Beer Wort Segmentation for Energy Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing beer brewing process is energy-inefficient due to the increased energy requirement caused by washing out spent grains to maximize extract yield, leading to higher brew volumes and increased energy consumption during wort boiling.
Innovation Solution
The method involves dividing the beer wort into a highly concentrated and a lower concentrated portion, with the lower concentrated portion being diverted back to the mash for subsequent brews, reducing the volume processed in the wort kettle and thus lowering energy demands. This includes diluting the highly concentrated wort before bottling and potentially adding the lower concentrated wort to the mash tun during mashing, allowing for increased system capacity and reduced energy use.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the spent grain cake is washed out with sparging water to maximize extract yield, then the extract yield and brew volume increase, but the energy requirement for wort boiling significantly increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the wort into two distinct streams: a concentrated wort stream that is boiled and a dilute wash stream that is reused as mashing water. This segmentation allows the energy-intensive boiling process to handle only the concentrated stream, while the dilute stream is diverted to mashing operations, thereby reducing overall energy consumption while maintaining extract yield.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the concentration parameter of the wash stream by diverting it to mashing operations rather than boiling. The dilute wash stream (with lower extract concentration) is used as mashing water for subsequent brews, where its lower concentration is acceptable. This parameter change eliminates the need to boil large volumes of dilute wort, significantly reducing energy requirements.
2Quantity of substance
If the brew volume is increased to maximize extract utilization, then the extract yield increases, but the power peaks and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the brewing process into two parallel pathways: one for concentrated wort that requires boiling and one for dilute wash that is reused in mashing. This segmentation allows the system to handle larger total extract volumes without proportionally increasing power peaks, as the dilute stream does not require energy-intensive boiling.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-heating the dilute wash stream using heat exchangers that recover heat from the concentrated wort stream. This preliminary heating reduces the energy required for subsequent processes and smooths out power peaks by distributing thermal energy requirements across different time stages.
3Loss of energy
If the wash water is reused as mashing water for subsequent brews, then resource efficiency improves, but the volume to be boiled remains high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the water utilization into two distinct functions: concentrated wort is boiled and fermented, while dilute wash water is reused for mashing subsequent brews. This segmentation ensures that only the necessary concentrated volume undergoes boiling, while the dilute portion is efficiently reused without adding to the boiling volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the functional parameter of the wash water from 'wort to be boiled' to 'mashing water'. By this parameter change, the dilute wash stream is no longer subjected to boiling but is instead used as mashing water where its lower concentration is acceptable and even beneficial for subsequent brews.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method for producing beer comprising the steps of: preparing a mash, carrying out a solid/liquid separation of the mash to obtain a wort, dividing the wort into a) a highly concentrated part with a first wort and b) a less concentrated part, wherein the less concentrated part has at least 5% of the extract quantity of the mash, processing the highly concentrated part of the wort, wherein the processing comprises diluting the highly concentrated part of the wort before bottling the beer, and conducting at least some of the less concentrated part of the wort to a mashing process.