| Enzyme Products Development in China | China | 1997 | Full scale |
MANUFACTURE OF FOOD PRODUCTS AND BEVERAGES # 9
Background:
The Wuxi Enzyme Factory has produced enzymes since 1965 and is the largest producer of enzymes in China, with an output of about 100,000 tons, more than 30 percent of the country's total production. It employs about 800 people. It produces 11 of the 15 industrial enzymes produced in China. The enzymes are used to make glucose, beer, starch and monosodium glutamate, replacing traditional acidic methods.
Production efficiency at the Wuxi Enzyme Factory was below international levels, despite modern stainless steel fermenters and highly skilled staff. This was due to wasteful use of energy and raw materials.
Cleaner Production Principle:
Housekeeping; Process modification.
Cleaner Production Application:
UNIDO worked with the Wuxi Enzyme Factory to evaluate the production equipment and procedures. It enlisted experts from the enzyme industry in France and Hungary and recruited a California company, Synder Inc., to help with technology transfer and training. Two problems were found to be causing bottlenecks in production. First, there was a high rate of contamination, owing to inadequate air filtration systems. Secondly, the enzyme recovery systems were inadequate: in more than half of the fermenters, less than 50 percent of the enzymes were being recovered from the microbial broth, adversely affecting the production capacity of the plant.
The contamination was reduced by installing reliable air filters, better air distributors in the fermenters and modifying the layout of some piping and valves. The recovery process was improved by changing the filtration and concentration system and adding preservative chemicals.
Synder Inc. held a series of seminars to teach staff about strain improvement for the two microbes used in the plant. Five microbial strains from Hungary were also handed over; they were intended to serve as the basis for further strain improvements.
Environmental and Financial Benefits:
The process modifications resulted in energy savings of 10-20 percent, and this, along with the reduction in contaminated batches that would normally have to be disposed of, has resulted in an enormous reduction in the amount of waste discharged. The duration of the production cycle was also reduced by 40 percent, which contributed to the energy savings and provided further reductions in material usage.
The total output of enzymes more than doubled from 10,000 to 22,000 tons per year, doubling revenues. The improvements in bacterial strains save the company US$ 420,000 annually.
Another very interesting (and potentially very profitable) result of the project was the creation of a joint venture, Wuxi Synder Bio-products Co. Ltd., between the Wuxi Enzymes Factory and Synder, the California subcontractor of UNIDO. Wuxi Synder has since invested US$ 7.2 million in new fermenters.
The government of Jiangsu Province now regards Wuxi as one of its 12 key development projects, and by 1997, the factory was producing over 100,000 tons of enzymes, or enough to satisfy one third of the Chinese market.
Constraints:
None mentioned.
Contacts:
Review Status:
This case study if part of a UNIDO-funded demonstration project and was taken from UNIDO's booklet, Cleaner Industrial Production (see address above). It was edited for the ICPIC diskette in November 1998. It has not undergone a formal technical review by UNEP IE.
Subsequently, in March 1999 the case study underwent a technical review by Dr. Prasad Modak, Environmental Management Centre, Mumbai, India.