The legalization of recreational and medical marijuana in recent years has skyrocketed cultivation of the product. The multibillion-dollar industry is growing millions of pounds of marijuana annually and production is only expected to increase in the coming years. The rapid expansion is not without its share of operational and regulatory challenges.
Within the US and Canada, legal marijuana businesses must comply with state or provincial-mandated “seed to sale tracking” for their cultivation operations. This includes accounting for plants, plant materials and harvested waste. Part of these regulations also defines specific waste disposal requirements. The disposal methods often include grinding up marijuana waste and blending it with non-marijuana waste like soil or cardboard.
Strategies for maintaining compliance are something companies like Matrix NV, LLC, a large marijuana cultivator in Southern Nevada, have had to figure out. Matrix NV has been at the forefront of the recreational and medical marijuana boom since its inception in 2014.
“As our operations grew it was difficult to get rid of all of this waste with a woodchipper”
One of the most important issues influencing the profitability of industrial and manufacturing operations is maximizing equipment uptime to maintain a consistent throughput of production. This is clearly a priority in all aspects of the oil and gas industry, which relies heavily on the movement of fluids in closed systems, where production can be slowed or brought to a standstill because of a clogged valve or pump.
Crude oil refineries are especially at risk because of the high solids content of slurries moving through these operations, particularly relating to storage tank bottom cleaning at refineries. Pumps, centrifuges and liquid-solid separators, critical to keeping production moving in these operations, are subjected to extremely demanding industrial conditions, being under a constant onslaught of hydrocarbons like paraffin and asphaltenes, and inorganic solids like rock, sand, rust and heavy metal oxides. Consequently, this equipment can experience high incidences of interruption and repairs, impacting production throughput and operational costs.
Increasingly, refineries are now relying on powerful in-line dual shafted grinders to protect their costly downstream processing equipment. These grinders are powerful enough to grind down rocks, wood debris and paraffin sludge, to ensure pumps do not clog, and that liquid-solid separators and centrifuges receive properly sized content for separation, enabling them to operate at optimum throughput without interruption.
3-SHRED Food Composting Machine helping out with the BIG fight
The statistics surrounding food waste in the United States can only be described as staggering. More than 30 percent of the food produced for human consumption in the United States, valued at $162 billion annually, isn’t eaten. Even institutions like the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank , with the goal of distributing food to those in need, must tackle this challenge of wasted food. The food bank is now using a composting system from FOR Solutions which utilizes a JWC 3-SHRED Grinder as their food composting machine to facilitate the break down of the 2,000 pounds of tough solids food waste processed daily. The result is a reliable system to recycle the waste into nutrient-rich compost used on local San Diego farms. The food bank’s improved environmental footprint and substantial savings on hauling and tipping fees are among several additional benefits.
The food composting machine is popping up more and more in various shapes and forms with this growing hot topic but JWC has been actively participating since 1973. When quality matter & expertise is required, JWC is there to step in as your food composting machine expert.
Fish Grinders Significantly Improve Compliance with Wastewater Discharge Standards for Seafood Processor
Cordova, AK – The seafood processor, Norquest Seafoods Inc. reports significantly improved compliance with wastewater discharge standards through installation of special Monster Industrial fish grinders. They also note easier operation, lowered power requirement, reduced maintenance, and enhanced safety for marine waste handling.
The Monster fish grinders, designed and manufactured by JWC Environmental in Santa Ana, CA, were provided locally by APSCO Inc. of Kirkland, WA.
“We’re required to grind remains, such as fish heads, to particles with diameters of ½” (12mm) or less before we can discharge them into Alaskan waters,” noted Lee Murrell II, now manager at the Cordova plant.
The dual-shafted Monster Industrial fish grinders shred a wider variety of solids than single-shafted machines, while its low-speed operation results in higher torque, lower power requirements and fewer interrupts. Its special cutter teeth and configuration were developed specifically for fish remains processing. It also ended the problems the seafood processor had with the single shafted machine, such as clogging, overflowing and having to be reversed to clear them. Norquest Seafoods has been so impressed with the Monster Industrial fish grinders that they have now installed them company-wide!
