THE GEA WESTFALIA SEPARATOR E-MAGAZINE

Exploring New OatOptions Together

How the trendy Velike! plant-based food brandgot into testing, evaluation and scaling with GEA

franzTHE GEA WESTFALIA SEPARATOR E-MAGAZINE

ISSUE 01

DairyWe Did It Your Whey

Process Test CenterThe Centrifuge Whisperer

AutomationDigital Twin Revolution

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franz: Say Hello to centrifugal separation expertise, ingenuity in process engineering, dedicated resource efficiency, and very passionate people with attention to detail.

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Klaus StojentinDivision CEO Separation & Flow Technologies

GEA Westfalia Separator Group GmbH

THE GEA WESTFALIA SEPARATOR E-MAGAZINE

franz Links Past and Future

Klaus Stojentin

franz isn’t just anyone. Or just any magazine. What makes franz so special? GEA Westfalia Separator Group’s new on-line magazine provides our customers with unique, authen-tic and thrilling insights into the world of centrifuges and their fields of application. In a word, franz aims to be a well-spring of inspiration across industries.

You could say franz is in the know. That’s because we picked the brains of the people most clued up about centrif-ugal separation technology, product trends, and practical ap-plications – customers, entrepreneurs, researchers, experts, and GEA insiders in a variety of roles and responsibilities. We also home in on all the details that make a difference – and make our engineering what it is today: world-leading process technology.

So why call the magazine franz? franz is the common thread running from the past through the present and into the future. In 1893, Franz Ramesohl and Franz Schmidt pro-duced their first milk separator in Oelde, Germany, paving the way for today’s GEA Westfalia Separator Group. Back then, they were already way ahead of their time in believing that starting a business is always an adventure – thinking that still holds true today. Over the years, we have system-atically advanced the possible uses of centrifugal separation technology with our pioneering spirit, ingenuity, and metic-ulous attention to detail. To this day, we have developed over 3000 process engineering applications.

franz invites you to explore where we are headed with the next stages of our development. Our evolutionary drive also extends beyond industry and product lines to include top-

ics such as service excellence, superlative production quality, transformation processes as well as a focus on values and sustainability. Without them, technological leadership would not be possible today. With each new day, we are inspired to live up to “Engineering for a better world” with our in-depth industry expertise ranging from dairy through pharmaceu-ticals and beverages to alterative foods. And the new franz online magazine is just one more way of doing that.

In recent months, we have also met the challenges of the pandemic by continually investing in the future and pull-ing together to deliver rapid results – something that shows our approach is the right one. Thanks to our efforts, the GEA Separators business unit is now, in mid-2021, enjoying strong growth in orders. Personally, I’m thrilled about this success in which everyone has played a part.

And on that note, I would also like to applaud all our con-tributors – including our customers, service providers, and GEA employees – who have filled this online magazine with their ideas, stories, expertise, and tremendous passion for centrifuges.

Happy reading!

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THE GEA WESTFALIA SEPARATOR E-MAGAZINE ISSUE 01

We Did It Your WheyIDEAL Whey and International FoodTec Award in Silver.

The Centrifuge WhispererHow GEA supports its customers even before they buy.

The Double Centrifuge – Why the Digital Twin is Revolutionizing Machine ConstructionInvestigating a big automation trend.

GEA kytero® – Compact Evolution in Single-Use Pharmaceutical Separation TechnologyWhy centrifuges are essential to biotechnology.

Machines with a Thirst for BeerFrom the hectoliter champion that is the GSE 550, to skids for craft brewers.

Two People Who Always Get the Best for Their CustomersIn their view, there is no alternative to alternative proteins.

franz Links Past and FutureEditorial by Klaus Stojentin.

franz Wants to Know …

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Future Food is Sustainable FoodInterview with Professor Halecker on trends in the food sector.

The Latest Extraction for a 6000-Year-Old TraditionAlways in fashion: olive oil.

Plannability, Security, Efficiency – Good Service Means All ThreeHow to secure the best performance.

The World of Centrifuges in NumbersMore amazing facts from GEA.

Legal &GEA commits 2040

Modern Centrifuge Technology for the Source of LifeBecause only clean water tastes good.

Good for Deposits and the Environment – Efficient Formation Water TreatmentWorking with full centrifugal force for the environment.

Everything Flows …Insight into the world’s most advanced separator plant.

Achieving Climate Aims with Lithium and Centrifugal PowerWhat the world’s lightest element is doing for climate protection.

Developing Velike! – An “Oat”venture from the Black ForestBlack Forest Nature and scaling up the trendy Velike brand.

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TheCentrifuge Whisperer

For Detlef Ullmann, good service also means dis-appointing customers from time to time: “Sadly, you sometimes have to say that something just isn’t feasible in that way.” This was the case, for example, when a customer wanted to obtain more starch from their wheat than it actually contained.

And he has been doing so since 1988, when he started working at GEA Westfalia Separator. During this time, all possible raw materials have passed through his hands – from biodiesel to gel-

atin solution, from crude and waste oil to cooking oil, from soy milk and curd cheese to blood and worms. He has dealt with it all.

And he was able to make the right centrifuge with the perfect setup for all materials with just a handful of excep-tions – which is how he gained his nickname of “centrifuge whisperer.”

In fact, “client whisperer” would have worked equally well, because hardly anyone understands how to bring customer wishes and centrifugal technology together quite like Detlef Ullmann and his team. “We examine not only raw materials, but also the choice of appropriate centrifuge. This depends on the product’s physical characteristics on the one hand and the customer’s requirements on the other – for example, when it comes to feed and throughput capacity and sepa-rating efficiency, but also the client’s objective. Actually, that may even be the most important factor: listening carefully to what the customer’s objectives are from the very begin-ning. Only in this way are we able to produce what the client wants in a targeted way and adjust our machines so that they deliver the best results.”

The most versatile laboratory and technical center in Germany is located

in Oelde in North Rhine-Westphalia. The operator is neither a university nor a

pharma company, but a developer and manufacturer in process engineering.

As a customer-oriented business, GEA Separation understood decades ago

that you can only build the best machines if you know precisely what they

need to do. This is why the Process Test Center exists; each year, it examines

more than 800 product samples.

“We establish guarantee information so that customers

know exactly what they are getting when their product goes through our machine.”


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Detlef Ullmann knows the insides of centrifuges like the back of his hand.


CENTRIFUGE TRIAL RUNDetlef Ullmann’s Process Test Center (PTC) covers three fields: the laboratory, the pilot trial rooms – lovingly called the “technical center” – and the mobile task force, which, when in doubt, will set up a laboratory and test machines on the customer’s premises. Alongside the PTC in Oelde, there are also additional GEA Test Centers around the world for other key technologies in process engineering that work to-gether as a network and are therefore able to simulate all possible production steps.

“We see the laboratory examinations as a ‘trial run.’ We investigate the sample provided in line with the objectives specified by the customer. This usu-ally takes about 24 hours and, like a test drive at a car dealership, it’s free of charge. We have then analyzed the most important parameters and phys-ical characteristics of the material and can provide the customer with a pro-fessional report regarding their prod-uct, as well as a sound assessment of whether their objective is achievable, and if so, how this can best be imple-mented and what sort of investment can be expected for this. If the custom-er is happy with this, we look at every-thing under real, true-to-scale product conditions during the pilot trials in the technical center with a machine setup that has been specially designed for this case. We therefore identify so-called guarantee information so that customers know exactly what they are getting when their product goes through our machine. They can then take the product sample to conduct ad-ditional examinations and tests – how that will impact them during produc-tion, for example. If the customer has a product that can’t be transported because it’s too sensitive, or too toxic, or the technical requirements are too great and it would be better to conduct the pilot trial on the client’s premises, we lend the client test systems and a team to provide support during the commissioning and weeks to follow.”

HIGH-REVOLUTIONBENCHMARK TESTINGDetlef Ullmann explains the benefit of this procedure, which at first seems relatively detailed, with the high de-gree of complexity of centrifugal sep-aration technology: “Only during a 1:1 examination in the technical center on a small production machine is it pos-sible to determine precisely how to ar-range the design for this exact product

“We offer the customer a complete service from the first examination of the product to commissioning of the

individual process line customized to the client and product.”

ISSUE 01

In the process, the PTC team will al-ways be supported by all their prede-cessors, because knowledge transfer was already a given for GEA Westfalia Separator even before we had a name for it: “We have been using and main-taining our database for decades. Over fifty years ago, we used the first ‘com-puter’ for this. With the help of an in-dex card system, my predecessors were able to find reports on special products that we had examined or developed within a minute or two.”

More than 21,000 laboratory exam-inations and more than 10,000 trials are saved in it – and each year, exam-inations and tests on 400 to 500 prod-ucts in the laboratory and more than 100 pilot trials in the technical center are added. And rising. Because there will also be a lot for centrifuge whis-perer Detlef Ullmann – who is also the co-inventor on nine patents for vari-ous methods in separating technology

– and his PTC team to examine in the future: “Processing products with sus-tainability in mind and minimizing the use of raw materials and water is not only a crucial area of development in separation technology. This includes the development of new proteins from peas, soy, wheat, and potentially even insects. In all these areas, we have al-ready performed pioneering work and I am delighted to continue this.” f.

in order to achieve the best possible separation result and machine efficien-cy. Because our machines have a mod-ular design, we are even able to alter the machine configuration during the trial so that the customer can take the centrifuge recommendation back with them that really is ideally customized to the product.”

“We examine not only raw materials, but also the choice of appropriate centrifuge.”

Four in One – the Process Test CenterThe initial tests take place in the laboratory. After this, 1:1 trials are conducted in the

technical center. On-site pilot trials at the customer’s premises and process develop-

ment are also possible.

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01Productexaminations

02Trials intechnical center

03Client trials

04Processdevelopment

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It’s worth looking at the entire process line if you want to achieve

optimized, customer-specific processes for separating whey. Sarah

Meszaros, Lennart Beick, and Christian Becker told us how new, valu-

able whey products are being made reliably and efficiently. We also

looked at why GEA’s modular IDEAL Whey separation concept has

been winning awards and why it‘s a further milestone in the develop-

ment of self-optimizing centrifuges.

We Did It Your Whey


Dumping it is not an option. Sarah Meszaros wrote her thesis about cheese production and the utilization of cheese fines made from whey. She turned this interest into a career in 2013 and continues it today as Head of Sales Steering & Sup-port Separation Dairy at the technology and market leader in Oelde. “I was always interested in transforming what used to be a waste product into a valuable, protein-rich ingredient in its various forms,” says Sarah Meszaros, “and I draw on my own experience. As a mother of two small children, I look carefully for high-quality baby food, in which whey proteins play a major part. And sports nutrition would be unthink-able without them.”

THINKING ALONG THE WHOLE PROCESS LINEIt can be challenging when a traditional industry like dairy continuously pushes for more efficiency, cost savings, and resource conservation through innovation. “GEA Westfalia Separator’s product portfolio provides a complete whey pro-cessing line from one source,” explains Sarah Meszaros. “You can only achieve maximum yield by choosing the compo-nents that suit your needs best and getting the stages to work together perfectly.” Here’s an outline, limited to the liquids: firstly, a clarifier takes the whey which comes from cheese production and removes the solid particles, which primarily means cheese powder. Next in line is the skimmer, which separates whey cream from skimmed whey. To make sure the cream has a consistent fat content, you use a Standomat – a special automated unit for standardization. After that, bacteria are killed off in a pasteurizer. One or two bacteria removal separators are also used for products that are highly sensitive and in which safety is essential, such as baby food. These remove bacteria and spores that are heat resistant, which improves the shelf life of the products enormously.

