Sustainable Low-Alcohol Beer Production by Combination of Membrane Osmotic Distillation and Pervaporation

Membrane osmotic distillation (OD) is applied in this work for the partial dealcoholization of beer (5.2 v/v% alcohol content) to diminish its ethanol content by around 50% giving rise to a low alcohol beer. A compromise is sought between the low alcoholic degree achieved and beer sensory properties. Moreover, the feasibility of the membrane OD process intensification is studied thanks to its combination with membrane pervaporation (PV). Two successive PV stages, one hydrophobic and the other hydrophilic, allow the production of recycled water (with less than 0.5 wt% ethanol) for the membrane OD operation and bioethanol (99% ethanol) as valuable byproduct. Membrane osmotic distillation applied for partial dealcoholization of beer, followed by hydrophobic-hydrophilic pervaporation with zeolite membranes, allows the production of low-alcohol beer (2.5 v/v% of ethanol), recycled water (less than 0.5 wt% ethanol), and bioethanol (99% ethanol). image