CO2 Recovery

CO₂ generated during fermentation represents a potentially valuable process resource that can be recovered, purified, and reused within the brewery or supplied for use in food and beverage applications. CO₂ recovery systems enable breweries to capture and utilize process-generated CO₂, supporting resource efficiency objectives and creating opportunities to reduce the need for externally sourced CO₂.

1. Raw gas generated by fermenting microorganisms is captured
2. Gas scrubbers purify the gas from any alcohol and aerosols
3. The gas is compressed to reduce volume 
4. Then the gas is purified and dried to reduce the relative humidity, prior to liquefaction
5. Gas liquefaction reduces volume and also acts as a first purification step that separates the condensed CO2 from non-condensable gases, including O2 and N2
6. In the stripping and reboiler unit the O2 content is further reduced to less than 5 ppm. This step results in 99,998% food-grade purity CO2
7. The purified, liquid CO2 is then stored until required

GEA has decades of experience configuring end-to-end brewery solutions as well as individual plants and components, so we really do have detailed knowledge of each stage in your processes, including those upstream and downstream of CO2 recovery. We use all this combined knowledge and insight to design solutions that can optimize efficiency in both CO2 recovery and refrigeration, while keeping your capital investment as low as possible. 

Where possible our systems can also help to minimize the use of resources and recover energy. The waste heat from the CO2 recovery system’s compressor can be reused in other parts of the brewery, to help to reduce overall brewery energy costs. 

The GEA CO2 recovery technology is fully automated, which further helps to improve energy efficiency when compared with a manually controlled system. There is also less need for manual intervention, freeing up personnel for other tasks.