Monthly Archives: April 2016

Morrison’s and Amazon sign supply agreement

Supermarket Morrisons and Amazon have announced a new supply agreement which will see hundreds of Morrisons products made available to Amazon Prime Now and Amazon Pantry customers.

According to the retailer, it will provide a wholesale supply service to Amazon, allowing Amazon’s customers access to a wide range of Morrisons ambient, fresh and frozen products.

In a statement, Morrisons said, ‘We are focused on our six priorities to make the supermarkets strong again. In addition, we have an opportunity to build a broader business that complements our supermarkets and is consistent with our commitment to pursue capital light growth. Wholesale supply enables this by growing volumes and leveraging our manufacturing, distribution and wholesale capabilities.’

David Potts, Morrions Chief Executive, commented, “Today’s agreement is built on Morrisons unique strengths as a food maker. The combination of our fresh food expertise with Amazon’s online and logistics capabilities is compelling. “This is a low risk and capital light wholesale supply arrangement that demonstrates the opportunity we have to become a broader business. We look forward to working with Amazon to develop and grow this partnership over the coming months.”

In addition, Morrisons has been in discussions with Ocado to grow Morrisons.com and has agreed in principle to take space in Ocado’s new Customer Fulfilment Centre Erith, while Ocado delivers a store pick solution for Morrisons.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons

The post Morrison’s and Amazon sign supply agreement appeared first on Hort News on 3 March 2016.

Record breaking winter for England and Wales

The Met Office has confirmed that 2015/16 was provisionally the warmest winter for England and Wales since the record series began in 1910, while it was the third-warmest for the UK as a whole.

It has also been the wettest in the record series for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and the second-wettest for the UK as a whole just behind the winter of 2013/2014.

In a statement, the forecaster said, “Following the extreme rainfall in December and early January across mainly northern and western parts of the UK, this has been a wet winter. The figures show a rainfall total for the UK of over 529 mm, well above the long term winter average of 330.4mm. This makes Winter 2015/16 the second wettest on record behind 2013/14 (545mm). These are the only two years with rainfall totals exceeding 500mm, the next wettest is 1995 (485mm).”

The only places where above average rainfall wasn’t recorded were parts of East Anglia and eastern England, but there were large contrasts across the country. The wettest areas were in the west, from Wales to eastern Scotland where many areas saw double the amount of rainfall normally recorded in winter.

Photo Caption: Winter rainfall and mean temperature for Winter 2015/16

Photo Credit: Met Office

The post Record breaking winter for England and Wales appeared first on Hort News on 3 March 2016.

First European earthworm map

In 2015, as part of the International Year of Soils, scientists from eight different countries, including Spain, created the first large-scale European map of earthworm abundance and diversity in addition to distribution maps of widespread earthworm species such as Aporrectodea caliginosa and Lumbricus terrestris.

In recent years, “the classification of edaphic invertebrates and their distribution patterns have not received priority for funding, meaning that a lot of information from unpublished studies has not been digitised,” comments María Jesús Briones, a researcher at the University of Vigo and one of the authors of the study. In addition, these animals -affected by the use of soils- were not well documented in the records, but their presence and role in the ecosystem greatly enhance the quality of the soils where they live.

France, Ireland and Germany were the top countries to gather information regarding the biodiversity of these invertebrates -France collected data from 1,423 locations- thanks to access to substantial funding to study the entire territory. On the other hand, there is still a lot to be done in Spain. “The study is the first step to creating a database of European earthworms, which needs to be improved on,” point out the authors. Given its environmental importance -being a reflection of the quality of their habitat-, the study strives for a better understanding of these invertebrate communities in addition to improved monitoring.

Photo Caption: The new worm map

The post First European earthworm map appeared first on Hort News on 26 February 2016.

Scientists implant slugs with trackers

Scientists at Harper Adams University are implanting slugs with tracking devices in an attempt to gain a better understanding of the important crop pests.

The researchers are hoping to prove a theory that, rather than being evenly distributed across fields, slug populations are focused in patches. Knowing this would help improve control strategies.

The slugs are anaesthetised before a small cut is made in the skin and the tracker, which is smaller than a grain of rice, is inserted. Once released, the slugs can be tracked, even underground, using a device which looks similar to a metal detector.

Funding for this study has come from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), which estimates that slugs can cause £100m of damage to UK crops if they aren’t properly controlled.

Photo Credit: Pixabay.com

The post Scientists implant slugs with trackers appeared first on Hort News on 26 February 2016.

Low prices hurting growers

Speaking at the NFU Conference, NFU president Meurig Raymond has warned that completion between multiple retailers, coupled with delays to the Basic Payment, volatile markets and poor weather mean that UK farmers and growers face unparalleled financial pressures.

He called for ‘actions to back the words’ from Defra on its 25-year plan for food and farming, which has been mooted for several months. Mr Raymond said, “British farming has felt blow after blow in recent years – one thing I know for sure is there is no possible way that any sector can carry on in the same vein. Farmers borrowed a £17.8billion from banks in 2015 – a record high. This paints a picture for the many businesses having the profit squeezed out of them. Viable businesses cannot continue operating without profit and farms are no exception.

