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Kelheim creates viscose speciality fibres to filter beer

23 Jan '15

2 min read

Dr. Philipp Wimmer from the R&D team of Kelheim Fibres, a German viscose speciality fibre manufacturing firm, has developed environment-friendly and sustainable viscose speciality fibres to filter beer, avoiding the use of potentially hazardous diatomite.

Unlike other cellulosic fibres such as cotton or wood pulp, viscose fibres are distinguished by their well-defined and reproducible properties that allow them to be designed to meet the needs of processing steps and adapted to each application. For example, the porosity and surface of a filter can be precisely controlled by adding viscose fibres with different cross-sections. The incorporation of functional additives into viscose fibres allows the optimization of the fibres in respect of the intended application, for example for the removal of tannins from beer, according to a press release.

The advantage of functional viscose fibres is, as the additives are incorporated in the fibres they do not impact the physical properties of the filter and cannot migrate into the filtered product, but can still function effectively.

The use of viscose speciality fibres from Kelheim is completely safe both for people and for the environment, and this is one of the reasons why the fibres have been used for decades in medical products. The fibres are certified for food contact by ISEGA and the absence of harmful substances in the products is confirmed by their certification to the OEKO-TEX 100 standard in the most demanding product class.

Viscose fibres are taste neutral and are currently used in food and beverage applications, for example in coffee pads and tea bag papers. Kelheim Fibres’ research team is working on many other possible filtration applications for the use of viscose fibres.

Dr Wimmer will present a paper of the speciality fibre at the world’s biggest filtration event, the FILTECH conference and exhibition, in Germany.

Approximately 90,000 tons of viscose fibres are produced and tested in Kelheim Fibres every year and are then used in a diverse range of end applications. (GK)

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