Application of reverse osmosis water purification technology in brewing process

The winemaking process is constantly innovating, the production capacity of high quality wine is constantly expanding, the consumption level of wine is rising, the quality of wine has become the most basic element affecting the growth of market sales, high quality and high price, high enjoyment, low quality and low price, low taste, has become the consensus of the people in the winemaking and wine tasting. With the quality of wine to speak, with the quality of wine to let consumers taste consumption, improve the quality of wine has become the wine industry businessmen's full action. There are many ways to improve wine quality, but water is the most basic and crucial element.　　

As the saying goes, one side of the water brewing one side of the wine, the country's various ethnic groups and regions have their own taste in local wines, retaining and enhancing the wine on behalf of the region is the main axis of the development of local brands of famous wines. Scientific development, technological progress, technological change, and the improvement of taste habits all continue to show the influence of wine craftsmanship on the quality of wine. Wine merchants and wine tasters often encounter the influence of water on wine quality.

Turbidity: Wine itself is a solution that becomes gelatinous. If there are no other substances, the wine itself is extremely stable, without any suspended matter or impurity precipitation, and the wine is clear and transparent. When the alcohols and acids in the wine are mixed with metal ions in the water, the positive and negative charges will be neutralized, the colloid will be dissolved, and the particles will be visible, and the wine will be turbid. This turbidity is caused by metal ions and mineral ions in the water.

Salty taste: mainly due to the water hardness is too high, carrying sodium and other metal salts, without treatment that is brewing, can cause the wine was salty, or in the current common water treatment process equipment, operational errors caused by residual sodium mixed with water for the process, but also caused the wine was salty.　　
Fishy taste: also known as iron fishy, rusty taste, the reason is that the water content of iron, manganese, tin and other metal ions exceeds the standard, especially in the northern region, most of the water for brewing from the well water, well water in the northern region, iron, manganese content are over the standard, untreated or incomplete, the water appears to be clear and transparent, but the water is still high in iron, manganese, will have an impact on the flavor of the wine.　　
Bitterness: also known as bitter taste, in the production of alcohol due to the bitter taste of water quality is generally due to the high alkalinity in the water, high temporary hardness, sulfates and other substances such as the content is too high, so that the water is not processed or the water treatment equipment operation link errors, directly to the wine flavor aggravation. Other impacts of water on wine quality will not be elaborated in detail, and this paper will mainly introduce the new water treatment technology in brewing process in detail.　
　
In the wine-making process, the common technologies for water treatment are softening, ion exchange, electrodialysis, ultrafiltration and other processes. However, because the water treatment operators are not professionals after all, in the use of often grasp the amount of bad treatment, coupled with the equipment management is not strict, the batch of wine will appear different wine quality, coupled with a variety of water treatment methods have their own advantages and disadvantages, it is not possible to water content of all the treatment, it is not possible to fundamentally improve the quality of water for wine, in view of the problems that have arisen over the years of the above technology, this paper introduces a new process of water treatment technology This paper introduces a new process water treatment technology, reverse osmosis membrane method water treatment equipment. The equipment introduced in this paper has been practically applied in Harbin Beidahuang Brewing Group, and the users reflect positively.　　
Reverse osmosis process technology is the use of membrane separation water treatment technology. With the progress of membrane scientific research and manufacturing process, reverse osmosis water treatment technology has been rapid development.　　

Reid and Hassler from the University of Florida in 1950 and Hassler and others proposed reverse osmosis desalination, Reid and Bretom in 1953 in the laboratory to confirm the desalination capacity of cellulose acetate membranes, in 1960, the United States of America, the University of California Loed and Sourirajan developed the world's first asymmetric cellulose acetate membranes, then Reverse osmosis membrane new products continue to be developed, from the initial asymmetric cellulose acetate membrane development to the surface polymerization technology made of crosslinked square aromatic polyamide composite membrane. Experienced from high-pressure cellulose acetate membrane to low-pressure composite membrane to ultra-low-pressure composite membrane, nanofiltration membrane, the form of the membrane is also gradually presenting a diversified trend.　　
 

Most RO machines work the same way, with pressure being the key. Solvent (water) with solutes (minerals) flows in to a pressurized vessel, with a semi-permeable thin film membrane.