Whey En Route to EfficiencyStep by step along the whey line using

GEA Westfalia Separator process technology.

ISSUE 01

Maximum Competence For Maximum Product YieldSarah Meszaros, Lennart Beick, and Christian Becker always have new ideas about how their customers can process whey.

“From unloved by-product to valuable

ingredient: we make it happen.”

Pasteurizer

Whey Cream

Raw Whey

Cheese Fines

Cheese Fines

Decanter

Double bacterial removal

Standardization

Skimmer

Clarifier

Whey

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Sarah Meszaros adds: “We supply complete lines, but we can also trim things down. Our CleanSkimmer offers one invest-ment with two functions. It’s an option for customers who can do without a clarifier which depends on their whey com-position, but this does not work with every kind of cheese. Ultimately, the yield doesn’t come close to using two separa-tors. Advice on costs and benefits can help a lot in making decisions.” “In terms of cost-effectiveness, both systems are impressive,” argues Christian Becker, Product Manager Dairy at GEA Westfalia Separator. “In a conventional commercial 30,000 l/h line, the CleanSkimmer can skim up to 63,000 li-ters p.a. more of 30% fat from the whey (depending on type) than a conventional skimmer. If you consider a clarifier and skimmer together, you even get up to 130,o00 liters more cream from the whey than with a single skimmer – which means this pair of machines pay for themselves in less than two years.”

SYSTEMATIC DISCHARGE“A general design benefit of GEA separators is their wear-free discharge systems, which are as precise after 100,000 dis-charges as they are when first used,” says Sarah Meszaros.

“They incorporate a hydraulic solution which is flexible ac-cording to demand, fast, and easy on resources – much more so than mechanically operated versions such as those involv-ing springs, which are wearing parts. The more imprecise discharging is, the more product you lose.” Directly driven separator technology is also advantageous. It’s easy to ser-vice and highly efficient, since the energy from the motor is transmitted directly to the bowl spindle, resulting in 93% energy efficiency as opposed to 76% in gear-driven models.

“Milk fat prices being what they are, a clarifier pays for itself in

under two years.”Christian Becker

“On our website, we offer a Whey Benefit Calculator for skimmer discharge control, because figures describing the success of a process also have to translate into financial benefits for our customers.”Christian Becker

“IDEAL Whey is modular in the way it‘s set up.You can use exactly the features that bring added value.”Lennart Beick

Lennart Beick from the Process Technology department ex-plains further. “But it isn’t just about pure mechanics when a separator discharges the collected solids. It’s more and more important that these machines discharge at the right time, because whey clarifiers and skimmers are not always fed at

a constant rate. Intelligent systems ensure that the separator ‘recognizes’ how much product it’s getting, then adapts its discharge intervals and also bowl speed automatically.”

Lennart Beick’s role is a special one. He wrote a thesis on demand-based skimming separator discharge in collab-oration with GEA Separation and involving lab tests and a prototype phase on-site at the customer, Ammerland Dairy.

“The customer was so convinced by our approach that they immediately equipped seven dairy lines with it. Further de-velopments later went into what is today the IDEAL Whey concept.”

“As precise after 100,000 discharges as at the outset.”

Sarah Meszaros


Sarah Meszaros, “if you use 12 liters of milk to make 1 kg of cheese, 11 liters of whey are left over. There’s so much poten-tial to exploit that.” Coming back to IDEAL Whey, Christian Becker explains, “By combining innovative sensors, mechani-cal design, and intelligent control strategies, this concept has become a milestone in GEA’s continued efforts to evolve its machines and systems and offer its customers the ultimate in technical expertise for more sustainable production.” Len-nart Beick, speaking as a developer, adds, “and not all of the benefits can be shown in figures. How can you quantify pro-cess stability properly as a performance indicator?” There’s something of a white gold rush atmosphere among the dairy competence team, and if there was a song they were to sing about their expertise, it would have to be: “We do it your whey…”. f.

WHITE GOLD IS GETTING PRICIEREfficiency is still very much a relevant theme. Producers in many countries are still asking what to do with all the whey they produce. There’s also a rising demand for high-grade cheese, whey proteins, and lactose. “To give you an idea,” says

IDEAL INNOVATION – FOOD TECH AWARD IN SILVERIt’s always gratifying when commitment and persistence in an improvement process are rewarded, as they were in February 2021, when the IDEAL Whey separation concept created by GEA Separation won the international FoodTec Award in Silver (DLG). “IDEAL Whey arose from the idea of making all our optimization features in the digitalization, value creation, and sustainability areas easier for our users to understand. What we are striving for is ideal whey process-ing – nothing less will do,” explains Christian Becker. He sees his job as translating the requirements of the market and the ideas of GEA’s experts into technical solutions and coordinat-ing the complex process of their development.

Staying Ahead With KPI MonitoringIDEAL Whey separation means real-time data describing production-relevant operating parameters

and providing seamless documentation and a basis for further system optimization projects.

ISSUE 01

Ammerland and their seven high-yield separatorsA view of five of the seven GEA milk and whey separators at Ammerland Dairy in northern Germany.

Operational

1.1%

0.45%

167.93hours

Separator Production Separator CIP Separator Standstill

50.93%

38.2%

6.24%

3.11%1.52%

Variation Cream Fat Content

Variation Standardization Milk

Separator Startup Separator Slowing Down

85.7hours

Runtime Separator

2.55hours

Runtime Separator Start …

10.48hours

Runtime Separator CIP

64.15hours

Runtime Separator Stand …

The Double Centrifuge – Why the Digital Twin is Revolutionizing Machine Construction


As Head of Automation of GEA’s SFT division, Dieter Hille oversees the department that ensures that the centrifuge makes precisely what it is supposed to, at the right time, and completely “automatically.” “If customers buy a GEA centrifuge, they also need a control system. We plan the machine’s control system, have the control cabinet built by a supplier, and write the software to operate the machine. As with any software, it also needs testing here. Until recently, we had to wait for the control cabinet and machine to be finished. Only then could we run and test the software.

If I were then to find a fault, the worst-case scenario would be an increase in waiting time for the customer. Generally, the software de-velopment is finished quite early because it can usually be developed faster than the construction of the machine. But we weren’t able to test it any earlier before. With the digital twin, we can do this now. A digital twin is, according to its definition, a digital representation of a material or immaterial object or process in the digital world. For us, this means that we recreate centrifuges, control cabinets, and the process digitally and can then test our software on these ‘digital representations,’ similar to in automobile construction where the car is first constructed digitally, meaning that test drives and crash tests are possible despite the fact the car hasn’t even been built yet.”

The team that has been making this possible at GEA in Oelde since Feb-ruary 2021 includes Thorsten Damberg, Heribert Gründel, Maike Herr-mann, and Andreas Pülke, among others. They all previously worked on the classic analogue simulation testing, meaning checking the ma-chine’s control system prior to delivery and commissioning.

By using digital twins, tests prior to finaliza-

tion of the hardware can determine whether the

control system, machine, and process function

seamlessly. And thanks to version manage-

ment, security during subsequent operation

increases. In charge of this revolution at GEA

Separation is a team of dedicated employees

who have risen to the challenge of this new

type of simulation testing on the job.

“With a digital twin, it’s almost as if I’m operating the actual machine.”Thorsten Damberg

ISSUE 01

Heribert Gründel, Maike Herrmann, Dieter Hille, Thorsten Damberg, Andreas Pülke (left to right).A strong team for change: digital twins are revolutionizing simulation testing.

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A SAFE PAIR OF HANDS“Previously, we were the last port of call prior to delivery and effectively only had an hour or two to run the software and to test it. Now the control cabinet can either go straight from our supplier to the customer rather than coming to us first, or, if it is highly complex, it comes to us first and we just set the parameters and no longer need to conduct tests. Ideally, this simplifies logistics and accelerates commissioning for the customer considerably. It also makes things more secure for us and for the customer. Because we store our twins in a version management system, of course, and are then able to understand how the control system was developed at a specific point in time,” explains Thorsten Damberg, who switched from testing to the field of software development for centrifuges a couple of years ago and is therefore familiar with both sides – something that makes him the ideal candidate for the digital twin project team.

The digital-twin concept offers additional benefits for cus-tomers and GEA employees. For example, the fact that the actual separation process inside the bowl can be integrated into the tests prior to commissioning – with the desired raw material and precisely how it will run in the plant itself. “The scope of delivery and the control system are often not the same.

Generally, our centrifuge has to be integrated into an overall process on-site and then our control system needs to control not just our machine, but also conveyor belts, for example, that carry solid matter, or pumps that convey the product to the centrifuge,” explains Dieter Hille.

Another possible application of the digital twin is in modi-fications to preinstalled plants requiring software changes: “This greatly simplifies control modifications for a machine in operation,” adds Andreas Pülke, who has been working at GEA since 2007. “You simply load the simulation quickly and can operate the machine exactly as it is operated on-site and then adjust the faults or the desired alterations. The control cabinet and machine stay with the customer. The software can be pretested perfectly by us via the simulation, meaning that updating the software has little to no impact on ongoing operation.”

Heribert Gründel can only agree with this: “The fact that the process runs automatically without the need to activate switches or LEDs is a huge advantage. And this also offers different prospects: for example, I now write more and more software, whereas before I was primarily testing.”

“A huge benefit here is the fact that we can also integrate what is happening inside the centrifuge into our tests.”Dieter Hille

“The digital twin simplifies logistics and accelerates commissioning for the customer considerably.”Thorsten Damberg


THE BUSINESS WINS – AND SO DO EMPLOYEESFor the project, GEA focused fully on deserving employees and their desire for training and development. And they sup-port the change process with motivation and inquisitiveness:

“The work is changing, of course – while we used to do a lot of adjusting at the control cabinet and during testing, we are now sitting at a computer a lot more. Sometimes you miss working directly with the control system, but working with the digital twin is an exciting challenge and enhances our expertise,” says Maike Herrmann, who, like Andreas Pülke, completed her electronics training at GEA and then trained as a technician at evening classes.

“The work is changing – the fun involved in the daily challenges of automation remains.”Maike Herrmann

Look Before You LeapTesting the control system is a job for real experts – regardless of whether this is digital or analogue, if something is missed, things stop working.

Andreas Pülke also enjoys the difference in quali-ty: “Now I correct little software faults myself. For bigger problems, I get a programmer on it who switches on remotely – we run the simulation and look at what has happened in the program togeth-er. The description of the fault that I can provide is much more in-depth now. Because I always have the program open myself and can confirm my as-sumption as to what could be the problem and tell the programmer specifically that they have to reprogram the particular component of this pro-gram or that program. In the past if I established that a request was not correctly received, I could only say that we had problems with the request.”

The digital twin not only revolutionizes auto-mation, therefore; it also offers new possibilities and prospects for those who work with them – in keeping with the GEA values: excellence, passion, integrity, commitment, and GEA-versity. f.

ISSUE 01

Maike Herrmann at Her WorkplaceWinMOD, the software basis for digital twins, has changed the way she works.

