Brewing water is the most crucial raw material for beer equipment, which is why it is often referred to as the “blood of beer.” The distinctiveness of world-renowned beers is determined by their respective brewing water, making the quality of brewing water not only crucial for the flavor and quality of the product, but also for the entire brewing process. Therefore, the correct and rational use of brewing water generated through water treatment holds great significance in production.
Equipment Processing Theory And Technologies
Acid Addition Method
Using acid to enhance water quality is a simple, convenient, and effective method commonly employed in production. Although the addition of acid does not alter the hardness value of water, it can convert carbonate hardness into non-carbonate hardness, thereby reducing the RA value and improving water quality.
Gypsum Or Calcium Chloride Method
Adding gypsum or calcium chloride significantly impacts water quality and reduces the RA value. When used appropriately, it has no adverse effects on beer quality, and its cost is much lower than that of adding acid. This method is widely used in beer production for water treatment.
Reverse Osmosis Method
The reverse osmosis method ensures more thorough removal of salt from water. Additionally, it eliminates organic matter, bacteria, viruses, etc., from the water. Reverse osmosis water treatment is a commonly employed method in equipment.
Process Flow Of Reverse Osmosis Water Treatment
(1) Pretreatment
Preliminary treatment of raw water is conducted to enhance water quality and meet the requirements, while reducing and delaying membrane contamination. The main objectives of this treatment are to target microorganisms, bacteria, colloids, organic matter, heavy metal ions, solid particles, and free chlorine found in the water. This ensures that the water meets the intake requirements of the reverse osmosis device and guarantees the long-term stability of the reverse osmosis system.
Pretreatment includes sand filtration, carbon filtration, water softening, and security filtration.
Sand filtration: This step filters out sediment, impurities, and suspended solids in the water, reducing the SDI (Silt Density Index) value of the raw water.
Carbon filtration: This stage serves dual purposes – adsorption and filtration. It eliminates chemical organic matter, heavy metals, color, odor, residual chlorine, etc., from the tap water, thereby improving its taste.
Water softening: By employing sodium-type cation exchange resin, this process removes scaling ions such as calcium and magnesium present in the raw water, thereby reducing its hardness.
Security filtration: This stage utilizes a 5μm PPF (polypropylene fiber filter element) to intercept objects larger than 5μm, thus extending the lifespan of the membrane.
(2) Reverse Osmosis Device
The membrane’s separation pore size ranges from 10-7 to 10-6 cm, enabling the removal of organic matter, heat sources, viruses, and other substances from the water. The water, pre-treated in the first three stages, undergoes deep separation treatment by the main reverse osmosis RO membrane, making it safe for consumption. A well-designed system ensures that membrane elements do not need replacement within three years (service life is dependent on the water quality of the source). The online conductivity display provides real-time monitoring of the water purification production’s quality status. High-pressure pumps maintain the working pressure required for water permeation, and one or two high-pressure pumps are used for pressurized permeation treatment.
(3) Control Function Description
This system adjusts the output signals of the water inlet valve, high-pressure pump, flushing valve, and other actuators based on input signal changes such as high pressure, low pressure, liquid level, reset, switch, etc. This achieves automatic control for a standard RO system, enabling functions like pressure protection, liquid level control, power on/full water/automatic flushing, and more.
