You are here:
POLLUTION PREVENTION ASSESSMENT FOR A MANUFACTURER OF BOURBON WHISKEY (EPA/600/S-95/010
Citation:
Fleischman, M., D. Cambron, AND G. P. Looby. POLLUTION PREVENTION ASSESSMENT FOR A MANUFACTURER OF BOURBON WHISKEY (EPA/600/S-95/010. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC (NTIS 95-274460), 1995.
Impact/Purpose:
information
Description:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has funded a pilot project to assist small and medium-size manufacturers who want to minimize their generation of waste but who lack the expertise to do so. Waste Minimization Assessment Centers (WMACs) were established at selected universities and procedures were adapted from the EPA Waste Minimization Opportunity Assessment Manual (EPA/625/7-88/003, July 1988). That document has been superseded by the Facility Pollution Prevention (EPA/600/R-92/088, May 1992). The WMAC team at the University of Louisville performed an assessment at a plant that produces bourbon whiskey. Grains are ground, cooked, and fermented using yeast. The resulting fermented product is sent to a beer still for alcohol recovery. Overhead vapors go to a doubler from which they flash yielding a new whiskey. The new whiskey obtained is stored in charred wooden barrels for several years and, after maturation, is shipped offsite for bottling. The team's report, detailing findings and recommendations, indicated that carbon dioxide and ethanol are vented to the atmosphere in large quantities and that significant cost savings could be realized through carbon dioxide and ethanol recovery.