Beer Membrance Filtration

Beer Membrane Filtration (BMF) is a typical example of the innovative concepts developed by Norit Process Technology. BMF integrates the technology and products from several Norit companies into a total filtration solution for the brewing industry.

The Norit BMF system works with technology that has proven its worth in everyday practice, such as the highly acclaimed Norit membranes. BMF incorporates many years of experience in the filtration of all kinds of fluids, ensuring reliability to its users. Customers from all over the world have expressed tremendous satisfaction with the results, operational simplicity and cost savings made possible by Norit systems. Since BMF's first implementation in April 2003, this truly innovative system has been used to filter many millions of hectolitres of beer in an ever increasing number of breweries.

Many of the BMF sysStem's major benefits are derived from the fact that it eliminates the use of kieselguhr (DE) filtration, making that technology a something of the past.  As any brewer knows, the use of kieselguhr comes paired with a number of hazards and disadvantages. That alone should be enough to consider BMF a serious beer filtration alternative.

Quality
Recent tests have shown that membrane filtration improves the taste stability of beer. There is also no risk of iron leaching from the kieselguhr, which negatively impacts beer stability. Testing of a number of samples has statistically proven that the foam of beer filtered with membrane filtration is better than that of the same beer filtered using kieselguhr.

Membrane filtration is absolute filtration, which assures the quality of the filtrate more than the kieselguhr filtration method, which uses a depth filtration system.At the same time, the pressure difference during membrane filtration is no higher than 1.5 bar, and all brewers know that this process is better than kieselguhr filtration, where pressure differences can reach values of up to 7-8 bar.

Environment, health and safety 
The fact that BMF does not leave brewers with the problem of waste kieselguhr is a significant environmental advantage. What's more, the lack of kieselguhr dust leads to major improvements in the area of health and safety, especially for brewing staff.

Costs  Several benefits combine to make BMF at least a cost-competitive alternative to other filtration techniques:
	▪ The efficiency of the filtration technology ▪ The savings achieved by lowering the costs of environmental, health and safety measures ▪ The system's operational flexibility and simplicity

Operational flexibility 
As membrane filtration is a fully automated process, filtration can be started up and stopped on demand. Batch changes require only a short amount of time. The modular design makes capacity expansions easy.

Operational simplicity 
As membrane filtration is safe, quick, and fully automated, the filtration process
at the brewery is more effective than with other filtration methods.

The image effect 
Breweries can use their BMF system as a powerful statement to stress the
importance they place on environmental, health, and safety issues.
 

Facts & Figures  Basic skid BMF-200
	▪ Filtration capacity: ca. 200 hl/h ▪ Number of membrane modules: 18-24 ▪ Circulation pump: 640 m3/h (24 modules) ▪ Crossflow velocity: 1,5 m/s ▪ Net weight: approx. 1000kg ▪ Dimensions (w x h x d): 5900 x 2600 x 1200 mm

Properties of membrane modules
	▪ Pore size: 0,5 µm. ▪ Membrane material: polyethersulfon (PES) ▪ Length: 800 mm ▪ Inner diameter fibres: 1,5 mm ▪ Filter area: 9,8 m² ▪ High performance ▪ 80ºC cleaning possible ▪ Hygienic design

Beer quality
	▪ Turbidity in EBC: < 0,8 ▪ Oxygen (mg/l): < 0,05 ▪ Yeast cells (CFU / 100 ml): <10 ▪ Bacteria (CFU / 1 ml): <1 ▪ Bitterness: conform standards ▪ Foam stability: better than kieselguhr filtered beer ▪ No colour losses ▪ Taste: comparable to kieselguhr filtered beer ▪ Extract losses: <0,1°P

Membrane lifetime guarantee
	▪ Guaranteed: 500 runs (approximately two 2 years) ▪ Guaranteed membrane costs of max. € 0,10 per hectolitre

Specific data
	▪ Filtrate 500 hl between back-flushes ▪ Filtrate 3000 hl between cleanings ▪ Water consumption: 0,2-0,3 hl / hl beer ▪ Energy consumption: 0,6 kWh / hl beer ▪ Chemical use: € 0,03 / hl ▪ Man-power: 0,5 fte per shift ▪ Beer losses: <0,5%

Stabilisation options
	▪ All current stabilisation products (such as Silicagel and PVPP) can be dosed directly. ▪ Due to long contact times highly efficient use of Silicagel and PVPP on lost basis. ▪ Other stabilisation processes (including regenerable PVPP and Handtmann CSS) can  be combined with Norit BMF as well.