INTERNATIONAL CLEANER PRODUCTION INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE

CASE STUDY #19
1.   Headline: Reducing waste in Chinese distillery
2.   Background: In 1993, the World Bank approved a loan to the
National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) in China for an
Environmental Technical Assistance Project. Included in the
funding was US$6.2million for a cleaner production initiative.
Upon request of the NEPA, the UNEP Cleaner Production Program
assisted in the design and development of the project, and has
been active in its supervision.
     The Cleaner Production Project in China aims to:
          - develop and test a systematic Chinese approach to
cleaner production.
          - prove the potential for cleaner production in 25 to
30 Chinese companies.
          - recommend changes to existing policies to promote
cleaner production.
              - disseminate the idea of cleaner production in
          Chinese society in general, and in Chinese industry
          in particular.
     The project is to be carried out in four integrated
     phases - preparation, demonstration, policy studies, and
     dissemination - over a period of three years. Each phase
     of activity will draw from and depend on the experiences
     gained in the previous phase.
     Eighteen companies participated in the demonstration
     phase of the project. During this time, 492 cleaner
     production opportunities were identified, 340 of which
     were implemented in the six months following the
     assessment, generating benefits of RMB YUAN 5million per
     year (approximately US $750 000).
     The state-owned Yantai Second Distillery, the case study
     of which follows, participated in the cleaner production
     project. Three other companies that were part of the
     project - The Beijing Chemical Factory No.3, Fuyang
     General Distillery, and the Shaoxing General Bicycle
     Plant - are featured in the UNEP-IE "publication Cleaner
     Production in the Asia Pacific Economic cooperation
     Region".
     The most important environmental problem in the Yantai
distillery was the generation of 14 tons of distillers grain (a
wastewater residue from the distillation process) per ton of
alcohol. In 1986, an anaerobic wastewater treatment facility
went into operation, to treat the 50 000-60 000 mg/l COD in the
distillers grain.
     Currently, methane gas is co-fired into the coal-fired
boiler. Although the distillery had made good progress in
preventing and treating pollution, their efforts were based on
process control.
     Yantai Second Distillery ia a state-owned, medium-sized
enterprise in the coalstal city of Yantai that produces grain
liquors and red sweet potato wine. The plant employs 510
people, and has a production capacity of    5 000 tons of
alcohol per year.
3.   Cleaner Production Principle: Good housekeeping, process
     modifications
4.   Description of Cleaner Production Application: During
1994, a plant assessment team conducted a cleaner production
assessment of the distillery under the guidance of the Yantai
Environmental Protection Bureau, the Ministry of Light Industry
and the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences.
     During the pre-assessment phase, the alcohol plant was
     determined as the largest source of wastewater. In
     addition, several good housekeeping opportunities were
     identified in the bottling department. The potential
     benefits to be derived from implementing these options
     encouraged the team to proceed with assessment of the
     alcohol plant. A number of low-cost, equipment-
     optimization options were identified and implemented at
     no extra cost during the annual overhaul period of Summer
     1994.
5.   Economics:
                          Investment    savings  Payback
                              (yuan)   (yuan)   period
     Bottling department:
Good housekeeping options       12 500    523 000
     Alcohol plant:
Equipment repair and
     optimization              none    5 040 000
Differential distillation    3 454 000           1.5 years
Continuous fermentation       480 000           3.1 years
Boiler replacement         1 231 000           4.4 years
6.   Advantages: The implementation of this package of
     technical cleaner production options has proven
     especially effective in the reduction of energy and water
     consumption. Moreover, product quality has been improved,
     so the product can now be sold at a higher price.
7.   Constraints: N/A
8.   Contacts:Mr Zhang Xiaokuan, Engineer
                  Yantai Second Distillery
                  Yantai 265 500
                  Shandong Province
                  China
                  Tel: +86 535 636 23 92
                   or  +86 535 636 10 24
                  Dr Ning Duan, Director
                  Institute of Environmental Management
                  Chinese Research Academy of Environmental
Sciences
                  Beijing 1000 12
                  China
                  Tel: +86 1 423 2255 ext.233
                  Fax: +86 1 423 1308
9.                  Keywords:China, alcohol, good
                    housekeeping, process modification,
                    methane, bottling, distillery
10. Reviewer comments: This case study was originally
published in the UNEP IE document "Cleaner Production
Worldwide", Volume II. In the process of preparing the document
the case study underwent a technical review.