Beer, yellow wine, rice wine, fruit wine, etc. are alcoholic beverages produced through microbial fermentation. Influenced by factors such as consumers' health awareness, traffic regulations, and religion, these drinks need to have the ethanol and fusel alcohols removed, while only retaining their nutritional components and unique flavors. Due to their health and unique flavor characteristics, de-alcoholized beverages are increasingly favored by consumers. De-alcoholized beverages include de-alcoholized beer, de-alcoholized yellow wine, de-alcoholized rice wine, and de-alcoholized fruit wine.
The production of alcohol-free beverages usually employs distillation or membrane filtration methods. For beverages with an ethanol concentration of less than 15%, it is extremely difficult to further reduce the alcohol content to alcohol-free using the distillation method. Besides high energy consumption and low efficiency, the heating process also causes the destruction of nutrients and significantly affects the flavor of the beverage.
Membrane filtration for alcohol removal has become a more effective method for alcohol removal and is widely used in the food and beverage industry. Molecules such as water, methanol, formaldehyde, ethanol, and fusel alcohol are smaller in size, while nutrients and flavor substances have larger molecules. Based on the size differences of molecules, membrane filtration utilizes the physical separation effect of semi-permeable membranes to achieve the passage of formaldehyde, ethanol, and fusel alcohol, while concentrating nutrients and flavor substances. Generally, a sequential reduction of ethanol concentration is achieved by first concentrating and then filtering. The membrane filtration method can reduce the ethanol concentration to less than 0.3%. According to the process requirements, the concentration ratio and water washing volume are determined to meet the needs of different consumers for the product.
Membrane filtration is used for both concentration and alcohol removal simultaneously. After the filtrate is de-alcoholized, it is further pressurized to allow water to pass through, thereby achieving high-concentration of alcohol-free beverages, up to 3 to 10 times the original volume. The highly concentrated beverages have a more intense flavor; and due to their small volume, they can be used as raw liquid for remote and low-cost transportation.
Membrane filtration for alcohol removal and concentration adopts the cross-flow filtration method. The material flows at high speed across the membrane surface, avoiding the formation of concentration polarization and membrane surface blockage, enabling industrialized continuous production. The membrane filtration equipment and membrane elements have a high degree of integration, comply with food hygiene standards, are simple and convenient to operate, and are easy to clean, maintain and repair.
With its rich engineering experience and separation purification expertise, Wuhan Bona is adept at overcoming technical challenges. It not only provides customers with high-quality equipment solutions but also offers excellent process solutions to alleviate their concerns and jointly promote industrial development.
