The green brewery concept – Energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy sources in breweries

Abstract

The aim of the Green Brewery Concept is to demonstrate the potential for reducing thermal energy consumption in breweries, to substantially lower fossil CO 2 emissions and to develop an expert tool in order to provide a strategic approach to reach this reduction. Within the project "Green Brewery" 3 detailed case studies have been performed and a Green Brewery Concept has been developed. The project outcomes show that it is preferable to develop a tool instead of a simple guideline where a pathway to a CO 2 neutral thermal energy supply is shown for different circumstances. The methodology of the Green Brewery Concept includes detailed energy balancing, calculation of minimal thermal energy demand, process optimization, heat integration and finally the integration of renewable energy based on exergetic considerations.For the studied breweries, one brewery with optimized heat recovery can potentially supply its thermal energy demand over own resources (excluding space heating). The energy produced from biogas from biogenic residues of breweries and waste water exceeds the remaining thermal process energy demand of 37 MJ/hl produced beer.

Adsorption thermal energy storage for cogeneration in industrial batch processes: Experiment, dynamic modeling and system analysis

“…Thus, reduced unit size with full load operation would be preferable, for instance with the help of thermal storage. Muster-Slawitsch et al [15] conclude that identifying the most efficient energy supply for a brewery requires comparison of different technologies. Typically, innovative thermal energy storage concepts are compared to solutions without any storage [16], or to water storage [17].…”

Heat integration of intermittently available continuous streams in multipurpose batch plants

“…Possibilities of heat integration (between batch operations) and polygeneration were analyzed, considering industrial circumstances. Muster-Slawitsch et al (2011) developed the Green Brewery Concept as a tool to improve thermal energy efficiency in breweries. Three detailed case studies were performed in the Green Brewery project and the outcomes show a saving potential of over 5000 t/y fossil CO 2 emissions from thermal energy supply.…”

IPPE-TU Graz: green engineering inside and beyond the borders of process technology

“…In order to enable the access to the latest developments, a database (wiki.zero-emissions. at) has been designed and is continuously updated with the results of different projects [12]. The database includes basic production data, benchmarking numbers and latest developments in energy efficiency for important production processes.…”