SPX FLOW helps brewery achieve expansion through efficiency

Italian brewer Brewfist had some clear processing goals when it looked to expand production capacity at its brewhouse near Milan, Italy, to meet growing market demand.

These included ensuring that oxygen pickup between the end of the fermentation process and bottle filling was no greater than 30 ppb, reducing process time and ensuring consistent quality without making the beer too ‘yeasty’.

To assist Brewfist in meeting its production goals, SPX FLOW’s Seital Separation Technology brand recommended a Seital clarifier with a hermetic mechanical seal designed to minimise the risk of oxidation. Hydraulic seal machines had previously been tested but did not meet Brewfist’s requirements to limit oxygen pickup, while the Seital technology went beyond original requirements, producing oxygen pickup of less than 10 ppb. This performance resulted in high levels of consistency in product clarity and lower yeast content.

SPX FLOW Seital clarifiers use vertical disk stack centrifuge technology. The units’ efficiency meant that production time for fermentation at Brewfist could be reduced from 16 to 11 days and maturation time from 6 weeks to 3–4 weeks. This improvement in productivity meant that annual capacity could be increased to meet growing market demands without investment in additional tanks.

Seital centrifuges are designed with highly efficient gear or belt drive transmissions, continuous vibration monitoring and automatic solids discharge to offer reliability with long maintenance intervals. Precise control and adjustment of the machine is provided through an intuitive operator interface to ensure the process is providing the right product characteristics.

Pietro di Pilato, one of the owners of the Brewfist company, commented, “We are very satisfied with the Seital clarifier. It is very user friendly and I like the taste of the beer after it has gone through the centrifuge. The machine has worked for 750 hours without requiring maintenance.”

Seital units are designed to maintain hygienic conditions and offer gentle processing to ensure favourable product characteristics are preserved and consistent, reliable production is achieved.