Energy
About 85% becomes heat
Some 85% of the electrical energy used to produce compressed air is converted into heat, and only the remainder into pneumatic energy.
Source: Canadian brewing energy guide (1998), section 2.7.
Breweries use compressed air in process control, to position kegs, bottles and cans on the filling heads, to move valves and to push liquids and spent grains, according to a 1998 guide by the Brewers Association of Canada and Natural Resources Canada; the wort is aerated or oxygenated before pitching. Ultra Controlo distributes and services Gardner Denver oil-free compressors, which the maker lists for food and beverage, and makes ULTRADRY adsorption dryers, which its brochure lists for the food industry.
The Canadian brewing energy guide (1998) and the US ENERGY STAR guide for breweries (2003) describe these uses of compressed air and process gases.
Linear or rotary motion to actuate and accurately position control valves.
Linear actuation that positions kegs, bottles and cans onto the filling heads.
Propelling spent grains, or pushing liquid from vessels where pumping is not desirable or is difficult.
Cooled wort is oxygenated and blended with yeast on its way to the fermenter; oxygen is essential to the development of yeast cell membranes.
In a closed fermenter, CO2 can be recovered and later used for carbonation; fermentation gives about 3 to 4 kg of CO2 per hectolitre of wort.
Process gases that carbonate the beer and keep oxygen away from it during filling, transfers, bottling, canning and kegging.
Sources: Brewers Association of Canada, Natural Resources Canada and CIPEC, Energy Efficiency Opportunities in the Canadian Brewing Industry, first edition (1998), sections 2.1, 2.7 and 2.8, since replaced by a second edition (2012); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Energy Efficiency Improvement and Cost Saving Opportunities for Breweries, an ENERGY STAR guide (2003).
The Canadian brewing energy guide (1998) calls compressed air the most expensive utility in the plant, and says why.
Some 85% of the electrical energy used to produce compressed air is converted into heat, and only the remainder into pneumatic energy.
Source: Canadian brewing energy guide (1998), section 2.7.
The operation that needs the highest pressure should set the system pressure. In the guide's example, generating 8 bar g where only 5 bar g is needed makes the costs unnecessarily 40% higher.
Source: Canadian brewing energy guide (1998), section 2.7.
Switch off compressors when production is down; if compressed air is needed for instrumentation, the guide suggests a separate compressor for that function.
Source: Canadian brewing energy guide (1998), section 2.7.
The figures come from the 1998 first edition of the guide and illustrate the principle; they are not a sizing for any brewery. Source: Brewers Association of Canada, Natural Resources Canada and CIPEC (1998).
Equipment that the Ultra Controlo catalogue and brochure, and the partner makers, tie to food, beverage and bottling.
Contaminant-free air, ISO Class 0, in the Ultra Controlo catalogue; Gardner Denver lists food and beverage among the applications of its oil-free compressors.
Gardner DenverFor aseptic compressed air in the medical, pharmaceutical and food and beverage sectors, per the maker, with particle removal down to 0.01 µm.
Gardner Denver filtersPressure dew point −40 to −70 °C; the Ultra Controlo brochure lists the food industry among its uses.
ULTRADRYDry screw vacuum pumps that Elmo Rietschle lists for beverage bottle filling, freeze drying and process vacuum. Elmo Rietschle is one of our five partner brands.
Elmo RietschleSources: Ultra Controlo Industrial 2026 catalogue, pp. 11 and 12; Ultra Controlo industrial brochure; ULTRADRY datasheet; Gardner Denver, oil-free air compressors page and filter brochure; Elmo Rietschle, IDS series page.
Ultra Controlo is a Portuguese manufacturer of compressed air, vacuum and technical gas systems, with 40 years of experience. We design, assemble and test our own compressors, dryers and carbon towers in Portugal, and supply and service five partner brands.
ULTRASCREW compressors, ULTRASEC and ULTRADRY dryers and ULTRAK activated carbon towers.
Gardner Denver, Elmo Rietschle, Thomas, Speck Pumpen (Circutec) and Speck Triplex.
Preventive and corrective maintenance, original spare parts and emergency support, by our own team.
Source: Ultra Controlo Industrial 2026 catalogue, pp. 3, 10, 16, 17 and 22.
The Canadian brewing energy guide (1998) lists process control, positioning kegs, bottles and cans onto filling heads, actuating control valves, propelling spent grains, pushing liquid from vessels, portable agitators and hand tools.
The Canadian brewing energy guide (1998) says a brewery typically requires approximately 8% of its total electricity for compressed air, much more with an aerobic wastewater plant; a UK survey of a kegging brewery cited by LBNL (2003) gives 10% of electrical energy.
The LBNL ENERGY STAR guide for breweries (2003), citing the 1998 Canadian guide, gives about 3 to 4 kg of CO2 per hectolitre of wort, which closed fermenters can recover and later use for carbonation.
LBNL (2003) says cooled wort is oxygenated and blended with yeast on its way to the fermenter because oxygen is essential to the development of yeast cell plasma membranes; the Canadian guide (1998) says it is aerated or oxygenated before pitching.
The Canadian brewing energy guide (1998) says the operation that requires the highest pressure should determine the system pressure; in its example, generating 8 bar g when only 5 bar g is needed makes costs unnecessarily 40% higher.
The brewhouse, the cellar and the filling line, the pressure and the hours per day. We reply with the equipment that fits.
