Browsing by Author "Thun, Rabbe"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

Apparaturutveckling och andra undersökningar för rening av oljehaltigt vatten med hjälp av torv
(1975) Thun, Rabbe
Helsinki University of Technology | Master's thesis
Assessing the sustainability of a biorefinery concept that utilizes side streams of the brewing industry
(2012) Koivupuro, Heta-Kaisa
School of Chemical Engineering | Master's thesis
In Finland there has lately been much discussion and concerns about environmental impacts and risks of modern intensive pork production and about the welfare of animals. The type of feed has an essential effect on both the environmental impacts of pork production and the quality of the products, as well as on the well-being of animals. A new type of biorefinery concept that produces probiotic health-promoting pig feed from side streams of the food industry (mainly the brewing industry) is being developed to promote the sustainability of this animal based food production sector. The aim of this master's thesis is to do a preliminary sustainability assessment of this biorefinery concept and thus produce information that support the further development of the concept and final planning of a demonstration plant and a commercial unit. This thesis focuses on the assessment of environmental impacts. The methodology of life cycle assessment is applied to calculate an estimate of greenhouse gas emissions and energy input of the production of probiotic feed in the planned biorefinery. The environmental impacts of probiotic feed are compared with literature data on environmental impacts of soy meal which currently is the most important protein feed for pigs. Also other main sustainability aspects of the biorefinery are discussed. As the actual biorefinery concept is still under development a rather rough design of the plant and dimensioning of the most important energy and material flows is done in order to get input-output data that is needed in the LCA calculations. According to the results of the LCA calculations the greenhouse gas emissions of the production of probiotic feed in the planned biorefinery equal roughly 0.15 kg CO2-eq. /kg dry matter of the feed and the energy input 3.3 MJ/kg of DM. The main sources of GHG emissions in the production system are transports, production of washing chemicals (NaOH) and production and transport of soy meal that is one minor component of the planned probiotic feed. The results of the LCA calculations also clearly show that the production method of energy used in the biorefinery has a remarkable impact on the carbon footprint of probiotic feed. The comparison of probiotic feed with pure soy meal shows that both the GHG emissions of the production system calculated per 1 kg of protein in the feed material are clearly lower for probiotic feed. The results of the preliminary sustainability assessment indicate that the planned biorefinery concept has potential to produce pig feed with rather low environmental impacts, especially if the energy demand of the production plant is covered by waste heat and renewable energy. However, experiments on the safety and suitability of the planned probiotic feed for pigs and a more comprehensive 5ustainability assessment are needed before the feasibility of the production of probiotic feed in larger scale can be properly assessed.