EROX^® water degassing

The degassing of the water is required for various purposes. Above all, when using the high-gravity brewing process or in the production of soft drinks, the oxygen content of the water decides significantly on the quality of the final product. A second important application is the removal of CO2 dissolved in water to protect production facilities from corrosion where necessary. The EROX^® membrane process has proven itself worldwide in both fields of application.

At the heart of the EROX^® process are hollow-fiber membrane modules with a large membrane surface area. The membranes are semipermeable, i. permeable to gas, but not to water. However, this is done at a much higher energy input, which is compounded by the fact that unlike the EROX^® process, the degassed water is unpressurized, and therefore pump energy has to be re-supplied for further transport. The water flows upstream on the outside of the membrane, while a vacuum is applied inside the membrane and the stripping gas is passed downstream to the vacuum pump. The membranes separate the water to be treated from the stripping gas and the vacuum.

For CO2 removal, the use of sterile air as stripping gas is usually sufficient. A vacuum is not required in this application. It is important in this context that the system works under pressure in both CO2 and O2 removal and that an additional pumping station is not required. However, this is done at a much higher energy input, which is compounded by the fact that unlike the EROX^® process, the degassed water is unpressurized, and therefore pump energy has to be re-supplied for further transport. In hot operation, the risk of precipitation and the use of an open packed column microbiology is also observed. In summary, the EROX^® process is characterized by its low operating costs, the avoidance of precipitation and its compact design compared to traditional vacuum degassing. In addition, the oxygen levels of well below 10 μg / l achieved without any warming of the water meet all current quality requirements.

Last but not least, EROX® is a CIP-capable inline system, which is highly advantageous in view of the high microbiological requirements of the brewing and beverage industry. Due to the modular design of the EROX® process, both the new installation as well as a later extension are very easy to implement. The membranes can be connected either in series and / or in series. If necessary, the water should be filtered and sterilized before the EROX® conditioning unit. Depending on the application, the degassed water can then be cooled to temperatures < 5 ° C.