Assessing dealcoholization systems based on reverse osmosis

M.V. Pilipovik
a
, C. Riverol
b,
*
a
Armach Engineers, Av. Principal de los Palos Grandes, Los Palos Grandes, Caracas, Venezuela
b
Chemical Engineering Department, University of West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago
Received 11 March 2004; accepted 17 August 2004
Available online 12 October 2004
Abstract
Several production processes have been proposed for reduced-alcohol beverages. In general, the processes require specialized
equipment with an inherently higher production cost. Each process, however, has its advantages and disadvantages. A study about
reverse osmosis is carried out in this paper. According to the results, the reverse osmosis is not economically feasible for the pro-
duction of beverages with an alcohol percentage lower 0.45%. The original extract and carbohydrates are reduced lightly such that
the beverage takes a rather worthy taste. Particularly, the original beverages with higher pH produce concentration polarization
phenomena such that the fouling in the membrane is increased and the solute ux is reduced considerably. However the RO system
can be improved whether compensation techniques are developed.
2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Reverse osmosis; Dealcoholization; Fermentation; Beverage; Operational parameters
1. Introduction
The economics of dealcoholization of wine and other
beverages using reverse osmosis technology have been
continuously improving with a reduction of product cost
as a result of lower investment costs and decreased power
consumption (Tan, Xiao, & Li, 2003). However, the pro-
duction of beer or wine with an alcohol percentage lower
than 0.5% has been unsuccessful (Stein, 1993).
The most important reverse osmosis (RO) operating
parameters which have the largest eect on investment
and operating cost are: recovery rate and the membrane.
The recovery rate expresses the eectiveness of a mem-
brane to remove salts or other components from the
solution and directly aects the size and cost of all proc-
ess equipment and power consumption. Increasing the
recovery raises the brine concentration and the osmotic
pressure; however the feed ow is inversely proportional
to the design recovery rate.
Is especially attractive the membrane eectiveness as
indicator of the quality of the system. The membranes
for RO systems are made for concentrating compounds
with molecular weights between 250 and 2000 Da, and
removing monovalent salts, methanol and/or ethanol
from aqueous solutions of these compounds. An ideal
membrane has the following characteristics:
High monovalent salts, methanol/ethanol rejection
High permeability to water
Resistant to high and low temperature
Resistant to oxidizing agents
Resistant to all kind of fouling (inorganic, organic,
colloidal, and microbiological fouling)
Chemically, physically, and thermally stable in aque-
ous solutions
Capable of being formed to yield high membrane
area-to-volume ratio (packing density)
Long and reliable life
Inexpensive
0260-8774/$ - see front matter 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2004.08.035
*
Corresponding author. Fax: +1 8686624414.
E-mail address: criverol@eng.uwi.tt (C. Riverol).
www.elsevier.com/locate/jfoodeng
Journal of Food Engineering 69 (2005) 437441
This contribution addresses the advantages, disadvan-
tages and limitations of RO system. A set of experimen-
tal tests were prepared for evaluate the RO system in
dierent operating conditions and type of alcohol
beverages.
2. Materials and method
Five alcoholic homemade beverages were used in this
paper. The characteristics of the alcoholic beverages
(AB) are shown the Table 1.
The RO equipment is renew Spiral-wound system as
depicted the Fig. 1. It consists of three leaves and two
membrane elements. Each leaf has two at sheets of
semipermeable membrane separated and supported by
a porous backing material and sealed together at the
edges by special epoxy or polyurethane adhesives. The
edges of the membrane are sealed on three sides only
to form a exible envelope. This unit is then inserted
into a glass-ber, pressure vessel for use.
The alcoholic beverages are fed from a tank to the
RO system to 20 L/h using a small pump and the tem-
perature is maintained to 0 C using a small PLC unit.
The pressure can be changed from 35 to 50 bar without
major problem. The ltration process is continuing until
that the tank is empty (approximately 2 h) and nally
the ltrate ow was analyzed.
All RO units can be described using a diusion
model. According to Al Shaylis model (Al Shayli,
1998) based on pure diusion, feed ux through the
membrane is given by
J
w
P
f

DP
d
2
P
p

P
osf
P
osb

2

K
w
s
d

1
The osmotic pressure is given by
P
os
0:081T
X
m
i
2
Salt rejection expresses the eectiveness of a membrane
to remove salts from the water. It can be calculated from
the following equation:
%SR 1
product concentration
feed concentration

100 3
Finally the solute ow is obtained using the equation
following:
J
s
K
s
DC
S
d

