Winery Pumps
Pump Use in the Winery
Pump use at the winery requires using a variety of different types of pumps for a variety of different fluids in the winery, including must, juice, lees, and wine. In a winery, pumps are not only used to pump product, but pumps are also found in refrigeration systems and water systems. Hence, there are different pumps used within a winery, e.g., centrifugal, progressive cavity, lobe, flexible impeller, diaphragm, peristaltic and reciprocating piston pumps. For product handling, the choice of pump is particularly important.
Pumping Must
Must pumps, the pumps that move the grapes and juice from the destemmer to the press or fermentor, are almost always positive displacement pumps, including progressive cavity pumps, rotary lobe pumps, and peristaltic pumps. During the red wine fermentation process, winemakers use a must pump to perform pump overs, which circulate liquid from the bottom of the tank back up to the top, where flavor, color, and other characteristics of wine are extracted from the suspended solids.
Press Pump
Once white grapes or red grapes are in the press, a pump is needed to move the juice from the press sump to a tank. The main requirements for this task are the ability to empty the sump quickly. The ability to connect and use a float controller is desirable since this reduces the workload on the press operator; but if this isn't possible, then it's imperative to get a pump that won't be damaged by short periods of running dry.
Pumping Over for Red Fermentations
Pump-over is the process of pumping the juice at the bottom of the fermentation tank over the cap of grape skins and allowing the juice to seep through the skins. This circulation process occurs frequently throughout the day, and for extended periods of time. Pumping over for red fermentations requires a pump that can lift must over the top of the tank at a high rate of flow to fully irrigate the cap.
Pumping Pomace from (Red) Fermentor to Press
Pressed grape skins and seeds are called pomace. Practically, this means that pomace doesn't pump as easily as must does. Wineries often move pomace via augers, conveyors, or bins.
Moving Lees
If the winery is generating enough lees that it needs to use a pump rather than a bucket, a piston pump to move white lees and a progressive cavity pump to move red lees is recommended.
Moving Juice or Wine
Tank-to-tank transfers are the most basic of juice/wine transfers. On one level, the best pump for this job is one that can move the most wine in the shortest amount of time without affecting the quality of the juice or wine. Centrifugal pumps seem to be the favorite for tank-to-tank wine movements in large wineries.
Moving Marc, Pumping Pomace
Pressed grape skins and seeds are called pomace or marc. Neither pomace nor marc are pumped in most U.S. wineries. Most small wineries simply shovel or pump it into macro bins and move the bins using forklifts and pallet-jacks.
Filling Barrels
Filling barrels requires a pump that can be precisely metered such as a rotary lobe that has been equipped with a remote control. This enables the cellar worker to minimize or eliminate the inevitable overflows during barrel filling. In practice, this means that the pump has to have a variable frequency drive for the pump motor and a remote-control box.
Filtration
Usually, filtrations also require a positive displacement pump that delivers a predictable flow. Filtration is one winery operation that also requires a pump that can generate significant back pressure such as rotary lobe pumps and progressive cavity pumps. A lot of smaller wineries use flexible impeller pumps for filtering.
Bottling
Bottling requires a pump, either rotary lobe or impeller pump, that can generate enough back pressure to force the wine through at a controllable rate. When bottling, the size of the filler determines minimum pump size that should be used. In practice, it takes an extremely fast bottling line to outpace a 2 1/2-inch pump.
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