For example, the mini-RO machines pictured at the start of this post, require the feed water pressure to be 150 Psi or even higher to work properly. The pressure needed depends on the membrane used.

This membrane allows the water to pass through it, but not the dissolved solids. It’s the pressure which pushes the water through the membrane, leaving the impurities behind.

These impurities are then flushed from the system as dirty water, usually to the drain. These RO machines remove around 99% of the dissolved solids, recovering roughly 50 to 75% of the water which passes through the machine.

It really depends how “dirty” the water is. The “dirtiness” of the water is measured in total dissolved solids (TDS) in parts per million (ppm). When using my system in Shanghai (pictured below), the water usually goes from a TDS count of around 300 to 2ppm.

The water in our brewery actually goes through a charcoal filter (to remove chlorine) and a sand filter, before entering our RO machine. The treated water is stored in a tank for use when needed, in the brewery.

How to Use Reverse Osmosis in Brewing – A Basic RO Set-up

Here, I’m going to explain what a basic RO setup looks like. Which is sufficient for most breweries. It’s the same set-up I have at the brewery I’m currently in Shanghai.

Some brewers will suggest different setup having a reason for it. Here’s though I’ve put together a diagram, to show a typical brewery RO system.

Now in this setup above, if the water pressure isn’t sufficient from the mains. You may need another reserve tanks filled with untreated mains water. This reserve tank like the treated RO vessel in the diagram above, has an on-demand water pump.

This pump will automatically begin pumping water to the RO machine when needed. It’s as simple as turning on the machine; which opens a valve, automatically turning the reserve water pump on.

What If You Don’t Have any Pre-treatment?

If you don’t have pre-treatment like the charcoal and sand filter above, the brewery needs a bigger RO machine, as there’s more processing to do.

So, the untreated water first passes through a sand filter which catches things like small particles, sand and grit. It then goes through a charcoal filter which removes some organisms, reduces chlorine, pesticides, solvents and other stuff.

This water will still have dissolved solids like calcium, nitrates and fluorides in it. This is where the RO machine comes to the rescue, removing 99% of these impurities and minerals giving the brewer a “blank canvas”. Which they can build back up with brewing salts, to produce a beer truer to style.

How to Use Reverse Osmosis in Brewing – There Are Some Downsides

There are some downsides to using an RO machine. There’s cost to running the machine using electrical power. An RO machine will take up valuable floor space in a brewery too.

Plus, as we’ve said before, there’s waste water which goes to the drain. Depending on the water source and how “clean” it is, you can end up with as much wastewater as treated water.

Typically, an RO machine recovers between 50 and 75% of the water which flows through it. If the water you’re treating is dirty, with a high concentration of dissolved solids, a lot of wastewater will be produced.

This is why I’d always recommend some form of pretreatment, such as the sand and charcoal filters pictured below, which I’m using now.

Reverse osmosis water treatment technology development makes it in all water desalination method occupies a leading position, at present the world-wide reverse osmosis device capacity per day has more than 12 million / ton, since the 1990s, each year is still in 20% of the rate of increase. In addition to the use of reverse osmosis in brackish water and seawater desalination, it is also widely used in a variety of fields such as pure water preparation, wastewater treatment and concentration and recovery processes for drinking water, beverages and chemical products.

Yes, there is a bigger upfront cost but you’ll waste less in the long run, as the water treated by the machine will be much cleaner.

The Advantages of Using RO Water – How to Use Reverse Osmosis in Brewing

Even with the downsides listed above; RO water is a prudent choice for brewers wanting greater control over the beers they produce.

There are only four main ingredients in beer so, having full control over one of them (the water), is always going to make the beer brewed, better.

For example, in another article on this site, we discuss how the chloride to sulfate ratio of brewing water effects the refined bitterness of a beer. Knowing your water will be consistent every time using an RO machine, means hitting mash pH is much easier too.

Did you know mains water often comes from many sources? Throughout the year local authorities can switch where you water comes from. Without an RO machine, you’re brewing water can be wildly different, from one month to the next.

It means the water needs analyzing regularly in the brewery to ensure the water additions are still correct. Having an RO machine allows a brewer freedom from the constraints of geography and local water chemistry.

