Fermentation Pressure Control for Cap Wetting
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current vinification methods face challenges in effectively wetting the cap formed during fermentation, leading to incomplete extraction of useful substances from grape berries, and require complex and costly apparatuses or risk damaging the berries with sudden gas release, while also being prone to unreliable pressure regulation.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that control the pressure of the gas produced during fermentation to prevent cap formation, using a timing device to cyclically open and close a venting arrangement, allowing the solid components to be repeatedly immersed and re-emerged, and a valve driven by compressed air to regulate pressure, ensuring efficient and safe operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the cap is periodically irrigated with must using complex apparatuses, then the cap can be wetted to some extent, but the apparatus becomes substantially complex and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and removes the harmful cap layer from the fermentation vessel periodically, eliminating the need for complex irrigating apparatus. The cap is lifted out using a simple mechanical device that enters through the hatch, avoiding the need for pumps, pipes, and internal irrigating devices.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of trying to wet the cap by pouring liquid upward against gravity, the invention inverts the approach by removing the cap entirely and replacing it with fresh material. This reverses the traditional irrigating concept and achieves better extraction without complex apparatus.
2Ease of operation
If mechanical apparatuses like pistons are used to break up and sink the cap, then the cap can be wetted more effectively, but the grape berries are damaged and undesired substances are extracted
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the cap layer completely from the fermentation vessel using a lifting device, avoiding any mechanical contact that would damage the grape berries. The cap is removed intact and replaced with fresh cap material, preventing berry damage while achieving effective mixing and wetting.
3Productivity
If carbon dioxide is accumulated to high pressure and then violently released, then the cap can be broken up, but the grape berries are damaged during sudden gas expulsion
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the cap layer physically using a lifting device rather than relying on violent gas release. This mechanical extraction method breaks up the cap gently and replaces it with fresh material, achieving effective mixing without damaging the grape berries through sudden pressure changes.
4Reliability
If spring valves are used for pressure regulation, then pressure control is achieved, but the spring may jam making the valve insufficiently reliable
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the spring-based mechanical pressure regulation system with a pneumatic system using compressed air. This substitution eliminates the spring component that can jam, providing more reliable pressure control through a simpler pneumatic diaphragm mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses pneumatic pressure from compressed air to control the valve operation and maintain pressure regulation. The pneumatic system acts on a diaphragm to open or close the valve, providing reliable pressure control without mechanical springs that are prone to jamming.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for processing, in a container, a vegetable product containing a solid part suspended in a liquid part, comprises controlling the pressure of a gas in said container for modifying the specific weight of said solid part, so as to prevent said solid part from floating on said liquid part until drying; an apparatus comprises a timing device arranged for opening and/or closing, in a cyclical manner, a venting arrangement comprised in an operating chamber of a vinifying apparatus, so as to alternatively make said operating chamber communicate with an external environment and/or separate said operating chamber from said external environment and consequently decrease and/or increase a pressure of a gas in said operating chamber.