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Cheers to International Beer Day!

Cara Young — Fri, 04 Aug 2023 15:00:00 +0000

Cheers to International Beer Day!

Raise your glasses and join the worldwide celebration of hops, malt, and yeast on International Beer Day! This annual event, observed on the first Friday of August, unites beer enthusiasts from every corner of the globe in a toast to the rich and diverse world of brewing. Whether you’re a connoisseur or just enjoy the occasional pint, International Beer Day is the perfect occasion to immerse yourself in the flavours, traditions, and social camaraderie that make beer an integral part of our culture.

As we raise our glasses to toast the occasion, it’s equally important to appreciate the intricate process that goes into brewing the perfect pint. Behind the scenes, breweries rely on advanced process instrumentation products to ensure precision, consistency, and quality throughout the brewing process.

Unraveling the Art of Beer-Making

Breweries may have variations in their processes, depending on their specific equipment, beer styles, and brewing techniques. However, the general process of making beer involves several key steps.

The brewing process initiates with malting, wherein grains are soaked in water, rested in a controlled environment of humidity and temperature, and allowed to germinate. Subsequently, the germinated grains are dried and crushed, resulting in malt.

Malt is then roasted at various temperatures and durations, yielding an array of color and flavor characteristics. Distinct beers necessitate varying quantities of multiple roasted malts to form the desired profile, known as a Grist. These grains are crushed similarly to rolled oats, and in some Ales, oats, rye, or wheat may also be added.

The grist is introduced to a “mash tun” with water, and the temperature is regulated to activate alpha-amylase and beta-amylase enzymes, which break down the starches into different sugars. The resulting liquid, called “sweet wort,” is drained off, and the grains may be rinsed or “sparged” to achieve the desired brix for the intended style.

The sweet wort is then transferred to the kettles and boiled while various hop varieties are added at different times to create the distinct flavour, aroma, and bitterness profile of the style.

Once the wort is no longer sweet but rather ready for fermentation, it is pumped through a chiller to rapidly decrease the temperature and transferred into fermentation tanks, where yeast is added. The yeast consumes the sugars, producing alcohol, esters, and gases, which can be vented off or collected for other uses. Maintaining precise temperature during fermentation is crucial to avoid spoiling the batch.

Following fermentation, the ales move to “bright” tanks where they are clarified and carbonated with compressed CO2.

The final step involves packaging the beer for distribution and consumption, which may include bottling, canning, or kegging, along with labeling and packaging design.

Unlock the Full Potential of Your Brewery with Festo

Festo provides a wide range of products and services, including pneumatic and electric actuators, valves, sensors, controllers, and handling systems. Their automation solutions are utilized in various industries, such as manufacturing, automotive, electronics, food and beverage, and more. Festo is known for its commitment to research and development, constantly striving to develop cutting-edge technologies to enhance industrial automation and efficiency.

Solutions for keg and vessel cleansing

In numerous craft brew applications, the use of steam, hot water, or cleaning solutions is essential. To comply with regulations, vessels, kegs, and brewing equipment must undergo regular sterilization. When it comes to controlling the flow of liquids and gases, an angle seat valve proves to be the ideal choice. Its simplicity in design, cost-effectiveness, and ease of installation make it a popular option. Additionally, this valve is well-suited for a broad range of temperatures and can handle various media, even those with different degrees of contaminants.

Festo VZXF angle seat valve

Brass or Stainless
NPT, BSP, clamp connections
Wide temperature
Suitable for clean or dirty media
Ideal for steam and cleaning solutions
Pneumatic pilot with indicator

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Compressed air preparation for maintaining high quality

In breweries, compressed air often serves as pilot air to control valves and cylinders. However, when used as process air, significantly higher levels of purity are necessary. Typical brewery applications include using compressed air for cleaning or drying bottles and cans during the filling process and for blowing out lines between batches. One particularly sensitive application is wort aeration, wherein compressed air is in contact with the product for an extended duration. In all these cases, the final quality of the beer is affected by the compressed air and the odours and particles it contains. Therefore, maintaining high-quality compressed air is crucial to ensure the integrity and taste of the brewed products.

