Page 10 - National Poultry Newspaper

Manufacturer improves efficiency
WHEN looking to re- place their unreliable surface aerators to save maintenance costs and improve efficiency, the facility environmental engineer of a soup pro- duction facility contacted Hydro Innovations.
products were introduced to Australia after success- ful application by food processors in the US and Europe.
ing to be installed within them.
provide cooling of the in- fluent process washdown water at around 40C.
After the suggestion and installation of a Ven- turi Aeration system, the manufacturer greatly improved efficiency and made significant annual cost savings.
Venturi Aeration sys- tems are used in conjunc- tion with Gorman-Rupp pumps, and can be mount- ed on banks of basins and lagoons instead of hav-
The system improved the overall equalisation tank performance to produce clearer effluent, control- ling odours, settling sol- ids, cooling the water and hydrolysing fats, oils and greases causing them to float for easier removal.
Further, if one of the sub- mersible pumps plugged or failed, the company had to rent a crane for removal, repair and to re- install the restored pump at additional cost for each occurrence.
Antimicrobial use in the UK
Venturi Aeration line of wastewater treatment
The former method was to add dissolved oxygen to mix and equalise the con- tents in the EQ tank using submerged aerators.
As the submerged pumps were failing once or twice a year, the company be- gan to look for a more viable aeration, mixing and equalisation solution to meet its compliance ob- ligations.
IN the UK antimi- crobial stewardship programs have helped drive down antimicro- bial use in the poultry sector by 76 percent over the period be- tween 2012 and 2019.
entire population.
The quickest gains are
heart of the matter by directly measuring re- sistance carried by bac- teria living in the pigs.
The aerators have been particularly successful in the Australian market, es- pecially in the food pro- cess sector, where Venturi aerator applications treat the wastewater.
The result of converting to Venturi aerators for the soup production facility was an annual operating cost savings of more than $112,000.
The aerators had been in operation for several years and were not achieving the desired conditioning ob- jectives.
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The idea was that the dissolved oxygen was sup- posed to cause fats, oils and grease to float, so they could be captured and not be discharged with the plant’s effluent into the publicly owned treatment works.
The facility environmen- tal engineer made the de- cision to replace the exist- ing aerators with a Venturi Aeration Model VA-1400 aerator and a T8 Gorman- Rupp pump.
Use of antimicrobi- als considered of criti- cal importance in hu- man medicine has been reduced by 97 percent over the same period.
The UK performance is admirable but some argue levels may be pushed too low too quickly.
The submerged aerators were supposed to also
The Venturi aerator was designed to handle 82L/s, which allows the contents of the EQ tank to be recir- culated four times during a 24-hour period, achiev- ing greater oxygen trans- fer, and better mixing and equalisation.
Clearly the British poultry industry has demonstrated its com- mitment to being part of the solution to the problem of antimicro- bial resistance.
Indeed, it seems this may be happening as last year broiler sector antimicrobial usage ac- tually increased from 12.4 in 2018 to 17.5mg/ pcu in 2019.
Other countries meas- ure AMU in the live- stock sectors.
With better circulation and cooling in the EQ tank the fats, oils and grease are now floated for separation and treatment, so they are not being discharged with the effluent to the local treatment works, thus re- ducing surcharges.
Poultry farmers and veterinarians in the UK and in Australia need antibiotics in their tool- box to protect the health and welfare of birds in their care.
Despite the increase in usage, the 2019 level is still well below the UK target.
AMU data are hard- er to come by because measuring use requires a major commitment by owners, managers and the veterinary team, whereas robotic meth- odology tests samples collected at slaughter relatively easily.
The soup manufactur- er was able to achieve a $6000 annual energy cost reduction, an $89,000 an- nual reduction in chemical costs, a $12,000 annual reduction in non-compli- ance charges, and further maintenance cost reduc- tions.
There are competing ideas on this subject.
As usage levels are driven lower, the risk is that animals requir- ing treatment might be missed, with consequent adverse welfare events.
The facility now has a system that works within its discharge permit pa- rameters and there is less concern over maintenance issuesandassociatedcosts.
That sector used 219.5mg/pcu in 2014, but by 2019 it used just 42mg/pcu.
Variation in health sta- tus of a herd or flock, genetics, diet, husband- ry skills, group size and accommodation quality all have an impact on disease outbreaks and the need to medicate. Ross Cutler
For more information, visit hydroinnovations. com.au or call 02 9898 1800.
The population cor- rected unit allows the antimicrobial amount used to be corrected for different bird weights and averaged over an
This approach has avoided the need to measure antimicrobial usage but goes to the
It is an exceptional achievement.
This highlights both the importance of being able to use medications when they are needed and the need to moni- tor use.
Australia may yet, to meet its trade and other international obliga- tions, need to do this too.
The UK poultry sec- tor has a government approved antimicrobial usage target of 25mg per population correct- ed unit, and the current usage level – 17.5mg in broilers – is well below this.
The Australian gov- ernment has yet to set usage targets for Aus- tralian livestock sectors.
In turkeys, things have improved considerably.
An Australian Pork Limited research pro- ject, led by a consor- tium of research part- ners from the University of Adelaide, Murdoch University and NSW Department of Primary Industry, has demon- strated a low level of resistance to important antimicrobials in E coli sampled from the intes- tines of pigs at slaughter.
It’s a matter of careful selection of the medica- tions used and, as in all things, balance of need and risk.
made when the medica- tions are removed from feed.
Through funding from the Commonwealth De- partment of Agriculture and Water and build- ing on this research, the partners have developed a laboratory robot that can test thousands of samples.
APSS sponsorship is now available
nouncement document, which details important dates and links for authors submitting papers for next year’s conference, as well as prices of all of our spon- sorship levels for A PSS 2021 at apss2021.com.au Important dates October 1, 2020
THE sponsorship portal is now live.
We are calling on all companies interested in partnering with the 32nd Annual Australian Poul- try Science Symposium to access the APSS site and purchase your sponsor- ship package.
There will be a great deal of extra exposure through the 2021 event – to more countries and people than ever before.
Online registration por- tal opens
We are anticipating the virtual format of the conference will open the event to the broader global community and increase the number of delegates participating in the con- ference to more than 500.
If you are unable to reg- ister online or need to reg- ister prior to October for visa purposes, please con- tact Benjamin Geist for a manual registration form. December 13, 2020
Check out the website for all the information and inclusions – apss2021. com.au/sponsorship
Registraton to be com- pleted by authors with accepted papers for pres- entation, otherwise they will be withdrawn from the program.
More virtual sponsor- ship options will be com- ing very soon – stay tuned for those.
For more information, contact 02 9351 1656, benjamin.geist@sydney. edu.au or jo-ann.geist@ sydney.edu.au
Author registration deadline
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