Dealcoholisation of standard solutions by reverse osmosis and diafiltration

The methods of beer dealcoholisation can be divided in two large groups: physical and biological methods. One of the physical methods reverse osmosis was chosen and studied. Four standard solutions were suggested for further research. These standard solutions contained basic substances of beer: water, ethanol and glucose. The effect of the substances added to the solution, and influence of retentate flow on the permeate flux were studied. The results of initial experiments were taken as the basis for further diafiltration process, where significant reduction of the ethanol concentration in the retentate was expected. Experimental results were compared with values calculated from mathematical model found in the cited literature. It was found out that the experimental data agree very well with calculated model data. During long-time process of diafiltration the concentration of ethanol decreased from the initial value 4.49 to 0.24 vol%. The studied diafiltration process is suitable for the dealcoholisation of investigated mixtures.