Separation company Hyflux Ltd., Singapore, has had lots of experience with liquid clarification from beer to broth. Here are bite-sized case histories for easy consumption.

• Beer clarification commonly is accomplished with a batch-filtering media called kieselguhr, which is a silica that can pose a health hazard. At an Asian brewery, Hyflux’s InoCep ceramic hollow fiber membrane replaced kieselguhr and yielded a high quality beer, according to the company.
  
  
• Juice clarification mainly is concerned with eliminating the constituents responsible for the turbidity and cloudiness found in freshly produced juice. A conventional filtration method in the clarification process includes filtration through plate-and-frame and rotary vacuum filters. However, the final product often is left with a higher level of undesired constituents than what is preferred by industrial standards. A South American engineering services company has employed InoCep ceramic membranes for fruit and vegetable juice clarification processes for industrial-scale projects. Sharp pore-size distribution and hollow-fiber configuration delivered high flux without compromising standards of organic acids or vitamin content.
  
  
• Fermentation broth made at two plants in China use Hyflux’s FerroCep stainless steel tubular membrane for clarification and simplified their traditional process. The clarification device improved yield and reduced production costs by eliminating redundant process stages like flocculation, coagulation, plate-and-frame filter and centrifugal separators.

Links

• Hyflux Ltd.