Campaign overview

Citation

(1998), "Campaign overview", Industrial Lubrication and Tribology, Vol. 50 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ilt.1998.01850cab.012

Campaign overview

Campaign overview

Keywords: Biotechnology, Businesses, DTI

The Department of Trade and Industry's (DTI) Biotechnology Means Business (BMB) Initiative is a package of measures aimed at increasing the awareness of the business and environmental opportunities that biotechnology can present and also encourages implementation of biotechnology. The initiative focuses on UK businesses and helps to develop the home market for UK biotechnology companies by improving the climate for technology transfer.

New BMB Web site

http;//www.dti.gov.uk/BMB, the BMB Web site, launched in July 1997, gives UK businesses 24-hour access to basic information about the BMB Initiative such as an overview of the programme, diary dates for regional BMB roadshows and summaries of currently available BMB literature. The Website also offers a convenient electronic route to send enquiries to the BMB helpline, which is the first point of contact for all general and specific information about biotechnology and the BMB Initiative.

BMB helpline provides multi-sector support

The BMB helpline is widely used by individuals from many business sectors and has taken over 18,000 calls on its free telephone number: 0800 432100. The helpline provides access to over 30 informative BMB publications and a database of more than 2,000 UK organisations and suppliers involved in biotechnology. It is also backed by a technical advisory service. Typically 70 per cent of helpline callers have not used biotechnology before.

New advice clinics at BMB roadshows

The ongoing programme of regional BMB roadshows, so far attended by over 2,000 delegates, has expanded to include advice clinics. These clinics offer roadshow delegates the chance to supplement the formal roadshow agenda with a same-day opportunity to obtain one-to-one technical advice on a confidential basis.

BMB roadshows typically comprise a seminar, case study examples of biotechnology in action, and a focused supplier exhibition. They aim to demonstrate the commercial and environmental benefits of utilising biotechnology within industry sectors such as engineering, textiles and food, or within specific technology areas such as solid organic waste, effluent treatment, bioremediation, volatile organic compounds and odour control and cleaning.

Trade associations widen access to biotechnology

The BMB Initiative welcomes opportunities to work with trade and research associations to increase members; awareness of biotechnology. The initiative can also provide information for association newsletters and occasionally provide seminar speakers. Trade and research associations interested in bringing biotechnology to the attention of their members are welcome to contact the BMB helpline with proposals.

Examples of BMB/trade association activity include:

• •

  mailing of sector-specific biotechnology information to the paper industry with the Paper Industry Technical Association (PITA);

• •

  demonstration days for pilot scale application of biotechnology to solve emissions with the Shoe and Allied Trade Research Association (SATRA);

• •

  seminars organised by the Biotechnology Information Service of the Chemical Industries Association (BORIS).

BMB user challenge

The BMB user challenge award, designed to encourage innovative applications of commercially available biotechnology outside the biotech sector, was completed in March 1997 with the winners announced during the DTI celebration for SET97 ­ the fourth National Week of Science, Engineering and Technology. The awards, in two categories ­ user and supplier ­ and two industry sectors ­ consumer goods and services were presented by the DTI in association with co-sponsors Chemistry & Industry Magazine, the Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) and the BioIndustry Association (BIA). In the consumer goods industries category, user winner, Buckfast Spinning Co. Ltd with Supplier Winner, Envirosolutions UK Ltd, put forward a proposal for a demonstration biotreatment facility at Buckfast Spinning Co., to process effluent from the company's wool scouring and dyeing processes.

In the service industries category, user winner, Cardev International Ltd with supplier winner, IBS Viridian Ltd, submitted a proposal for demonstration of an integrated biofiltration process for the disposal and recycling of engineering wastes such as coolants and cutting fluids. This is described in more detail in the accompanying case study below.

Associated programmes

The DTI's UK Biotechnology Finance Advisory Service (FAS) offers help for existing biotechnology companies and individuals/organisations forming new biotechnology based companies, to access appropriate sources of finance. In addition, the BMB Initiative has strong links with the BioIndustry Association (BIA) Awareness of Market Potential (AMP) programme that aims to increase the awareness of suppliers to the market potential of biotechnology.