MS-Series Compressed air preparation

Highly modular system with flow rates up to 28,000 l/min
Advanced features such as flow monitoring and Category 3 and 4 safety valves
Pre-configured air preparation units designed specifically for the food industry

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Controllers and valves for automation

Controllers, pneumatic valves and I/O play a significant role in the breweries, providing automation, monitoring and control capabilities for several processes. Controllers can regulate the temperature needed of the equipment, contributing to the desired flavours, aromas, and characteristics of the beer. They help streamline the process by programming and executing various tasks without manual intervention, controlling the flow of liquids and gases, maintaining the correct pH levels and more.

Automation System CPX-AP-I

High-performance remote I/O system that flexibly networks 80 modules
End-to-end connectivity with extended diagnostics option
Simple integration into the controller of your choice
Real-time capability and deterministic system behaviour enable a cycle time of up to 250 µs
Cable lengths of up to 50 m between each module
IO-Link master and configuration software enable any IO-Link devices to be integrated simply
Ethernet performance up to valve manifold and digital or analog I/O modules

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Brew Excellence with Siemens Flow Meters

For over 150 years, they have been known for engineering excellence, innovation, quality and reliability. They offer comprehensive portfolio offering best-in-class transmitters for the widest range of applications. It believes in building products that allow you to measure anything and everything whether it is pressure, temperature, flow or level. In addition, you can also find electropneumatic positioners, process controllers and process recorders at Siemens.

Flow meters accurately measure the flow rate of liquids and gases, providing valuable data that allows for monitor, control and optimize operations. They help control the flow of water and regulate the ratio of liquid to grain, ensuring efficient starch conversion. Moreover, they help with the beer’s bitterness and aroma by controlling the flow of liquid into the kettle during boiling.

Flow meters are essential during fermentation, filtration and clarification processes. They provide essential data and control capabilities that enable breweries to maintain consistency, optimize processes, improve resource management, and ensure the quality of their beer. This level of precision and monitoring is vital in the highly nuanced and quality-driven world of brewing.

Ultrasonic

Coriolis

Variable Area

Differential Pressure

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Get in Touch

From cutting-edge flow meter technologies that optimize brewing processes to state-of-the-art automation systems that streamline operations, E.B. Horsman & Son can help you empower your brewery to craft the perfect pint and deliver the finest quality and consistency in every sip.

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Festo Air Preparation For Industrial Standards

Jason — Fri, 01 Jan 2016 13:44:00 +0000

Festo Air Preparation For Industrial Standards

Festo Systems Compressed Air Preparation

To uphold optimal process reliability and machine uptime, meticulous preparation of compressed air must be integrated into the initial planning stages of the system. A pristine compressed air source, free from particles, water, and oil, serves as a safeguard against pneumatic component malfunctions, prolongs component lifespan, and mitigates machine breakdowns and operational downtimes.

Festo maintenance units are the core of compressed air preparation solutions. They ensure the right compressed air quality and filter compressor oil, condensate and dirt particles from the air. Depending on the application, a service unit consists of a pressure regulator, various filters, a branch module and pressurization and exhaust valves. Various combinations are available and in stock at Festo. In addition, service units can be configured individually in the MS modular system.

Why Compressed Air Preparation So Important?

Raw compressed air is laden with contaminants, including particles, water, and oil, which can exist in various states—liquid or gaseous—within the system. These impurities never occur in isolation but form a complex mixture, the composition of which fluctuates throughout the system. For instance, water may accumulate in branch lines, while particles can amass in stagnant areas and later dislodge during pressure surges.

Every cubic meter of compressed air harbors millions of particles, along with substantial amounts of water, oil, and even heavy metals like lead, cadmium, and mercury. Failure to filter out these pollutants jeopardizes the sustained performance of system components and severely compromises product quality. Thus, meticulous preparation of compressed air is essential to mitigate machine failures, minimize downtime, and ensure both process and product reliability.

