(556d) Maximizing Water and Energy Efficiency in Food Processing While Minimizing Negative Environmental Impact

The long term health of the food processing industry depends on development of technologies and practices that maximize efficiency of water and energy use while minimizing negative environmental impact.  Realizing sustainable food processing hinges on understanding how water and energy use are intertwined throughout food processing facilities down to the level of individual unit operations.  The water-energy nexus (WEN) assessment is a framework for auditing all supply and demand points for water and energy within a food processing facility.  The WEN analysis provides processors with a complete breakdown of how water and energy use are distributed throughout their processing pipeline and identifies targets for improving efficiency (e.g., by identifying inefficient equipment or opportunities for water and heat recovery).  To demonstrate, the results of a WEN analysis from a tomato processing facility are provided.  Additionally, opportunities for improving management strategies for food processing solid and liquid wastes are discussed.  These include advancing technologies for biofuel production and emerging technologies for agricultural application of food processing organic residues and microbial desalination of wastewater streams.