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Practical steps towards manufacturing energy efficiency

Operational efficiency is an important facet of any winery. Optimising
production costs helps winery owners compete in local as well as international
markets. Using energy-efficient processes not only helps them reduce costs but
also increase their green credentials improving their image.

Australian wineries receive broad support from organisations such
as the AWRI, Australian Wine Research Institute, which advises them on
improving efficiency in wine making processes. Wineries can also take advantage
of excellent tools such as WEST, winery energy saver toolkit, created by the South
Australian Wine Industry Association to help them achieve their objectives.

Refrigeration and tank storage, pumping, compressed air, hot water, and HVAC
and lighting are specific areas in a winery that require improvement. Wineries
can also consult with knowledgeable experts and suppliers of equipment to help
them invest wisely, achieve quick return on investment and get tangible
results.

Hurll Nu-Way highlights equipment solutions that will allow wineries
achieve further improvements in energy efficiency within their wine making
processes.

Condensing boilers for hot water

Condensing boilers help wineries save on fuel consumption through heat
recovery from hot water applications. An average winery uses 5000 – 10000
litres of hot water a day, with water heated up to 90°C for sterilising, up to
65°C for barrel and tank cleaning, or up to 40°C for gentle warming of the
product. Condensing boilers recover the heat lost through water vapour in the
flue gas, which saves on fuel consumption. Replacing a 15-year-old boiler with
a condensing unit will reduce natural gas or LPG costs by 25-30%.

Saint Roch condensing boilers have 90% to 96% efficiency depending on
the operating temperatures, which is 15-30% higher than conventional boilers.
Thanks to the premix burner, which maximises mixing of gas and air for
combustion, emissions of NOx (< 20ppm) and CO (< 35ppm) are 80-90% less
compared to conventional boilers. Condensing boilers can be combined with solar
power, further reducing the cost of making hot water.

Tank heating

Immersion tank heating is recommended for rapid heating of water in a
tank, both for CIP and for bottle washing purposes. Lanemark immersion tube
tank heating systems are highly cost effective in operation, assuring over 85%
efficiency even with LPG operated burners, as no heat is lost in the pipes.

Pumps

Mouvex’s eccentric disc pump ensures high product recovery, saving both
the product and energy. The positive displacement pump has low linear speed and
high volumetric efficiency, enabling it to function as a metering device,
precisely measuring equal volumes of product for bottling or packaging. Mouvex
pump improves the quality of the product, allowing transfer of wine material
without smashing the seeds. This pump is used in wineries for product transfer
from storage tanks to tangential filters, or to bottling tanks.

Compressors

The Winery Energy Saver Toolkit makes highly valuable recommendations on
managing compressed air energy consumption. Wineries seeking replacement may
want to consider Hitachi screw compressors, which combine excellent energy
savings with low environmental impact and low running costs. These air
compressors consume less oil, and are quiet and reliable.

Air knives

Compressed air costs can be reduced by using air knives instead of compressed
air for certain operations, for example, drying bottles prior to labelling. Blower
operated air knives in this application can save up to 85% in running costs
compared to compressed air knives. Easy to install and requiring minimum
maintenance, air knives can be used not only for bottle drying but also for
fruit drying.

Cogeneration via anaerobic
digestion

The big volumes of acidic wastewaters generated by the wine industry
during vintage season are best treated with anaerobic digestion. The sludge
placed in the anaerobic reactor produces biogas, which can be captured to generate
both heat and power, or used for hot water generation via a condensing boiler.
Modern methods of mixing allow increasing biogas yield making the project
financially attractive. During non-vintage season, other liquid wastes or waste
solids can be used to add to the sludge.

Hurll Nu-Way can recommend the most suitable
solutions and equipment based on the size of the winery, its location, and
presence of accompanying businesses, current technologies and fuel availability,
helping the operation deliver tangible outcomes in saving energy and reducing manufacturing
costs. 

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