DE4123701A1 - Beer barrel cleaning - involves first evacuating carbon di:oxide be held in a container for neutralising without escape before barrel interior is cleaned - Google Patents

Abstract

In cleaning a barrel, esp. for beer and other fluids, the CO2 present in the barrel (1) is led off into a container (2). The interior of the barrel (1) is then cleaned. Pref. any surplus beer in the container (2) is passed to a feed yeast tank, while the CO2 is led to a neutralisation tank with a cleaning lye to neutralise the CO2. The surplus beer and unwanted CO2 can be used in other sections of the brewery such as the masher, filter cellar, bottle cleaner, ventilator, refiner and the like and/or a CO2 recovery station. Where a barrel (1) has been filled with CO2 before filling with beer, as the beer is fed to the barrel (1) the CO2 outflow is passed to a container (2) with a lye to neutralise it. ADVANTAGE - The method protects the environment from the escape of CO2 into the atmos.

Description

The invention relates to a method for cleaning a barrel, especially a keg barrel, for liquids, in particular Beer. The invention further relates to a method for filling a liquid, especially beer, in a barrel, in particular Keg barrel. The invention further relates to a device for through implementation of these procedures.

After being emptied, beer kegs are used in restaurants and canteens etc. brought back to the brewery to be cleaned there and he to be refilled. In the emptied barrels, in particular in so-called kegs, there is often still that CO2 ("carbonic acid"), which is used in the restaurant, canteen etc. for ent emptying the barrel. So far this is CO2 released into the atmosphere during or before cleaning the barrel sen, which leads to a considerable environmental impact.

The object of the invention is therefore, when cleaning and / or loading  filling barrels, especially kegs, with liquids, especially beer, the environmental impact of escaping CO2 to avoid.

According to the invention, this object is achieved in a method for cleaning a barrel, especially a keg barrel, for liquids ten, especially beer, according to the characteristic features of the Claim 1 solved in that the CO2 located in the barrel is drained into a container and that the barrel is then is cleaned inside. The CO2 is therefore no longer in the atmosphere sphere released, but caught in a container. Here the previous environmental pollution with CO2 is avoided the.

In a method for filling a liquid, in particular Beer, in a keg, especially a keg, with the keg in front pre-charged with filling with CO2, the above specified Task according to the characteristic features of the sibling Claim 6, for which separate protection is claimed, thereby solved that the CO2 flowing out of the barrel when filling a container is passed.

Advantageous further developments are in the dependent claims wrote.

Preferably, in the cleaning process according to the invention the residual liquid in the barrel (beer) and the in CO2 in the barrel into a residual liquid container (rest beer container) and then the barrel is inside ge cleans. As a result, the COD ("chemical oxygen demand") - Wastewater pollution can be greatly reduced.

The residue contained in the residual beer container is preferably beer into a feed yeast tank.

Both in the cleaning method according to the invention and  in the filling process according to the invention, this can be done in the container ter (residual liquid container or residual beer container) CO2 are directed into a neutralization tank in which a lye, especially a cleaning lye, is so that this lye is neutralized by the CO2. This will also significantly reduces the environmental impact. The lye is through the neutralization is processed using wastewater technology. It will Two beneficial effects are achieved at the same time: On the one hand the CO2 is not released into the atmosphere, and the other is at the same time neutralizes the lye. The undesirable in itself CO2 is used in a useful way to remove the lye neutralize. The basic idea is that the Ga Stronomie coming environmentally relevant CO2 and / or that when filling the process required, that is to say when pre-loading and filling the keg CO2 generated in a neutralization tank that is special can be set up for that with the keg cleaning neutralize lumbar lye. This makes "two birds beaten with one stone ": On the one hand, this is environmentally relevant te CO2 is destroyed, on the other hand lye, especially the the keg cleaning lye, neutralized and thus waste water technically prepared. In particular, residents can equivalent values can be saved in the discharge of wastewater.

According to a further advantageous development, this is in the Containers (residual liquid container, residual beer container) are located CO2 and / or that in the neutralization tank and otherwise use CO2 that is not required for neutralization turns. In particular, this CO2 can one or more stacks water containers are fed into other brewery departments, for example the brewhouse, the filter cellar, the bottle cleaning ger, the aerator and / or the sewage treatment plant. It is also possible, to supply this CO2 to a CO2 recovery system. In the Sta CO2 tanks are also used for neutralization. It is possible to call the CO2 through a panel connection stacked water tanks or the CO2 recovery system respectively.  

