APPLICATION OF ULTRASOUND IN VINIFICATION PROCESSES

Abstract

The present invention refers to a method and an equipment for the extraction of compounds from grapes by means of ultrasound in vinification processes generated through a sonoplate coupled to the walls of the pipe/duct through which the crushed grapes flow. During this extraction the transfer of phenols responsible for color from the solid portion (skin) to the liquid portion after crushing the grapes takes place as a consequence of the phenomenon known as cavitation, which allows the breaking of the skin cells and makes the phenolic compounds responsible for the color available to the liquid medium to be integrated in said liquid medium enhancing wine color.

Claims

1. An ultrasound equipment for the extraction of compounds from crushed grapes in vinification processes comprising: a conduit through which the crushed grapes flow; at least one generator configured for transmitting electric energy coupled to an outside of the conduit; at least one sonoplate connected to the conduit for receiving energy and configured to directly transmit ultrasound to the crushed grapes which flow through a hexagonal pipe narrowed at its ends, without contact between the crushed grapes and the sonoplate; and at least one sonoplate arranged on each side of said hexagonal pipe, wherein a module develops a power density between 0.1 W/cm.sup.3 and 500 W/cm.sup.3, a power comprised between 2 kW-10 kW and a working frequency ranging between 15 and 35 kHz.

2. The ultrasound equipment according to claim 1, wherein the length of each ultrasound module is comprised between 0.8 meters and 10 meters.

3. The ultrasound equipment according to claim 1, wherein the at least one generator configured to transmit electric energy and the sonoplate, which produces ultrasonic wave and cavitation in the liquid phase of the crushed grapes, result in a protective and soundproof structure configured to surround the pipe.

4. The ultrasound equipment according to claim 1, wherein it comprises at least one ultrasound module.

5. The ultrasound equipment according to claim 1, further comprising pumps, valves, solenoid valves, and fittings. 30

6. The ultrasound equipment according to claim 5, wherein a control box of control panel type or PLC computer controls the different components of the ultrasound module and the operation can be performed in manual or automatic mode. 35

7. The ultrasound equipment according to claim 6, further comprising a cold exchanger equipment.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0045] To complement the description being carried out and with the object of helping to a perfect understanding of the present invention, a set of drawings is attached as an integral part of said description, which by way of illustration and without limitation, represent the following:

[0046] FIG. 1: Block diagram of a vinification process according to the invention

[0047] FIG. 2: General scheme of an ultrasound equipment according to the invention

[0048] FIG. 3: Sonoplate used in the method and equipment according to the invention.

[0049] FIG. 4: Ultrasound module according to the invention.

[0050] FIG. 5: Section of an ultrasound module according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0051] By way of example of embodiment, and by way of illustration and without limitation, a method, a module and an equipment for the extraction of compounds from grapes by means of ultrasound in vinification processes are described below.

[0052] As seen in FIG. 1 a vinification process starts with the reception of the grapes and subsequent crushing thereof; the destemming can be performed simultaneously with the crushing.

[0053] The crushed grapes pass to a tank or storage for the product under treatment. This tank allows in addition to said storage, the operation in recirculation of the paste. The paste passes from the tank to the treatment for color extraction by means of ultrasound (cavitation).

[0054] Once the color extraction is finished, the paste treated with ultrasound is subjected to pressing for the separation between liquid and solid phases, where the liquid phase (must) is taken to fermentation and the solid phase (pomace) is obtained as a residue which can be used to obtain related products.

[0055] FIG. 2 depicts a general scheme of ultrasound equipment according to the invention that begins by pumping the product under treatment from the tank or storage. Then, and optionally, the paste can pass through a shredder or go directly to the area of treatment with ultrasound, the flow being controlled by a flow meter and, also optionally, cooling the paste if necessary.

[0056] The different parts of the ultrasound equipment can be controlled by a PLC type control process or similar.

[0057] In an ultrasound module according to the invention, carried out by way of example, the plate type transducers or sonoplates 1 are of piezoceramic type. These are shown in FIG. 3. The sonoplates are connected to each other and to the generator, through terminals 2.

[0058] The ceramics comprising the piezoceramic type transducer have the piezoelectric effect when its surfaces are deformed by applying electric current to it, producing the acoustic wave. However, magnetostrictive type transducers are characterized by being composed of ferromagnetic materials; if the magnetization of a material of this type is varied the corresponding mechanical deformation develops, and thereby the acoustic wave is produced. The composition of both types of transducers also varies, the most commonly used material being PZT (lead zirconate titanate), although it is not the only one, while the magnetostrictive transducers are composed mainly of Terfenol-D (Ter=Terbium, Fe=Iron, NOL=Naval Ordenance Laboratory, D=Dysprosium).

[0059] These are positioned around a conduit formed by a hexagonal stainless steel pipe with a thickness of 1-8 mm comprising a narrowing at its ends.

[0060] The plate type transducers are welded to the hexagonal stainless steel pipe, but they are not in direct contact with the raw material to be treated.

[0061] Each ultrasound module 3 consists of at least one sonoplate 1, at least one generator responsible for receiving the electrical energy and transmitting it to the sonoplate where it is transformed into vibrating mechanical energy, which is transmitted to the crushed grapes, an hexagonal pipe narrowed at its ends, through which the crushed grapes (paste) moves and in which the sonoplates and a structure surrounding the pipe are coupled, acting as a protective and soundproof.

[0062] As seen in FIG. 5, in this example of embodiment, the number of sonoplates 1 per module 3 is four on each side of the polygon, that is, twenty four sonoplates 1 per module 3.