The Composition of Fermentation Tank Equipment
The fermentation system includes fermentation tanks, sake tanks, and yeast expansion equipment. The tank body is sandwiched by Miller plates, which are machined from 304 stainless steel. There is an inlet and outlet at the bottom, and at the top, there is a double-acting vacuum safety valve, a diaphragm pressure gauge, and a closable sight glass. The equipment is convenient for manual operation and cleaning. It possesses fermentation plant technology and equipment manufacturing capabilities. It can achieve automatic and semi-automatic control through the automatic control system, thereby controlling the beer fermentation process.
Characteristics of Conical Tank Fermentation Method
The bottom of the tank is tapered to facilitate yeast discharge during production. Strains with good cohesion are required to ensure the beer’s filterability.
The tank body is equipped with a cooling jacket, meeting the cooling requirements of the process. It is easy to control production, shorten the fermentation period, reduce the chance of contamination, and maintain beer quality stability.
The tank body is equipped with a thermal insulation device, allowing outdoor placement, reducing construction investment, saving floor space, and facilitating expansion.
A closed tank design eases CO2 washing and recovery. Fermentation can also be carried out under certain pressure. It can be used as a fermentation tank, a wine storage tank, or a combination of both (known as the one-pot fermentation method).
The fermentation broth in the tank creates a CO2 gradient (density gradient) due to the liquid height. Through cooling control, natural convection is achieved in the fermentation broth. The higher the tank, the stronger the convection. Strong convection improves yeast fermentation capacity, accelerates fermentation speed, and shortens the fermentation period.
The fermentation tank can be controlled by instruments or a microcomputer, offering convenience in operation and management.
Conical tanks are suitable for both bottom fermentation and top fermentation.
CIP automatic cleaning devices can be used for convenient cleaning.
The conical tank is easy to process (on-site processing is possible) and highly practical.
The equipment capacity can be adjusted according to production needs.
How Conical Fermentation Tanks Work
The short fermentation period and fast fermentation speed of the conical tank fermentation method are due to the hydrodynamic characteristics of the fermentation liquid in the conical tank and advancements in modern beer fermentation technology.
Upon yeast inoculation, the cell density of the yeast at the bottom of the tank increases due to yeast aggregation, resulting in a faster fermentation rate. The production of carbon dioxide during fermentation increases. Additionally, due to the static pressure generated by the liquid column’s height, the carbon dioxide content changes in a gradient along with the liquid layer. Consequently, the density of the fermentation broth in the tank also varies in gradient. Furthermore, with the cooling device outside the conical tank, the temperature at each stage of fermentation can be controlled. Under the driving forces of static pressure difference, fermentation liquid density difference, carbon dioxide release, and temperature difference resulting from cooling the upper part of the tank, strong natural convection occurs within the fermentation liquid. This enhances contact between yeast and fermentation liquid, promotes yeast metabolism, accelerates beer fermentation speed, and shortens the fermentation cycle.
Moreover, increasing the inoculation temperature, main fermentation temperature, diacetyl reduction temperature, and yeast inoculation amount also contribute to accelerating yeast fermentation speed, enabling proper fermentation to take place.