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GEA kytero® – Compact Evolution inSingle-Use Pharmaceutical Separation Technology

2020 will go down in history as the year when more people than ever

before worked on viruses, spike proteins, drug approvals, and genetic

vaccines. This was the year of virologists and biotechnology. It was also

the year of the new GEA single-use disk stack separator, which,

thanks to its unprecedented compact size in the field of single-use

separation technology and its ultra-silent, abrasion-free breeze-

drive® technology, helps to improve and accelerate biotechnological

research for the harvesting of cell cultures.

With its small dimensions of 950 x 800 x 1800 mm, the GEA kytero® is ideal for smaller laboratories and research facilities.

Cell cultures play a crucial role in medical-biopharmaceutical technology.


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The number of patents for biopharmaceuticals has been in-creasing rapidly since the 1970s. The first biopharmaceutical product for therapeutic purposes was approved in Europe in 2006. However, 2020 was the first year in which the general public took a keen interest in the developments taking place in an industry which represents a quantum leap forward in medicine and which has revolutionized the treatment of many diseases and even made this possible in the first place.

BIOTECHNOLOGY TO THE RESCUEThis is all due to a little virus from the coronavirus family: SARS-CoV-2 has been shaping the lives of every person on our planet on a historic scale for almost the last year and a half. The crisis became a defining moment for medical-bio-pharmaceutical technology, which played a critical role in containing the COVID-19 pandemic. In record time, biotech researchers decoded the genome of the virus, developed spe-cific tests to detect infection, and played their part in the development of vaccines and treatments against COVID-19. However, all of this would not have been possi-ble without single-use technology, just as the mass production of established vaccines would not have been feasible without large stainless steel disk stack centrifuges.

PURE, PURER, CELL CULTURE-PUREBiopharmaceuticals are medicinal products whose active ingredients are obtained through genetic engineering production processes using DNA recombination methods and produced in living cells. Biopharmaceutical substances there-fore contain hundreds to thousands of atoms and react very sensitively to influences such as mate-rial fluctuations and physical parameters such as temperature, pH value, and pressure.

Accordingly, the production process is not only funda-mentally different from the synthesis of active ingredients in chemical medicines, which usually consist of just a couple of dozen to a few hundred atoms and can be reproduced as often as required based on a known, stable formula, but also requires vast scientific expertise as well as reliable, efficient, cutting-edge technology.

For cell harvesting of large batches, a vital step in the produc-tion of biopharmaceuticals, classic stainless steel disk stack centrifuges are used. These offer efficient, reliable separation as well as increased yield and are designed for high demands. Biocontainment is ensured through reliable cleaning and sterilization, which requires an infrastructure in the form of cleaning-in-place and sterilization-in-place (CIP/SIP) systems. Comprehensive, meticulous cleaning/sterilization is also

particularly important because even the slightest impurities would render the entire batch of cell cultures unusable.

For research and production of small batches, the launch of kytero® by GEA Separation is in response to the strong demand from the pharmaceutical industry to also use the proven and more efficient disk stack separation technology of large stainless steel centrifuges in the single-use sector.

TWO INNOVATIONS IN ONE CENTRIFUGEGEA has responded to this market demand and now offers its customers the GEA kytero®, a single-use disc stack separa-tor designed and built specifically for harvesting small batch-es of cell cultures, with the same efficiency and performance as GEA’s established, tried-and-tested stainless steel pharma-ceutical centrifuges.

kytero® is the first GEA centrifuge to offer another inno-vation: breezedrive®. Laboratory use is optimized thanks to this low-noise, completely abrasion-free centrifuge technolo-gy, coupled with the small footprint of the kytero® and the

aseptic plug-in system with a user-friendly design. This en-sures that all parts that come into contact with the product, such as cartridges or pipings, can be easily replaced after use. This eliminates the need for CIP/SIP systems, which reduces costs and increases working speed. For example, the prepara-tion time for comparison technologies, which was previously very time-consuming, is reduced to just 5–10 minutes.

In this way, the kytero® enables faster work and acceler-ates the development of biopharmaceutical solutions.

Although we all hope that development sprints like those in 2020 will not be necessary again, it is good to know that, thanks to the GEA kytero®, this rapid research and develop-ment will become standard. f.


Wolf Herberg at Pott’s and Their Münsterländer OriginalenPassion, meticulous artisanal flair, and GEA separators that facilitate the desired taste profile – packed full of nature, freshness, and flavor.

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ISSUE 01

“GEA plays a leading role in the world of beer,” says Wolf Herberg, who is fully versed in all as-pects of brewing. “I have been at this top compa-ny for more than 25 years and have been heading GEA Westfalia Separator’s beverage technology for six. For Westfalia, this means anything drink-able that isn’t milk – including soy or oat drinks, as well as coffee, tea, fruit juice, wine, and, right now, very strong beer once again.” He combines passion with years of expertise when it comes to the best beers, dedicated brewers, illustrious beer

Each year, the world places its order: 177 billion liters of beer,

please! And, with a diverse product portfolio and substantial exper-

tise, GEA is making a significant contribution. Wolf Herberg, Head of

Sales for beverage separators at GEA Westfalia Separator, provides

us with an insight into what makes the world of brewing tick. From

GEA separator skids for craft and microbreweries to the hectoliter

champion that is the GSE 550 for industrial beer production – from

the Brasserie de Vézelay to AB InBev.

locales with numerous specialties and individual preferences, and highly efficient separator pro-cesses of all sizes. This expertise is no accident: a natural-born brewer, studies in brewing and bev-erage technology in Weihenstephan, a prior ap-prenticeship at the Dortmunder Kronen Brauerei, and an ongoing predilection for home brewing. The brewing market is not just intriguing, how-ever; it is also highly competitive and leads us to learn more about a few centrifuge calibers from Wolf Herberg.

Machines with a Thirst for Beer

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“With our 550 machine, the time saving dominates resulting in lower requirement for tank volumes and a capacity that is around 30% higher.”

A SECTOR WITH REAL VOLUME“In the last four to five years, beer has increased by around 50 percent for us. With the boom in craft beers, but also because a number of large-scale breweries have invested in our hectoliter cham-pion the GSE 550,” says Wolf Herberg. “Initially, centrifuges are large but necessary investments. In terms of scale: if a hectoliter of beer costs 12 eu-ros to produce, the cost component for centrifuge operation is less than 6 cents, so <0.5%.” But the machines pay this back, says the brewer. “What makes the GSE 550 so unique is its combination of a large bowl, large solids holding space, and large clarifying area in an industrial application. With the advantage that this leads to lower prod-uct losses, a huge reduction in processing time, and a total of 30% more processing capacity.”

Exemplary Output and InputPerfectly clarified: even beer with a solids content of more than 10 percent by vol-ume gets perfectly bright.

The GSE 550 Plays a Leading RoleIt feels like the Champions League of beer pro-

duction – the largest GEA centrifuge is used

more than a hundred times over around the

world and impresses in daily operation. The

astonishing bowl volume in comparison:


24

Yeast as Brewers Want to See ItNot a nice image at first glance, but look again: if yeast leaves the machine dry like this, it indicates maximum product yield thanks to excellent centrifuge performance.

ISSUE 01

“While size is not the same as capacity,” he continues, “typically, the capacity of the GSE 550 is between 500 and 800 hectoliters with a lot of yeast – around 2 to 3% – on the way in. And this is its strength, because the machine has an unusually large clarification area and therefore clarifies to a very high degree thanks to its large bowl volume

– and the bowl size also means that it has an appealingly large solids holding space. It is calculated to be around 1.7 times larger than anything else on the market. The machine’s design means it could, depending on the application, make up to 1500 hectoliters. The only thing is that there isn’t a brewery in the world with the appropriate piping sys-tems – the largest units are currently at a maximum of 1000 hectoliters.”

There are now more than 100 units on the market – which also speaks in favor of machines of this size. Of these, around ten are in wineries. The rest are in use at large breweries within all no-table brewery groups around the world. “It all came together perfectly, because

“The GSE 550 is unrivaled when it comes to its size.”

“For craft brewers, using a centrifuge increases the yield by a full 10%.”

we were able to develop the process with one of the main brewers and therefore had the right machine size from the start,” emphasizes Wolf Her-berg. With the dimensions of the GSE 550, the term “The Beast” has also been used in international business – which, of course, begs the question: is it real-ly a beast? “In terms of its dimensions, yes. But its intrinsic value impresses in the form of performance capaci-ty, efficiency, and reliability,” reports Wolf Herberg. “When clients have to produce large volumes of beer in the height of summer, the main require-ment is having some peace. And this is just what a machine like the GSE 550 does best. It saves you from having to go to the brewery at the weekend. So, no experiments during the high season

– this is what many of our customers think.”

CRAFT AND THEECONOMIC FACTORIn the craft brewing industry, the argu-mentation is different: “Without a cen-trifuge, product losses are so high that the investment pays off very quickly. With the highly advanced industri-al-beer technology that we come across in Central Europe in particular, the cen-

trifuge can get maybe 1–2% more yield out of the overall process – for craft brewers, by contrast, this can increase the yield by a full 10%. In addition, it helps them to put a near-consistent product on the market that isn’t as thick as molasses one day and as clear as tap water the next. You could say that some products are only possible thanks to centrifuge technology and the associated standardization. Overall, the centrifuge improves their lives con-siderably.”

25

“The centrifuge helps with the simple production of a broad product portfolio with dependable quality.”

FROM 10 TO 1500 HECTOLITERS – IT IS ALL POSSIBLE

“A centrifuge’s value is clear to all brew-ers – there are only specific instances where it doesn’t pay off. But we have considered this and made the portfolio much broader – closely staggered for capacities between ten and 1500 hec-toliters. A large brewery near us, for example, that produces 16 varieties; these include lots of specialties where

the right centrifuge is extremely help-ful – and essential. Or if you think of top-fermented beers – German ‘Altbier’ – they almost all use a centrifuge. And wheat beer in the Belgian or German style uses centrifuges extensively in its production. The centrifuge helps with the simple production of a broad prod-uct portfolio and even with achieving standardized conditions for filtration.

“Leased skids with predictable service costs – this is proving popular.”

GEA LEADS THE MARKET WITH 500 SKIDSSkids are preassembled, tested, and prequalified centrifuge solutions with all the necessary associated compo-nents. Because of their quicker on-site installation and commissioning, they

are especially flexible to use. Ambi-tious and often investment-sensitive craft brewers are accommodated by a special leasing offer by GEA Separation that includes servicing: “This mitigates costs and also places the focus on indi-viduality. Here, we also use a tool for

calculating monthly costs that makes the decision regarding the respective skid model easier and more transpar-ent. Experience shows that those offer-ing a fair leasing service win the race – this is our method.”

One of Four Skid Sizes that Does It AllBackwards, forwards, sideways

– the mobile skid models can

be flexibly integrated into the

available space, the current re-

quirement, and the craft brewer’s

particular variety or brewing,

now also available with built-in

carbonization.

26

“Our modern product portfolio is aimed at optimal product quality, reliability, and low maintenance costs. We use liquid sealing that is wear-free in its op-eration to prevent oxygen pickup. Me-chanical seals don’t fail here because we don’t use them in our hydroher-metic feed system,” emphasizes Wolf Herberg. “The product is also smooth-ly – liquid in liquid – accelerated from the center of the bowl to the circum-

ferential speed. Our efficient discharge systems minimize product losses at the same time.”

