PepsiCo plant to reduce up to 70% of fresh water consumption using Siemens’ integrated reuse solution

As part of a wastewater treatment plant upgrade, the manufacturing facility is increasing its wastewater treatment capacity by 20% and incorporating environmentally beneficial technologies. The Siemens system will lower fresh water consumption by up to 70%. It is expected to become operational in April 2012.

The integrated solution from Siemens will help eventually reduce the amount of fresh water used in making potato chips and other snack food lines at the Santiago plant by an estimated two-thirds. Water savings will be accomplished by taking the initial water used in production, extracting the impurities and cycling it back into the production systems. Wastewater treated by the Siemens system will be reused in various internal manufacturing processes.

The installation is part of a corporate initiative to help standardize water reuse at PepsiCo facilities throughout South America. At the Santiago facility, most of the wastewater first passes through an extensive starch recovery system and is then screened before it moves on to primary treatment, which includes oil and grease removal. After this stage, it will flow to a MemPulse membrane bioreactor (MBR) system from Siemens that will separate and treat liquids and solids. Additionally, a remote supervision system will allow MBR performance parameters to be monitored online from Siemens' technology center in Waukesha, Wisconsin, USA. From the MBR, the water will be pretreated before it passes through tertiary treatment, including a reverse-osmosis (RO) system and a Barrier M ultraviolet (UV) disinfection system, both also from Siemens. The integrated reuse solution is more advanced than conventional wastewater treatment processes, producing consistently high-quality effluent in a smaller footprint.

While PepsiCo has used a combination of MBR and RO technologies at a few of its manufacturing facilities throughout Latin America, this marks the first known time the technology combination has been entirely offered by a single manufacturer in South America. Increasingly stringent local regulations, coupled with the company's growing green initiatives, might make using the technology combination in its processes more prevalent in the future.

MemPulse and Barrier are trademarks of Siemens and/or its affiliates in some countries.

Further information about solutions for water treatment is available at:
http://www.siemens.com/water
The Siemens Industry Sector (Erlangen, Germany) is the world's leading supplier of innovative and environmentally friendly products and solutions for industrial customers. With end-to-end automation technology and industrial software, solid vertical-market expertise, and technology-based services, the Sector enhances its customers' productivity, efficiency, and flexibility. With a global workforce of more than 100,000 employees, the Industry Sector comprises the Divisions Industry Automation, Drive Technologies and Customer Services as well as the Business Unit Metals Technologies. For more information, visit http://www.siemens.com/industry

The Siemens Industry Automation Division (Nuremberg, Germany) supports the entire value chain of its industrial customers – from product design to production and services – with an unmatched combination of automation technology, industrial control technology, and industrial software. With its software solutions, the Division can shorten the time-to-market of new products by up to 50 percent. Industry Automation comprises five Business Units: Industrial Automation Systems, Control Components and Systems Engineering, Sensors and Communications, Siemens PLM Software, and Water Technologies. For more information, visit http://www.siemens.com/industryautomation

Reference Number: IIA2012042825e

Contact
Mr. Peter Jefimiec
Industry Automation Division
Siemens AG
Gleiwitzerstr. 555
90475 Nuremberg
Germany
Tel: +49 (911) 895-7975
peter.jefimiec@siemens.com
Contact USA
Ms. Allison Britt
Water Technologies Business Unit
Siemens Industry, Inc.
2501 N. Barrington Rd.
Hoffman Estates
IL 60192
USA
Tel: +1 (847) 713-8477
allison.britt@siemens.com