Index
What is geothermal energy?
Geothermal energy is a technique that takes advantage of the subsoil heat coming from the magna of the deepest layers of the earth and that outcrops to layers closer to the earth’s crust through cracks and fissures; and this natural heating of the subsoil is used through geothermal energy for various industrial and private uses, as well as for use in wineries, creating sustainable cooling systems.
Need to be covered by geothermal energy in wineries
At present, cellar refrigeration is essential from the arrival of the grape in the cellar to the placing on the market of the bottle of wine.
If we proceed to cool the grape as soon as it enters the winery, we will be able to maintain the aromas of the grape, subsequently obtaining wine with a greater presence of primary aromas (fruit and floral aromas from the grape itself), and we will avoid premature oxidation as well as the uncontrolled onset of fermentations.
After obtaining the must, you must continue to take care of their temperature, to control the fermentation and look for the final wine that interests us, therefore it is necessary to keep the fermentation tanks refrigerated, to find the optimum fermentation temperature between 20 and 30 degrees centigrade.
In the same way, in the subsequent processes of aging and aging the wine, we have to take care of the temperature of the barrel rooms and the storage rooms, where the wines remain for a long time to be aged in bottles until they are released on the market.
How to apply geothermal energy to wine?
The method to exploit this natural energy and apply it to the service of wine, is carried out with the installation of a geothermal heat pump , whose performance, unaltered despite the environmental conditions, will ensure the maintenance of a stable temperature inside air-conditioned rooms.
It is essential, for the management of the wine in barrels, the constant control of the temperature and humidity of the rooms. To achieve the desired evolution of the wine, these parameters must be kept constant, seeking a balance between them.
The geothermal installation developed for its application in wineries is of the “Open Circuit” type; It consists of exchanging thermal energy with the subsoil by means of a flow of water, taken from one well, and poured into another, separated from each other by a prudent distance, to avoid the thermal impact between the two.
Regarding the capture, the pump raises a flow that is suitably filtered, and sent to the engine room, to exchange temperature with the heat pump. This same flow is returned to the subsoil, after passing through a cistern. From this, the water necessary for cleaning the facilities is taken, and even for cooling the wine tanks during and after the harvest.
An adequate control system ensures the temperature and humidity conditions in the rooms, connecting or disconnecting the aforementioned fan heaters (very simple devices, basically consisting of a coil through which the cold water flows, and a fan that makes air pass through of the same, cooling the environment).
What are the benefits of geothermal in winemaking?
The cellar refrigeration system by geothermal in cellars has a proven decrease in energy consumption of at least 50%, at least compared to the conventional system. Well, to provide an equivalent amount of thermal kW, it needs much less electrical power than a conventional system. It is a sustainable and natural energy whose implantation in the world of wine is already a reality.