If there is any time in between all the customer visits, the preference is for a Herberg home brew. Whether it’s a stout, a strong Belgian triple, or a stan-dard top-fermented German beer, he takes care of his home brewing – “fun is essential.” In practice, GEA Westfalia Separator attaches a great deal of value

to the close cooperation with brewery customers, which is why it is easier to meet and take pictures of Wolf Herberg there than it is at the company head-quarters in Oelde. While others enjoy bar crawls, he tends to go on brewery crawls – and always takes along with him the GEA mission of getting the best brewing result for the customer at all times, whatever the size. f.

More than 5600 Liters per SecondThey aren’t just consumed here, but around the world. Each year, around 177 billion liters of beer make their way to delighted consumers – a consid-erable proportion of which has flowed through GEA centrifuges. (Source: https://de.globometer.com/getraenke-bier-welt.php / Kirin Institute of Food and Lifestyle)

27

Alternative proteins have been on everyone’s lips

for some time now – literally. Because the “meat-

less” or “milk-free” alternatives to traditional an-

imal-based protein sources are a growth market

that is experiencing an international boom;

forecasts suggest that this can grow to fifteen

times its current size by 2035. To succeed on

this market, the plant-based proteins must

first be extracted efficiently with centrif-

ugal separating technology.

Two People Who Always Get the Best for Their Customers

Uncompromising in alternative proteins: Daniel Bussmann (left) and Dr. Stefan Pecoroni.

28

“There aren’tany plants

we can milk.”

We eat bean burgers, take oat drink in our coffee, and lap up lupin yogurt – more and more fre-quently and even if we are not vegan or vegetarian. But how does the plant protein actually get to our

fridges? And why is it bare-ly possible to tell the differ-ence between animal and plant protein these days? The answers to this can be found in Oelde, the largest

individual GEA location and working environ-ment of Dr. Stefan Pecoroni and Daniel Bussmann.

Here, there have been processing techniques for the preparation of proteins from plants since the 1950s. Dr. Pecoroni, Head of Process Technol-ogy and Innovation at GEA Westfalia Separator, has not quite been at GEA for that long, but it has been over 26 years, nonetheless. Alongside Daniel Bussmann, Head of Process Technology – bever-age and dairy, and a team of food technologists,

biotechnologists, process engineers, and other ex-perts, he ensures that as much protein as possi-ble is extracted both from traditional plants like soy and from less well-known ones like the lupin. This would not be possible without modern pro-cessing technology: “There aren’t any plants we can milk. This is why we apply our expertise in centrifugal separating technology and use this to help extract the protein contained in oats or peas, for example, and thereby obtain a liquid or solid product – oat drink or pea protein in the form of a powder. So, from the agricultural raw materials, we make a semifinished item that our customers can then process into a marketable product.”

Here, real expertise counts more than just de-veloping the best machines: it is about supporting the customer in project and process development if required, including the possibility of simulat-ing the full process in detail as far as the physical, ready-to-try product.

Shooting Up Like BeanstalksThe proportion of alternative proteins in the

food industry has been growing for years and

forecasts suggest that there is no end in sight

to this trend.

Traditional meat products

Alternate meat products

1 %$14 BILLION

TODAY

10 %$140 BILLION

2029

ISSUE 01

29

COOKING WITH THE PROCESS PROS“We used to say that we deliver the process and the customers know the recipe. But in reality, it seems that we not only de-velop, manufacture, and assemble the kitchen, as it were; we are also often the cooking instructor, too. We know how the fundamental processes should be organized and can provide the customer with a sample product at the end. Even with brand-new products or raw materials. Does the raw material need to be milled? What is the correct temperature? How much water needs to be added? Acid or alkali? Or would enzymes be better? And where would the use of a decanter make the most sense? So, we know how to prepare the in-

dividual ingredients perfectly for cooking, which knives are best for slicing, how big the pieces have to be, and which pot is best. Just like with a cooking recipe, it isn’t just about the what, but also the why and when. The right ingredients have to be prepared in the right way in the right pot for the right amount of time and at the right temperature on the right stove. If just one of the parameters is off, the whole dish no longer works in the way you imagined it would,” explains Daniel Bussmann. Even with a centrifuge, it isn’t just the separation level that dictates whether materials can be ide-ally separated. The optimal type of pretreatment is at least as important.

Here, there are a wide variety of factors that need to be considered for each raw material: pH value, cell disruption, mixing correctly, and the perfect retention time are just a few. With so many parameters, the experience of both spe-cialists and their team when it comes to various proteins is a crucial advantage. They can fall back not only on their own immense expertise, but also the in-house GEA database with decades of collected knowledge.

“The detail of how it tastes afterwards, whether it should

be mild or spicy – to keep to the metaphor – is something the customer decides,” Daniel Bussmann continues. “Cooking is therefore a good comparison because even our raw materials are subject to natural fluctuations and can only be estimated rather than being calculated to the finest detail – in other words, you have to have a ‘feel’ for it in certain areas. For this reason, Stefan always asks potential new employees during their interviews whether they can cook or not.”

Like an excellent cooking instructor, GEA therefore also has “test kitchens”: several test centers, including on-site in Oelde, that work as a network and are able to decipher the best process for extraction or for drying a protein, for exam-ple, or the formulation of the end product.

Dr. Pecoroni – who completed his doctorate in food technol-ogy and holds numerous patents for the efficient processing of various beverages – and dairy specialist and engineer in dairy food technology Daniel Bussmann use their exten-sive cross-segment and -sector expertise for the benefit of their customers: “Scalable knowledge – this is our greatest strength. It isn’t about the individual oat, pea, or barley pro-tein; it’s just about the protein. Irrespective of which raw material the customer brings to us, we are able to categorize this in a technological and process-related way and advise our customers.” This knowledge naturally expands during their work, says Daniel Bussmann: “Each attempt here at the technical center brings experience that can later be used else-where and means that we are continually able to get to know completely new customer interests.”

These insights into customer requirements are important to the pair not just when it comes to the ongoing develop-ment of centrifuges – they also regularly provide them with fresh ideas. For example, what you can do with the biomass when the protein has been extracted from the soybean or oat grain.

A sustainable approach to these by-products is not only important for the environment; it also opens additional in-come streams for customers and saves the cost of disposal at the same time.

One possible use for the by-products is as animal feed.

“Irrespective of which raw material is involved, we are able to advise our customers.”Daniel Bussmann


30

Renewable Proteins for a Growing MarketAccording to the DLG trend monitor, 50% of companies in the German food industry

already use alternative proteins. In 2023, this number should grow to at least 58%.

% of responsesCurrent use of alternative protein sources (in 2020) Planned use of alternative protein sources by mid-2023

Current use of alternative protein sources in 2020 and planned use of alternative protein sources by mid-2023 as a percentage of responses (n = 100)

THE RELEVANCE OF PROCESS TECHNOLOGYThis joy of discovering new things and the need to continual-ly aim to optimize processes are key motivators for the work of the two development engineers, but not the only ones: “As an engineer, I am naturally interested in how things can be implemented,” says Daniel Bussmann. “Having the opportu-nity to follow the product on its path to development and then to hold it in your hand is fantastic. I sometimes tell my sister about what I’ve been working on. She is a vegetari-an and is very familiar with the market. To be told that our products are better than the respective variants is really nice.”

“How do we want to feednine billion people?”

Dr. Stefan Pecoroni

for reliable, low-maintenance operation will make a signifi-cant contribution to this. Of course, it is also relevant to GEA. GEA’s strength lies in the fact that it has been finding new applications for our products – our machines – over more than 125 years. Continuing this tradition of innovative prow-ess is a rewarding task. At the moment, for example, we are obtaining mills to unlock the raw materials before they are extracted – in this way, we are able to optimize the process leading to the protein a little more and the knowledge we have acquired benefits our customers and, as a result, the world.” f.

Stefan Pecoroni is excited by working on the development of a brand-new category of food and of being able to help shape the future not just in his own sector: “But it’s also in-teresting because it’s relevant – feeding the world. How do we want to be able to feed nine billion people? Products and machines like those we develop here and that are designed

ISSUE 0131

Whe

at

Soy

Pea

Lupi

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Sunf

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Rape

seed

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ISSUE 01

33Expert in food trends: Bastian Halecker.

franz met with Professor Bastian Halecker, who holds a

Chair in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship at the

University of Potsdam. He also runs an innovation consultancy

called Hungry Ventures, which advises established food com-

panies. We spoke with him about trends in the food market –

alternative proteins, sustainability, and KI.

f: Professor Halecker, your work is pretty diverse. How would you sum it up to someone you met in a pub?B.H.: Connecting Entrepreneur – that means I see myself as a connecting element between the worlds of established companies, and startups. What that really involves is bringing together problems and solutions, since everything is usually already there, you just have to connect the dots. No person or business alone can keep up with the speed at which the world is develop-ing – you have to work together. “Collaboration is the new competition” is what it boils down to.

f: Your company Hungry Ventures advises global players in the food sector like GEA. What kind of things does this advice cover?B.H.: We’re mainly a sparring partner for businesses who might want to develop growth strategies, startup partnerships, or innovation projects, or simply recognize trends and get ahead of the curve. Take GEA for instance. Together we ran a very inspiring workshop all about alternative proteins, which have developed into a real megatrend and in which GEA is extremely active.

ALTERNATIVE PROTEINS – FLAVOR OF THE FUTURE

f: What will be the next megatrend after alternative proteins?B.H.: Alternative proteins are going to keep trending. Con-sumer demand has been the driver so far, but soon we’ll see external market regulations coming on line in various forms: carbon tax, meat tax, milk tax, and so on. These regulations will arrive because the threat of climate change is getting big-ger in people’s minds. Meat, or meat production, is one of the biggest causes of CO2 and agriculture in general is the biggest consumer of water. We think the alternative proteins trend will combine with the trend towards local farming, which will mean more and more locally produced alternative proteins.

What will also become more important is to be able to recognize how sustainable a product is right away using something like a sustainability score, which works in a sim-ilar way to the nutritional ratings we already have. A precise, data-based analysis of the sustainability of each product will play a growing role.

BIG DATA FOR MORE SUSTAINABILITY

f: When you say data-based, you’re referring to Big Data Analytics, right? How important is that in the food sector?B.H.: Essential – as it is in every industry. As I say, there are more solutions than there are problems, but to find them we need well prepared data and artificial intelligence. To show how sustainable a product is, we can use Ingredients Infor-matics, which means employing data analysis and artificial intelligence to accelerate the development of new foods and beverages, so it makes the job of food engineers quicker, better, and more effective at achieving its aim. But if you can apply something to properties like texture, free-flowing, and flavor intensity, you can extend it to carbon footprints and water consumption. That’s why we’re working on precisely such a data platform for managing ingredients. f.

Future Food isSustainable Food

35


What does it take to build up a successful brand in the Plant Based

Beverages (PBB) segment? Dr. Andreas Helm, Managing Director

of Black Forest Nature GmbH in Offenburg and co-creator of the

trendy regional vegan brand Velike! talks about a development

process which took courage, a willingness to experiment, ambitious

allies, and scalability to enter new process territory and satisfy the

company’s own exacting standards.