Clean Air Requirements

Compressed air must consistently meet cleanliness standards to prevent any operational disruptions or equipment damage. However, considering that each filtration step introduces flow resistance, it’s economically prudent to ensure compressed air cleanliness only to the extent necessary for its intended use. The diverse applications of compressed air necessitate varying levels of air quality, with higher quality air demanding multiple filtration stages.

ISO 8573 sets forth the cleanliness requirements for compressed air, delineating maximum allowable levels of solid particles, water, and oil content. Compliance with this standard has been obligatory for pneumatic automation since 2010, underscoring the importance of adhering to specific parameters for achieving energy-efficient compressed air preparation while meeting regulatory standards. Festo air preparation units and filters guarantee trouble-free function. You can find out which standard your application must comply with in our brochure “Reliable processes thanks to perfect compressed air preparation.”

Compressed Air Preparation for Clean solution

This standard has been binding for automation using pneumatics since 2010. To ensure that compressed air preparation complies with the standard and is energy efficient, various parameters must be observed.

You should clarify the following questions in advance:

How high is the maximum flow rate required?
Do all consumers require the same compressed air quality?
What compressed air quality is provided by the compressor?

A perfect match for many industries.

Many industries have strict requirements for compressed air quality. While the priorities for the food and packaging industries are food safety and problem-free consumption, PWIS-free compressed air is essential in paint shops. Festo service units and filters guarantee excellent functionality.

Some examples:

1. For direct contact with “non-dry” foods (e.g. drinks, meat, vegetables etc.)

The compressed air is used for transporting or mixing, or in general food production. It thus comes into direct contact with the food.

2. In packaging machines

If compressed air comes into direct contact with packaging materials for food, the packaging material is considered part of the food sector.

The following classifications apply for both applications: ISO 8573-1:2010

Particles = Class 1
Water = Class 4
Oil = Class 1

3. For direct contact with dry foods

The compressed air is used for transporting or mixing, or in general food production. Therefore, it comes into direct contact with the food. Increased requirements apply in this case since air humidity plays an important role.

As a result, the following compressed air quality classifications in accordance with ISO 8573-1:2010 are recommended in these applications:

Particles = Class 1
Water = Class 2
Oil = Class 1

Compliance with the compressed air quality classes specified here is of great importance to guarantee maximum safety for the food and protect the health of the consumer.

4. Clear view: visual displace- ment encoders in machine tools (ISO 8573-1:2010 Class 1:4:1)

Visual displacement encoders

e.g. in milling or machine tools require cleaning air with air quality class 1:4:1 in accordance with ISO 8573-1:2010 for a long service life. The high-purity compressed air is routed inside, preventing ingress of impure ambient air into the housing. That also means that oil mist cannot wet and damage the glassscale – a key requirement for a long service life of the displacement encoder. The filter combination for this: 5 + 1 + 0.01 μm + activated carbon filter

The almost unlimited options of the FESTO MS series

From highly sensitive applications in the pharmaceutical or food industry to application-specific solutions with sturdy flow performance for the automotive industry, the service units from the MS series are used almost anywhere, either centrally or decentrally.

For standard applications and application-specific solutions
Optimum product range with the most modern functionality
Modular connection system for rapid assembly and dismantling
4 sizes with highest flow rates with low dimensions

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The almost unlimited options of the FESTO MS series

The D series is available in sturdy metal for standard applications and basic logic functions for decentralized preparation. Or in the attractively priced polymer variant DB for reliable and economical compressed air preparation in uncritical environments. This is ideal for moving machine components, where low weight is required, for example.

Reliable compressed air preparation for applications in uncritical environments
Freely combinable within the D series from Festo
One size with G¼ connection.

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How can our Specialty Division PAC: Process, Automation & Controls help you with your FESTO needs?

E.B. Horsman’s dedicated PAC division has a close partnership with FESTO to ensure the team is fully equipped to assist with sizing and selecting the right components for your air preparation needs. We also lend application support with start-up and troubleshooting. Combining our full line of process, automation, controls & motion products with expert technical consulting to support your industrial needs. Contact us today for your FESTO needs:

Specifications and design support
Product Selection Recommendations
Quotation
Inventory Support & Supply Management

Delivery Logistics
Training
Post-Sale Technical Support

Contact PAC

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