The aim of beer filtration is to obtain a bright beer, with optimum
properties regarding colloidal stability, flavour, foam, colour and
microbiological stability. Filtration is performed after maturation in order to
remove any yeast, microorganisms and colloidal particles in suspension in the
beer, thus ensuring final product stability and clarity.
The PROFI beer filtration plant from GEA Westfalia Separator Group combines
a high performance centrifuge with a membrane filtration system, allowing
perfect beer filtration without kieselguhr. The unfiltered beer, containing
fine and coarse solids, is fed into the rotating bowl and clarified in the disk
set. The coarse solids slide into the solids space of the bowl and are ejected
automatically. The clarified liquid, still containing fine solids, discharges
either by gravity or under pressure by means of a centripetal pump. The
pre-clarified beer is sent into the retentate-free operating membrane
filtration system where it passes through hollow-fibre filtration modules. Then
the clarified beer is sent to the filling station. There is no installation
required for retentate-recycling into a tank. As soon as a certain
trans-membrane pressure is reached and the filtration efficiency decreases, the
system is purged by means of CO². This is followed by a CIP cycle
using alkaline solution and water. After the CIP, the modules are disinfected
at 80 °C.