Taking advantage of the BMB Initiative

The many elements of the BMB Initiative, from the roadshows and technical adviser service to the comprehensive range of literature, have already offered many UK industrialists, suppliers and intermediaries the chance to gain a competitive edge or improve their environmental performance. To ensure that you can share in the opportunities that the BMB Initiative offers, call the BMB helpline free on 0800 432100, or send your enquiry by post to the BMB helpline, PO Box 83, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX11 0TJ, or by Fax on 01235 432997. The BMB Initiative can also be contacted at http://www/dti.gov.uk/BMB

A number of cases studies are available which chronicle the successful application of biotechnology in a number of areas. Two examples which are of potential interest in the lubricants industry are detailed below:

Case study 1. Oranges as natural solvents

"It has been known for a long time that citrus has cleaning properties. For example, it is used in finger bowls. A bit of lateral thinking, and trial and error, led us to this extract from the skins of oranges which is a distillate of orange oil", says Richard Monbiot of Pronatur Products Ltd of Liverpool, which identified this natural solvent.

It takes about 90lbs (41kg) of oranges to produce 25mls of orange oil. The oil is distilled by Pronatur to separate out the solvent. "The great attraction is that it is a natural, fully biodegradable product with the solvency power of chemical solvents", says Mr Monbiot. "There are no health and safety issues and no environmental problems."

By itself, the orange oil can be used instead of chemical solvents in applications such as cleaning machine parts. "It has high solvency power and effectiveness, even when dirty", says Mr Monbiot.

The Pronatur orange solvent can also be used in everyday industrial cleaning of oil terminals and tankers, ships' bilges and garage forecourts. The conventional way of removing oil is to use detergents or other solvents which emulsify the oil after thorough steam and pressure washes. The waste water must then be held in settlement tanks until the oil separates before it can be disposed of. However, it is very difficult to get complete separation of oil and water, particularly if detergents have been used.

"When oily water is mixed with the Pronatur solvent and left to stand for a short while, all the oil and solvent separate out completely. This leaves the water clean, and normally it will be suitable for disposal into the drains", says Mr Monbiot. As Pronatur orange solvent is a combustible liquid, the used oil can be recycled for use as heating fuel.

Pronatur also sells its orange oil solvent in combination with a culture of naturally occurring bacteria capable of digesting hydrocarbon waste for cleaning up land contaminated with oil. This system has been tested in clean-up operation at a railway depot at Tyseley, Birmingham.

The requirement was for an efficient method of cleaning up oil contamination on the tracks and around refuelling points. Over the years these areas had become badly contaminated, as oil penetrated the concrete. The oily surface was slippery, particularly when wet, posing a risk to health and safety. There was also a build-up of oily residue in the ballast on the tracks that had penetrated one metre below the surface, posing a potential problem of run-off contaminating watercourses. Past cleaning techniques involved the use of hot water and detergents, but this was unsatisfactory because the oil emulsified and blocked the interceptor tank.

The chemical oxygen demand (COD) of the effluent from Tyseley was 12,144 mg per litre, more than 20 times above the Environment Agency consent level. A week after spraying with the Pronatur solvent and water to dissolve the hydrocarbons, then adding bacteria, the COD level fell to 4,288 mg per litre. After three weeks the level was 88 mg per litre.

The oil, water and solvent mixture was flushed down the drain to a holding tank. Because the solvent completely removes the oil from the water, the water could then be drained off. The oil/solvent mixture could be recycled as waste oil, which had a commercial value. The original colour of the concrete was restored and the surfaces of the ballasts, sleepers and rails were also effectively cleaned.

Case study 2. Cleaning up engineering workshops

The sensitive application of biotechnology has the potential to make industrial cleaning processes safer for those carrying them out and to remove pollution hazards. An example is in the removal of hydrocarbon oil and greases from machine components in the engineering sector. Typically, such components are washed by hand in a bath of organic solvent. The used solvent is collected in a reservoir under the bath for later disposal.

There is increasing recognition that these solvents, which are volatile and vaporise rapidly, may pose a health and safety hazard. At the same time disposal of the solvents is becoming more regulated, adding to overall costs. This is a problem that concerns a wide range of engineering companies and automotive workshops, both large and small.

