Teepak Process Facility

Fluor provided total master site planning and development services for this grassroots facility, which included system design as well as detailed design, procurement and construction. The 105,000-square-foot new facility includes processing and packaging areas, warehousing, offices, laboratories, central utilities and process wastewater treatment.

Located on a 7.5-acre site in a rural area, the plant manufactures an edible, synthetic sausage casing product.

Client's Challenge

The raw material for Teepak's edible casing process is collagen, an insoluble fibrous protein that occurs as the chief constituent of connective tissue between the outer hide and the muscle, or meat, of vertebrate animals. The actual manufacturing process includes slurry preparation, casing manufacture, drying and conditioning, and shirring.

Fluor's Solution

Fluor's process design included biochemical reaction analysis, production plant operating and chemical analyses, and non-Newtonian fluid flow analyses for process equipment specifications. Utility system designs included the design and specification of a wood-fired steam boiler to use waste products available from another industry in the area.

Also included was a large unit for recovering by-product ammonium sulfate in solid form. Utilities include a $1 million boiler system and related wood yard and wood-waste preparation equipment. Process waste treatment consists of two separate treatment systems, one for conventional removal and the other for denitrification of high-nitrogen content waste. The design of the effluent treatment system was based on concepts developed from laboratory and pilot plant testing.

Conclusion

Teepak's Columbia process facility leveraged Fluor's process design expertise to take laboratory concepts and successfully construct commercial operations.