Harvesting CO2 off fermenters

[flerchinger]

Anybody know about potentially gathering CO2 off fermenters and filtering and using??? I have no clue if this is even possible just curious. The New Belgian Brewers reuse the CO2 but i think it's for plant growth???

[gitchegumee]

It's not worth it for anything less than a regional brewer's size. The "filtering" is a very expensive process if you wish to reuse the CO2 for carbonation. Unprocessed, it would be great to increase CO2 levels for plants.

[Dough In]

Thats exactly correct. Most major breweries have co2 recycling systems. But these systems are so expensive....if your not pushing out oiltankers of beer theres no reason to even go there...
Cheers

David Meadows
GCB

[Dough In]

Start growing hops in your brewery!
David Meadows

[Straub]

I wouldn't say that you need to be that large to have a recycling and recovery system. They aren't horribly expensive but if you're short on capital, this isn't the first place you want to invest it. The CO2 really is convenient for double pre-evacs on the bottling line, pressurizing kegs after wash, and counter pressuring tanks.

[Ted Briggs]

. The CO2 really is convenient for double pre-evacs on the bottling line, pressurizing kegs after wash, and counter pressuring tanks.

Side note, how do you test a gas for infection?? Blow the gas though a media?? I would be leary of doing this unless I was sure it wasent harmful to future production.

[Rob Creighton]

An ROI I did in the '90's showed a reasonable return at 75000 BBL's on new equipment for what it's worth.

[Straub]

The gas is purified after collection in what could be roughly described as a gas stripper. It is then condensed to a cold liquid at a few hundred psi and stored until use. So even if anything was in the gas after purification, it wouldn't survive the temperature or pressure. Last year the Straub Brewery produced about 39,500 BBL but has had the equipment for years going back to the days when production was a third of that. What do new systems cost???