potato chips, including SunChipsÂ®. This plant was selected by Frito-Lay and parent company, PepsiCo, to implement a 'Net Zero' environmentally sustainable approach toward its management of water, energy and steam. This strategic decision lead to the installation of an advanced water recovery and reuse system, a large 5 MW solar system that generates sufficient power to sell back to the grid, and a biomass boiler that produces steam from wood chips waste at the facility. This paper will focus on one decade of operation and performance of this Process Water Recovery and Reuse Treatment Plant (PWRTP).
The project commenced in 2001 when Frito-Lay a division of PepsiCo evaluated many different technologies to treat their process water for direct reuse. Several technologies and solutions were identified and evaluated that could produce high quality reusable water. A pilot study comparing the selected technologies was performed on process water generated from the cooking of corn, fluming, and washing of potatoes, equipment cleaning, rinsing and sanitation, and general housekeeping activities. As the Casa Grande facility had no wastewater at the time, a site in New York was chosen since it had similar production lines, products, and wastewater characteristics. The pilot tests were performed over the course of several months and consisted of small scale MBR's followed by UV and nanofiltration. Based on the pilot testing results, Frio Lay started construction of a full scale PWRTP in 2008 at the Casa Grande facility. The plant was designed to treat 645,000 GPD of process water and achieve 75% water recovery and reuse. The PWRTP at Casa Grande site consists of the following processes: - Flow collection and pumping - Oil and Water Separators - Starch Recovery System - Rotary screening - Equalization - pH adjustment - Primary clarification - Activated sludge with nitrification and de-nitrification - MBR with ZeeWeed * ultrafiltration membranes - Activated Carbon Filters - UV disinfection - Low Pressure Reverse Osmosis (LPRO) - Water Stabilization System - Chlorination System - Water storage Tank - Sludge dewatering by dedicated centrifuges for primary solids to go to animal feed, and bio-solids go to the land application from WAS wasting. - Major control room, water quality lab, attractive-architecture, offices, and similar features. This paper will present key design criteria, daily operational parameters during last decade and solutions implemented to reduce annual O&M costs and improve operation including performance data from 11 years of consistent operation.
KEYWORDS: Full Scale Process Water Recovery and Reuse Treatment Plant (PWRTP), Food and Beverage, MBR, UV, GAC, LPRO, Water Stabilization * A trademark of SUEZ. May be registered in one or more countries.

Frito-Lay has a snack foods production plant in Casa Grande, AZ implement a 'Near Net Zero' environmentally sustainable approach toward its management of water, energy and steam. Based on the pilot testing results, Frio Lay constructed a full-scale Process Water Recovery & Reuse Treatment Plant, designed to treat 645,000 GPD of process water and achieve 75% water recovery and reuse. This paper will present key design criteria and daily operational parameters.

SpeakerMohammad Haghighipodeh

Presentation time

14:00:00

14:15:00

Session time

13:30:00

15:00:00

TopicIntermediate Level, Industrial Issues and Treatment Technologies, Sustainability and Climate Change, Water Reuse and Reclamation, Watershed Management, Water Quality, and Groundwater

Author(s)

Mohammad Haghighipodeh

Author(s)Mohammad Haghighipodeh1; Sara Theodoulou2; Brian Arntsen2

Author affiliation(s)Frito-Lay, Plano, TX1; SUEZ–Water Technologies & Solutions, Canada2