Typical examples include the following:
– Sweetener purification – cane sugar, glucose and syrups.
– Food-grade acids, e.g. citric acid, produced via a fermentation process.
– Purification of ethanol for use in alcoholic beverages.
– Removal of tannins and other impurities in the wine growing industry.
– Purification of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas produced in breweries, prior to its re-use in food-grade applications.
– A highly purified form of PAC is used as the black food colourant E153
Activated carbons are used widely in the manufacture of food and drink products.
If you consider a humble can of fizzy soft drink, then there is a chance that activated carbon was used in several stages of its production:
– Purification of the raw materials, such as sugar, phosphoric acid and the CO2 gas
– Dechlorination of ‘town water’ in the production of the beverage blend itself
– Purification of water used for the washing of bottles/cans
– VOC abatement in the printing of metal cans
A summary of common carbon applications in the food and beverage industry is shown below:
– Decolourisation and purification of wines and other alcoholic beverages, in vineyards, breweries and distilleries
– Production of sweeteners, including cane sugar and glucose syrups, for the removal of colour, taste and odour
– Edible oil purification, including olive oil, fish oil and various vegetable oils
– The purification of carbon dioxide produced in brewery/fermentation processes
– Process water purification
– E153 food colorant
– Chemical purification, for food-grade acids and other raw materials
– Odour control systems in abattoirs, food processors and pet food production facilities
– VOC abatement and solvent recovery in packaging and printing facilities
CPL Activated Carbons can supply several grades of activated carbon for the food and beverage sector.
CPL Activated Carbons can supply several types of activated carbon suitable for use in the food and beverage sector, with a number of our products having the required Food Chemicals Codex accreditation.
Different forms of activated carbon – PAC, GAC, pellets – are available, depending on the customer’s exact process, and our team of experts can help advise on the optimum solution for each application. Spent granular and extruded carbons from these food-grade processes can be reactivated at our regeneration facility in the UK, where we have a unit that is dedicated to handling ‘green list’ spent adsorbents from the food and drinking water industries. This facility is both Halal and Kosher accredited.
CPL Activated Carbons offers a broad range of products, all Food Codex certified, and services for the food and beverage sector.
Activated Carbons
– Powdered activated carbons (PAC) such as Filtracarb® SK1® are offered for batch purification processes.
– For continuous, fixed-bed liquid phase purification applications, various granular activated carbons are available, including acid-washed versions such as Filtracarb® CC60 AW, which offer an even higher level of purity than standard GACs.
– For gas-phase applications, such as CO2 scrubbing, we offer a range of extruded (pellet) carbon grades, such as Filtracarb® EX64.
Services
– For liquid-phase GAC purification processes, we can supply one of our Clean-Flo® AquaSorber® mobile carbon filters, on a rental basis.
– For gas-phase applications, various sizes of VOCSorber® mobile vessels are available.
– Spent GAC from these industries can be recycled at our ‘green’ food-grade reactivation plant in Immingham, which is Halal and Kosher certified.
– Similarly, spent pellets for air/gas purification can be regenerated in our ‘amber’ industrial reactivation facility.
– Site Services, including carbon/filter installation and spent carbon removal/changeout