Giant Mexican tuna cannery chooses MBR after pilot test

One of the world’s largest tuna canneries in Mexico is installing a full-scale MeurerMBR membrane bioreactor following a successful pilot test.

Construction of a 260,000 GPD (984,100 L/d) plant is already under way at the Perscados Industrializados SA (PINSA) cannery in Mazatlan.

Producing more than one million cans daily, PINSA is one of the largest manufacturers of canned tuna in the world. The cannery is updating its wastewater system to comply with new effluent quality regulations adopted by the Mexican government.

MeurerMBR was chosen for its small footprint, exceptional effluent quality and new, patented BIO-CEL® Mechanical Cleaning Process (MCP), which removes membrane deposits without using toxic chemicals; eliminates the costs of chemical purchase and storage; and maintains membrane permeability.

In the full-scale system, 30% of the MBR effluent will be further polished for plant reuse using ozone, activated carbon, and RO processes.

Wastewater for the cannery is a byproduct of defrosting, carving, cooking and canning. Fabrication and design of the pilot began in December 2010, and on-site testing began in January 2011.