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Yeast Removal - Centrifuge Vs Plate Filter

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  • Yeast Removal - Centrifuge Vs Plate Filter

    We would like to remove the majority of our yeast. We produce small batches of 1000 litres at a time. We are looking at these 2 options.

    PLATE FILTER
    A plate filter and filtering around 2 to 3 microns.

    Upside: I believe this should remove the levels of yeast we require. We can pick up a small plate filter without spending too much.
    Downside: Ongoing cost of filters.


    CENTRIFUGE
    We have been looking at this centrifuge:

    The seller states that it would remove 99% of yeast which we would be happy with.

    Upside: No ongoing costs for filters
    Downside: We have no experience with with centrifuges so we aren't sure if the seller is overpromising.


    Does anyone know if the centrifuge would be a viable option or any other thoughts on the above options?

  • #2
    Unless you find someone who already has one, and it does exactly as promised, and exactly as you need I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole - I would put money on it being a complete waste of time and more to the point, your money.

    Beer centrifuges are required to have virtually no oxygen pickup, which I doubt if anything of that design with an opening door on the side of the centrifuge system will be capable of doing. And you have to stop it to desludge it, which means even with the volumes you are dealing with, you may need to stop and turn round mid tank. It doesn't look as if it will be very easy to clean either.

    And who is going to service this?

    Keep to a filter system - if you want something simpler than a plate filter, consider using a lenticular filter system. Try integprotec.com.
    dick

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    • #3
      Originally posted by dick murton View Post
      Unless you find someone who already has one, and it does exactly as promised, and exactly as you need I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole - I would put money on it being a complete waste of time and more to the point, your money.

      Beer centrifuges are required to have virtually no oxygen pickup, which I doubt if anything of that design with an opening door on the side of the centrifuge system will be capable of doing. And you have to stop it to desludge it, which means even with the volumes you are dealing with, you may need to stop and turn round mid tank. It doesn't look as if it will be very easy to clean either.

      And who is going to service this?

      Keep to a filter system - if you want something simpler than a plate filter, consider using a lenticular filter system. Try integprotec.com.
      Thank you! Will give the centrifuge a miss.

      Will check out integprotec.com as well. I sent filtrox.com a message yesterday about their lenticular system as I agree that this could be a good option.

      Comment


      • #4
        What Dick said. Again.

        Stay away from the centrifuge. Love them, but Alibaba is an awful source for awful equipment. And that technology doesn't really pay off until you get much larger.
        My personal favorite is a pressure leaf filter. AKA DE filter. Although I only use perlite in them. I like the vertical leaf, dosed units made by Velo. I think the smallest they make is 3 meter. You'd likely not need that much. Very low operating cost. Downside is that you have to know what you are doing to operate one. But it is not rocket science and experience with several techniques should be part of one's career development.
        Phillip Kelm--Palau Brewing Company Manager--

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        • #5
          If you are not paying 100K+ its probably not a good centrifuge for beer. Go with DE if you think you have high load. Otherwise Lenticular or plate. The latter 2 are also good for sterile filtration after a DE or to capture loose DE as some are worried about. I've never used Lent. myself, but I would strongly think about it knowing what I do from other brewers.
          Brewmaster, Minocqua Brewing Company
          tbriggs@minocquabrewingcompany.com
          "Your results may vary"

          Comment


          • #6
            We purchased a centrifuge from Alfa Laval Brew 80 last spring. It's one of the best things we've ever bought for the brewery, and hands down the most reliable, maintenance-free peices of equipment we've ever purchased--next to our fermenters. Service--what little we've needed--has been awesome!

            It removes 100% of visible yeast and most haziness:Click image for larger version

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            That's a before and after pic of the beer.

            Don't buy cheap crap for something like this. As stated above, expect to pay $80K or better.
            Timm Turrentine

            Brewerywright,
            Terminal Gravity Brewing,
            Enterprise. Oregon.

            Comment


            • #7
              Microfiltration

              Originally posted by TGTimm View Post
              We purchased a centrifuge from Alfa Laval Brew 80 last spring. It's one of the best things we've ever bought for the brewery, and hands down the most reliable, maintenance-free peices of equipment we've ever purchased--next to our fermenters. Service--what little we've needed--has been awesome!

              It removes 100% of visible yeast and most haziness:[ATTACH]64096[/ATTACH][ATTACH]64097[/ATTACH]

              That's a before and after pic of the beer.

              Don't buy cheap crap for something like this. As stated above, expect to pay $80K or better.
              Della Toffola has a new generation Microfiltration Rig that we are supposed to be getting a DEMO on.
              This device does not use media powder.
              Updates when it happens.
              Warren Turner
              Industrial Engineering Technician
              HVACR-Electrical Systems Specialist
              Moab Brewery
              The Thought Police are Attempting to Suppress Free Speech and Sugar coat everything. This is both Cowardice and Treason given to their own kind.

              Comment


              • #8
                My experience of cross flow filters is that the clearer the beer before filtration, the better the run length. I did some trials on a 20 hl / hr unit, and one particular beer blocked the filter without the in-line centrifuge within about 5 hl. The one with the in-line centrifuge coped with a couple of hundred hl of similarly grotty beer before a filter regen was required. I've also experienced plate and frame KG filters blinding before we have even got the liquor /beer interface when the operator didn't pay attention. So neither KG nor cross flow filtration is the total answer if the beer is very cloudy - but X flow is definitely less hands on and therefore better able to cope with half decent beer.
                dick

                Comment


                • #9
                  Centrifuge and plate filter comparisons

                  Sounds like some good advice but just thought I'd pop in and give my $.02 on centrifuges and plate and frame filters. For our size batches we've always had to pre-filter beer before sending through plate and frame just so that we don't blind the pads midway through a run. We used to use a DE style filter with perlite and would polish with plate and frame but now we send the beer through a centrifuge instead and for one of our brands will still polish with a plate and frame. From a micro standpoint yeast will make it through a centrifuge and a plate filter no problem, you'll need 0.45 micron filtration to remove yeast cells. Our O2 pickup is negligible on a centrifuge only run and the style of centrifuge we use will dump more or less automatically though it can be triggered manually. Basically a centrifuge is a game changer for a brewery and as others have said, be careful who you buy from. A brewery centrifuge is basically a giant motor that spins a several hundred pound stainless steel vessel at over 3000rpm typically, so I definitely recommend either buying new or contact the manufacturer if it's used to get help with install and training to use it.

                  Best,
                  Randy

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