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Edinburgh Distillery Embraces Green Technology

HydroThane UK and The North British Distillery Co Ltd (NBD) have completed the construction of the second phase of a three phase project which introduces  high rate anaerobic digestion (AD) technology at the company’s distillery site in central Edinburgh.

3 x 500m3 ECSB reactors

  • Feed post distillation liquor
  • COD Load 27,000Kg/day
  • Producing 450Nm3/hr biogas
  • Energy output >3 MW/hr total
  • 500kW CHP unit producing electricity
  • FIT’s income
  • Boiler producing steam at 10 barG
  • Reduction in gas and electricity imports
  • Increased spirit production

The project provides multiple benefits for NBD:

  • It produces renewable energy (biogas – steam) which reduces natural gas imports and reduces energy costs.
  • It reduces carbon dioxide emissions by between 9,000 and 10,000 tonnes of per year, significantly reducing NBD’s carbon footprint.
  • It reduces the load on the existing by-products evaporation process thereby increasing the overall production capability of the distillery.
  • The WTP will reduce the company’s ongoing water and effluent charges.

David Rae, managing director of NBD said:

Scotland’s whisky industry is at the forefront of harnessing renewable technology to reduce its impact on the environment. Our sustainability business strategy will enable NBD to make savings in terms of energy costs while at the same time reducing the environmental impact of our production process. We save between nine thousand and ten thousand tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually from this investment programme, contributing significantly to the Scotch whisky industry’s global target of sourcing 80 per cent of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2050.

Michael Lyle, managing director of HydroThane UK said:

The choice of the HydroThane STP ECSB technology  gives NBD considerable improvements in their energy costs and reduction in environmental emissions. The ECSB technology, a third generation anaerobic digestion process, ensures that all anaerobic odours are contained within the process, which was an essential factor in the choice of the ECSB technology by NBD due to its central Edinburgh location and environmental licensing conditions.

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