Case Studies

Food & Beverage

Case Studies:

BHS BD 361 provides environmental benefits and cost savings while reducing chemical usage by 70%

Opportunity

The customer is a potato chip manufacturer. The manufacturer utilizes defoamer in two locations within the process of creating the chips. In this process, bins of potatoes are loaded onto a conveyor and submerged in water. In this state, they enter a peeler to remove the skins. Defoamer is added at this location to combat the foam caused by the potato starch. After peeling, the potatoes are inspected and enter a slicer that cuts them into chips. Here, they are washed, again requiring defoamer. The chips then proceed to a cooker, and the water enters a treatment area. The water is recirculated as much as possible, and what cannot be used is discharged.

The manufacturer has historically utilized a silicone defoamer within this process. Though effective, it requires heavy dosage and holds significant environmental ramifications. Silicone products denote environmental and aquatic toxicity warnings that should be avoided where possible.

The DuBois Solution 

DuBois partnered with the manufacturer to implement BHS BD 361, food grade defoamer. This product replaces silicone with a vegetable oil base, the same material the potatoes are cooked in. In addition to significantly reducing the process’s environmental impact, this product replacement reduced chemical usage by 70%. This has created significant cost savings for the manufacturer, adding to their overall satisfaction.

Results and Benefits

• Chemical usage was reduced by 70%, while maintaining optimum process conditions, thus improving process costs.
• Silicone was eliminated from the process, reducing environmental impact.