"The industry has been looking for alternatives for a number of years", says Paul Owen of Rozone Ltd in Birmingham, which in 1996, introduced a water-based cleaning system called the Smart Washer^TM. Water is mixed with a patented mixture of biodegradable surfactants to clean the oils and greases from the components. The waste water is passed through a filter which is impregnated with naturally occurring enzymes that are able to metabolise the hydrocarbons. The clean water is then recycled to start the washing process again.

"The filter, which is based on a proprietary design, must be replaced each month in order to be effective. Apart from that the system requires little maintenance, and will happily continue to clean and recycle the water", says Mr Owen. A system installed by Rozone at Lex Volvo Service plc in Bristol has been in continuous operation for 14 months. Some of the earliest systems to be installed, in the USA have now been working for more than three years. The Smart Washer is a complete, ready-to-use unit with a capacity of 80 litres of fluid. It takes three to four days for dirty water to percolate through the filter, emerging as clean water. Mr Owen says this is fast enough to allow the washer to be used in 24 hour operation.

"Companies recognise that there are significant advantages with using the Smart Washer compared with hand washing components in organic solvents. The health and safety issues are addressed and there is no problem of handling and disposal of contaminated wastes."

An established supplier of equipment to the engineering sector has recently applied biotechnology to improve the efficiency of one of its existing products, and end one of the engineering industry's main waste disposal problems.

Engineering companies use large quantities of cutting fluid, an emulsion of 95 per cent water and 5 per cent oil, to cool and lubricate components whilst they are machined. After a certain amount of time the fluid becomes contaminated with bacteria which makes it "go off" and renders it useless.

Cardev International Ltd of Harrogate, Yorkshire, make filters for cleaning engineering fluids such as oil, lubricants and coolants. But while filtering oil protects machine parts from wear and tear and means that the oil lasts the lifetime of the machine, filtering cutting fluid can only extend its useful life. "Filtering cutting fluids makes bacteria grow less rapidly, but at the end of the day you still have to dispose of it", says Steve Cartwright of Cardev.

"The traditional route is to pay for the waste to be land filled. Some smaller engineering companies may even discharge it through the drains. But the more responsible companies are now starting to say we have got to stop dumping this material into the environment", says Mr Cartwright.

Cardev has developed an ultra-filtration system with a membrane so fine that only water can come through it. This makes it possible to significantly reduce the volume of pollutant that must be disposed of. "Typically, from 100 litres of oily emulsion, you can extract 80 litres of water that is clean enough to be discharged into the drains. But this leaves 20 litres of concentrate and you then have to clean the membrane, so you still have 30 litres to dispose of from every 100 litres of cutting fluid."

Meanwhile, another company, IBS Viridian Ltd, which specialises in biotechnology methods to clean up industrial effluents, had adopted another approach to the problem. It was using a bio-reactor, putting specialised oil digesting bacteria into the waste cutting fluid tank and waiting for the bacteria to degrade the oil. Although this method can be effective, in practice it was proving difficult to control because of the varying compositions of the waste fluid, and a tendency for people to throw waste in at any stage of the process, which may kill the bacteria.

The two companies saw an opportunity to work together to combine the two techniques and subsequently won a BMB End User Challenge Award with their new system. The system uses a bio-reactor to digest the oil before the waste is passed through an ultra-filtration system. Because the oil is broken down the filter membranes do not get clogged and the system can carry on operating. "The clean water is removed and any remaining oil is cycled back to the bio-rector. The Demonstrator has been running for one year and in that time there has been minimal build up of biomass and COD, the system just keeps cycling", says Mr Cartwright.

The Demonstrator system at Cardev's facility in Harrogate has been put through its paces with a range of contaminated cutting fluid wastes and has shown itself equal to any waste the engineering industry could throw at it. The first commercial system is now being built for one of Cardev's clients, a blue chip engineering company. Cardev and IBS Viridian have set up a formal joint venture to work on extending the technology to deal with waste streams from other industries. "The potential of this technology goes far beyond the engineering industry. It could be applied to virtually any fluid waste stream in a wide rang of industries," concludes Mr Cartwright.