A device for performing the method according to the invention ren consists of a treatment head according to the invention the barrel is connectable, and a container for holding CO2. A residual liquid container (residual beer container) is preferably available to absorb residual liquid (residual beer) and CO2. Another advantageous development is characterized by a neutralization tank to hold lye, in particular Cleaning solution, and CO2.

An embodiment of the invention is described below the accompanying drawing explained in detail. In the drawing shows

Fig. 1, the first stations averaging a keg Innenreinigungs- and filling machine in a schematic depicting,

Fig. 2 shows the subsequent stations of the keg internal cleaning and filling machine shown in Fig. 1 in egg ner schematic representation and

Fig. 3 shows the last stations of the machine shown in Figs. 1 and 2 keg internal cleaning and Füllma in a schematic representation.

Fig. 1 shows the first stations of the keg system. The keg barrels 1 are picked up and centered in the singling station 11 . Provisioning contacts are activated via limit switches. There are two (not shown in the drawing) lifting beam transport systems for conveying the keg barrels 1 available. The drive is purely mechanical. The work movements are particularly quiet due to sinusoidal acceleration and deceleration processes. The drive contains only a few moving parts, all of which are maintenance-free.

With the kegs, there is an opening in the bottom of the keg. in the Inside the keg barrel, a so-called called fitting, which essentially consists of a pipe, that extends almost to the opposite side of the barrel. in the Barrel bottom are also openings that are coaxial around the fit ting are arranged around. When filling the barrel it will Beer introduced through these openings. The one in the barrel CO2 flows out of the barrel through the fitting. At Ent emptying the barrel in the restaurant, canteen, etc. Beer through the fitting out of the keg barrel. Through the opening CO2 can be introduced.

In the station 12 , the keg 1 is placed centrally by the walking beam system and is pressed onto the treatment head of the pre-cleaning station via a vertically arranged cylinder 31 . Now the leak test is carried out and the residual pressure in the keg barrel is measured.

Subsequently, the valve 32 is opened so that compressed air flows into the keg 1 through the device 33 . As a result, the residual beer present in the keg barrel is pressed out into a residual beer tank 2 and the CO2 still present in the keg barrel 1 is blown into this residual beer tank 2 . In the rest of beer tank 2 befin then det the residual beer 5 and (about) CO2 6. The CO2 6 in the residual beer tank 2 3 (Fig. 3) is passed through the line 7 into the neutralization tank. This neutralization tank 3 contains detergent solution 8 and CO2 9.

Then the valve 34 ( Fig. 1) is opened and Mischwas water initiated via line 33 in the keg 1 for a first Mischwas serspülung. This is followed by intensive lye circuit cleaning with pre-cleaning lye (lye 1 ) via the valve ( 36 ) and a lye part filling with main cleaning lye (lye 2 ) via the valve 36 .

During the course of the filling day, the lye 1-keg cip container ("Cip" = "Clean in place"), which is almost empty at the beginning, is continuously sharpened by lye 2. This happens after every nth (for example 10th) barrel after completion of cleaning on the main cleaning station, in which the lye 2 is pressed into the lye 1-keg cip container instead of the 2-keg cip container. This squeezing of lye 2 ensures a constant concentration of the cleaning lye in the cleaning performed with lye 1 on the pre-cleaning head 31 . The main cleaning lye (lye 2) is not only greatly relieved, it hardly needs to be re-sharpened. The degree of contamination of the lye 2 is thereby minimal.

External cleaning is carried out in stations 13 and 14 . First, the keg barrel goes through a waiting station in front of the outside washer. Here, the lye 2 can already act in the barrel. Before the keg barrel reaches the soft section, the external treatment is carried out via the upstream external cleaning machine (stations 13 and 14 ). The keg barrel is centered and pressed in a rotary station with a pneumatic cylinder. Then it is rotated around its own axis; in the meantime, the entire outer keg barrel area is cleaned with mixed water via an appropriately arranged nozzle system. At the same time, the outer jacket area and the bottom area of the keg barrel are mechanically cleaned using a brush. The pump cleans the outside fluid in the circuit. High-pressure spraying on the floor area and on the plastic jacket remove the labels. As a result of the rotation, the keg barrel also experiences a first cleaning effect inside due to the partial filling with lye 2. In addition, the possibility was created to pump the media out of the media containers of alkali 2 and acid into the external washer. The two cleaning media neutralize each other and flow out in a controlled manner in the overflow of the following filling day.

