Page 15 - Beverage Master_OctNov 2021

Craft Brewery

Multiple Uses for Heat Exchangers in Brewing

By: By Matt Hale, International Sales & Marketing Director, HRS Heat Exchangers
T here are numerous uses for heat Reusing Heat for Energy Efficiency

exchangers in breweries, from cooling,
pasteurizing and fermenting products,
through to efficiently dealing with waste Recapturing and reusing heat from other sources
(such as surplus heat from cooling operations or
streams such as yeast slurry. Compared to other spare boiler capacity) can be an effective way of
methods of heating, heat exchangers can be much increasing capacity or adding a new production
more energy efficient, providing both environmen- process without the need for major new heating
tal and economic benefits. or energy infrastructure. Depending on the appli-
cation, HRS Heat Exchangers’ equipment has been
One of the first uses of heat exchangers in brew- shown to recover as much as 50% of previously
ing is for rapidly cooling the wort following boiling wasted heat, which can then be used for water,
(often from a temperature around 205°F to some- space or process heating, waste treatment or other
thing around 54°F. Both plate and tubular heat thermal applications.
exchangers can be used in this crucial process,
with tubular heat exchangers often having a larg- The type and model of heat exchanger will
er capacity and being able to chill the wort more depend on many different factors, such as the
quickly. The warmed water (or other cooling medi- nature of the process to be carried out (pasteuriza-
um) which results can be up to 80°C in tempera- tion, sterilization, dehydration, etc.) and the viscosi-
ture and as a result has a number of other uses in ty of the drink being processed.
the process, such as pre-heating the steeped wort
before boiling, and this is one of the ways that heat
exchangers can reduce energy use throughout the
process (see below).

Using chilled water or other coolant can also cool
fermented beer prior to maturation or bottling,
and for some products, such as cider, it may be
necessary to pasteurize the product before bottling
and heat exchangers are ideal for this. In particular
the use of High-Temperature, Short-Time (HTST)
pasteurization techniques helps to preserve the
refreshing taste which is so distinctive to cider.

Heat exchanges can also play an important role in
treating the waste products of brewing. Anaerobic
digestion (AD) is a popular way of treating the
wastewater and slurry from breweries as they
often have a high concentration of yeast and sug-
ars, making them an ideal feedstock. Heat exchang-
ers have many uses in AD including pasteurization
so that the resulting digestate can be sold as a valu-
able bio-fertilizer, and evaporation to reduce the
water content.

Evaporation using heat exchangers is also an ener-
gy efficient method for reducing the water content
of spent grains which can then be used as animal
feed or bioenergy feedstock.

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