Industry
Cooling Water Systems
Cooling Towers are under constant attack by biological fouling. This leads to corrosion, which in turn affects operational efficiency.
Industrial cooling water systems are ideal incubators for promoting growth and proliferation of microorganisms as the temperature, pH, organic, inorganic salts, sunlight and plenty of oxygen in the cooling systems provides a favourable environment.
Biological fouling in cooling water systems is caused by Algae, Fungi and Bacteria.
Sixty to seventy percent of the bacteria living in recirculating cooling water systems belong to two genera of Pseudomonas and Aerobacter. These are mostly aerobic species living in an oxygen environment. The other very dangerous species are the Sulphate Reducing Bacteria (SRB) which are anaerobic. These are generally found in the recesses of the basin of the system, where recirculation is less and the environment is devoid of oxygen. These organisms cause pitting type of corrosion. The limits generally followed for recirculating cooling waters are – TBC/ml: 105/ml, Pseudomonas: 104/ml, SRB: 103/100ml.
The most practical and efficient method to control microbes in cooling water is through the usage of biocides; both oxidizing and non-oxidizing.
But before control, the most important step is detection of the harmful bacteria, for the following points:
- Estimation of the extent of contamination
- Selection of the right biocide, the optimum dosage and the required frequency of dosage.
Detection and estimation, of microorganisms are done by conventional techniques like:
The Plate Count, Most Probable Number, and the Membrane Filter Technique. All these techniques require a well-equipped laboratory, with trained microbiologists, are tedious, time consuming and expensive.
BACTASLYDE®
Detect Bacteria Easily
Anytime….Anywhere….
Paint & Pigment Industry
One of the most important factors for growth of microorganisms is moisture i.e. water concept. All kinds of food, drugs, cosmetics and water based paint emulsions etc. contain good amount of water and high concentration of microbial nutrients, which can be used by microorganisms as food.
Water based paints are expected to have a long shelf life and hence are susceptible to growth of microorganisms, this leads to a deterioration of paint within the container. Also, there is a possibility of the paint imparting the microbial contamination to the applied surface (of usage).
Even though the final product is in the dried form, a certain amount of moisture is retained in the product. The moisture is capable of sustaining the microbial growth.
Water based paints made from pigments & dyes thus help proliferate the dormant microbial contamination, as water, (one of the ingredients,) is an important factor for the breeding of these organisms. Some additives such as Casein act as the food for the bacteria to grow.
Also the putrefaction and fermentation of paint caused by bacteria destroy the protective colloid and change the viscosity of paint. Thereby paint tins lose their shape.
The species generally encountered are Pseudomonas, which are very versatile and can adapt to any environment. They also produce slime, which can harbour other organisms that can be detrimental to the storage quality of the paint. The other types of organism are fungi, which form a fluffy growth on the surface of application.
Since detection is the first step to control, it is important to ascertain the extent of contamination. This helps to deal with contamination effectively. Detection of bacterial contamination with BACTASLYDE® is extremely simple.
Breweries
Microbial Contamination can occur at different stages of production of the Beer making process:
- Raw materials, viz. Barley & Malt: - Damp and Moist conditions are conducive to the development of microbes in these cereals.
- Water: - The most important component and the largest raw material used in fermentation media is water. Microorganisms thrive in water in which most of their nutritive requirements are dissolved. Fermentation media contains 70% to 90% of water. Water can affect the quality of the product, eg. The flavor of the beverage. Therefore the quality of the water can be very critical.
It is very important to control these contaminating hordes, as they affect the yield of the final product. The first step to control is detection. Therefore an exercise in identifying the contaminant is to be performed, especially in the raw material (cereals, water), fermentation wort tanks and post pasteurization.
BACTASLYDE®, an easy to use microbe detection device and is available for the detection of several types of microbes viz. Aerobic bacteria, Yeasts and Fungi, E-coli, Pseudomonas.
Paper Industry
The paper indusrty largely uses natural raw material like wood pulp, plant fibers viz. sugar can baggase, wheat straw, barley straw and oat straw etc. Another natural resources, the most precious & the most used is water. All these raw materials are susceptible to microbial growth and contamination before and during processing, as they provide rich nutrients for growth.
After the paper is made in the sheet form it is washed with water. The wtaer is circulated and is therefore prone to microbial attack. This water is termed as ‘back up’ water. The ‘back up’ water is used to remove dirt and debris from the finished goods i.e. paper sheets while they are rotating over the roller. This again adds to the contamination. To control the contamination in this ‘ back up’ water, biocides are added. These biocides allow the water to be reused for a number of times.
The most practical and efficient method to control microbes in cooling water is through the usage of biocides; both oxidising and non oxidising.
Regular detection helps to achieve optimum use of the biocide and thereby reduce corrosion, improve efficiency and most important of all, avoid breakdowns. Excess or insufficient usage of the biocide can lead to microorganisms developing a resistance towards the biocide, especially, the non-oxidising ones.
BACTASLYDE®
Detect Bacteria Easily
Anytime….Anywhere….
Metal working Fluids (Machine Tool Industry)
Microorganisms are ubiquitous nuisances and can exist in all kinds of unlikely places. One of the most important factors for their growth is moisture and very little of it will also suffice for their sustenance.
