Peristaltic Pumps: An Innovation in Modern Winemaking
Producing the perfect vintage is a detailed and precise craft, where the equipment significantly impacts the wine’s flavor and texture. Hence, selecting the right pump for winemaking is as critical as choosing the grapes themselves during harvest.
Peristaltic pumps have become a key element in modern winemaking equipment, allowing for gentle and efficient fluid transfer without the risk of contamination or oxidation. This article explores how these innovative pumps work, their unique advantages, and their various applications in winemaking – from grape juice transfer to bottling wine.
Inspired by the natural movement in the human digestive system, peristaltic pumps are highly popular in the industry due to their reliability and ability to handle sensitive liquids. Their operation is based on the compression and release of a flexible tube, ensuring a smooth and clean flow of liquids.
SRAML Peristaltic Pump LPP Series
Basic Operating Principle
Peristaltic pumps work using rollers or rotors that compress a flexible tube. This technology creates a vacuum that draws liquid into the tube and pushes it forward. Since the liquid does not come into contact with the moving parts of the pump, the risk of contamination is minimal, and the pump experiences less wear.
Advantages of Peristaltic Pumps
• Gentle Treatment of Liquids: Without contact with hard parts, the liquid flows smoothly without mixing or foaming, which is crucial for maintaining wine quality.
• Resistance to Contamination: The liquid moves through a sterile tube that can be easily replaced or cleaned, ensuring a high level of hygiene.
• Precise Flow Control: They allow precise flow regulation, which is essential for different stages of winemaking, where accurate control over the liquid volume is crucial.
• Versatility: Suitable for various types of liquids, including viscous ones and those with solid particles, enabling broad use throughout the winemaking process.
Peristaltic pump connected to a destemmer
Use of Peristaltic Pumps in Winemaking
• Grape Juice and Must Transfer: During harvesting and processing of grapes, it is crucial to transfer juice and must without oxidation. Peristaltic pumps ensure gentle transfer, preserving the aroma and taste of the grapes.
• Fermentation: During fermentation, it is important for the wine to move and mix without air intake. Peristaltic pumps allow a closed system that prevents oxidation and contamination, ensuring even mixing.
• Filtration: In filtration, it is essential that the wine moves through filters without risking particle damage. Peristaltic pumps enable gentle operation, ensuring a clean and high-quality final product.
• Bottling: During bottling, precise flow control is crucial for even filling of bottles. Peristaltic pumps allow for precise control and sterile filling, ensuring high quality of the final product.
SRAML Peristaltic Pumps – Uncompromising Quality and Perfect Precision
SRAML peristaltic pumps are designed for the gentle and precise flow of fluids and semi-fluids, such as destemmed grapes, mash, fermenting grape mass, and lees, making them an excellent choice for liquid transfer in winemaking.
The LPP series peristaltic pumps enable hose connection for both suction and discharge, offer bidirectional pumping, are easy to use and clean, and handle the material gently. Available in various models with upgrade options such as remote control or adjustable pressure regulators, these pumps can transfer up to 30,000 liters of liquid per hour, proving invaluable in any winery.
Both series of SRAML Peristaltic pumps (left: LPP Series, right: MPP Series)
The peristaltic pumps of the SRAML MPP series are equipped with a hopper and a feeding screw, which allow for the even addition of the pumped substance into the pump. They are the perfect tool for handling grape berries, pomace, or fermenting mass, gently transferring it without causing damage during processing stages. The MPP series offers various models and numerous accessories. These pumps are self-priming, capable of dry running without damage, can operate in both directions, are easy to use, simple to clean, and very gentle on the material being pumped. Pumping capacity is up to 18,500 kg per hour.
Conclusion
Peristaltic pumps have become indispensable in modern winemaking due to their unique advantages. Their ability to gently and precisely move liquids, without the risk of contamination or oxidation, ensures the preservation of wine quality throughout the entire production process. Due to their versatility and reliability, they are one of the most important technologies in winemaking today.