4
3. Results and discussion
The beverage under high pressure is passed through
RO system. Water and low molecular weight com-
pounds such as ethanol pass through the membrane
while other compounds are retained. The thermal degra-
Notations
T temperature (K)
K
s
membrane permeability coecient for
alcohol
J
s
solute rate
S membrane surface area
d membrane thickness (8
00
SW)
K
w
membrane permeability coecient for the
permeate
P
f
feed pressure
P
d
dierence between feed pressure and perme-
ate pressure
P
p
permeate pressure
P
osb
osmotic pressure of the brine
P
osf
osmotic pressure of the feed
J
w
permeate production
m molar concentration of all constituents of the
solution
Table 1
Homemade beverage specications
AB-1 AB-2 AB-3 AB-4 AB-5
Apparent extract (P) 4.0 2.5 2.9 2.8 2.87
Alcohol (%) 5.5 7.1 6.0 5.7 5.7
Turbidity (EBC) 0.8 0.9 2.0 0.8 0.8
pH 5.1 5.2 5.2 4.1 6.0
Carbohydrates (%) 90 91 90 90 90
Salts and minerals (%) 1.4 1.4 1.4 0.9 2.5
Fig. 1. Sprial membrane element.
438 M.V. Pilipovik, C. Riverol / Journal of Food Engineering 69 (2005) 437441
dation of the beverage is neglected because the system
works to low temperature. The results for all beverages
are shown in Tables 25.
The conclusions obtained from the rst phase of this
study are: the lowest alcohol percentage obtained in all
cases was 0.5%. Dierent scenarios were dened how-
ever; a reduction under 0.5% was impossible. Although
the objective of this work is to produce lower-alcohol
beverages, a reduction in the apparent extract and the
carbohydrates content were observed when the system
was working under 45 bar.
The physical removal of alcohol has certainly a num-
ber of advantages for the society (healthy drinks, drunk-
driving legislation etc.), nevertheless, the equipment
should work in the maximum pressure whether the qual-
ity of the nal product likes to be maintained. As conse-
quence, it carries out an inherent higher production cost
and consumption of power.
Observing the Tables, the quality of the product was
not constant and depending on the operability condi-
tions dierent results were obtained. The most critical
case is depicted in the Table 5, where AB-5 has a higher
salt % and the concentration polarization phenomena
was observed lightly and the fouling in the membrane
increases sharply reducing the extract and alcohol per-
centages in the nal product.
A new strategy should be created for compensate the
system and trying to keep the quality of the product.
Identifying the transport variables and operating
parameters is easier to improve the required resulting
qualities.
As mentioned early, Eq. (1) denes the feed ux. It
depends on the membrane properties, temperature of
the system and the chemical composition of the solution.
Moreover, the solute ux, see Eq. (4), is an indicator for
the membrane eectiveness in removing salts, ethanol/
methanol from water. The solute ux is a function of
the system temperature and the composition. Therefore,
it is a property of the membrane itself and indirectly re-
lated to the feed pressure.
For that reason, salt/ethanol rejection expresses the
eectiveness of a membrane to remove salts/ethanol
from the solution. Increasing the recovery raises the
brine concentration and the osmotic pressure, thus
decreasing the permeate ux and increasing the total dis-
solved solid (TDS) in the product.
Since the feed ux through the RO membrane is
higher than that of salt, there is an accumulation of salt
on the membrane surface on the pressurized side of a
membrane. This phenomenon is called concentration
polarization. The increase in concentration polarization
has two eects:
Increases the osmotic pressure, and reducing the feed
ux across the membrane.
Increases the driving force of the concentration dier-
ence across the membrane, which reduces the driving
potential, increases the salt passage and gives poor
product quality.
All these eects increase the capital cost and the power
requirements per unit of product. The above transport
equations lead to the following important conclusions:
Feed ow is proportional to P.
Solute ow is proportional to concentration and is
independent of the applied pressure.
The increase in the operating pressure increases the
feed ow without changing the salt ow.
Table 2
Specications of nal product from AB-1
Pressure (bar) 35 40 45 50
Apparent extract (P) 3.5 3.57 3.9 3.9
Alcohol (%) 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.5