“We Hafer it all” – a brand as unabashed as Velike! clearly has big ambi-tions, not to mention having come through an intensive development process. The business concept had taken shape by 2017, and a dedicated startup, Black Forest Nature GmbH in Offenburg, was set up in 2019. Velike! oat drink products began to conquer Germany’s shop fridges in spring 2020. Dr. Andreas Helm, Managing Director and founding team member, recalls: “We launched an ambitious vegan project back then because we didn’t just want to respond to trends and changing consum-er demands, we wanted to do something sustainable of our own.”

FROM BLANK SHEET TO TRENDING BRAND“We hammered out the requirements: premium quality, from our region, organic, best-in-class, a really niche product – and then they simply said: ‘Go and get on with it, Mr. Helm.’ That’s how it all started. “What should the basic ingredient be? What does the market think? What’s the demand? We can’t compete with mass producers because of things like high acquisition costs and our oat farmers, who are high up in the hills and scattered all around. It was more about specializing and trans-lating that to the vegan segment.” So when the marketing says: ‘Velike! Organic oat drinks – made with oats grown only in the Black Forest re-gion’, that conveys how fully we are invested in values like joie de vivre, transparency, and authenticity. But part of bringing people our love of life in the form of plant-power was asking the question: “What process technology do we need to make the perfect product? The quality has to be constant and we need to be able to scale up as and when we need to.”

INGREDIENTS FOR BUSINESS SUCCESSFirst, the raw materials. “Rice and soy were not an option, because we were determined to stay local. But oats grow well here, they can be rotated flexibly with other crops, and they have a positive image as a source of strength. And now oats are on the rise – we backed the right horse.” Another good decision was to collaborate with Rubinmühle, as Andreas Helm explains: “It’s a successful, long-standing business, es-pecially with local oats and flour products, it’s been in the market for over 335 years, and it’s only 15 kilometers away from our production site. Expertise on our doorstep, in other words.” Top-class whole-grain flour was being produced around the clock, and things could really get started. “We didn’t begin with nothing. We knew how to handle process technology, but our expertise was more in the field of milk powder pro-duction. An oat drink like this was a challenge all of its own.”

Approaching Oats in a New Way TogetherDr. Andreas Helm in his element and Angel Rubio Domenech of GEA Westfalia Separator at his side. Fully organic raw materials, loyalty to the region, and successful development work for the Velike! oat drink.

Developing Velike! –An “Oat”venture from the Black Forest

36THE GEA WESTFALIA SEPARATOR E-MAGAZINE ISSUE 01

“The technology center helpedus believe we could achieve it.”Velike! Managing Director Dr. Andreas Helm

“We tested things on a small scale so that we could do things bigger at Black Forest Nature.”Plant Manager Waldemar Wilt

LOTS OF OATS, LOTS OF PROCESS EXPERTISE“We bought oats, tried different ones out, and noticed that a certain set of enzymes were needed to reduce the viscos-ity when you heated them up. We truly learned on the job,” recalls the managing director. This meant the partner they chose had to be the right one. “GEA Separation really did take us by the hand from the outset. We were able to try out all the aspects of our process at their technology center, and anything we wanted to know, we just asked. It was a joint business development, really. That, together with the scale-up and the outstanding product itself, were the key reasons why we chose GEA as our partner. They had the knowledge we were looking for, and we were glad we found it. We had places we could do testing at Munich Technical University,

Wangen Dairy College, a technical research collaboration in Stuttgart, and our bottler – but we had nothing when it came to separation.”

SCALING UP FROM THE BLACK FOREST TO THE WORLD OF ORGANIC PRODUCTS“It all started on a laboratory scale, in the technology center’s lab kitchen – the moment of truth,” says Andreas Helm as he recalls the development process. “We made hundreds of sam-ples and tasted dozens of rival products.” Over and over we kept looking at results, consulting with each other, coming away with valuable findings and reassuring ourselves that we were on the right oat-strewn track.

“Just the fact that someone says to you, ‘Before you switch

on your plant and produce 20,000 liters of oat drink for noth-ing, you can try it out on this small-scale system first, know-ing that what you produce will be similar to what comes out of a large plant’ – that’s exactly what you want to hear when you’re investing a six-figure sum,” explains Andreas Helm. Waldemar Wilt, his Velike! companion from the beginning and currently Plant Manager at Black Forest Nature, has his own recollections of the development process with GEA.

“We worked really closely and saw eye to eye on everything. They have the same passion and enthusiasm about quality as we do about our technical processes at our Offenburg factory.” And the GEA decanter fitted really well into our planning on account of its size and specifications. ‘You’re brew-tiful’ is the play on words you see on the Velike! posters advertising our vegan organic products and it does actually say something about the processes we use.

37


39

Process Teamwork at Black Forest NatureHere in Offenburg, GEA decanters deliver the result that makes Velike!’s Black Forest oat products so special.

Serving Startups: Oelde Technology CenterThe moment of truth for what’s feasible and plannable. Black Forest Nature and Velike! used our modern test resources intensively.

What You See Is What You DrinkVelike! had the courage to aim at a gap in the market as the first oat drink in a glass bottle. As James Bond would say: Shaken, not stirred …

Draw a Sample From the Decanter …… and you learn a lot about the high art of separation.

NOTHING MORE TRANSPARENT THAN GLASSThe impact the product makes on customers couldn’t be more honest or convincing: transparent bottles signify a healthy self-confidence. Andreas Helm recalls: “We asked ourselves, brown or clear glass bottles? It was a straightfor-ward but far-reaching decision, because with a sedimentary, cloudy drink, you do always wonder, will consumers accept it? We now know that they do – in part because it shows the drink’s origins.” Plant Manager Waldemar Wilt adds: “Put-ting an oat drink into glass bottles was new territory, but the machine operators said they could do it.”

TOUR DE VELIKE! IN FOUR STAGESEnthusiasm and oat-expertise were called for again when Andreas Helm and the Velike! team had their photos taken and a customer video made for GEA. Their positive thinking also kept weather worries in proportion: “Typical microcli-mate. It rains here and oats grow well here. And that’s good for our Velike! products.” But the sun ended up shining on those days in June, so Andreas Helm and Angel Rubio Do-menech, Product Manager Sales at GEA Westfalia Separator, were able to see through the four stages of the video shoot as planned – from the product’s origins as a panicle on the oat field, to the Rubinmühle, to the production site in Offenburg, all the way to the target group, enjoying an oat macchiato made by a barista in a street café. “Staying local and knowing our oat farmers is very important to us. It was great to be able to visit the oat fields. They’re the real story of where we come from, and that is what finds its way into the final product.” f.

www.black-forest-nature.dewww.ve-like.de

max. 5%

50–80%

0–5%

20–50%

app. 80%

50–60%

5–10 g/l

40–60 g/l

5–6 mm

6–8 mm

60–120 min

45–60 min

60–65%

50–60%

The LatestExtraction for a 6000-Year-Old Tradition


GEA Separation has been involved in the industrial

production of olive oil for more than 90 years. During

this time, it has made the manufacturing process more

environmentally friendly, efficient, and economical with

a revolutionary innovation that is now used everywhere.

Among other things, Frank Schöning, Product Manager

Sales, discusses the ongoing development of their in-

telligent systems to include process data recording and

near-infrared spectroscopy, as well as Portugal’s

largest olive oil mill – made by GEA – which will

become operational in 2021.

40

ISSUE 01

Even Aristotle described olive cultivation as a science. Homer called olive oil “liquid gold;” Hippocrates referred to it as the

“great healer.” The olive tree, which was originally wild, has been cultivated and oil extracted from its fruit for around 6000 years. For one liter, you need around five kilograms of olives today. The health effects of olive oil are legendary. With up to 83% monounsaturated fatty acids along with vitamins A, C, and E, the mineral-rich oil bolsters the me-tabolism and acts as a weapon against diabetes and vascular diseases. In 2012, UNESCO even declared it World Heritage.

It comes as no surprise, then, that olive oil is growing in popularity: “Global consumption has increased by around 33% over the past 20 years. Today, olives are cultivated across all continents and in more than 56 countries in order to extract oil. However, 85% of olive oil still originates from

traditional production countries like Spain, Italy, and Greece, with Spain alone manufacturing around half of the world’s extracted oil,” explains

Frank Schöning, product manager sales at GEA Westfalia Separator and an expert in olive oil manufacture. “Last sea-son, a total of 3.17 million metric tons of olive oil was pro-duced. In the process, every third liter is obtained by GEA machines.”

“With our Center of Excellence in Úbeda, we offer all the equipment required for the extraction of olive oil: from full turnkey solutions for entire plants developed on a greenfield site to individual lines to single machines.”

“We keep ourpromises.”

LESS IS MORE: FROM 3- TO 2-PHASE TECHNOLOGYThe positive characteristics and pleasant flavor of this vege-table oil are down to its polyphenol content. These secondary plant substances are not only flavor carriers; they also pro-tect against the effects of free radicals, have anti-inflammato-ry properties, and prevent arteriosclerosis, which can result in thrombosis and heart attacks. The higher the oil’s polyphe-nol content, the better.

The 3-phase technology used widely for many years to extract olive oil not only resulted in the loss of a significant proportion of these valuable plant substances; the process of having to add fresh water totaling up to 50% of the volume of the raw material and the corresponding production of sig-nificant quantities of wastewater proved to be so detrimental to the environment that new environmental laws had to be enacted in Spain in the late 1980s. The 2-phase technology developed by GEA at the start of the 1990s, which uses little or no additional water, was able to solve both problems: the GEA process lines produced better oil because it was richer in polyphenols and drastically reduced the volume of waste-water. Frank Schöning explains: “In Spain, only the 2-phase technology is used for the first extraction.”

Why Two Is Sometimes Greater than ThreeThe water-saving 2-phase process developed by GEA was implemented with a

decanter featuring a special scroll design. This design facilitates the separation

of the oil phase without the addition of water – or with very little.

Moisture indecanter solids

Crushing:Perforation of the

strainer screen

Amount ofwastewater toraw material

Dilutionwater

Amount of solidsto raw material

Malaxingtime

COD value inthe wastewater

2-Phase 3-Phase

41


Depending on the country of origin and the producer, there still remain ol-ive oil mills that operate with 3-phase technology or would like to combine the two.

“We have also developed a solution for these customers: the combi-de-canter that can do both,” says engineer Frank Schöning, explaining that the manufacture of olive oil can take place in various different ways. “We differen-tiate between a batch and continuous process. The latter is generally used by large-scale producers and in regions with intensive and super-intensive cultivation. The olives are produced in large quantities by cooperatives and processed into oil – generally unmixed varieties. After cleaning, they are milled, malaxated – meaning that they are gen-tly warmed and stirred – and then the oil contained is separated from the wa-ter and solids matter in the decanters and separators. Predominantly, small operations and traditional manufactur-ers use the batch process. It is especial-ly well suited to regions where a large number of olive varieties are processed.”

Millennia-Old Tradition and Expanding BusinessApproximately 70% of arable land is farmed traditionally and this represents 60% of the total

production volume. Around 30% of arable land is farmed intensively and therefore has a higher

tree density per square meter, supplying 40% of the total annual yield.

No journey is too long, no mill too remote for Frank Schöning when it comes to good olive oil.

