SIMPLOT COMPANY
Project Description
Client: Simplot Company
Facility Type: Wastewater Treatment Facility
Location: Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, Canada
Fast Facts
- 60,000 lb. organic waste treated in the low-rate anaerobic reactor
- 250 Kilowatts of boiler horsepower produced from bio-gas
- 210,000 SF processing plant
- 3 billion lbs. potatoes processed
- First potato processing plant in Canada to use an environmentally friendly bio-gas recovery and reuse system
First of its Kind
Radically Decreasing Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Processing 3 billion pounds of potatoes into French fries is bound to create piles of waste product. Thinking ahead of the curve, Simplot’s state-of-the-art potato processing plant included an anaerobic digester to handle the great amount of organic waste created by the 210,000 sq. ft. processing plant on Manitoba high prairie.
Engineered by Pharmer Engineering, Fisher subcontracted with ADI Systems to build the Simplot digester in Portage La Prairie. When built, it was the first potato processing plant in Canada to use an environmentally friendly bio-gas recovery and reuse system, radically decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and saving money on fuel costs.
When fully operational, the processing plant generates 60,000 pounds of organic waste to be treated in the low rate anaerobic reactor. The facility’s water treatment system utilizes an aeration tank which assures proper pre-treatment of process water. The water then is piped to the City of Portage treatment plant.
The bio-gas produced creates 250 kilowatts of boiler horsepower which is used to augment the natural gas and provides approximately 10% of the plant’s steam demand.