UNADULTERATED

PURITY
Waste-free beer filtration with ceramic membranes

“No waste, pure taste” is the motto when it comes to ceramic beer filtration clearamic.
The method with inert ceramic membranes completely dispensed with filter aids such
as kieselguhr is trendsetting for sustainable and gentle processes in beer production.
With the new system now also breweries get access to a proven technology,
whereas the ceramic filtration has already been successfully and reliably
applied in the wine and fruit juice industry for years.

I ncreased demands from the

breweries with respect to sus­
tainable process management
have brought various alternatives
to classic kieselguhr filtration.
These can be classified in two
main groups:
1. Precoat filtration, which kiesel-
guhr systems can also use – with
alternatives to kieselguhr such as
cellulose fiber or polymer powder.
Static filter systems such as sheet
filters or various cartridge systems
that have previously served as
‘police’ filters after the kieselguhr
and are now mostly used only
in smaller businesses. Here filter
layers are often used but the
installations are compact, easy
to handle, and require only limited
investment.
2. Membrane processes which
are described in the following text.
Membrane process
for beer filtration
Membranes for beer filtration are
usually used in cross-flow filtration
processes. The retentate flows
through the membrane channels;
the filtrate passes the membrane Fig. 2: Scanning electron microscopic
and is caught in the filtration image of a ceramic membrane for fruit
modules (see fig. 1). The flow juice; supporting body at the bottom,
of the retentate within the channels then the different membrane layers

strips away a top layer that forms,

thus prolonging the duration
of the filtration. To do this, the
retentate is pumped in the circuit
and slowly enriched with solids.
Compared with wine or fruit juice,
beer is a very complex liquid
in filtration:
– The filtration takes place at low
temperatures in order to be able
to catch chill haze formers.
This produces a high viscosity,
which impedes filtration.

Wolf Herberg
Director Beverage Technology /
Membranflow, GEA Westfalia
Separator Group GmbH,
Fig. 1: Retentate and filtrate flow in one ceramic element www.gea.com

24 · BBII 1/ 2016
– The structure of the haze for-
mers in beer is broad; as well
as glucans and polyphenols,
proteins are the main cause
of beer turbidity.
– The filtration must not happen
too sharply, otherwise color
and foam losses and other
negative changes occur.
– To guarantee a beer that has
stable turbidity in the long-term,
beer filtration is not possible
without prior or subsequent
stabilization.
Polymer membranes
For cross-flow membrane filtration
of beer to date, only polymer mem-
branes have been used, which are
relatively economical to produce
but have a limited service life and
are therefore a consumable prod­
ucts. Polymer membranes achieve
good flow rates and display no
dis­advantages against kieselguhr
filtration with respect to beer
quality. Here, too, however,
the filtrates are not yeast-free.
The standing time of a filtration
is usually 3 to 12 h, after which
a short CIP (backwashing) or com-
plete clean takes place depending
on the supplier. The service life
of the membranes is limited by
the number of CIP cycles. In CIP,
a compromise is chosen between
optimum cleaning at higher tem-
perature and media concentration
with the lowest possible damage
to the membranes by these very
parameters.
Sterilization of the polymer mem-
branes used is therefore difficult.
Depending on the filterability
of the beers / frequency of cleaning,
the modules last one to three
years. As the flow rates are high,
the limited amount of heat created
by pumps is discharged with the
filtrate.
Ceramic membranes
Ceramic membranes are made
of sintered aluminum oxide.
On the surface of the filtration
channels, particles are sintered,
the size of which determines the
fineness of the pores. The highly
porous base body displays a pore
size of approx. 5 µm and the layers
applied to this produce 0.01 to
1.4 µm, which are selected in line
with the application (see fig. 2).
The structure of a ceramic mem-
brane therefore resembles the
structure of a static kieselguhr
cake: from coarse to fine as
a filtration layer (see fig. 3).
As the sintering temperature
is up to 1,800 °C, the membranes
contain no organic mass; they
are therefore inert and emit
no substances to the beer.
Ceramic membranes are estab­
lished for wine and fruit juice
filtration and they are frequently
used in breweries for the recovery
of beer from surplus yeast. They
are mechanically, chemically and
thermally very stable and some
of the aforementioned systems
for surplus yeast have been
running constantly with their first
membranes for over 20 years.
The risk of membrane rupture
during filtration is therefore also
negligible. Standard cleaning
agents such as lye with peroxide
at high temperature can be used,
so that the systems are sterile
and no expensive special cleaning
agents are needed.
Compared with polymer mem­
branes, the flow rates for beer
– unlike for wine and fruit juice –
are significantly lower, so the mem-
brane surface installed must be
enlarged and the energy input thus
also increases. Back-cooling of the
beer in the filtration circuit must
therefore also take place to keep
the filtration temperature at 0 °C.
Depending on the solids content
and thus also the viscosity of the
liquid to be filtered, the channel
width of the filter elements is ad-
justed, so the channel diameters
are enlarged as the viscosity
increases. Yet, the filter surface
for each element behaves precisely
reciprocally. To be able to install
a filter surface that is as large as
possible, very fine channels with
a cross section of 1.2 to 1.7 mm
are used both for beer and
for wine filtration (see fig. 2).
Execution of a filtration
The filtration block filled with
degassed water is evacuated with
CO2 and prestressed. After filling
completely with beer, the circu­
lation pumps switch on; filtration
is started directly at the pressure
tank and no flow is accumulated.
Even with well pre-clarified beers,
a coating layer forms immediately
on the membranes, which is either
worn off with high cross-flow speed
or can be removed by periodic
back-pulsing of the filtrate.
As a high circulation speed
demands high energy con-
sumption but frequent back-
pulsing impedes effective filter
performance, a combination
of both variants has proven to
be optimal (see fig. 4). Filtration
operates for three to ten h until
the ultimate pressure is reached.
The system is pushed out to
a follow-on tank with degassed
water; alternatively, the retentate
can be fed to a beer recovery
system and the filtrate expelled
from the system with CO2. In this
combination, the system runs
with no follow-on.
Cleaning begins with pre-flushing
and heating of the system, for
which return media can also be
used. The main stage is alkali
cleaning with oxidative assistance
at > 80 °C. The system is thus
safely sterile. After rinsing, neutral­
izing and cooling of the system,
a new cycle begins. The duration
of the cleaning is two h.
BBII 1/ 2016 · 25

