Spanish brewer Mahou goes electric
28 Nov 2006
Process companies are moving towards alternative water treatment technologies
Efforts by European Union regulators to eliminate trace chemicals in a broad range of products and materials are pushing process companies towards alternative water treatment technologies.
Spanish brewer Mahou has ordered electrolytic equipment to manage the legionella, scale and corrosion on six cooling systems at its Madrid facility — the largest brewery in Spain.
The order follows a three-year trial of the Elgressy system at the Madrid brewery. Tests on the E100+L200 system were carried out at the brewery by the Bioma Foundation — a not-for-profit Spanish organisation that assesses industrial water treatment technologies.
The Elgressy system uses a reaction tank whose walls act as the cathode and three anodes fixed inside the tank. Electrolysis produces chemical changes around the electrodes and in the surrounding system waters.
Cathodic reactions break down water to form hydrogen gas and the hydroxide ion. This takes the local reaction tank wall pH to levels at which legionella is unable to survive and calcium and magnesium hardness precipitates on the sides of the reaction tank.
The anodic reactions break down water to form a series of effective disinfecting agents — primarily chlorine from the reaction with the chlorides that are naturally present in the make up water. Small amounts of ozone and hydrogen peroxide are also generated to enhance the disinfection capability of the water.
At the Mahou brewery, the electrolyis system was put through a series of comparative tests to evaluate its effectiveness against the existing chemical treatments. Independent firm Interlab analysed the process waters, while BIOMA and Mahou inspected corrosion and scale on the infrastructure.
The results showed that the bacterial counts were noticeably lower than conventional treatment achieved after 75 days. The bacterial level was achieved within the first 15 days and stayed low, close to the level of the make up water.
"The analytical results made by Interlab showed a high efficiency of the technology in reaching excellent physical and chemical water quality," said Luis de la Fuente, president of Bioma.
"Analytical results showed levels of calcium carbonate so low that scale did not form," added Juan Cirizas, manager of the brewery's environmental department.
Spanish brewer Mahou has ordered electrolytic equipment to manage the legionella, scale and corrosion on six cooling systems at its Madrid facility — the largest brewery in Spain.
The order follows a three-year trial of the Elgressy system at the Madrid brewery. Tests on the E100+L200 system were carried out at the brewery by the Bioma Foundation — a not-for-profit Spanish organisation that assesses industrial water treatment technologies.
The Elgressy system uses a reaction tank whose walls act as the cathode and three anodes fixed inside the tank. Electrolysis produces chemical changes around the electrodes and in the surrounding system waters.
Cathodic reactions break down water to form hydrogen gas and the hydroxide ion. This takes the local reaction tank wall pH to levels at which legionella is unable to survive and calcium and magnesium hardness precipitates on the sides of the reaction tank.
The anodic reactions break down water to form a series of effective disinfecting agents — primarily chlorine from the reaction with the chlorides that are naturally present in the make up water. Small amounts of ozone and hydrogen peroxide are also generated to enhance the disinfection capability of the water.
At the Mahou brewery, the electrolyis system was put through a series of comparative tests to evaluate its effectiveness against the existing chemical treatments. Independent firm Interlab analysed the process waters, while BIOMA and Mahou inspected corrosion and scale on the infrastructure.
The results showed that the bacterial counts were noticeably lower than conventional treatment achieved after 75 days. The bacterial level was achieved within the first 15 days and stayed low, close to the level of the make up water.
"The analytical results made by Interlab showed a high efficiency of the technology in reaching excellent physical and chemical water quality," said Luis de la Fuente, president of Bioma.
"Analytical results showed levels of calcium carbonate so low that scale did not form," added Juan Cirizas, manager of the brewery's environmental department.