“We are calling on the government to provide the tools our sector needs to overcome the challenges and ensure they thrive. The 25-year food and farming plan must address the fundamental issues of productivity and competitiveness. It needs to see a culture change about how we value food and farming.”

In her speech, Defra Secretary Liz Truss agreed, “Farmers here in Britain have faced a tough year.” However, while she promoted a number of technical innovations and research spending, she said little about addressing unsustainable market prices.

Photo Credit: Richard Crowhurst

The post Low prices hurting growers appeared first on Hort News on 26 February 2016.

New measures to control Epitrix in Scotland

New measures have come into place to protect the UK potato industry from the threat of Epitrix beetles.

EU emergency measures are already in place requiring potatoes moving from an effected area to be either washed or brushed to remove excess soil. However, there have been nine UK interceptions of Epitrix damaged potatoes, leading Defra to introduce a requirement, through the Plant Health (England) (Amendment) Order 2016, that all potatoes from Spain must be washed before being exported to the UK. This requirement came into effect on 24 February 2016. The aim is to kill or remove any Epitrix which might be present, as well as removing soil in which some life stages of the pest could be present.

Following a consultation by the Scottish Government in November last year, similar legislation will come into effect for Scottish landing ports from 21 March 2016.

Photo Credit: Defra (© Conceição Boavida Instituto Nacional de Recursos Biológicos, Portugal)

The post New measures to control Epitrix in Scotland appeared first on Hort News on 26 February 2016.

Farmer consortium chooses HRS to pasteurise digestate

A 5MW farmer-owned anaerobic digestion plant in Suffolk has chosenHRS Heat Exchangers to supply a new system to pasteurise its digestate; the valuable organic biofertiliser produced by the process

Agri-Gen, which is based near Woodbridge in Suffolk, is owned by a consortium of six local farmers who locally grow some 22,000 acres of arable and root crops, such as potatoes, carrots, parsnips and sugar beet. The anaerobic digestion plant is fed with a mixture of agricultural materials including rye, sugar beet, beet pulp, vegetable out-grades and maize, although the farms try to minimise the amount of maize grown. The energy produced by the plant is used, amongst other things, to dry and cold store crops such as potatoes and onions.

Since it began producing biogas four years ago the company has focused on expanding and running the plant, but is now in a position to carry out a number of improvements to the process, including the additional of pasteurisation to improve the biosecurity of the digestate fertiliser which is returned to the farms’ fields.

Graham Thorne of Agri-Gen explains: “The majority of material that feeds our plant is taken from our own land and the digestate goes back to our own land. However, we want to be absolutely certain that we protect our land base, so we do not want to transport crop diseases, pests or weeds across our land base. This is about making sure we don’t have problems.

“We have been looking at pasteurisation, and have been talking to HRS about their different technologies, since the beginning. However, like all AD plants there is a limit to how much capital we have available, and our first priority was to grow the AD business and be sustainable. Now we are in a position where we can do some of the things we have always planned, such as adding a pasteurisation unit.”

The unit in question is an HRS 3-Tank Batch Sludge Pasteuriser which will treat the digestate between the main digester and storage. The use of a three-tank system means that while one tank is being heated and pasteurised, another is being emptied and the third is being filled, which results in a continuous operation.

HRS International Sales Manager Matt Hale comments: “One of the reasons AgriGen selected the HRS system is that we were able to configure it to match the amount of heat that they had available from their system in a way which fitted in with their existing layout. Although the AD plant uses around 70,000 tonnes of feedstock a year, some of the digestate is recycled when it passes through the presses, and so the pasteuriser is specified to cope with treating 80-85,000 tonnes of digestate each year.”

Once treated the digestate fertiliser is separated into liquid and solid fractions before being applied to the farms’ fields using a number of techniques, such as injection and spreading of the solid fraction, where it acts as a valuable source of organic nutrients.

It is anticipated that the new pasteuriser will be installed and fully commissioned by the end of March 2016.

This story first appeared on Energy Management on 3 February 2016.

Optimising the anaerobic digestion process

Matt Hale, international sales manager at HRS Heat Exchangers, offers some anaerobic digestion process optimisation tips for the food industry

Anaerobic digestion (AD) has become a popular technology in the food processing industry recently, with over 400 AD plants now generating more than 500 MW of energy. However, the potential for UK AD is much greater – according to the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA), up to 80 TWh of methane (equivalent to 30% of the UK’s household gas demand).

AD utilises waste streams and co-products, often removing the need to employ other waste treatment technologies. It can provide heat and electricity for processing operations and also produces a valuable end product in the form of digestate biofertiliser.

With recent changes to support schemes for renewable energy in the UK, it is important to make sure that every available watt of power is utilised. The best time to assess overall plant efficiency is early in the planning process so that equipment can be appropriately specified. However, the overall efficiency of most AD plants can be further improved in some way by taking into account some common considerations.

Assess your entire process from obtaining feedstock to exporting digestate: The first step of any optimisation process is to understand what you are (or will be) doing. Analyse each step to see where wastage may occur and how it could be improved. Would it be useful to pre-warm feedstock before it enters the digester or, if this is already being done, would it be possible to re-use heat already generated elsewhere? Could value be added to the digestate through pasteurisation or concentration?

