Presenter: Rik Schuurman, Pentair Haffmans, Venlo, The
Netherlands
The filtration of beer with membrane filters is gaining
a serious foothold in beer markets worldwide. Brewers
recognize the advantages of this relatively new technology.
From the perspective of beer quality, membrane filtered beer
is consistently and significantly better for turbidity, physical/
chemical stability, and taste stability. Next, by eliminating
diatomaceous earth (DE), disposal and health issues are no
longer a concern for the brewery. The operation of membrane
filtration is simple and straightforward, with very short stopstart-
stop times and fast brand changes. In addition, CAPEX
and OPEX are competitive, especially with the new BMF
compact unit. Beer membrane filters (BMF) have been on the
market for more than 10 years. In the first quarter of 2013,
Pentair wrote its 50th order for a BMF, but no U.S. brewery
has a BMF installed even though U.S. breweries produce about
10% of the world’s beer. In this presentation the latest BMF
design will be discussed, along with the results of an analysis
on how BMF, and especially the new compact unit, fits into
the U.S. brewing industry. In addition, misconceptions like the
need for a centrifuge and compatibility to stabilization methods
will be discussed.
Rik Schuurman has more than 25 years of experience in the
brewing industry and has been a senior process engineer at
Pentair since 1999. He is a brewmaster specializing in the
design and engineering of all kinds of brewery systems. For the
last 10 years, his work has focused on beer membrane filtration
as an alternative to diatomaceous earth filtration.
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