INMATEC is a leading manufacturer of nitrogen generators from Germany
Nitrogen is used in many food industries. Gas is also increasingly used in breweries to prevent beer spoilage and to keep it fresh for a long period of time.
Several stages in the cooking process occur in the absence of oxygen and using inert gases. After storage of beer, any contact with oxygen should be avoided, since infections by pathogenic microorganisms and oxidative enzymatic reactions lead to a loss of quality, a decrease in stability during storage and spoilage of beer. That is why, after storage, the finished beer is further processed in an inert gas, such as fermentative carbon dioxide. However, often, especially in small breweries, in the fermentation process, insufficient amounts of carbon dioxide are released for later use as an inert gas, as a result often you have to buy expensive CO2. Nitrogen (N2) as an alternative.
Nitrogen offers the brewery many advantages. For example, the release of nitrogen from atmospheric air using a generator allows the plant to produce the required amount of the most inert gas. This process is more cost-effective and environmentally friendly, since there is no need for gas delivery by tankers.
The INMATEC generator, Germany's leading manufacturer of nitrogen generators, can produce up to 37 m3 of nitrogen per hour, depending on demand. The IMT BC 1450 PAN type nitrogen generator has a PSA technology, i.e. sterile compressed air passes through two adsorption vessels filled with a carbon molecular sieve. Molecules of oxygen and carbon dioxide from ambient air bind in a sieve, while free nitrogen molecules enter a product tank and an additional storage tank with a volume of 1,500 m3 in order to capture peaks. Dry nitrogen has a purity that meets the nutritional requirements of at least 95.5.
When the fermentation or cooling tanks are empty, 15 m3 of the volume of each of them is filled under a pressure of 1.2 bar. Therefore, the generator must provide 18 m3 of nitrogen in a very short period of time. The transport and working tanks are cleaned before draining. To do this, they are first treated with steam for sterilization, and then filled with nitrogen in several stages to avoid any contact of beer with oxygen. When emptying the tank, they are again sealed with nitrogen. Spill is another area where N2 is used in breweries. At this stage of the process, carbon dioxide is no longer needed for beer carbonation, and, accordingly, purchased carbon dioxide can be completely replaced with nitrogen.
Therefore, nitrogen can be used in many industries of the breweries. How and to what extent depends primarily on the processes of the brewery. In addition, different countries have a different brewing culture. For example, in southern countries, less CO2 is often dissolved in beer. English breweries love to use stones for carbonating beer. CO2 and cost savings are playing an increasingly important role in many countries. All this affects the use of nitrogen in the brewing process.
Reliable and durable INMATEC nitrogen generators play an important role here.
