The two professors at Saginaw Valley State University believe it is possible to use clean, hot waste water generated by beet processing at Monitor Sugar Co. to raise freshwater prawns, a shrimp-like creature.

Swenson and Puia are part of a team of researchers, scientists and business people that recently embarked on a feasibility study to see if such a prawn farm could be economically successful.

If the study finds that prawns can be raised and sold at a decent profit, Monitor Sugar - or any other manufacturer that creates waste heat and water - could play an important role in what Swenson and Puia believe would be a major breakthrough in aquaculture in the northern United States.

"This idea came about because we were brainstorming to come up with ideas for the creation of sustainable, ecologically sound businesses from scratch," said Swenson, the H.H. Dow Professor of Chemistry at SVSU. "We were wondering what could be done with hot water.

"I see a lot of hot water going to waste in this state that could be used for other things. This is just one example of how it could be better used," Swenson said.

Each year, Bay City-based Monitor Sugar processes around 1 million tons of sugar beets to extract the sugar. One of the byproducts of the process is hot water that comes directly from the beets.

"A beet is actually about 80 percent water," said Chris D. Rhoten, vice president of operations at Monitor Sugar, 2600 S. Euclid Ave. "We generate about 750,000 gallons of treated waste water per day during our production campaign. Some of that water is stored and reused, but some is discharged."

Monitor Sugar's production campaign roughly runs from late September to mid-February.

"It is theoretically possible to utilize the excess hot water generated by beet processing to support alternative sustainable aquaculture adjacent to the manufacturing facility," wrote Puia in a grant proposal to the Sustainable Communities Initiative Fund.

"Prawn farms are common in the most southern parts of our country, where winter weather temperatures seldom approach freezing. The primary perceived limit to aquaculture in Michigan is the availability of adequate warm water in rearing ponds.

"If prawn farm technology developed in the warm waters of the Gulf Coast could be transferred to Michigan by utilizing the water from industrial processes, then environmentally sustainable aquaculture businesses could be established not only throughout the Saginaw Bay Watershed, but also throughout the state," Puia said.

Rhoten said hot waste water leaves the production facility at between 130 and 210 degrees Fahrenheit. Some of that water sits in holding ponds, where it cools naturally and is later reused.

"I'm not sure what they (Swenson and Puia) intend to do, but you could build ponds for raising prawns and keep the water warm during the winter months by pumping in the hot water," Rhoten said. "We have ducks on our pond during the winter because the water stays warm."

Rhoten said such a system, which would require the construction of pipelines from Monitor Sugar to the prawn farm, could eliminate between 30 and 40 percent of the company's waste water.

To assist researchers in conducting the year-long feasibility study, the Sustainable Communities Initiative Fund, which is part of the Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network, recently granted Swenson and Puia's team $28,713.

According to Michael T. Kelly, project coordinator for The Conservation Fund, which oversees the Watershed Initiative Network, the grant was awarded because the freshwater prawn project attempts to use resources wisely today to ensure that other resources are there tomorrow.

"Monitor Sugar has a unique resource in that it ends up with a bunch of waste water that is heated after processing beets. Hot water is a tremendous resource if you can figure out how to use it," Kelly said.

He said the total projected budget for the project is $84,741.

"We perceive the feasibility study as the first stage of a three-stage research project," wrote Puia in the grant proposal. "The second stage would be a laboratory simulation of the project, followed by a field trial.

"The third stage would be a commercial application of the technology, supported by investment," Puia wrote.

Swenson said a prawn farm in Michigan would probably raise creatures weighing between 2-4 ounces.

Puia, the Dow Chemical Co. Centennial Chair in Global Business at SVSU, said he thinks a prawn farm in mid-Michigan is feasible, but to be sustainable it must be profitable.

"If we move forward with this project, it will create jobs and add value to the community," Puia said. "It will also be a major boost to the environment in the Saginaw-Bay Watershed.

"A lot of people think if you're pro-environment then you're anti-business. I think it's possible to be pro-environment and pro-business and we'd like to create a model project to show that," he said.

- Rob Clark is business editor for The Times. He can be reached at 894-9642.