42

ISSUE 01

OLIVE’S WELL THAT ENDS WELLWhich is why customers frequently choose process lines by GEA – of the ten largest olive oil producers, eight use GEA plants. Frank Schöning says: “For customers, it is especially important that the processing lines are 100% ready to use and reliable when required.” Olive oil extraction is a seasonal operation and so only takes place on around 100 days of the year. Production downtime is therefore completely unaccept-able. The harvested olives can only be stored for a short time before fermentation begins, which can have a negative im-pact on the quality of the oil. For this reason, the availability of the equipment is a core element in olive oil production. If problems do arise during the season, the service organi-zation must be able to intervene quickly and provide rapid assistance. The second point, which is at least as important, is the yield and the machines and process technologies re-quired for this, such as our self-cleaning separators that min-imize product losses during discharge; “every drop counts,” after all.

This is why GEA operates the Center of Excellence, which, located in the town of Úbeda in the Andalusian province of Jaén, sits in the heart of one of the most significant areas in olive oil manufacture. Alongside development, planning, implementation, service, and maintenance of olive oil pro-duction facilities, the center supports its customers with advice and training. There is also an excellently equipped repair center where any machine associated with olive oil extraction can be overhauled, serviced, and repaired. For the workshops, the Center of Excellence runs its own compre-hensive spare parts warehouse to ensure that customers do not need to wait for parts that cannot be delivered – or that are hard to come by.

Good, quick service, the familiar reliability and robustness of GEA plants, and the high degree of automation facilitating precise and centralized production management were also crucial factors in Alvaro Labella’s decision as head of an in-vestor group to select GEA as a partner in building Portugal’s largest olive mill, Olibest, in Alentejo. Olibest begins opera-tions in the upcoming season; two thousand metric tons a day can be manufactured thanks to the five complete olive oil extraction lines by GEA.

TRADITIONALLY UNPREDICTABLE: THE WEATHERFor GEA, good service also means driving the development of the separators, decanters, hammer mills, malaxers, and vibrating screens required for olive oil extraction in a client- and future-oriented manner: “A crucial factor in the olive oil production of the future will be maintaining the profitabili-ty of manufacturers,” says Frank Schöning. “Decisive factors in this area are the oil price and demand. For the latter, the forecasts are still good and assume steady growth over the coming years – while the global per capita consumption, for example, has grown by around a third over the past 20 years.

The oil price is linked to factors such as the harvest yield. This continues to be dependent on the climate, as is tradi-tionally the case: heavy frost in winter, too little rain in sum-mer, or pests that destroy the olives.”

“This is why process optimization is such a fascinating sub-ject. We are currently working on the automation of process data recording. With near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, the oil and water content in the olive pulp can be analyzed at the malaxer, for example, as well as that in the solid matter after decanting. Using this information, the operator can adjust the settings for the decanter and separator to achieve better yields, lower product losses, and even better quality – as agri-cultural products, olives are not standardized, so a machine’s optimal operating point always varies slightly. This is still assured manually and based on experience, which requires a great deal of understanding regarding the function and oper-ation of the machines, however. With automatic process data recording, operators will in future be able to perform the op-timization of their centrifuges based on actual data. Meaning they can react to any change immediately.” f.

“The customer’s requirements for the decanters and centrifuges are of course the best possible yields, a high capacity, and the minimizing of process water.”

“Another trend, especially in traditional countries like Spain and Portugal, is ever-increasing production capacities.”

43

Traditional

Intensive

Superintensive

15 t/haOlive harvest

60 yearsTree life cycle

40 yearsTree life cycle

12–25 yearsTree life cycle



15 yearsFirst harvest

after app. 8 yearsFirst harvest

after app. 3 yearsFirst harvest

after app.


Everything Flows …

While others sleep, production

planning systems in Oelde

optimize around 130,000 work

sequences overnight so that

priorities are right the next day in

one-flow assembly and com-

ponent production. Thomas

Hengesbach, Head of Produc-

tion at GEA Westfalia Separator,

tells us about these and many

other unusual and advanced

things that go on in the world’s

most advanced separator plant.

44

ISSUE 01

45

Hall 5: Bowl ProductionA view of the bowl production facility which is at the heart of the Oelde separator manufacturing plant and features 15 processing centers and a modern 3D laser welding and cutting system for producing disks.

THE GEA WESTFALIA SEPARATOR E-MAGAZINE 46 ISSUE 01

47

Our ultra-modern production facility in North Rhine-West-phalia is something every separator enthusiast should see, and it certainly does draw appreciative looks from well be-yond the region. Most of these, admittedly, are from people who already know a thing or two about special purpose ma-chinery manufacture. It is where world-class custom solu-tions are put together, as reported by Thomas Hengesbach, Vice President Production Separation & Flow Technologies | Separators CEO, who has been responsible for the complete Oelde production site since April 2021. He’s a familiar face at the site. Before doing a stint in automotives, he worked at GEA Westfalia Separator for eight years. “The situation is good in terms of our capacity here,” he says, “and that chal-lenges all of us. We’re set up for an average of 120 separators a month, including some very complex ones.”

WHERE CUSTOM SOLUTIONS FLOW“We operate a flow production system designed for mass cus-tomization. In some standardized sectors, customers order between two and five units. But even a customer who or-ders a system with two separators may not be given identical ones. The units might instead be set up as mirror images of one another, with their own outlets and operating panels to make them easier to control from one position, as Thom-as Hengesbach explains. “Components are manufactured and put together in Oelde, and the plant enables processes right along the production flow to be optimized. In our mod-ern, one-piece flow line, a separator passes through various stations with station times in the range of several hours. A transport system then moves it to the big test center, which has 16 bays and a range of power supplies, as well as media such as water and oil. There it is tested from top to bottom. After approval, it is partially disassembled, cleaned, and sub-jected to one final test. An order is completed with materials and components required for commissioning and operation at the customer’s site. To finish off, all of these things are packed together and prepared for shipping.”

VERTICAL RANGE OF MANUFACTUREAND COMPLETE PROCESSING“This is, above all, where we manufacture the core of the sep-arator, the bowl, and the components that go with it. Our core expertise is also about manufacturing parts that come

into contact with product, and our vertical range of manufac-ture is high for those too.” DIN and standard parts, electrical parts, motors, and frames, however, are procured external-ly by GEA. “Sheet metal is shaped, which means cold-form-ing on a pressing bench, then milled, welded, and provided with inlets and outlets. Once surfaces have been finished, the unit is made ready for assembly – including in-process quality inspection. The trend is towards complete processing, which eliminates logistical processes, improves throughput times, and has cost benefits. Production, in other words, is integrated, instead of having multiple machines that come

into play one after the other. On the other hand, we do bundle some of our requirements into small batches, pro-vided things are standardized at a parts level, which is something we are con-tinuously pushing for in collaboration with our design department. Proximity and a high level of solution expertise among those involved are important advantages of our location.”

“We’re set up for 120 separators a month and each of them

takes a different amount of time to manufacture.”

“All of the components, whether manufactured in-house or sourced externally, are coordinated to converge at the moment assembly of the separator begins. This can mean between 200 and 500 parts, depending on type.”

Hall 6: Assembly and Final Assem-bly, Test Bay, Ship-ping PreparationFlow assembly in three cycles: frame and drive unit assem-bly, sheet metal and specialized parts, and the heart of it all: the bowl. The separator, ready for testing, then continues on its way.


48

ISSUE 01

49

Where Vision Becomes Reality

The entrance and reception area of the 85,440 m2

GEA plant premises speaks volumes about the

company’s competitiveness and innovation leadership.

REMARKABLE LOGISTICSAND WAREHOUSINGHow do you ensure availability and meet deadlines? “All of the compo-nents we make ourselves or buy in from elsewhere are made to converge on the separator’s assembly start-point. It’s very complex and highly involved, including for our supply chain. Almost all of the things that are needed are planned and optimized using SAP’s APO, or Advanced Planning & Optimi-zation System. All of the materials and outside components, some of which carry barcodes, are brought from in-coming goods to the warehousing sys-tem. Smaller parts are stored in lean lifts, larger ones in automatic pallet racks. When final production is immi-nent, or raw materials are required for component production, the things are brought out of storage on schedule so that production can begin with a sep-arator for which everything has been brought to hand. Things get especially challenging when we face a deadline involving externally produced parts such as electric motors, switchgear cab-inets, and frequency converters, which means customized designs for which we can only order things in once the specifications have been agreed upon with the customer.”

The delivery time for a separator is currently around six months, depend-ing on capacity, but the throughput time is much less. Perfect planning is required to situate the production pro-cess reliably within this time window.

“We have forging blanks for bowls made of special alloys that are made just for us, and their lead time can be as much as 12 months. It’s a highly sophis-ticated system when you look at it. We work with our colleagues in sales, order processing, procurement, and supply chain to try to predict as accurately as we can what our customers will need and what will work in the market.”

THE GEA WESTFALIA SEPARATOR E-MAGAZINE 50 ISSUE 01

51

THE TWO SIDES OF INTRALOGISTICS WORKING AUTOMATICALLY TOGETHERThe heart of production hall 5 is an ultra-modern logistics system, which intelligently combines a high-performance storage and transport system with transfer stations at the machines. “The system moves the parts fully automatically to each machine for processing. When the components are finished, they are transferred back into this system – which means they are buffered, so to speak. And the person who then assembles the bowl issues the bowl order and receives the bowl bottom, the disks, bowl top, and all the rest of the components in the correct order from the system.”

DIGITALIZATION – HERE AND BEYONDGEA is doing a lot to develop machines that learn and com-municate with each other. “Part of what we’re trying to achieve is to change unplanned downtimes into plannable activities. For example, bearing damage can trigger a lengthy, unplanned shutdown. But if sensor data from the machine is processed correctly, the machine can tell maintenance en-gineers that higher temperatures or vibrations are occurring in a bearing. Preventative maintenance can then be done during the next scheduled service. Or, if things get urgent, the machine can be stopped intentionally during the next time window in which everything is available, from the right spare part to the right service capacity. Soon, machines may even order their spare parts and service technicians them-selves. Another area where we can use this is giving our sep-arators a digital footprint, which makes commissioning at the customer easier and gives service technicians a reference to work with.

Night is when the virtual work really begins again for the planning algorithms. “The system works autonomously, but it’s monitored,” says Thomas Hengesbach, “which means we automatically monitor the interfaces and processes, includ-ing the optimization results. If a fault is reported, a small team of specialists intervenes and sorts things out.” It isn’t

just the workforce at GEA that have lots of energy. A com-bined heat and power plant generates it too, and can also turn excess heat into the cold which some of the machines require. “Sustainability is of course right at the top of the agenda. We are constantly trying to employ modern, intel-ligent solutions to achieve further savings.” There is never a dull moment in Oelde, where expertise is pooled from more than 3000 centrifugal separating applications to manufac-ture the perfect separator for each and every customer. f.

3500 ORDERS ALL AT ONCE – HOW?Organizing all of the process steps, prioritizing them proper-ly, and getting them flowing nicely is a major challenge, and one which would be impossible without the ERP system and production planning provided by SAP APO. “It’s an impres-sive planning system. We use it to control over 450 resources, which means machines we are producing. And we have an average of 3500 orders on the go simultaneously, many of

which involve multiple process steps. Then there are com-ponents required from Service and the repair shops. All this places significant demands on planning algorithms and sys-tem resources.” Nighttime plays an important part in things. “Every night, we use this system to optimize all of the process elements that can be planned – around 130,000 of them. All the changes that the system records during the day are incor-porated into process optimization, so that updated process-ing lists are available at every workplace the next morning.”

