Wine Transfer in Winery - Flexible Impeller Pump

Enquiry

Castle Pumps received an enquiry from Defined Wine, a contract winemaker based in the UK. They were looking for a food grade pump to transfer their wine around the winery at temperatures between 2 - 65⁰C. The customer stated that they were looking for a pump that could handle their maximum flow rate requirement of 15,000 litres per hour, however variable speed would be ideal to enable the volume of wine being transferred to be controlled.

In order to ensure the selected pump can handle the performance requirements of the application, it is important to understand the pressure capabilities it needs to meet. After discussing the application in more detail with the customer, the customer informed us that whilst they would be using the pump primarily to fill barrels, they would also like the same pump to be able to carry out tank to tank transfer. This would require a maximum head pressure of 8m.

As well as the above, the customer requested remote control to be a pump feature and reverse operation, to enable the winemakers to operate the pump without having to be standing next to it.

Solution 

Equipment Supplied

Model: Liverani All in One Major 10-200

• Max Flow: 22500l/hr
• Max Pressure: 1.6 Bar
• Fluid: Wine
• Body: Stainless Steel
• Impellers: EPDM
• Inlet/Outlet: DIN 40
• Power: Three phase, 400v

Given that the application was for wine transfer, we knew straight away that this was a job for our flexible impeller pump range. Their low shear operation, food grade construction and smooth, steady pumping make them ideal for the accurate filling of barrels without altering the consistency of the wine. They are also able to handle small solids, enabling any sediment at the bottom of a tank to be handled without damage to the pump.

To ensure ease of manoeuvring around the winery, it was important that we offered a trolley mounted flexible impeller pump from our range. The additional customer requested requirements such as the remote control, variable speed drive and reversible operation meant that the new Liverani All-in-One solution was a perfect fit.

The Liverani All-in-One flexible impeller pump is the ideal solution for winemakers who could benefit from having more control over their wine transfer operations and have less of their workers’ time spent operating the pump. The addition of the control panel allows the user to schedule, automate, control, monitor and review wine transfer and filling operations. From the pre-set barrel filling setting to enable multiple barrels of the same size to be filled without the operator having to set all dispenses up individually, to the free transfer option to enable tank to tank transfer - a feature which this client had requested.

After consulting the performance tables of the Liverani All-in-One table, we specified the Major 10-200 as this was able to meet the flow and pressure requirements of the application nicely. The customer was offered a choice of 230v or three phase 400v, which they then selected the latter of.

This wine transfer pump solution was delivered within 4 weeks of the customer placing the order, and has been working great for them ever since.