Walls
Walls ice cream factory converts to safer, friendlier, economic Kalic.
User friendliness, logistical and environmental factors, cost effectiveness and rapid payback have all convinced Birds Eye Walls to switch to Kalic Liquid Lime in place of caustic soda at its Phoenix ice cream factory in Gloucester. Walls required an effective agent to neutralise process effluent. A safe, modern and sustainable solution, Kalic from Buxton Lime Industries was deemed to fit the bill.
Few would regard an ice-cream factory as a source of effluent. Yet the hygiene process in a modern ice-cream making factory has its by-products, in this case a cocktail of milk, vegetable oils and fats, plus a sprinkling of food particles, sugars, milk powders, flavourings, other ingredients and trace quantities of cleaning chemicals. The result, though not toxic, cannot be discharged into the environment without proper modification. Caustic soda was initially used for this purpose, but in March 2002, Following successful trials last summer, the Phoenix factory management Decided to convert to Kalic Liquid Lime.
Paul Finch, Environmental Officer at Walls explains the decision: "The use of Kalic is one way in which we want to comply and seek continuous improvement within both ISO 14001 and the policy of our parent group Unilever. Kalic has provided us with a good, positive environmental impact, as well as cost savings. We anticipate payback in less than a year as Kalic costs significantly less than bulk caustic soda and is also far more user friendly. We also received excellent technical support and advice from Buxton Lime."
"Caustic soda is nasty stuff," explains Paul Finch. "It is inherently more hazardous than Kalic and our own health and safety precautions insist that delivery drivers wear full protective clothing before we can accept deliveries." Such precautions are to be expected at a factory which has been ISO 14001 approved (Environmental Management) since October 1996.
Yet the logistical problems of bulk storage also played an important consideration. Caustic soda is not cheap to handle or store. It freezes at approximately 9ºC and requires tanks which have to be lagged and heated for around nine months of the year. It would have cost Walls more to store than Kalic, which freezes at 0ºC, significantly reducing the need for lagging and trace heating of pipework, pumps and tanks and is also easy to pump, handle and transport.
Kalic Liquid Lime is now being delivered to the Phoenix factory in bulk tanker loads. From a 30-tonne bulk storage tank, Kalic is dosed automatically 24 hours a day, 50 weeks a year.
"We are confident that we have done the right thing in converting to Kalic," says Paul Finch, "and I am sure that other Birds Eye Walls sites will be taking a keen interest."
Editors' notes
Kalic Liquid Lime from Buxton Lime Industries is an advanced lime-based treatment for drinking water and acidic effluent waste. Kalic's non toxic, non-corrosive and cost effective calcium hydroxide formulation comprises very fine particles which give a stable suspension and a large surface area; this makes it highly reactive and extremely efficient for acid neutralisation and pH control.
A unique product comprising an 18% suspension of calcium hydroxide in water (Milk of Lime), Kalic is a far more economic and safer alternative to caustic soda for water and effluent processing. Highly regarded by the water industry, Kalic's tried and tested formulation is also used in a wide variety of industrial applications, including steel production, oil, pharmaceuticals, food processing and agri-chemicals. And as it is produced from readily available natural material, Kalic does not exhibit the wild price fluctuations which characterise the supply of caustic soda.
Buxton Lime Industries is the UK's foremost supplier of lime and lime products, sourced from one of the purest deposits of carboniferous limestone in the world.