“The assembler simply says: next item please! And the

materials arrive in the right order exactly when needed.”

“The system optimizes 130,000 plannable process

elements each night.”

Halls 3 & 4: Manufacturing Sheet Metal and Specialized PartsHome to turning, drilling, and milling centers for the complete machining of components as well as special machines and 3900 storage spaces for raw materials, semi-finished products, and finished components.

Hall 6: Modern Test Bay With 16 Test StationsEverything keeps flowing: the separators are ready for their acceptance tests on the assembly and test frames.


52

ISSUE 0153 Achieving Climate Aims with Lithium and Centrifugal Power

Cell phones, notebooks, cordless screwdrivers, e-bikes

and electric cars, solar and wind power – none of

these would work without the alkali metal lithium

(Li). Lithium-ion batteries are the driv-

ing force behind our modern world

and they will hopefully even help to

stop the climate change caused by

carbon emissions. GEA is playing

a key part in making this vision

reality with its broad manufac-

turing and processing portfolio.

Lithium Is Light, but It’s an Industrial HeavyweightLithium is the lightest of all solid elements and has the atomic number

3 in the periodic table. Its biggest area of use is batteries at 37%, but

it can do much more. This alkali metal is an essential ingredient in

lubricating greases for cars and airplanes, air cleaners in space travel, on

submarines, in breathing apparatus, and in many other applications.

Around a quarter of carbon emissions are caused by trans-port, 94% of which is road traffic, and 59% of that passenger cars. Germany’s federal government wants to reduce this by around 40% by 2030, which will require a significant shift away from fossil fuels gasoline and diesel. China introduced a quota in 2019, stipulating that a certain, growing percent-age of newly sold vehicles have to be electric. It was 10% in 2019 and 12% in 2020. Automobile manufacturers have to pay penalties if the quota is not reached.

SUN, WIND, LITHIUMAnother way of reducing carbon emissions is to use alterna-tive energy such as the sun and the wind. But these have to be captured in large-scale energy stores before they can be fed into power networks – stores consisting of lithium-ion batteries. It is hoped that 65% of Germany’s power consump-tion will come from renewable energies by 2030.

To achieve these climate aims, lithium has to be extracted and processed, since lithium-ion batteries have the highest energy density for their size.

Other metals in lithium-ion batteries, such as cobalt, are expected to be replaced by iron phosphate over the next few years, but the lightest solid element will remain indispens-able for the foreseeable future.

Lithium does not occur naturally as a pure metal; it has to be extracted from ore, highly saline waters, or brine de-posits. The largest lithium reserves are in Chile, Bolivia, Ar-

Key to Key TechnologiesLithium will play an increasingly important role as one of the

materials in key 21st century technologies.

gentina, and Australia. The three South American countries are known as the lithium triangle. There, lithium is mainly extracted from brine, while Australia’s reserves are found in igneous rock.

REGIONAL EXTRACTION USING GEA EXPERTISEAustralia, the world’s largest producer, previously shipped much of what it mined to China after some initial processing, for reasons of cost. But to make production more sustain-able, the American company Albemarle decided at the end of 2018 to keep all of the processing (ore mining, separation, refining) Down Under and run it at a newly built produc-tion facility near Bunberry in Western Australia. The world’s leading manufacturer of lithium compounds chose GEA as its partner and technology supplier, to ensure that the met-al would be extracted and processed efficiently all along the line. GEA’s operations portfolio offers solutions ranging from processing all the way to the final stage: battery-grade 99.5% pure powder.

Decanter centrifuges play a key role in the entire process, from separating out impurities to purifying lithium salt compounds. But aside from centrifugal separation technol-ogy, GEA is a global leader in the other process stages of this value chain, such as crystallization and spray drying. GEA is also committed to a circular lithium economy and is devel-oping lithium recycling processes with customers all around the globe, which helps in the fight against climate change, true to the company motto: “Engineering for a better world”. f.

0

500

1000

1500

2000

163k tons

961k tonsin 2023

1,570k tonsin 2028


Plannability, Security, Efficiency – Good Service Means All Three

54

ISSUE 0155

Centrifuges require maintenance and

care by experts to keep them running

smoothly and delivering their incredi-

ble added value for thousands of hours

on end. The best way to achieve that is

through individual service level agree-

ments that offer each customer what

they really need.

Keeping things running when you brew beer, recover olive oil, or produce vaccines requires not only the best machines, but the best possible service. And that is precisely what Nick Fernkorn, Head of Service Separation, is responsible for. “A centrifuge needs a major service check at least once a year. If you think about it, up to two tons of steel are rotating very fast, the whole thing revolving around a metal pin which is subject to 300 to 400 KW. Centrifugal force is unbelievably strong and our machines are built to work at maximum out-put – absolute maximum. Forces like that require mainte-nance and care.”

GEA centrifuges last for a very long time. “We have around 150,000 active centrifuges in the market. Some of them are over 60 years old. On average they run for more than 25 years. That’s entirely normal for our machines.”

And aside from such a wide range of ages, centrifuges are in themselves diverse: “Separators perform unbelievably varied tasks. We master around 3000 different applications, and they can all be very different. When you add different sizes and generations to each machine application, it soon becomes clear just how big a logistical and administrative undertaking it is to keep a constant stock of ‘GEA Classics Parts’ for older machines as well as spare parts for newer machines on location.”

SERVICE AROUND THE WORLD, AROUND THE CLOCKWhen you have so many machines, it isn’t just an extensive catalogue of spare parts you need. You need a large and com-petent service department.

“We have around 700 service engineers out in the field and 400 colleagues in back-office positions. These people look after 153 countries, and we run our own sites in 43 of those. We also run three logistics hubs in Asia, America, and Europe where we stock spare parts. Our European hub in Cologne, for instance, houses no fewer than 85,000 different components. Each year we clock up around 90,000 service

interventions involving 525,000 spare parts, which means al-most 250 service interventions and 1450 spare parts every day.”

THE HEART OF THE CENTRIFUGEWorkshops are perhaps the most important element of any service. “Fifty years of constant use leave marks even on our extremely resilient and long-lasting machines. Liquids flow-ing for such a long time cause abrasion, even on stainless steel. To deal with these things, you need a workshop that

can repair the core components of a machine. That’s why we have our own workshops. In Oelde and Niederahr, where the centrifuges are also made, we always say there’s no such word as ‘can’t’. We have 16 other GEA workshops worldwide, which is logistically important, since many customers don’t have back-up machines. If they had to send a bowl – the heart of each centrifuge – back to Oelde, their plant would grind to a halt. That’s unacceptable, especially where perish-able goods such as dairy products are concerned. Our centri-fuges are often situated in key stages of a production line. If the centrifuge fails, everything stops working.

Travelling around the world several times the year to givehis clients the best possible service: Nick Fernkorn.

“Service is the interplay between people, spare parts, and expertise.”


56

ISSUE 0157

That is why good service is so important. And because GEA Separation is GEA Separation, our service is continuously improving and evolving. We have a department dedicated only to service product development. We don’t leave a ma-chine alone, because we can always improve it.”

Another way that customers can achieve financial plannabil-ity and security is through leasing, which is popular with businesses like craft beer manufacturers. “It’s like a car: I can lease it for a certain length of time and I know exactly what it’s going to cost me each month. Everything is included and if it breaks down, I don’t have to worry about it.”

SLAs also play a major part in sustainability, which is another thing which Nick Fernkorn, engineering graduate and MBA, is especially keen on: “Our Service Department develops solutions for older machines to make them more ef-ficient. When we develop solutions, we ensure they’re back-ward compatible. When it comes to a major service check for a 25-year-old machine, we can simply retrofit a remote solution. We’re currently busy building a cooling water recy-cling system for older machines. Many of our processes have to be cooled, for which cooling water is fed through the ma-chines. This water is cooled down using air filters so that it can be used again straight away to form a sustainable cooling circuit. It’s not rocket science, but it helps save tons of water. Service for the environment, you might say.” f.

Centrifuge Experts in Oelde and WorldwideNot only does the GEA service team repair almost anything, they ensure

that GEA centrifuges are up to date with the latest technical develop-

ments such as cloud monitoring and associated trends.

Always at Work, Ensuring Things Run Smoothly1100 service engineers and experts in 153 countries ensure that

GEA centrifuges keep running reliably even after 60 years.

“Our remote solutions bring us close to

customers in a completely new way.

You no longer have to be there to be there.”

“From isolated interventions to plannable interventions with clear,

pre-defined costs.”

“We want to offer our customers what they want. Usually that means plannability above all else: not only

in terms of availability, but also – and increasingly – from a financial

perspective.”

“Condition monitoring allows us to monitor a

machine’s state of health, as it were.”

That is why GEA Separation was using remote solutions well before the pandemic, explains Nick Fernkorn. “We’ve been using remote services for 15 years now, so we could build on them during the pandemic when they often became the only alternative and were very widespread. We simply built up what we were already offering. We even commissioned some machines and delivered the necessary training remotely. We differentiate between remote solutions for service interven-tions and what we call condition monitoring.

This allows customers to press a button that gives us ac-cess for a time to the machine control so that we can work with them to rectify faults and advise them on how to im-prove performance and consumption levels. All of that hap-pens online. It’s especially useful when it comes to adjusting product feed, such as with a change of product or feed con-centration, for which our third level process experts can pro-vide support in adjusting machine parameters and ensuring that output product quality is at an optimum.”

SLAS – COVERING EVERY BASEBut the most important element in ensuring maximum availability is the Service Level Agreement (SLA). “Thanks to SLAs, we can plan ideal maintenance intervals with our customers, which avoids emergencies and unplanned inter-ventions at short notice, partly because our condition moni-toring systems are included in our maintenance agreements. Many of our customers appreciate extra services alongside regular maintenance, such as training, repair, and perfor-mance advice, so that they can plan the entire business year financially.

As well as the innovative strength we bring to the table in our machines, upgrades, and digitalization, our customers rightly expect us to keep pace with new business models. Leasing, pay-per-use, and so on are therefore things we already offer and are glad to build on.”Over85k

different parts are currentlysellable via EPLC SEP

Average age of serviced machine >25years

Repairfacilities

with over

globally30km2

authorizedRepair Workshops

worldwide

16

Each TechnicalSupport request

is assigned within 24hrs.

Logistic HubsworldwideEPLC

CologneAPLCSingapore

R&CNaperville

3

Service interventionsper year – i.e. approx.

every day

90k250

ModernCentrifuge Technologyfor the Source of Life

Henni Weweler works to ensure that all people have access to clean water.

58

ISSUE 01

Global water withdrawals

19% Industry incl. power generation

12% Households

69%AgricultureIrrigation, Livestock,Aquaculture

Access to clean drinking water has been a human

right since 2010. Nevertheless, three out of ten people

still do not have reliable access to it. GEA is working to

change this and to make this right a reality for every-

body. How this works exactly and what role the GEA

decanter has to play here is explained by the engineer

Henni Weweler.

