Good afternoon everyone, my term paper project is about the Membrane fouling in

beer microfiltration.

SLIDE 2 - INTRODUCTION
Historically speaking, beer is probably one of the oldest beverages on record, brewed all
over the world even by ancient civilizations. Of course, a lot has changed in terms of the
brewing processes, equipment, technology, and the quality of raw materials, but in
essence those are the same: water, malt, hops and yeast. The secret lies in the recipe
and combination of these simple ingredients which makes every beer unique in style,
aroma, and taste.

SLIDE 3 - HYPOTHESES CONCERNING THE FOULING OF MEMBRANES

Beer has been classified into three groups of components, each having a different kind
of fouling mechanisms but also having interactions with other modes of fouling. The
membrane fouling also strongly depends on the characteristics of the membrane.
Some beers are clarified after fermentation with the objective to obtain a clear beer
without turbidity.

Fermented beer is turbid due to the presence of yeast cells and haze particles, which
are aggregates of proteins and polyphenols. During clarification yeast and haze are
retained by a filter, inducing accumulation of particulates in or above the membrane.
This particle accumulation increases the flow resistance of the filter, and thus
significantly imparts the efficiency of the filtration.

Conventionally, beer is clarified using kieselguhr filters, which operate via depth
filtration. Due to environmental problems, the use of kieselguhr filters is discouraged by
governments. As an alternative a crossflow microfiltration application using membranes
has been developed, which is applied successfully in plants of some major brewers.
Beer is a complex fluid with multiple compounds leading to different kinds of fouling.

SLIDE 4 - BEER: A COMPLEX FLUID

Fermented beer is a complex mixture of fluids, cells, aggregates, and macromolecules.
Fermentation of beer is done by yeast cells, converting starch derived maltose into
alcohol and CO2. During microfiltration the beer is kept under pressure, such that CO2
remains in solution and no gas bubbles are formed. The grain also delivers proteins,
which in part are required for foam formation.

Next to grains, also hop is used, whose compounds render the bitter taste and
preservative functionality. One of these functional ingredients is a type of polyphenols
like tannins. They are antioxidants, which protect aromas and taste compounds, like hop
bitter acids (humulones), from oxidation.

The aggregates in fermented beer are complexes of polyphenols and proteins, that are
rich in proline. The aggregates consist of 90% proteins, and 10% polyphenols . They are
traditionally classified as chill and permanent haze. (Chill haze is formed only at lower
temperatures, as its formation is reversible and it dissociates again at elevated
temperatures.)
SLIDE 5
In rough beer fed to the membrane, the yeast counts are in the order of 106–107
cells/ml. Yeast cells have typically a diameter of 5 micrometers. Indications about the
size and amount of aggregates can be obtained from particle size distributions. The peak
of the smaller particles can be assigned to the aggregates.
Particles with sizes larger than the shortest wave length of light (400 nm) will cause
turbidity, and are to be removed by the microfilter, if a clear beer is required. Because
the microfiltration is size selective, it is natural to classify the ingredients of beer in three
classes. (TABLE)

Macromolecules are smaller than this selective pore size, the proteins, and mostly they
pass the filter, which is required because they have functionality for beer foam and
sensory attributes.

SLIDE 6 - MEMBRANE CHARACTERISTICS AND FOULING

With respect to the type of fouling, the membrane characteristics are very important,
as stated in the classical fouling laws, being cake filtration, standard blocking, and
complete blocking.
The main assumption behind these classical laws is that the membrane can be
approximated as a parallel collection of cylindrical tubes, with the tube radius
determining the pore size.

Cake formation occurs if the particle size is much larger than the pore size.
Standard blocking occurs with particles much smaller than the pore size, which absorb
on the walls of the pores.
Complete blocking occurs with particles of comparable size as the pore, which
completely obstruct the pore mouth. Cake formation and complete blocking is via
mechanical restriction, while standard blocking occurs via chemical adsorption.

SLIDE 7
In beer clarification the main challenge is to retain the particles causing turbidity (yeast
cells and aggregates), and to transmit the smaller functional macromolecules. Hence,
the pore size of the selective layer will be a crucial characteristic of the membrane. Many
investigations show that the optimal pore size is 0.45 micrometers.

Tests with membranes having smaller pores sizes as 0.2 micrometers have shown
retention of functional macromolecules, which imparted foam stability and taste. Tests
with membranes having larger pores sizes as 0.7–1.2 micrometers have shown filtrated
beer having a turbidity that is above the industrial standards of the EBC (European
Brewery Convention).
SLIDE 8 - HYPOTHESES ON BEER FOULING
The hypotheses are assumed to hold irrespective, whether the selective layer is facing
the permeate or rententate side. Similar fouling will occur, but in different degrees. If
the highly connected support structure is facing the feed, the membrane has much more
capacity for retaining aggregates than if the selective layer is facing the feed.

The hypotheses regarding the membrane fouling are as follows:

• The fouling is due to the following beer components: (a) yeast cells, (b) protein–
polyphenol aggregates, and (c) macromolecules (proteins, polysaccharides,
polyphenols).
• Yeast cells have a size larger than the nominal pore size at the membrane surface,
and are retained there, and form a cake layer. The cake is considered to be
reversible fouling and can be removed during backflush.
• The radius of gyration of macromolecules is smaller than the pores in the
selective layer, and consequently they can always enter the membrane. While
passing the membrane they can potentially be adsorbed at the walls of the
membrane, and form a gel. This fouling is assumed to be irreversible, and can
only be removed via chemical cleaning.
• Protein–polyphenol aggregates cannot pass the selective layer of the membrane,
and will be retained there. Aggregates can also be captured inside the cake layer
of yeast, or in a gel layer of adsorbed macromolecules. It is thought that
aggregates can form complexes be formed with absorbed macromolecules, like
proteins or polysaccharides. The fouling of aggregates is considered to be
reversible in general. Only, if the aggregates are captured in a gel layer of
macromolecules the fouling is considered irreversible.

All the occurring modes of fouling, as I described before, are illustrated in picture that
shows the situation of the commercial beer microfiltration system, with yeast and
aggregates present in the feed, and the support layer facing the feed.

Conclusion
All in all, with this presentation I’ve explained several hypotheses concerning the fouling
modes occurring during the microfiltration of beer. These hypotheses are tested via
comparison of model predictions with experimental data on dead-end filtration of beer.
We must note that the precise way of fouling is dependent on the combination of beer
composition and membrane characteristics.