Monster Industrial SHRED Series of grinders effectively reduce particle size of wood, plastics, rocks, nuts, bolts, wire, sludge, and other foreign material that would otherwise foul, clog or damage waste stream and process equipment, typically reducing the handling costs associated with solids removal. The Monster Industrial grinders adapt to most applications with little or no modification to piping, channel, or power, and offer high-pressure – 90 psi (6 bars) capability, with no seal flush required and no packing gland to adjust.
JWCE is proud to be a part of the organic waste recycling movement! The powerful 4-SHRED Monsters installed at the West Lafayette, Indiana wastewater treatment plant has increased efficiency at Purdue University. This food waste shredder grinds food waste recovered from the dining halls at Purdue University as the first step in the energy recovery process. The high-strength organic material is ground up into small pieces and then pumped into anaerobic digesters where it increases the production of biogas which is then burned to generate electricity.
The green energy project takes what was once wasted food scraps or food waste sent to the landfill and turns it into clean, green all-natural energy.
“A good 90 percent of our waste will be saved from the landfill and will go to the grinder,” said Jill Irvin, Director of Dining Services at Purdue. She estimates the University will send 20 tons of food waste every month to the treatment plant. Nothing the 4-SHRED Monsters can’t handle.
Clogging Gone When Sewage Grinder Pumps up the Protection
The Channel Monster, custom fitted for Santa Ana manhole, slides down a guide rail for an easy access sewage grinder.
Pumps clogging with debris caused the City of Santa Ana to call for a Channel Monstersewage grinder. Contributing to the unbudgeted expense in maintenance, operators were having to break open pump fittings to reach the problem area, and pull the rag balls out, every time there was a back up in their system.
“We had to find a solution,” said Nabil Saba, P.E., Acting Water Manager for the City. “Every time the pumps would clog we had to go in there. It’s a confined space so, not easy. Every time we had to open the pumps and break the seals. And every time the workers are exposed to raw sewage.”
Built in 1977, the Santa Margarita reclaimed water facility was initially intended to provide water for landscape irrigation in the district. During a typical 12-month period today, the facility brings in 680 million gallons of sewage and sends out 620 gallons of reclaimed water. But starting in about 2012, the pumps would begin to lose efficiency as the wipes loading increased. All pumps, including standbys, would have to run to maintain plant production. Once they reached 60 Hz the plant would need to shut down to derag the pumps.
“This upgrade cost significantly less than purchasing a whole new set of pumps,” says Ron Johnson, facilities supervisor for the SMWD facility.
Learn why Johnson agrees with most when he says,”Our choice to go with a new Channel Monster, to me, is priceless.” Read the full case study here.
Muffin Monster Takes Over When Macerator Can’t Cut It
The Coeur D’Alene Wastewater Treatment Plant has been in operation since 1939. Since then, the facility has been overhauled significantly to keep up with demand, area growth and innovations in wastewater treatment technology. The treatment plant was having continual problems with two sludge macerators, during design someone misread the max PSI rating as 150 — while the macerator’s true max pressure rating is 30 PSI. Eventually, one of the macerators exploded and flooded the underground pump area with sludge.
It took about 12 hours for operators to clean up the mess after the macerator exploded. The crew pulled a Muffin Monster® grinder from their back-up stock, and it took care of the sludge immediately. Impressed with the performance and quality of the Monster grinder, the treatment plant manager requested approval to purchase three additional 10K series Muffin Monsters.
Running a nursing home can be a challenging assignment. From the health and safety of every resident and staff member to the daily task of maintaining a sprawling facility – it’s a demanding job. With all the tasks managers face, the proper disposal of wastewater is probably not top of mind. However, more and more nursing homes and hospitals are facing challenges with items improperly flushed down the toilet such as cleaning wipes, diapers, clothing and other debris.
“I never knew something like these sewer grinders existed,” said Gwinn. “I went online to the Monster Industrial website and took a look at the grinder video and wow. That sold me right away,” said Jason Gwinn of Gwinn Brothers Construction
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