Fig. 3: Ceramic elements installed
in a module
The maximum output of a filtration
block is limited by the size of the
circulation pumps and amounts
to approx. 150 hl/h; for greater
outputs, several blocks are
connected in parallel.
Results
Tests in various breweries within
the country and abroad have
revealed no deviations compared
with beers from kieselguhr filtration
operating in parallel. The foaming
values of membrane-filtered beers
are typically a little better. The
filtrates from ceramic membranes
are always yeast-free. Laboratory
tests indicated a significant re­
duction of various beer pathogens.
The outlet turbidity corresponded
to that of classic filtration after
layer filtration. Depending on the
beer type, 0.25 to 0.8 EBC was
achieved at 90 °C.
Fig. 5: Filtration costs in the case of poor filterability
26 · BBII 1/ 2016
In line with kieselguhr filtration
and the polymer process, the use
of a centrifuge helps to increase
the standing time of the individual
cycles, particularly in the case
of high solid content in the feed.
Separating the solids in the cen­
trifuge slows the concentration
increase in the filtration circuit.
From the trials, no weakening
of the filtration performance, which
could indicate fouling of the mem-
branes, was identifiable. With the
cross-flow speed, back-pulsing
interval, stabilization, and the
filtration temperature, it is possible
to react to raw material fluctua-
tions.
Costs
With kieselguhr filters and the
popular polymer systems, the
filter aids are correctly regarded
as consumables and therefore
calculated in the running costs.
Long-lasting ceramic membranes,
however, are part of the invest-
Fig. 4: Pressure progression during back-pulsing
Fig. 6: Filtration costs in the case of good filterability
ment, which is thus significantly
greater by direct comparison.
Fig. 5 and fig. 6 show two cost
con­siderations for different filter-
abilities. Values of 18 to 35 c / hl
emerge for the total cost of filtra-
tion. A membrane service life of
ten years has been taken as the
basis for the consideration. GEA
clearamic BeerFiltration therefore
lies within the range of the other
processes.
Summary
GEA clearamic BeerFiltration is
the first waste-free beer filtration
process on the market. The filtrates
from the ceramic membranes are
always yeast-free and otherwise
appear normal. The systems are
fully sterilizable and a membrane
rupture during ongoing filtration
can be ruled out. From the cost
side, GEA can keep up with the
established processes but the
membranes are already included
in the system investment. M