Station 15 is the delivery station for the soft section, on which the keg has enough time to drain. From here the keg barrel is pushed onto a long soft stretch runway. Experiments were carried out to investigate kegs in which the cleaning agent was allowed to act for a long time and was then cleaned on a spray head. In comparison, keg barrels were also examined in which many spray head stations were connected in series without pre-soaking. The experiments have given him that a long exposure distance between the pre-cleaning head and the first main cleaning head leads to better results. Until the drums reach the main cleaning system, the hot main cleaning solution (lye 2) acts in the drum on a relatively long runway for about 25 minutes. Since there is sufficient cleaning liquid for all drums on the soft stretch and a complete filling of the keg with cleaning agent can be carried out, the Lau ge 2-cip container was designed for a capacity of 1000 l. The above Ver have led to the result that an extended taxiway, through which the exposure time of the lye 2 is extended, leads to a more effective cleaning than many spray stations placed in quick succession. Kegs that were filled with wheat beer or other beverages were also cleaned biologically perfectly. A light barrier is provided, which detects that the conveyor belt of the soft section is full of barrels. Only then is the first keg barrel fed through a separator to the main cleaner 's call station. This ensures compliance with the soaking time for all keg barrels.

The main cleaning takes place from station 16 ( Fig. 2). The keg is pressed in the station 16 from above to the active head 37 . The soft liquor is expelled from the keg 1 with the sterile air through the valve 38 and the line 39 . This is followed by intensive cleaning with the main cleaning solution (solution 2), through which the keg wall (inner wall) and the fitting are cleaned. The temperature of the main cleaning solution is 80 ° C. The interval 40 (intensive rinsing) is followed by a mixed water rinse through valve 40 .

In station 17 , the acid cleaning of the keg wall (in nenwandung) and the piercer at 83 ° C is also carried out in the interval. The acid is supplied to the keg 1 via the valve 41 and the line 89 . This is followed by a thorough fresh water spray via valve 42 at 80 ° C. Thereafter, a steam rinse with steam pressure build-up to 135 ° C. is carried out via the valve 43 .

Station 18 is the sterilization station, in which the steam acts.

The keg barrels are filled in the filling station 19 . A self-locking control system for the cleaning cycles, monitored by a freely programmable control, guarantees that only kegs that have passed the cleaning cycles described above without complaint are also picked up on the filling head 44 and are filled. A second leak test is carried out in the filling station 19 . Filling head 44 is steam sterilized through valve 45 and line 46 . Then the valve 47 is blown out with CO2 and pre-tensioned. 48 beer is then filled in via line. Through three fine-stage openings of the return gas valve 49 , a completely uniform increase in the beer flow rate and thus a particularly gentle treatment of the beer is guaranteed. In the example shown, the oxygen uptake is only 0.026 02/1.

The CO2 escaping through the line 50 and the openings of the return gas valve 49 during the filling process is blown via line 7 into the neutralization tank 3 ( FIG. 3). It is even better if a separate line is present, ie, if the escaping during the filling CO2, the openings of the return gas valve is supplied to 49 via a separate, not shown in the drawings lead to the neutralization tank 3 through the line 50 and.

After filling, the keg is uncoupled and the remaining beer is collected by the filling head 44 in a container 51 .

Station 20 is the fitting spray station. Then the keg barrel in station 21 is pushed onto the delivery runway.

According to the invention, the CO2 in the keg 1 is discharged into the container 2 in the station 12 . Then the keg is cleaned (first outside and then) inside. Both the residual beer in the keg 1 and the CO2 in the keg are discharged into the residual beer container 2 . The CO2 6 present in the residual beer container 2 is passed into the neutralization tank 3 , in which the cleaning solution 8 is located, so that this cleaning solution 8 is neutralized by the CO2 9.

In the same way, the CO2 used for filling the beer in the filling station 19 for prestressing the keg barrel, which leaves the keg barrel during the filling with beer, is passed into the neutralization tank 3 .

