Efficient, flexible, sustainable: GEA to present future-proof beverage solutions at Drinktec

“Considering the almost unparalleled impact that social developments are having on the beverage market, Drinktec could not have come at a better time,” says Ilija Aprcovic, Division CEO of Liquid and Powder Technologies at GEA. “The good news is that GEA is here to help our customers overcome these hurdles. That’s why, at Drinktec, we will be showcasing how we fit out plants to improve efficiency and sustainability as well as respond to consumer trends.”

GEA enables customers to achieve their climate targets and meet ever-increasing regulations around emissions, water consumption and waste disposal by taking a more big-picture approach to processes. While the GEA technology experts put every component and parameter under the microscope during process planning, GEA never loses sight of a plant’s high-level workings.

• To ensure plants – either new or existing – are sustainable, GEA applies its Sustainable Engineering Solutions or SEnS approach. This enables production plants to be designed as low-energy or even CO₂-neutral, while taking into account other parameters such as packaging, water consumption, and potential side streams, etc. GEA successfully implemented SEnS for juice customer, innocent, which recently built its first climate-neutral juice factory in Rotterdam.
• Just as it is possible to recover heat, carbon dioxide from brewery or distillery fermentation can also be reused. In parallel with the industry's climate protection efforts, CO₂ pricing for emitters makes the search for a CO₂-reusing technology urgent. This idea is also gaining traction as a result of the Ukraine crisis that makes it almost impossible to source the industrially manufactured gas, which is a byproduct of feed production. Using the GEA CO₂ recovery solution helps producers to reuse CO₂ instead of emitting it and to make a virtue out of necessity. On the other hand, manufacturers enjoy not only a secure supply for carbonization but also the high purity levels that their fermentation tanks deliver, which is key to the quality of the end product. With stripping technology, GEA can recover even food-grade CO₂ from early stages of fermentation. Distilleries, for example, that can recover CO₂ from fermentation but cannot use it in their own products, gain an attractive byproduct for further sale.

Shifting supply and demand dynamics and economic pressures are forcing manufacturers to shorten development times for new products. This makes equipment flexibility and productivity key priorities for sustainable beverage production. A lesson learned from the coronavirus pandemic is that manufacturers who can flexibly produce other beverages are better insulated against slumps in demand. GEA's approach to holistic engineering concepts as well as just-in-time production capabilities helps to prepare for the growing trend toward high dynamics.

For breweries that already have a brewhouse for producing the sugar base and technology for fermenting, blending, carbonating as well as bottling, any expansion is possible. One example of the flexibility of GEA equipment is the GEA AromaPlus membrane dealcoholization unit, which reduces the alcohol content in beer to <0.0 percent. This plant is also used for other non-alcoholic beverages such as 0.0% cider. At the same time, the resulting alcoholic base can serve as the basis for hybrid products, in this case trendy beverages containing alcohol, which run just-in-time through a GEA DICON inline blending plant. The portfolio is rounded out by the multifunctional GEA Visitron Filler ALL IN ONE, which meets the demand for short changeover times for containers.

• GEA supports beverage manufacturers on the digital transformation journey. Together with big-name breweries, GEA has developed the GEA InsightPartner Brewery software, which captures real-time process management data, monitors production performance and alerts users to deviations. If necessary, brewers can quickly take remedial action in order to streamline the brewhouse and cold block over the long term. In a second step, the results of an energy analysis i are integrated with the software, allowing breweries to find the right balance between product quality and quantity and sustainability.
• Long term, GEA is working toward providing producers with an autopilot. That would allow breweries, for instance, to optimize processes in the same way as dairy farmers currently do with the GEA OptiPartner. The process software automatically optimizes process lines in real time, with the result that energy requirements are permanently minimized. Using an interactive user interface, the tool not only provides KPIs that make production line conditions fully transparent but also automatically analyzes and regulates efficiency and productivity. Thanks to remote monitoring at a GEA Service Center, users enjoy a lasting improvement in plant availability and performance.

• GEA aims to serve craft brewers with the new-generation plug & win separator series that will be on show at Drinktec. Equipped with an integrated direct drive and twin hydrohermetic sealing, the GEA plug & win i is more efficient than conventional motors. And thanks to its convenient replacement concept, maintenance is quick. GEA’s newly developed twin hydrohermetic sealing further enhances product quality and safety by preventing oxygen pickup while conserving energy.
• In addition, GEA is rounding out its GSE line of beverage separators with a mid-sized unit. Depending on the application, the GEA GSE 190 clarifies 600 hectoliters of beer or up to 27,000 liters of wine per hour. This centrifuge is now also equipped with the energy-saving twin hydrohermetic seal.