The Clear Competitive Advantage in Tea Filtration & Clarification

Filtration vs. Centrifugal Clarification: What’s the Difference?

Filtration

Filtration uses a porous medium (mesh, cloth, cartridge) to strain suspended solids. In tea processing, it presents limitations:

• Media clogs quickly with fine tea particulates and precipitates.
• Frequent replacement or backwashing increases downtime and labour cost.
• Shear or pressure can compromise delicate flavour/aroma compounds.
• At high throughput (common in RTD plants), filters become a bottleneck.

Centrifugal clarification

Centrifugal clarification uses high-g force in a rotating bowl (often a disc-stack design) to separate suspended solids—continuously producing clarified liquid while removing solids separately.

Key advantages for tea processing

• Continuous operation at high flow rates without frequent media changes.
• Handles fine, shear-sensitive solids that quickly clog filters.
• Lower total cost of ownership due to fewer consumables and less downtime.
• Enhanced product quality: lower oxygen uptake, gentle acceleration, better retention of flavours/aromas.

Core Applications in Tea Processing

Whether producing RTD bottled teas, tea extracts, or powdered tea concentrates, centrifuges are pivotal:

1. Post-infusion clarification

   After steeping, the extract contains fine leaf fragments, pigments, and micro-particulates. Ahead of cooling, concentration, or bottling, disc-stack clarifiers deliver high throughput with minimal flavour loss and continuous run time.

2. Pre-concentration polishing

   Before evaporation or drying, clarifiers remove fine precipitates that would otherwise foul equipment or block filters, ensuring smooth downstream processing and high clarity.

3. RTD bottling clarity

   Visual clarity is a key quality attribute in clear bottled teas. Centrifuges achieve high clarity without over-reliance on depth or polishing filters.

4. Aroma and flavour preservation

   Gentle inlet acceleration and hermetic designs minimise shear and oxygen exposure, helping preserve delicate volatile compounds in tea extracts.

Why the Right Equipment Matters

Performance and ROI depend on proper specification, not just installation.

• Flow capacity: Select from pilot to large industrial systems based on projected throughput.
• Feed characteristics: Temperature, solids load, viscosity, and particle nature guide bowl design and expected capacity.
• Configuration and features:
  • Hermetic design to minimise oxygen pick-up and protect flavour.
  • Energy-saving options to reduce power, heat, and noise.
  • Skid-mounted plug-and-play systems for faster commissioning.
• Integration: Coordinate with pre-filtration, cooling, pumping, and downstream evaporation/bottling.
• Maintenance and lifecycle cost: Less filter media, fewer cleaning stops, and stronger sustained throughput.

Tea Extraction & Clarification Flow (Overview)

Benefits Realised in Tea Processing

• Higher product clarity improves brand perception in transparent packaging.
• Reduced downtime from clogged filters and fouled equipment.
• Better flavour retention through gentle handling and lower oxygen pick-up.
• Lower total cost of ownership with fewer consumables and less labour.
• Scalability and flexibility as RTD demand and new formats grow.

Implementation Considerations & Best Practices

• Run a pilot test to confirm solids load, temperature, and flow compatibility.
• Map the process flow: extraction → cooling → pre-filtration → clarification → downstream.
• Select for future scale-up if volumes will grow.
• Establish routine monitoring and maintenance (CIP/SIP, discharge rates, drive service).
• Ensure hygienic integration and regulatory compliance for food and beverage standards.
• Partner with a supplier that provides service support, training, and parts availability.