Through the invention, a significant reduction in the COD load on the wastewater and avoidance of CO2 emissions can be achieved. The amount of beer caused by the distance between the fitting end and the barrel bottom, which remains when the barrel is emptied in the catering business, and the beer from poorly emptied barrels are conducted in station 12 into the residual beer container 2 and from there finally emptied into the feed yeast tank of the brewery. This innovation has succeeded in delimiting the beer residues that previously entered the sewer system together with the rinse water, thus reducing the COD load in the wastewater from the keg system by 95%. In addition, this measure relieves the strain on the brewery's own sewage treatment plant and saves electricity through shorter ventilation times when COD dismantling.

With the invention, three advantages can be achieved simultaneously  den: The COD pollution of the keg system wastewater can be severe be reduced, because the remaining beer is separated is caught. The environmentally relevant from gastronomy CO2 can be destroyed. This is also required during the filling process te CO2 can be destroyed. As a useful additional The effect is the lye, which also occurs during keg cleaning neutralized and thus processed using wastewater technology.

After the residual beer has been discharged in the station 12 , the CO2 is blown into the high cylindrical neutralization tank 3 in order to achieve a long contact time with the neutralization liquor 8 . There the CO2 is bound to the complete alkaline lye 1 (pre-cleaning lye) from the previous bottling. Measurements have shown that the CO2 from 50 pre-cleaned drums can already be bound in the neutralization tank and the completely untreated, environmentally unrelated CO2 from the catering trade can no longer be released into the atmosphere. As a useful additional effect, the lye 1 is neutralized.

In a practical example, the neutralization tank 3 had a pH of 13 and a concentration of 1.3% NaOH at the start of filling. It is drained at the end of the bottling with a pH of 7 - ie completely neutralized - and a concentration of 0% NaOH.

To ensure that not only the CO2 coming back from the catering trade is bound, but also that the CO2 required during the filling process does not get into the atmosphere as usual, a computer-controlled valve system block 44 was consequently developed for this, which blocks the CO2 during the filling process in the station 19 leads into the neutralization tank 3 . Thus, the CO2 on the filling head 44 receives the same treatment as on the pre-cleaning head 31 . To prevent the CO2 from flowing from the uncleaned keg to the filling head, separate VA line paths were installed for both systems (not shown in the drawing).

Claims (12)

1. A method for cleaning a barrel, in particular a keg barrel, for liquids, especially beer, characterized in that the CO2 in the barrel ( 1 ) is derived into a container ( 2 ) and that the barrel is then cleaned inside. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the residual liquid (beer) in the barrel ( 1 ) and the CO2 in the barrel are derived in a residual liquid container (residual beer container) ( 2 ) and that the barrel is finally cleaned inside . 3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the residual beer contained in the residual beer container ( 2 ) is passed into a Fut terhefetank. 4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the container (residual liquid container, residual beer container) ( 2 ) existing CO2 is passed into a neutralization tank ( 3 ) in which there is a lye, in particular a cleaning lye, so that this lye is neutralized by the CO2. 5. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the container (residual liquid container, residual beer container) ( 2 ) located CO2 and / or in the neutralization tank ( 3 ) located and there not required for the neutralization CO2 one or more Stack water tanks in other brewery departments such. B. brewhouse, filter cellar, bottle cleaner, aerator, clarifier ge etc. and / or a CO2 recovery system is supplied. 6. A method for filling a liquid, in particular beer, into a barrel (1), in particular a Kegfaß, wherein the barrel is biased before being filled with CO2, characterized in that the flowing out during the filling of the cask (1) CO2 in a container ( 2 ) is passed. 7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that the container is a neutralization tank ( 3 ), in which there is a lye, in particular a cleaning lye, so that this lye is neutralized by the CO2. 8. The method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the in the container ( 2 ) CO2 and / or in the neutralization tank ( 3 ) and there not required for the neutralization CO2 one or more Sta pelwasserbehältern in other brewery departments such as e.g. B. brewhouse, filter cellar, bottle cleaner, aerator, clarifier ge etc. and / or a CO2 recovery system is supplied. 9. The method according to any one of claims 6 to 8, characterized by the features of one or more of claims 1 to 5. 10. An apparatus for performing the method according to any one of the preceding claims, consisting of a treatment head ( 31 , 44 ) which can be connected to the barrel ( 1 ), and a container ( 2 ) for receiving CO2. 11. The device according to claim 10, characterized by a residual liquid container (residual beer container) ( 2 ) for receiving residual liquid (residual beer) and CO2. 12. The device according to claim 10 or 11, characterized by a neutralization tank ( 3 ) for receiving lye, in particular special cleaning lye, and CO2.