LSM hose pump pumps food residues in Büttelborn

From an environmental perspective, it is hard to believe the large amounts of food that are thrown away! In Büttelborn (about 35 km) south of Frankfurt am Main, approximately 25,000 tons of food and food waste are collected annually and brought to the company Biolog in Büttelborn for further processing. The facility receives its "raw materials" from the surrounding catchment area, corresponding to a circumference of approximately 150 km from the facility.

Dry bread, leftovers from large kitchens, rotten fruits and vegetables, dairy products that have not been properly cooled or have become too old, production errors, etc., all end up here.

After reception, everything is filled into a large hopper that internally resembles a large meat grinder. The decomposition process is already well underway – the smell is hard to get used to! Well mixed together, it ends up as what can best be described as a "gray mush" in a large grinder. After the grinding process, plastic parts are sorted out, magnets catch metal parts, and the mush flows to one of the most important components of the facility, an LSM100 hose pump from LSM Pumps. Only with this pump can the mush be effectively pumped further into one of the 4 storage tanks.

We were fortunate to meet the two operations managers Mr. Schütt and Mr. Klingbiel, which allowed us to gain insight into how hose pumps from LSM Pumps are used in practice around the handling of food waste. Below are selected quotes from their experiences:

• "We previously worked with eccentric screw pumps, but we had to replace them every 3–4 weeks. Although we do a lot to sort out plastic, glass, and metal parts, many very small parts and also bone fragments get through. The eccentric screw pump cannot handle that."

• "We still use an eccentric pump to pump material from the storage tank into trucks. While the pump is new, it works fine. But after 3–4 weeks, the pumping time doubles. Then it's time for a new pump. The hose pump from LSM, on the other hand, runs 6–7 months before a hose needs to be replaced. It does cost twice as much compared to the eccentric pump, but since it runs significantly longer without repairs, the extra cost quickly pays off. That is also why we have asked company management for permission to replace the last eccentric pump with a hose pump. If we get approval, we will not only save money but also a lot on repairs. That would be great..."

The two operations managers conclude their report on their LSM pump.

When the ground waste ends up in one of the tanks, it is heat treated. The entire tank contents must be above 70° Celsius for at least 1 hour. Then all germs are destroyed, and the waste can be sent for further processing, typically for fermentation in a biogas plant or composting.

Prepared in cooperation with www.biolog-gmbh.de

The article was written by Henning Andersen, LSM Pumpen GmbH.