Design of a Microbrewery and Craft
Distillery
The University of Ottawa is lacking in resources for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology students. To solve this problem, a microbrewery and craft distillery can be implemented into the STEM building at the university. This would act as an experimental learning resource to conduct large-scale research and give students hand on experience to increase their job-readiness.
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This project builds on the previously designed microbrewery and craft distillery. One goal of the project is to develop a net zero-waste facility. The fermentation process releases CO2, which is harmful to the environment. To reduce CO2 waste, it can be captured using a CiCi device and be sold. It can also be captured and used to grow algae in a bioreactor. Spent grain, spent yeast, and brewers' water are outcomes of the process. To reduce waste, these products can be broken down through anaerobic digestion to become feedstock or biogas used for energy. The brewery and distillery process control & quality assurance must be monitored throughout the process. An automation package can be purchased from the unit suppliers and be adapted to develop a control system for all units. Monitoring the process is necessary to improve the learning aspect for students.
A 3D model was designed to lay out how each unit first into the room in the STEM building. Optimization of the units is also an important aspect of the project. A model for starch hydrolysis that consisted of eight equations was developed based on enzyme kinetics of α and β amylase. The resulting concentration of sugars in the mash was 105.63 g/kg. A kinetic model of fermentation was developed to give the concentration of glucose, biomass and ethanol over time. The time to ferment in the brewery was concluded to be approximately 100 hours. Additionally, a continuous fermentation process was researched showing that it would further optimize fermentation if implemented. Further research on this project should include bio-plastics, how to make non-alcoholic beer, developing a process performance analysis model, optimizing mash conversion with a different type of mash and analyzing the differences between lab-scale and pilot-scale fermentation.