Binding pumps out
27 Mar 2007
The Binding brewery in Frankfurt is one of the largest such operations in Germany producing about 1.6 million hectolitres of beer every year — about 15% of the entire annual production of its parent company, the giant Radeberger group.
The brewery operates two brewhouses; one for normal beers, pils lagers and wheat beers, with the other dedicated to the production of alcohol-free beer. Production is focused on operating to stringently controlled conditions — reflecting a heritage founded on Germany purity laws dating back to 1516, which permit only yeast, barley, malt and water in the brewing process.
Binding uses light coloured malt and dark coloured malt sourced from 10 different malting companies and hops from the Halletau area of Bavaria — the biggest of three hops-growing regions in Germany. The water used at the brewery comes from nearby springs in Frankfurt, which the brewery can use without any sort of treatment, for its brewing process.
Binding employs around 300 pumps in sizes 1-3 — flow rates of 10 to 180 m3/hr — for moving the beer between tanks as well as for processes such as cooling via plate heat exchangers, filtration and CIP (cleaning in place). Virtually all the pumps are made of stainless steel because the brewery sprays around the body for cleaning every day of the week.
The brewhouse operates five large kettles making 10 brews —1400-hectolitre batches — a day. Here, the malt is mixed with water and gradually heated it up to 102°C to develop a strong enzyme buildup with starch separation and sugar production.
After all the solid particles are separated, the wort is cooled down to 7-8°C via two plate heat exchangers. The liquid is transferred using standard KSB pumps all fitted with double mechanical seals, as sugar in the mash can damage the equipment. The pumps are specified to drive at high flow rates and low pressure (1.5 bar) as they only have to pump short distances.
The wort is pumped to a fermentation cellar, which houses around 40 stainless steel, conical fermentation tanks each of 3500-hectolitres capacity. Yeast is added to the wort to start a six-day fermentation process with the resulting brew pumped to the storage tanks.
The brew is stored for four to six weeks at minus 1°C to allow the beer to ripen and control the CO2 levels — Binding harvests the CO2 and gets enough to cover its own needs.
Here, Binding employs hygienic pumps — Euro-Hygia single stage, end-suction centrifugal units from Hilge — to pump the beer from one tank to another. These operate at between 20-40 metres pressure and flow rates of up to 50 m3/hr.
The Euro-Hygia pumps are designed and constructed to meet the hygienic requirements of the brewing operation and are CIP and SIP capable in compliance with DIN EN 12462, EHEDG test certificate of CIP cleanability (TNO) and the 3A-Sanitary Standard (US).
The fermentation storage area employs mobile pumps that go from tank to tank to avoid breakdowns due to flow resistance in the pipework and the pressure of the CO2 on the suction side of the pump.
The fermented beer is filtered through Kieselguhr-based candle filter and sheet filter lines. At the start of filtering, the pressure for the filter pumps is relatively low but rises to 6-7 bar as the filter clogs up.
Frequency inverters control the speed of the motors to ensure steady flow rates — about 850 m3/hr for alcohol beer — to transfer the beer to storage tanks ahead of filling.
The brewery operates two brewhouses; one for normal beers, pils lagers and wheat beers, with the other dedicated to the production of alcohol-free beer. Production is focused on operating to stringently controlled conditions — reflecting a heritage founded on Germany purity laws dating back to 1516, which permit only yeast, barley, malt and water in the brewing process.
Binding uses light coloured malt and dark coloured malt sourced from 10 different malting companies and hops from the Halletau area of Bavaria — the biggest of three hops-growing regions in Germany. The water used at the brewery comes from nearby springs in Frankfurt, which the brewery can use without any sort of treatment, for its brewing process.
Binding employs around 300 pumps in sizes 1-3 — flow rates of 10 to 180 m3/hr — for moving the beer between tanks as well as for processes such as cooling via plate heat exchangers, filtration and CIP (cleaning in place). Virtually all the pumps are made of stainless steel because the brewery sprays around the body for cleaning every day of the week.
The brewhouse operates five large kettles making 10 brews —1400-hectolitre batches — a day. Here, the malt is mixed with water and gradually heated it up to 102°C to develop a strong enzyme buildup with starch separation and sugar production.
After all the solid particles are separated, the wort is cooled down to 7-8°C via two plate heat exchangers. The liquid is transferred using standard KSB pumps all fitted with double mechanical seals, as sugar in the mash can damage the equipment. The pumps are specified to drive at high flow rates and low pressure (1.5 bar) as they only have to pump short distances.
The wort is pumped to a fermentation cellar, which houses around 40 stainless steel, conical fermentation tanks each of 3500-hectolitres capacity. Yeast is added to the wort to start a six-day fermentation process with the resulting brew pumped to the storage tanks.
The brew is stored for four to six weeks at minus 1°C to allow the beer to ripen and control the CO2 levels — Binding harvests the CO2 and gets enough to cover its own needs.
Here, Binding employs hygienic pumps — Euro-Hygia single stage, end-suction centrifugal units from Hilge — to pump the beer from one tank to another. These operate at between 20-40 metres pressure and flow rates of up to 50 m3/hr.
The Euro-Hygia pumps are designed and constructed to meet the hygienic requirements of the brewing operation and are CIP and SIP capable in compliance with DIN EN 12462, EHEDG test certificate of CIP cleanability (TNO) and the 3A-Sanitary Standard (US).
The fermentation storage area employs mobile pumps that go from tank to tank to avoid breakdowns due to flow resistance in the pipework and the pressure of the CO2 on the suction side of the pump.
The fermented beer is filtered through Kieselguhr-based candle filter and sheet filter lines. At the start of filtering, the pressure for the filter pumps is relatively low but rises to 6-7 bar as the filter clogs up.
Frequency inverters control the speed of the motors to ensure steady flow rates — about 850 m3/hr for alcohol beer — to transfer the beer to storage tanks ahead of filling.