Turbidity (EBC) 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4
pH 4.7 4.7 4.7 4.7
Carbohydrates (%) 81 81 81 85
Salts and minerals (%) 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.7
Table 3
Specications of nal product from AB-2
Pressure (bar) 35 40 45 50
Apparent extract (P) 2.4 2.4 2.5 2.5
Alcohol (%) 0.9 0.8 0.5 0.5
Turbidity (EBC) 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4
pH 4.8 4.7 4.7 4.7
Carbohydrates (%) 81 81 81 85
Salts and minerals (%) 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.7
Table 4
Specications of nal product from AB-3
Pressure (bar) 35 40 45 50
Apparent extract (P) 2.8 2.8 2.9 2.9
Alcohol (%) 0.9 0.8 0.5 0.5
Turbidity (EBC) 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4
pH 4.8 4.7 4.7 4.7
Carbohydrates (%) 81 81 81 85
Salts and minerals (%) 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.7
Table 5
Specications of nal product from AB-4
Pressure (bar) 35 40 45 50
Apparent extract (P) 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.8
Alcohol (%) 0.9 0.8 0.5 0.5
Turbidity (EBC) 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6
pH 4.4 4.5 4.5 4.5
Carbohydrates (%) 81 81 81 85
Salts and minerals (%) 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.1
M.V. Pilipovik, C. Riverol / Journal of Food Engineering 69 (2005) 437441 439
When a reverse-osmosis system is used on a commercial
level, it is important to check its performance periodi-
cally. As time passes, the membrane performance deteri-
orates continuously due to pressure compaction and
fouling. For which, its transport parameters to change
and the performance of the module to decline.
A low production rate, below design specications,
could be an indication of membrane fouling. If the
recovery is above the design specication, then the brine
concentration and the osmotic pressure will increase,
causing a decrease the permeate ux and an increase
in dissolved solid content in the product. Since the feed
ow is maintained constant during operation, the prod-
uct ow must be controlled to maintain a constant
recovery during operation.
A gradual or rapid increase in the product conductiv-
ity is an indication of membrane fouling or mechanical
damage in the membrane module, respectively (Al Sha-
yli (1998)). Both permeate ux and conductivity are af-
fected by
pH
Temperature
The pH of the feed ux must be monitored and control-
led for to increase the life of cellular acetate membranes
by protecting them from degradation that result from
hydrolysis. Hydrolysis is the reaction of cellular acetate
with water to produce an alcohol and an acid. Hydroly-
sis depends on both pH and temperature. The minimum
hydrolysis rate occurs at a pH of 4.55. See Table 6.
The feed temperature has a signicant eect on the
membrane performance because the beverage tempera-
ture aects the feed ux in another way. If the RO plant
is operating under an ideal condition with no fouling or
scaling, feed ux will decline with time, because of com-
paction phenomena. Nevertheless, the compaction phe-
nomena was not studied because the temperature was
not considered in this work for avoid thermal degrada-
tion in the alcoholic beverages.
The major problem in dealcoholization is to keep the
quality of the nal product in a reasonable range. Stud-
ying all problems mentioned early, a procedure for the
dilution of the initial AB solutions was necessary. The
dissolution compensates the loss water during the proc-
ess (reducing problems in the salts contents, pH) and the
apparent extract was increased in a 1% (the reduction of
the apparent extract in all cases was the same approxi-
mately). The results are depicted in Tables 716.
The low pressures have do not been considered be-
cause the better results were obtained to high pressures.
From Table 7 until 16, the results indicated that the
quality of the beverages was maintained inside an
acceptable range (the values of extract, salts, carbohy-
drates were maintained constants practically). However
we recommend using avoring additives for restoring
the avor. The dilution avoided the clogging of the
Table 6
Specications of nal product from AB-5
Pressure (bar) 35 40 45 50
Apparent extract (P) 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.1
Alcohol (%) 0.9 0.8 0.5 1.0
Turbidity (EBC) 0.6 0.6 0.6 1.1
pH 4.4 4.5 4.5 4.0
Carbohydrates (%) 81 81 81 80