Metal working Fluids are no exception to this rule. Microbial contamination occurs especially on dilution, caused by the usage of contaminated water. This is one of the vehicles, the other being the atmosphere, workers eating habits, etc.
Industrial Biocides are chemical formulations, which control the proliferation of miroorganisms in the materials. These biocides are mostly organic componds, which are biodegradable and therefore have to be replenised from time to time.
Easy to use microbe detection devices like BACTASLYDE® would enable a NON MICROBIOLOGIST, even semi-skilled personnel to monitor contamination and to optimize the usage of biocides.
Most Metal working fluid formulations contain biocides and are diluted before use. On dilution many of these biocides are unstable. This especially occurs wherever centralized mixing is practiced.
If the formulations do not contain biocides, microbes would flourish right at the onset of use i.e. on dilution. Some brands do claim resistance to spoilage. Bacteria proliferation could give rise to health problems or flash rusting.
The types of organisms found to thrive in the metal working fluids are:
- Aerobic (Oxygen dependent) bacteria: The species generally found are Bacillus, Pseudomonas & some pigment producers. These are generally the first invaders.
- Yeast & Fungi: These organisms take over secondarily in formulations containing biocides, as they are more effective towards bacteria and less towards Yeast & Fungi. In acidic conditions, these species might dominate, over the bacterial species.
- Sulphate Reducing Bacteria: These are anaerobic species (not requiring oxygen) which give rise to the Monday morning odours as they produce hydrogen sulphide gas. They also initiate corrosion on steel and other non-ferrous metals. Sulphide generation once started increases rapidly. This can be prevented by aeration. However aerobic bacteria will proliferate due to aeration.
Food Industry
Many kinds of microorganisms multiply prolifically in most of the organic substances used as food by humans. Most organisms commonly present in or on foods are harmless. However, spoilage by these ubiquitous nuisances is a common calamity, both in various food and dairy industries and in the domestic kitchen.
Several kinds of pathogenic micro-organisms principally bacteria can grow vigorously in many moist, warm foods such as milk, meat, eggs, fish, etc. Pathogens generally gain entrance to foods from soil (botulism), from infected handlers of foods (e.g. diarrhoea, colds, sore throats, boils, etc.) and contaminated water or from infected animals. Contamination of this kind could result in a great health risk. This calamity could be avoided if microbial count of the food stuff could be monitored regularly and thus kept in check. Normally this would be done by plate counts. What better, simpler, more rapid method than BACTASLYDE®.
Dairy Industry
Nutritionally, milk is considered, one of the most complete foods for man & microorganisms. Many milk-borne epidemics of human diseases in the past and present have been caused by contamination of milk through unsanitary handling by milkman. BACTASLYDE® for evaluation of milk is in use for some time. This method is found to be extremely convenient, rapid, easy and cheap to regularly monitor counts in milk and thus keep contamination in check, preventing any spread of disease.
Cosmetics & Pharmaceutical
A wide variety of cosmetics and pharmaceutical products are susceptible to bacterial and fungal invasion, resulting in spoilage. The formulations of these products are such that microbial growth would be supported rather than discouraged. In addition to an active ingredient, these contain a variety of organic and inorganic materials, which could affect microbial growth. Contaminated cosmetics & medicines could produce ill effects.
BACTASLYDE® could efficiently be used to detect growth in Cosmetics & Pharmaceuticals even by unskilled workers on the spot.
Food Processing Spices
The spices find extensive use in daily life in foods. They normally are contaminated with undesirable type of micro organisms and when added may bring about the spoilage of food. India being the home land of spices produced varieties of spices and spice powders and mixed masala powders for internal use and of export.
Importing countries are cautious on the microbial contamination in spices at the time of import. Almost all the importing countries have fixed the limits for Salmonella as absent in 25g. Specifications have been prescribed laid out by major importing countries for the microbial parameters such as Total Plate Count, E-coli, Yeast, Mould, Coliforms, etc. The Limits for the above parameters vary from country to country.
- Salmonella absent in (at least) 25g.
- Yeast & Moulds 105/g target, 106/g absolute maximum.
- E-coli. 102/g, 103/g absolute maximum.
- Other requirements to be agreed between buyer and seller.
Detection and estimation, of microorganisms are done by conventional techniques like:
The Plate Count, Most Probable Number, and the Membrane Filter Technique
All these techniques require a well-equipped laboratory, with trained microbiologists, are tedious, time consuming and expensive.
BACTASLYDE®
Detect Bacteria Easily
Anytime….Anywhere….
Oil & Petroleum
The SRB belongs naturally to water of oil bearing shale and oil technology would be incomplete without these inhabitants.
There is not a simple aspect in the oil excavating process where the SRB do not interfere and create problems. They are present in injection waters, they produce hydrogen contaminating the natural gas and their slime chokes systems.
Machinery used for pumping, installations as well as holding tanks are all susceptible to attack by the SRB.
Injection seawaters are an extremely favourable environment for the highly tolerable marine Desulphovibrio species. This water would become highly corrosive and polluted.
