Mechanical dewatering of spent grains
The Flottweg Belt Press - Mechanical Dewatering of Spent Grains - the Pre-Stage for Thermal Recycling of Spent Grains
Anaerobic recycling of spent grains in biogas plants is a method used by many breweries for CO2-neutral energy recovery. However, the fermentation process is time-consuming, and an acceleration of the process is only possible in a limited way.
An alternative could be the thermal recycling of spent grains. It is, however, only reasonable, if the substrate has been dewatered to a large extent - otherwise there will be significant loss of heating value.
The Flottweg Belt Press is the solution: The wet spent grains obtained from production are conveyed to the belt press. The high pressure and shear forces within the machine provide optimum dry matter content of the spent grains. When treated that way the spent grains can be used in special biomass incinerators.
Compared to thermal pre-drying, mechanical dewatering is much more energy efficient. After the belt press the dry matter content of the dewatered spent grains is increased, and each percent of higher dryness improves the overall efficiency of energy production.
The advantages of the Flottweg belt press for mechanical dewatering of spent grains are evident:
- CO2-neutral energy recovery by recycling renewable raw materials
- High yields of thermal energy contained in the spent grains
- Assured utilisation of spent grains - independent from external recipients
- Reduced consumption of external energy sources of up to 90 percent
- Additional combustion of other residual material like used labels for instance
- Further utilisation of press water