Salts and minerals (%) 1.0 1.1 1.1 0.8
Table 7
Dilution of AB-1 at 45 bar
Water compensation (%) 1 2 3 4
Apparent extract (P) 2.8 3.4 3.5 3.5
Alcohol (%) 0.8 0.7 0.5 0.5
Turbidity (EBC) 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.6
pH 4.4 4.5 5.1 5.9
Carbohydrates (%) 81 86 90 90
Salts and minerals (%) 1.1 1.1 1.4 1.6
Table 8
Dilution of AB-1 at 50 bar
Water compensation (%) 1 2 3 4
Apparent extract (P) 2.7 3.5 3.6 3.6
Alcohol (%) 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.5
Turbidity (EBC) 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.6
pH 4.4 4.7 5.1 5.9
Carbohydrates (%) 81 89 90 90
Salts and minerals (%) 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.6
Table 9
Dilution of AB-2 at 45 bar
Water compensation (%) 1 2 3 4
Apparent extract (P) 2.3 2.3 2.5 2.5
Alcohol (%) 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5
Turbidity (EBC) 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.5
pH 4.5 4.9 5.2 5.2
Carbohydrates (%) 86 88 91 90
Salts and minerals (%) 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.4
Table 10
Dilution of AB-2 at 50 bar
Water compensation (%) 1 2 3 4
Apparent extract (P) 2.3 2.5 2.5 2.5
Alcohol (%) 0.6 7.1 0.5 0.5
Turbidity (EBC) 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6
PH 4.7 5.2 5.1 5.1
Carbohydrates (%) 88 91 90 90
Salts and minerals (%) 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.4
440 M.V. Pilipovik, C. Riverol / Journal of Food Engineering 69 (2005) 437441
membrane and the feed ux was practically constant
along the set of experiments.
4. Conclusion
This contribution describes the most relevant issues
associated to reverse osmosis systems. Although some
controversy surrounds this subject, we recommend di-
lute the initial alcoholic solution because it can keep
the levels of the carbohydrate contents, extract percent-
age and salts in an acceptable range without alter the
avor and quality of the product. The production of
low-alcohol beverages require RO units working at high
pressure such that production costs and consumption of
power are incremented considerably thus that it is not
economically feasible to large-scale.
References
Al Shayli, K. (1998). Modeling, simulation, and optimization of large-
scale commercial desalination plants. PhD Thesis, University of
Virginia.
Stein, W. (1993). Dealcoholization of beer. Technical Quarterly,
Master Brewer Association of America, 30(2), 5457.
Tan, S.-j., Xiao, Z.-y., & Li, L. (2003). Experimental research on
dealcoholization of wine by pervaporation. Fine Chemicals, 20(2),
6971.
Table 11
Dilution of AB-3 at 45 bar
Water compensation (%) 1 2 3 4
Apparent extract (P) 2.8 2.8 2.9 2.9
Alcohol (%) 0.8 0.7 0.5 0.5
Turbidity (EBC) 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6
pH 4.4 4.5 5.2 5.2
Carbohydrates (%) 81 86 90 90
Salts and minerals (%) 1.1 1.1 1.4 1.4
Table 12
Dilution of AB-3 at 50 bar
Water compensation (%) 1 2 3 4
Apparent extract (P) 2.8 2.9 2.9 2.9
Alcohol (%) 0.8 0.5 0.5 0.5
Turbidity (EBC) 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6
pH 4.4 4.8 5.2 5.2
Carbohydrates (%) 81 88 90 90
Salts and minerals (%) 1.1 1.3 1.4 1.4
Table 13
Dilution of AB-4 at 45 bar
Water compensation (%) 1 2 3 4
Apparent extract (P) 2.7 2.7 2.8 2.8
Alcohol (%) 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.5
Turbidity (EBC) 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5
pH 4.4 4.8 4.1 5.2
Carbohydrates (%) 81 88 90 90
Salts and minerals (%) 1.1 1.3 0.9 1.4
Table 14
Dilution of AB-4 at 50 bar
Water compensation (%) 1 2 3 4
Apparent extract (P) 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.8
Alcohol (%) 0.8 0.5 0.5 0.5
Turbidity (EBC) 0.6 0.7 0.6 0.6
pH 4.4 4.1 4.1 4.1
Carbohydrates (%) 81 88 89 90
Salts and minerals (%) 1.1 0.9 0.9 0.9
Table 15
Dilution of AB-5 at 45 bar
Water compensation (%) 1 2 3 4
Apparent extract (P) 2.7 2.8 2.8 2.8
Alcohol (%) 0.8 0.6 0.5 0.5
Turbidity (EBC) 0.6 0.6 0.8 0.6
pH 4.4 4.8 5.7 5.8
Carbohydrates (%) 81 87 90 90
Salts and minerals (%) 1.8 1.5 1.6 1.6
Table 16
Dilution of AB-5 at 50 bar
Water compensation (%) 1 2 3 4
Apparent extract (P) 2.7 2.8 2.8 2.8
Alcohol (%) 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.5
Turbidity (EBC) 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6
pH 4.4 5.5 5.5 5.6
Carbohydrates (%) 81 89 90 90
Salts and minerals (%) 1.3 1.5 1.4 1.4
M.V. Pilipovik, C. Riverol / Journal of Food Engineering 69 (2005) 437441 441