Cleaner production option in a food (Kimchi) industry

In the Kimchi (a salt-pickled and fermented food) manufacturing industry, the process of brining and rinsing the raw vegetable produces a vast amount of wastewater of high salinity. Instead of the expensive and low-efficient conventional treatment system, a brining wastewater reuse system was developed using hybrid chemical precipitation/microfiltration. In the microfiltration of chemically treated brining wastewater, a comparison of flux, backwashing frequency and energy consumption was made between dead-end and crossflow filtration modes. The optimum location of the neutralization step in this system was also discussed in connection with the microfiltration performance. The quality test of Kimchi prepared by the reuse system confirmed the new approach to the cleaner production option was successful in terms of water/raw material (salt) savings and wastewater reduction.