Global Water Withdrawals

Freshwater reserves are limited and dis-tributed unevenly. And they are not in-finite in their supply: “More and more wells are silting up around the world because there is essentially not enough water anymore. The groundwater level has dropped by about three meters in India,” explains Henni Weweler, Head of Business Line Environment at GEA

Westfalia Separator. To ensure that there is sufficient water for everybody, we need to treat more wastewater – only 20% is currently treated world-wide – and also use surface water more efficiently. Key technologies from effi-cient water treatment such as the ener-gy-efficient GEA sludge decanters can be used for this purpose.

Water Is the Basis for EverythingClean water is vital for agriculture and industry in particular.

59

21 3 4

57

6

8

Indonesia, like China, India, and the Philippines, relies on the expertise of GEA Separation here: “We’re seeing increased demand in Asia, in particular. We have already completed many projects in China, and now there are more and more projects in Indonesia, the Philippines, and India.

The largest plant in Indonesia is designed for 3000 liters of water per second and is a flagship for further plants that will follow.” There are three GEA sludge decanter prime 7000 systems, one of the most powerful decanter centrifuges in the GEA range, two of them in operation around the clock and one serving as a backup for maintenance work.

Indonesia is therefore in the process of optimizing its water management and making it sustainable. Since 2019, a regu-lation has been in place that guarantees minimum standards for water supply. This was introduced because water pollu-tion had risen steadily during the economic upturn – by a third between 2009 and 2013 alone – while only 41% of the population had access to clean drinking water.


WATER WONDER: ECONOMY, GROWTH, PROSPERITYIn addition to the direct humanitarian aspects, the avail-ability of clean water is also important to a country from an economic perspective, as fresh water is essential for both the agricultural and industrial sectors. The economic growth of a country is in turn vital for the improvement of living standards and educational and advancement opportunities, which is why the supply of sufficient drinking water is dou-bly important for emerging economies such as India and In-donesia: “Water must be available for a country in order to make the transition from an emerging to an industrialized nation. As a result, there is increased demand for a resource that is becoming increasingly scarce due to falling ground-water levels. So, it’s essential that these countries find other sources of water.”

“The growth of countries such as India and Indonesia

is limited by the lack of available drinking water.”

“We work with specially designed process lines on these projects.”

From River Water to Drinking WaterWater from rivers or lakes is often contaminated with sludge. In order to use this water as drink-

ing water, the sludge must be separated, which is where the decanters come in. First, non-toxic

salts are added to separate the sludge more efficiently. After sedimentation, the sludge is thick-

ened, dewatered via centrifuge, and thus made usable.

60

Treatment of Surface Water

ISSUE 01

“By sludge, we mean all types of contaminants, such as soil and rock, as well as minerals, dust, and biological contami-nants, depending on what is naturally in the body of water or discharged into it,” explains Henni Weweler. “In the past, the surface water was simply filtered, so, for example, sucked out of the Ganges into the drinking water treatment plant, where it was purified and then fed into the drinking water system. However, the impurities that were filtered out were then returned to the river. Of course, this is not a sustainable cycle and it leads to the river becoming more and more silted. This is where our machines come into play. We separate all these impurities, in other words the sludge, and then prepare this so it can be used as material for road construction work. So it’s really about separating and processing sediment. And this is something in which GEA has almost a century of ex-pertise.” f.

The model is extremely scalable, as the requirements in terms of infrastructure are relatively low. “For one thing, of course, you have to be quite close to a river or lake, so that you can tap the water efficiently with pumps in the first place. Then, there has to be sufficient space for the plant. And when the water is treated, you have to feed it into the drinking water supply system, which is usually done by means of additional pumping systems.”

SUCCESSFULLY CLEANING WATERWAYSTHROUGH PROCESS ENGINEERINGThe method, which solves the issue of drinking water short-ages, also solves the evermore pressing problem of the in-creasing silting of rivers, which can lead to severe flooding.

“Our prime 7000 has a rated capacity of 100 m³/h, which means

that it can treat a full bathtub of water every three seconds. This

corresponds to 20 tubs in one minute and 1200 tubs in one hour.”

“This method of drinking water production helps to counteract the silting of rivers.”

61

1 Untreated water2 Chemical treatment3 Sedimentation4 Chlorine added to filtered water5 Filtration6 Thickening7 Decanter for dewatering8 Dewatered sludge


62ISSUE 01

63

Good for Deposits and the Environment – Efficient Formation Water Treatment

When we think of oil produc-

tion, we usually imagine drilling

rigs and big platforms tapping

into the liquid energy source that

has so shaped our modern world.

But it wouldn’t really be possible

to extract oil properly without

centrifuges. And without centrif-

ugal force, the environmental im-

pact of extraction would be much

higher. To meet the challenge of

reconciling man’s drive for prog-

ress with the needs of nature,

GEA builds highly efficient and

cost-saving centrifuges for for-

mation water treatment.

Oil production will remain a necessity for many years to come. All the more important, therefore, for its process to be as environmentally friendly as possible and for deposits to be used as long as possible. Treatment of what is known as formation water is important to both.

Source: Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, Energy Study 2019; 30.04.2020.

Oil is still one of the world’s most important energy sources. According to OPEC’s World Oil Outlook 2020, oil and natural gas will still be meeting more than half of the world’s pri-mary energy needs in 2045. Not only is this fossil substance used to generate energy in the form of thermal power and fuel, it’s also used in industry as an important basis for plas-tics, paints, and coatings, and even medicines.

That is why, despite the increasing importance of alterna-tive energies, we won’t be saying goodbye to crude oil pro-duction any time soon.

Oil is produced onshore, off coasts, and in the open sea. But wherever it is extracted, the challenges of doing so with-out doing unnecessary harm to the environment are becom-ing ever greater.

these deposits is enough to push the oil to the surface to-gether with the water that also occurs in the seams. But only around 5% to 30% of the oil in a deposit can be brought up this way. In the subsequent secondary and tertiary pro-duction processes, the deposit pressure, which by then has dropped, must be increased artificially. This is usually done by pumping in the formation water extracted during prima-ry production and subsequently treated with centrifuges, af-ter which it is known as produced water. In order to prevent the formation of bacteria in the deposit, oxygen must also be prevented from reaching the water during production, treat-ment, and further use in the process. This is done by main-taining a closed system under permanent pressure.

Thanks to centrifuge technology, surplus formation water for which there is no longer any use in the production cycle can be so thoroughly cleaned, that it can either be safely dis-charged into the sea, or used as process water for industry and agriculture.

Centrifuges are therefore key to ensuring the prolonged and environmentally safe operation of oilfields, because they not only separate oil from water, they also separate out extremely fine particles. GEA centrifuges perform these im-portant tasks efficiently and reliably, working fully automat-ically so that they can run continuously without interrupt-ing extraction. Production always produces sludge as well, which has to be treated to prevent environmental damage. The best alternative for sludge treatment is the centrifuge, which ensures that the two liquid phases, oil and water, can be returned to the process, while making the sludge as con-centrated as possible and thus minimizing disposal costs and environmental impact.

ON LAND, AT SEA, FOR THE ENVIRONMENTGEA centrifuges are so thorough that they reliably meet even the strictest regulations for protecting the environment and the process.

Because their motor transmits power directly to the spin-dle which drives the bowl, GEA centrifuges for produced wa-ter treatment are not only very energy-efficient, they also are space-saving. Gas-tight, explosion-proof, and oxygen-sealed designs are of course readily at hand, as is GEA’s expertise in the use of highly corrosion- and erosion-resistant mate-rials. The centrifuges are fully equipped ex works with all necessary additional components and special controls, and are preassembled on skids.

The advantages are many and various, and crude oil pro-duction would be unthinkable without GEA centrifuges, which are used in every OPEC country to ensure that the crude oil production which we continue to need continues to be as environmentally friendly as possible. f.

Still Very Much RelevantCrude oil will continue to play an important role in the coming decades

and sufficient resources remain, which can be used increasingly efficient-

ly thanks to improved technology.

TREATING WATER TO EXTRACT BLACK GOLDFossil fuels are hydrocarbon compounds that occur in differ-ent aggregate states: natural gas (gaseous), coal (solid), and of course crude oil (liquid). They were formed from dead plant and animal matter, which over millions of years, and due to the pressure of overlying layers of rock, became the raw materials we know today. Because of the way it was formed, crude oil has ended up under pressure in underground de-posits.

In what is known as primary production, the pressure in


The Worldof Centrifuges in Numbers

One in every three liters of olive oil is produced by GEA machines.

GEA Separationhas over1100 service engineers and

experts in operation

in countries.153

treats a full bathtub of water every three seconds –corresponding to 20 tubsper minute and 1200 per hour.

7000 The GEA sludgedecanter prime

The average age of a GEA centrifuge is

around 25years.

spare parts are stored at GEA’s European logistics

hub in Cologne.

85,000

GEA Separation carries out around 90,000 service operations involving525,000 spare parts across the world each year.

The maintenance-free discharge system

in the GEA wheyseparators completes

its 100,000thdischarge operation

with the sameprecision as its first.

Optimum whey processing: in February 2021, the IDEAL

Whey Separation concept from GEA received the silver medal prize from the International

FoodTec Award (DLG).

Capacity at the ultra-modern production site in Oelde can handle

an average of 120 customer-specific separators per month.

Each night, the planning system of our separator production site in Oelde

optimizes the sequence of 130,000 process elements for the next day.

It is better to test one extra time on the smaller system in the technical center and then scale up than risk

unnecessary production losses.

3000has already developed around

for centrifugalseparationtechnology.

GEAapplications

The hectoliterchampion, the

is able to handle thebeer demands of theMunich Oktoberfest

GSE 550,

in 4 days.

Approx. 150,000 GEA centrifuges

are currently in operation in the market.

64 ISSUE 01

65

The Process Test Centerin Oelde examines over product samples per year.800


franz Says Thank You!

Imprint

About this Publicationfranz is the separation magazine of GEA Westfalia Separator Group

PublisherGEA Westfalia Separator Group GmbHWerner-Habig-Str. 159302 Oelde, Germany

Responsible under Press Law:Oliver Grage (Head of Marketing)

Design and Realization26zehn GmbH, Agentur für Kommunikation

EditorialEditor-in-chief: Manfred Summe26zehn GmbH, Agentur für KommunikationAssistant editor: Lia Zerowsky26zehn GmbH, Agentur für Kommunikation

Art DirectorManuel S. Fuhrmann26zehn GmbH, Agentur für Kommunikation

Project ManagerSandra OverhageGEA Westfalia Separator Group GmbHFelix SchatterGEA Westfalia Separator Group GmbHAlexander Vogel26zehn GmbH, Agentur für Kommunikation

TranslationWieners+Wieners GmbHBurton, Münch & Partners World Wide Writers GbR

PrintDruckzuck GmbH, Berlin

Contact+49 2522 [email protected]

Picture CreditsSteffen Jänicke, BerlinTim Luhmann, KamenGetty Images

Legal NoticeThe information contained in this pub-lication includes general descriptions of product performance. Actual products may differ somewhat in their characteristics as described, for example, as a result of their further development or due to regional differences. Therefore, the information pro-vided here is not intended to be, and is not, legally binding. An obligation to deliver products with specific characteristics only exists if expressly agreed in the terms of the contract.

Copyright 2021 GEA Westfalia Separator Group GmbH.Reprinting only with permission of the publisher.

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