Whether brewing a German Pilsner of dry stout; it doesn’t matter if you begin with a blank canvas and then build the water back up with the correct salt additions.

Running an RO Machine

Running most RO machines is easy enough. They pretty much look after themselves. For instance, the machine I’m currently running, the only real maintenance is replacing the PP (polypropylene) filter cartridges every 3-months or so.

If the water entering the RO machine is lower than 500ppm (parts per million), then changing the PP filters every 3-months is enough. Obviously at the same time you’re changing the filters, ensure the inside of the filter housing is cleaned too.

f the water is dirtier (above 500ppm), then I have to change the filters more often. In reality, I do a visual check every month, to see how dirty the cartridge PP filters are.

On a day-to-day basis when I run the machine, I need to check the two floats (pictured below – ringed in red) are balanced (at the same level). Which is simple as turning the valve (ringed in blue), to adjust the flows.
 

Otherwise, the only other concern, is ensuring the untreated mains water tank feeding the RO machine doesn’t run dry. Other RO systems may have more actions needed for preventative maintenance; it really depends on the system.

However, in general as I said before, they kind of look after themselves. And there you go; we’ve covered the main aspects RO water use and running an RO machine in a brewery.

How to Use Reverse Osmosis in Brewing Conclusions

I hope our post today on how to use reverse osmosis in brewing has proved useful.

As I say this article came together when people started reaching out. Asking about the mini-RO machines pictured at the start of the post, which can treat 1,200 gallons of water per day. The unit price is US$ 1,250.

I often have people enquiring about RO machines pricing, of units made in China. As in many other countries units are harder to source, and much more expensive to buy.

I like having an RO machine. It provides a blank canvas from which to build the water back up, with the correct salt additions. Allowing me to make a beer truer to style.

Reverse osmosis water treatment technology is basically a physical method that utilizes physico-chemical processes and has many advantages over traditional water treatment methods:　　
Reverse osmosis is at room temperature, the use of physical methods without phase change to make water desalination, purification.　　The treatment of water depends only on * pressure as the driving force, and its energy consumption is the lowest among many treatment methods.　　There is no need for a large number of chemicals and acid or alkali regeneration.　No chemical waste liquid and waste acid, alkali emissions, no waste acid, alkali neutralization process, no environmental pollution.　　
The system is simple, easy to operate, the product water quality is stable, and higher pure water can be obtained.　Applicable to a wide range of raw water quality, both for brackish water, seawater and sewage treatment, but also for low-salt content of fresh water treatment.　　
The equipment covers a small area and requires less space.　　
Operation and maintenance and equipment repair is extremely low.　　
Reverse osmosis water purification equipment for many pure water use sectors have obvious advantages, but also with conventional ion exchange treatment is difficult to compare the excellent characteristics, such as: good effect of silica in the water, removal rate of up to 99.5%, to avoid the natural water silicon to the regeneration of ion exchange resins brought about by the difficulty of the short operating cycle of the impact.　　
Remove organic matter and colloidal substances in water, removal rate of up to 95%.　　

Reverse osmosis water treatment system can produce water continuously, no operation stop regeneration and other operations. China from the mid-1960s began to develop reverse osmosis membrane, not far from foreign countries, but because of raw materials and basic industrial conditions, the production of membrane elements　　
The performance is low and the cost of production is high.
In recent years, there have been several production lines introduced one after another, so that the domestic membrane production level has been greatly improved. Domestic reverse osmosis water treatment technology began in the late 1970s, has been developed and applied in the following aspects.　　
Modern production enterprises generally apply large-scale reverse osmosis device. Domestic in this field has accumulated rich experience in design, construction and operation.

However, I always advise clients to get their water analyzed first, as in some places an RO machine isn’t needed.

For example, when I brewed in Yerevan, Armenia we didn’t need an RO machine. As the water was similar to that of Pilsen, being low in mineral content.

I can also assist with other brewing projects you may have…

• Be it sourcing equipment
• Recipe formulation
• Improvements in processes in the brewhouse

• As you can also contact me directly on your favorite platform by scanning the relevant QR code below, adding me and messaging me directly.

  For now, thanks for reading, have a great day and happy brewing.

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