It is very common in both industrial production as well as food and beverage processing operations to require water that has only a limited amount of oxygen, nitrogen and other types of entrained gases. A common way to remove these entrained gases is to use a specialized process that is known as spray deaeration.
Industrial Processes
There are several ways spray deaeration can occur. In large types of industrial applications, including boilers and in chemical processing systems, heat is used to process. This heat is usually in the form of steam to increase the temperature of the fine droplets of spray; when the increase in temperature from the steam makes contact with the large surface area of the droplets, the temperature increases and the ability to hold oxygen and other gases decrease.
In these systems, the gas then goes out of a vent at the top of the tank, and the deaerated water drops down into a holding reservoir. With the system design, there is a low level of oxygen in the air within the tank, preventing absorption.
Beverage Processes
When manufacturing beverages, this extremely large volume of deaerated water is not required, so smaller systems are more effective and economical. In place of steam, many of the top spray deaeration systems use a high vacuum, allowing the extremely fine, diffused water droplets to pass through the vacuum, preventing the entrained gases from being held in the water.
These systems are fully self-contained and very compact in size. They are easy to integrate into an existing process line, which makes them an ideal option as a replacement for an old system.
When choosing this type of deaeration system, be sure to consider ease of use and maintenance requirements. Systems on the market vary considerably in these aspects, with some offering touchscreen controls and limited maintenance for simplicity in operation and use.
