Eliminación de ácido peracético para la regeneración de efluentes industriales

Abstract

The food industry is one of the industrial sectors with the highest water consumption. Therefore,it is necessary to carry out research to reduce the consumption of this scarce resource, with the main objective of reducing costs and achieving greater sustainability in this industrial sector. Within this type of industry, water needs are very varied, from water consumption in the direct production line to all the needs related to service engineering (cooling circuits by means of cooling towers, sanitary water, boiler water, washing and disinfection of containers, production lines, fire protection, flushing...). In the specific case of the juice industry, the subject of this doctoral thesis, one of the processes with the highest water consumption is the washing and disinfection of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. Two fundamental elements are involved in this process: the use of osmosis water, which is very costly, and the need to use a food-grade disinfectant (peracetic acid) in order to adapt the container before packaging the product. The excellent physicochemical properties of the effluent after disinfection of the containers in the washing machine, as well as the flow rates at which it is operated, make it advisable to carry out research into its recovery, such as that described in this doctoral thesis. The research proposes as the main means of recovery its full use as a water supply to cooling circuits, thus promoting the circular economy...