Maximise the efficiency of all processes, from energy generation to heat exchange: Check the efficiencies of all processes in terms of thermal transfer, electrical output or gas generation. Keeping equipment, particularly heat exchange surfaces, clean and maintained will help it to operate at maximum efficiency. When specifying equipment over the operational life of plant the effects of even a small difference in overall efficiency could be considerable. Likewise, reducing the volume of digestate produced by the plant may create other efficiencies, such as reducing the amount of storage required or transport requirements.

Re-use heat which would otherwise be wasted: Any large quantity of heat can be used for something, including the heat from the cooling loop of the CHP engine and from heat exchangers. Pre-heating feedstock may increase the efficiency of the digester, while if you are already doing so, using heat from elsewhere in the process will be cheaper (and greener) than creating heat just for this purpose. Pasteurising the digestate using recycled heat circumvents the need to install an additional heat source such as a biomass boiler, which could add hundreds of thousands of pounds to a project.

Aim for continuous processing: Having to stop and start a plant can be inefficient, even if the process is automated. Using multi-tank pasteurisation or digestate concentration systems means that while one tank is being heat treated the other/s can be filling or emptying, ensuring that the rest of the AD process is not interrupted.

Maximise the quality and value of your digestate: Digestate should be a key product of AD and not something which needs to be dealt with. Maximising its value in terms of nutrients, ease of use and quality will also help to increase its financial value to your business. Pasteurising the digestate not only complies with PAS110, but can act to reassure buyers. Producing digestate of a suitable consistency for agricultural use can also increase its value and usefulness to farmers and growers.

Minimise downtime and maintenance: If the plant is not running, then it isn’t generating energy or a return on investment. While routine maintenance and servicing is essential to keep any equipment running well, you shouldn’t have to keep stopping to clean pipes or replace filters. You should also expect equipment to have a reasonable service life and not be prematurely damaged, for example by corrosion.

This story first appeared on Industrial Compliance on 26 January 2016.

Farmer consortium selects HRS kit to pasteurise digestate

A 5MW farmer-owned anaerobic digestion (AD) plant in Suffolk, UK, has selected HRS Heat Exchangers to supply a new system to pasteurise its digestate — the organic biofertiliser produced by the process.

Agri-Gen, which is based near Woodbridge in Suffolk, is owned by a consortium of six local farmers who locally grow some 22,000 acres of arable and root crops, such as potatoes, carrots, parsnips and sugar beet.

The AD plant is fed with a mixture of agricultural materials including rye, sugar beet, beet pulp, vegetable out-grades and maize, although the farms try to minimise the amount of maize grown.

The energy produced by the plant is used, amongst other things, to dry and cold store crops such as potatoes and onions.

Since it began producing biogas four years ago the company has focused on expanding and running the plant, but is now in a position to carry out a number of improvements to the process, including the additional of pasteurisation to improve the biosecurity of the digestate fertiliser which is returned to the farms’ fields.

This article first appeared on Bioenergy Insight on 22 January 2016.

HRS showcase ultra-efficient heat transfer techniques

HRS Heat Exchangers, Stand CR7, The Thermal Engineering Show

HRS Heat Exchangers will showcase the latest heat transfer techniques, such as high efficiency corrugated tube technology and heat recovery, on stand CR7 at the Thermal Engineering Show in Derby, 2 June.

Using corrugated tubes provides higher rates of heat transfer and greater efficiency in a smaller package compared to smooth tube heat exchangers, which is why HRS use them as standard across its comprehensive range of tubular heat exchangers. Depending on the application, up to 75% of the heat used can be recaptured after the heat transfer process, result in energy savings of 40% or more.

HRS produces a comprehensive range of corrugated tube heat exchangers for a variety of industries including agriculture, food and drink production, waste management, water and gas treatment, pharmaceuticals, and renewable energy to name some of them.

“The exact requirements of a heat exchanger vary considerably according to its situation, but using corrugated tubes in our double tube and multi-tube heat exchangers provides users with a number of common benefits over other systems,” explains Matt Hale, HRS International Sales Manager.

“Increasing the efficiency of the heat transfer means that less area is required to achieve the same result, so heat exchangers can be shorter and therefore cheaper. Less energy is required for pumping which adds to the overall savings and reusing captured heat enables businesses to save energy elsewhere in their process.”

For more challenging applications, for example heat exchange of viscous fluids which require larger heat transfer or in industries and materials with high rates of fouling, HRS have developed a range of scraped surface heat exchangers. These remove the fouling layer from the surface of the tubes during operation in order to maintain performance efficiency and maintain product quality.

For 35 years HRS heat exchangers have been specified by plant developers and end users around the world in applications including diaries, food manufacturing, anaerobic digestion plants, waste water treatment, chemicals and many others. Units can also be retrofitted by operators looking to improve plant efficiency or as part of ongoing expansion due to their low maintenance requirements, long service life and overall value for money.

This article first appeared on Process & Control Today on 7 March 2016.