GEA Brewery Systems CO² recovery plants are the result of many years' experience and continuous development, based on comprehensive know-how relating to brewing technology and refrigeration engineering. We offer our customers tailor-made systems, designed for the respective cast wort quantity, brew cycle and original gravity that have low investment and operating costs.
CO² recovery - compact purity
Due to extract degradation, alcohol, yeast and a considerable amount of fermentation, carbon dioxide is produced during the process. At the same time, CO² with a very high degree of purity is indispensable for the production process in a modern brewery. With our CO² recovery plants we offer systems which meet all requirements of efficient carbon dioxide treatment: maximum purity with lowest O² content and maximum yield.
In several steps the fermentation carbon dioxide is purified thoroughly, so that it complies with the strictest demands of the brewing industry. From the fermentation tanks the CO² is first led to the foam separator. This stage separates the foam that is entrained from the fermentation tanks. The gas flows into the gas scrubber through a low-pressure gas storage balloon where it is cleaned by a counterflow of water. Water-soluble impurities and aerosols are absorbed from the carbon dioxide in the gas scrubber.
Made up in steps
The drying unit of the CO² recovery plant is installed after the CO² compressor. It consists of two adsorption tanks filled with drying agent. To remove the residual moisture from the gas, the carbon dioxide flows through one tank while the other tank is regenerated. Substances that influence the colour and taste are removed in the gas purifier, a unit consisting of two vessels, installed after the drying unit. With identical plant design, the only difference between the purifier and the dryer is that it’s filled activated carbon.
In the next phase the CO² is liquefied in a shell and tube heat exchanger and inert gases, such as O² and N², are removed. All stages of purification in a GEA Brewery Systems CO² recovery plant will be precisely adjusted to the specific requirements of a brewery, taking into consideration technological and financial aspects. The storage volume is reduced by compression and condensation to such an extent that temporary storage of even very large quantities of carbon dioxide requires little space.
The first step of volume reduction is two-stage compression. The fermentation carbon dioxide is compressed to one sixteenth of the original gas volume using a dry running piston compressor. The compressed gas is liquefied in the condenser and then collected in a storage tank. In this way the brewer can collect the carbon dioxide produced during fermentation over several days and can then use it for the production process as required. As an option we offer to equip our CO² recovery plant with a stripping system that meets highest requirements in terms of CO² purity.
From the beer for the beer
This hits the nail on the head when we talk about the application of our CO² recovery plants. The fully automatic systems carefully treat the CO² produced during fermentation. The purified CO² complies with all requirements for food so it can be reused for beer production. This avoids the need to purchase the gas and contributes to the quality assurance in the brewery as the beer only comes into contact with carbon dioxide produced by the brewery itself.