German engineers have found a greener way of brewing amber nectar.

Scientists at the Technische Universitaet in Munich （home of the Oktoberfest beer festival） are creating a new brewing process that could cut down on the amount of energy needed to produce beer.

For more than a hundred years, the brewing process has involved boiling giant kettles to temperatures of upto 160C to boil down 'crude beer' or wort. The scientists say that about 45 per cent of the energy consumed by breweries is used for this process.

Instead the Bavarian team have adapted an approach using combined heat and power stations, which harness the heat produced during power generation. The technique had already been tried, but on its own it couldn't heat the kettles to the necessary temperature. The new system combines the CHP station with what the TU München scientists call a 'zeolite storage system'.

This consists of thousands of zeolite spheres, two to three millimetersp in diameter. "These porous pellets are made of silicate minerals and have excellent heat storage properties," the team reports. "One gram of zeolite has an internal surface of about 500 square meters."

When zeolite that has been soaked in water is heated, the spheres dry up, charging up the system. Once water is added again, the zeolite spheres release heat of up to 250C, according to the researchers.

On its own, the combined heat and power （CHP） station can achieve temperatures of 90C, but this thermal-chemical process boosts it to the levels needed for brewing.

Dr Winfried Russ, the project leader, says: "At night a medium-sized brewery needs little energy. In this time we can feed unused heat from the CHP station into the zeolite storage system." When the heat is needed the next day, the brewers can just hit a button and get the heat boost they need."

The system has been tested using simulations and now real-world tests are underway. Russ is eager to see the results: "We already know that it will work. What we don't know is just how much energy can be saved."

The technology will be on display at the Drinktec 2009 trade fair in Munich from September 14 to 19.

德国工程师们发现了一种更为绿色的酿造琥珀色甜美饮料的方法。

慕尼黑（慕尼黑啤酒节的家园）技术学院的科学家们正在创造一种新的酿造工艺，可以减少生产啤酒所需要的能量。

一百多年来，老的啤酒酿造工艺涉及到温度高达 160C 的大型蒸煮釜， 它们被用来煮浓'粗啤酒'或者麦芽汁。科学家们说，酿酒厂消耗的能量的大约 45% 用于这一过程。

作为替代，这个巴伐利亚的小组改变途径，利用热电联产的电厂，采用发电过程中产生的热作为动力。这项技术已经试用过，但是靠它本身不能把大釜加热到所需的温度。新的系统是将 CHP（热电联合） 电厂与慕尼黑科学家称之为"沸石贮热系统"的系统结合起来。

这样的系统由成千上万直径两到三毫米的沸石球组成。"这些多孔的球是由硅酸盐矿物制成的，并且具有优良的贮热性能，"该小组报告说。"一克沸石具有大约 500 平方米的内部表面。"

根据研究人员们的说法，当在水里浸泡过的沸石被加热时，球体变干，将它们添加到系统中。再次加水，沸石球释放热量，使温度升高到 250C.

热电联产（CHP）电厂自身可以达到 90C 的温度，而这个热化学过程把它推进，达到酿造所需要的水平。

这个项目的领导者温弗里德 拉斯博士说："在夜里，一个中等大小的酿酒厂需要一点能量。在这个时候，我们可以从 CHP 电厂将不使用的热量提供给沸石贮热系统。"当在下一天需要热量的时候，啤酒可以只按一下按钮，就能得到他们所需要的热量增加。"

这个系统已经采用模拟仿真测试过，现在正在进行实际测试。拉斯渴望看结果，他说："我们已经知道它会奏效。我们所不知道的是到底能够节省下来多少能量。"

这项技术将在慕尼黑从 9 月 14 日到 19 日的 《2009 年 Drinktec（饮料技术）贸易展览会》上展出。