Cheese company adds pump, macerator at AD plant

Adamstown, Ireland – Carrigbyrne Farmhouse Cheese Co. has introduced a pump and a macerator to help process slurry and food waste for its AD plant. The project was carried out in conjunction with its sister company Ballyshannon Recycling.

Located at Adamstown, County Wexford, the anaerobic digester at Carrigbyrne’s 198-acre dairy farm produces 1100cubic metres of biogas per day, supplying power for the cheese making process, to the farm, and to the Irish national grid.

The family-run cheese maker selected the equipment, from Börger, partly to meet animal by-products legislation, explains owner Patrick Berridge.

“Börger were able to guarantee that their pump and macerator would meet the specific EU requirement for a maximum particle size of 12mm for treatment of waste at 70°C for 1 hour,” said Berridge.

The new pumps and macerator, added Berridge, have proved both capable and reliable in this demanding process, while maintenance-in-place features make them easy to service.

Börger’s installation for Carrigbyrne follows the use of its macerator and rotary lobe pumps at a five-tonne capacity pasteurisation plant on the Aran Island of Inis Mór, Ireland. The pumps transfer output from the liquid phase pasteurisation system to a mixing wagon where the pasteurised sludge is blended with compost and bulk materials prior to being composted and screened.