Views: 19 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2022-10-08 Origin: Site
Fermentation is an important process in beer production. The beer fermentation system consists of a fermentation tank, a sake tank, and a temporary storage tank. In the craft beer industry, the most used beer fermentation equipment is the cylindrical-conical bottom fermentation tank (conical tank for short). It is a complex biochemical reaction process involving yeast.
The Composition Of Fermentation Tank Equipment
The fermentation system includes fermentation tanks, sake tanks and yeast expansion equipment. The tank body is sandwiched by Miller plate, which is machined from 304 stainless steel.There is an inlet and outlet at the bottom, and a double-acting vacuum safety valve, a diaphragm pressure gauge, and a closable sight glass are installed at the top. The equipment is convenient for manual operation and manual cleaning, and has the fermentation plant technology and equipment manufacturing. It can realize automatic and semi-automatic control through the automatic control system, and control the fermentation of beer in the whole process.
Characteristics Of Conical Tank Fermentation Method
The bottom is tapered to ease the discharge of yeast at any time during the production process. To ensure good filterability of beer, strains with good cohesion are required.
The tank body is provided with a cooling jacket, and the cooling capacity can meet the cooling requirements of the process. The production is easy to control, the fermentation period is shortened, the chance of contamination is less, and the beer quality is stable.
The tank body is equipped with a thermal insulation device, which can be placed outdoors, reducing construction investment, saving floor space, and facilitating expansion.
The closed tank is adopted to ease CO2 washing and CO2 recovery. Fermentation can also be carried out under certain pressure. It can be used as a fermentation tank, a wine storage tank, or a combination of fermentation and wine storage, which is called a one-pot fermentation method.
The fermentation broth in the tank creates a CO2 gradient (ie, a density gradient) due to the height of the liquid. Through cooling control, natural convection can be carried out for the fermentation broth, and the higher the tank, the stronger the convection. Due to the existence of strong convection, the fermentation capacity of yeast is improved, the fermentation speed is accelerated, and the fermentation period is shortened.
The fermentation tank can be controlled by instrument or microcomputer, which is convenient to operate and manage.
Conical tanks are suitable for both bottom fermentation and top fermentation.
CIP automatic cleaning device can be used, which is convenient for cleaning.
The conical tank is easy to process (can be processed on-site) and has strong practicability.
DEGONG beer fermentation tank
Dimensions Of Conical Fermenters
The size of the conical tank has not been regulated in the past, and the height can be up to 40m and the diameter can exceed 10cm. With the continuous improvement of fermentation theory and the inconsistent progress of winemaking technology. To meet the requirements of beer quality, conical tanks must be designed and manufactured according to certain specifications.
Yeast is not only subjected to hydraulic pressure, but also air pressure. If the factor of concentration CO2, that is, the phenomenon of concentration gradient, the physiological performance of yeast will be affected. If the height of the conical tank is too large, the convection of the fermentation broth is strong, and it is easy to form stirring fermentation. Thus, the height of the liquid level in the tank is an important parameter. Not only affects the composition of fermentation by-products, but also affects yeast activity and physiological metabolism.
How Conical Fermentation Tanks Work
The reason for the short fermentation period and the fast fermentation speed of the conical tank fermentation method is due to the hydrodynamic characteristics of the fermentation liquid in the conical tank and the results of modern beer fermentation technology.
After the yeast is inoculated, the cell density of the yeast at the bottom of the tank increases due to the coagulation of the yeast, resulting in a faster fermentation rate. The amount of carbon dioxide produced in the fermentation process increases, and at the same time, due to the static pressure generated by the height of the liquid column of the fermentation liquid, the carbon dioxide content also changes in a gradient with the change of the liquid layer. Thus, the density of the fermentation broth in the tank also presents a gradient change. Too, due to the cooling device outside the conical tank, the temperature of each stage of fermentation can be controlled . Under the driving forces of static pressure difference, density difference of fermentation liquid, the release of carbon dioxide, and temperature difference generated by cooling the upper part of the tank, the fermentation liquid in the tank produces strong natural convection, which enhances the contact between yeast and fermentation liquid, and promotes The metabolism of yeast accelerates the beer fermentation speed and shortens the beer fermentation cycle.
Also, increasing the inoculation temperature, the beer main fermentation temperature, the diacetyl reduction temperature and the yeast inoculation amount are also beneficial to speed up the fermentation speed of the yeast so that the fermentation can be carried out.