Yeast production

Yeast Production Process

Efficient yeast production begins with the crucial pretreatment phase, where the removal of suspended solids—such as sand, mud, and clay—is vital. Proper removal with equipment such as strainers and hydrocyclones ensures that sugar losses are minimized, preventing the need for additional wash water later in the process, which can add unnecessary costs. Alfa Laval’s molasses pretreatment systems are expertly designed to integrate key equipment from our core product areas, including fluids handling, separation, evaporation and heat transfer. Leveraging Alfa Laval’s extensive experience and process expertise ensures that you achieve superior product quality, operational reliability, and maximum efficiency.

Heating, Cooling, and Temperature Control

Throughout the entire yeast production process, Alfa Laval heat exchangers are essential for precise heating, cooling, and maintaining steady temperatures. Our heat exchangers are specifically designed to meet the stringent demands of the yeast production industry, featuring sanitary designs, close temperature control, rapid response times, minimal product hold-up, and full clean-in-place (CIP) capability.

Yeast Extraction Process

Yeast Extract Concentrate

Alfa Laval’s advanced yeast extraction solutions are ideal for manufacturing yeast extracts from baker's yeast or recovered brewer's yeast. During controlled autolysis, yeast cell proteins are solubilized, and cell walls are separated and cleaned using high-performance centrifugal separators, ensuring maximum product recovery. Membrane filtration systems can be employed for polishing and pre-concentration before the final concentration by evaporation. The resulting yeast extract concentrate is typically dried and sold as a powder, meeting high industry standards for quality.

Industry Standards

Since the early days of the yeast industry, Alfa Laval has been a pioneer in developing cutting-edge separation technologies. Today, our equipment is the industry standard for both baker’s yeast and yeast extract production. With proprietary features such as Vortex nozzles, pneumatic actuated discharge, and complete CIP capabilities, Alfa Laval equipment delivers unmatched performance. Our membrane technology, when combined with traditional high-speed separators, further enhances product quality by selectively removing soluble components and improving downstream processing efficiency.

Cost and Space Efficiency

Alfa Laval’s AlfaVap and AlfaCond units offer superior cost efficiency and space savings compared to conventional shell-and-tube evaporators and condensers. These systems deliver significantly higher thermal efficiency, requiring much less heat transfer area, which results in lower investment and maintenance costs without compromising reliability or safety. The compact and flexible designs of AlfaVap and AlfaCond save valuable space and reduce erection and installation costs, while allowing for easy capacity adjustments by adding or removing plates. With over 1,500 installations worldwide, the success of these systems speaks for itself.

In addition to the benefits of AlfaVap, further cost savings can be achieved by using our custom membrane technology solutions for the concentration of yeast extracts and effluent treatment (vinasse). This technology can be implemented as a pre-concentration step before evaporation, offering cost savings for new production lines and enabling the de-bottlenecking of existing processes.

Sustainable Production

Alfa Laval is committed to sustainable production practices. Our membrane technology is designed to reduce environmental impact and effluent treatment costs by concentrating evaporator condensate, producing a clean water stream for reuse, and minimizing waste streams with high BOD/COD loading. This approach not only supports environmental sustainability but also enhances overall process efficiency.

Other Alfa Laval Fermentation Applications

Alfa Laval’s expertise and equipment extend beyond yeast production, serving a wide range of fermentation applications. Our solutions are also used in the production of algae, amino acids, fodder yeast, organic acids, polysaccharides, vitamins, enzymes, and single-cell proteins, making us a trusted partner in the fermentation industry.