Results on semi-industrial continuous top fermentation with the Meura-Delta immobilised yeast fermenter

This paper reviews the results obtained for the Meura-Delta immobilised yeast fermenter, on lab, pilot and micro-brewery scale for different top fermenting strains using industrial hopped wort.

In recent years, immobilised cell technology has become a rapidly expanding research area. For the application in brewing, immobilisation of yeast cells implicates the retention of catalytic cells within a fermenter. To be a viable alternative to traditional free cell batch fermentation systems, immobilised cells must have considerably long working lifetimes characteristically measured in months. Mass transfer limitations of substrate into and products out of the immobilised cells and associated carrier are of critical interest.
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A fermenting room has to be cool and dry - this is a challenge in a hot, humid Chinese climate. Munters GmbH of Hamburg successfully installed an air-conditioning plant including air dehumidification for Anheuser-Busch in a newly erected production plant in Wuhan, China.

It is really cold and wet in this room. Compared to the ambient temperature which gets up to 40°C in this part of China, 10°C is really icy. Condensate forms on the external walls of fermentation vessels and storage tanks as well as on pipes in the fermenting room, it collects on the undersides and drips continuously to the floor, onto fittings and onto electrical switchgear. There are pools on the floor, corrosion is eating away at steel structural parts. 22..

Fermentation - Process transparency and control using flow cytometry

Current process control is directed towards the behaviour of the overall population and not towards individual cells. It is therefore necessary to have continuous analysis of the bioprocess, this involves measuring the direct influence of chemical and physical process variables on the micro-organisms at every point during growth.

The fermentative ability of micro-organisms in biotechnical processes is used to produce a large number of food and luxury items such as beer. In the main, microbial populations in such processes are axenic cultures which are controlled in a static process. Due to the proliferation of micro-organisms during the biotechnical process, growth conditions in this culture are never constant, they change all the time.
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