Process for selective removal of sugar from beverages
AssigneeBucher-Guyer AG Maschinenfabrik
InventorWalter Gresch
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Abstract
To remove selectively particularly sugar from nonalcoholic or alcoholic beverages, first the sugar is either carried away in the permeate in a membrane separation unit (2) by suitable choice of membrane (4) or is retained in the retentate. Afterward, the sugar is removed from the permeate or from the retentate with the help of a device (5) for substance removal or substance conversion. Next the substances remaining in the permeate or in the retentate after the removal of the sugar are fed back into the process or the final product. With the process according to the invention, a high selectivity and an improvement in quality of the final product with high economic efficiency of the unit is achieved (FIG. 1).
Claims22
Process for selective removal of non-volatile substances, consisting of one or more of the non-volatile substances selected from the group consisting of sugar, acids and substances causing bad taste, from beverages or sugar-containing solutions, by membrane separation processes comprising the steps of subjecting the beverage or sugar-containing solution to a membrane separation process to separate a non-volatile substance therefrom to produce a permeate having the substance therein separated from the beverage and a retentate having a reduced quantity of said substance retained therein, subsequently removing at least a portion of the retained said substance from the retentate or the separated substance from the permeate, at least partially circulating the permeate from the membrane separation process in a permeate circuit, one of removing or converting the substance in the permeate circulating in the permeate circuit to achieve high selectivity of substance removal, and subsequently feeding back into the retentate at least a portion of the permeate with said separated substance removed therefrom.
Process for selective removal of non-volatile substances, consisting of one or more of the non-volatile substances selected from the group consisting of sugar, acids and substances causing bad taste, from beverages or sugar-containing solutions by membrane separation processes comprising the steps of subjecting the beverage or sugar-containing solution to a membrane separation process to separate a non-volatile substance therefrom to produce a permeate having the substance therein separated from the beverage and a retentate having a reduced quantity of said substance retained therein, subsequently removing at least a portion of the retained said substance from the retentate or the separated substance from the permeate, at least partially circulating the permeate from the membrane separation process in a permeate circuit, one of removing or converting the substance in the permeate circulating in the permeate circuit to achieve high selectivity of substance removal, and subsequently feeding back into the permeate at least a portion of the permeate with said separated substance removed therefrom.
Process according to claim 51 wherein the permeate contains flavoring substances, extracts, salts and acids, and to produce an alcohol-free or reduced-alcohol beverage, the sugars contained in the retentate are converted into alcohol by fermentation, the alcohol is at least partially removed by a subsequent dealcoholization and afterward the flavoring substances, extracts, salts, and acids contained in the permeate are again fed back to the retentate after fermentation and dealcoholization.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.