Aging distilleries
Applications of our technology in wine and spirits production processes
1. Explanation of current processes with their advantages and disadvantages
Photo of the current rum disti llery where the staggered and pallet systems can be seen.
Advantages of pallets
- Barrels are handled 6 by 6 or 9 by 9.
Disadvantages of pallets
- There is no air circulation in the barrels.
- Pallets must be handled to stack and unstack.
- An external installation must be used to empty and fill.
- No control over barrels with leaks.
- Impossible to work with individual barrels.
- Maximum stacking of 6 floors.
Advantages of wedges or shelves
- Good oxygenation of barrels.
- Saving and optimization of space.
- Use of traditional system.
Disadvantages of wedges or shelves
- Low producti vity, barrels are handled one by one.
- Manual and expensive process.
- They can only be stacked up to 5-6 heights.
- Unstable and dangerous system due to collapses or slips.
- High rate of barrel breakages.
- Dangerous, can cause accidents.
2. The Storage Area and Occupancy Ratio
The ageing or aging warehouse, due to its concept, design and intended purpose, has a high investment cost compared to an industrial warehouse, so each m3 of the volume or space of the warehouse must be amortized as much as possible.
Comparative table, occupancy ratio:
The ageing process in barrels must be understood from start to finish, through all the processes or stations, which safeguard the main requirements, and which combine the positive values of tradition and optimization.
We conclude, therefore, that storage systems must be offered that optimize the space of the winery as much as possible, that do not aff ect the hygiene and sterility of the interior and that are capable of perfectly combining the most relevant and desired aspects of safety, productivity and modernity.
3. Proposed solution
Specifi cally designed and applied for the ageing of distillates and aged wines.
Once we have reached this point, and taking into account the above, we propose to implement a system that includes the most outstanding technological innovations in logistics, specifically designed and applied for the ageing of distillates and aged wines. As a result, we will get a fully optimized aging ship, productive, safe, sterile and flexible ageing facility, so that production always meets your needs.
The main advantages we will obtain are:
- Increased safety.
- All equipment with CE markings.
- Better performance in the cellar space.
- 100% increase in capacity.
- Barrels in independent locations, free of foreign loads.
- Perfect conservation of the barrels throughout their life.
- Manual/automatic handling, using forklifts.
- Creation of sufficient space for emptying and filling the barrels.
- Individual inspection access to each one.
- Possibility of removing any barrel from its location, for repair or replacement.
- Extraction and rotation systems.
- Perfect oxygenation of the barrels.
- Uniform distribution of temperatures.
- Maintaining the traditional image inside the winery.
- We can handle the full barrels if desired, to fi ll and empty them outside.
4. Most commonly used sleepers or supports
5. Solution for an efficient and intelligent installation
Its function is to store barrels in an aging warehouse during their AGEING process.
For this purpose, there will be SUPPORT SLEEVES for 2 and 4 barrels, stackable and nestable, arranged in rows or columns. Corridors for the inflow and outflow of mechanical equipment (we have designed lift ing equipment for ATEX environments) as well as for the control and visual inspection of each of the barrels during their aging process or stay in the winery.
As you can see in the following graph, we can manufacture a wide variety of Racks, even customizing them for special barrels:
Fixed storage
- Static, where the sleepers or supports and barrels remain stacked at all times and do not move from their location, the production process is based on emptying and filling them using the transfer equipment mounted on the lifting equipment to transport the liquid to the tanks.
- Fully automated with installation of fixed conduction pipes.
Dynamic storage
- Using trilateral lift ing equipment, we can remove or assemble the fi lled barrels from one side of the aisle or the other to take them to the emptying and fi lling facility located wherever decided.
- This opti on is suitable for the fi lling of whisky barrels.
6. Dynamic storage
The sleepers or barrel supports can be easily handled with retractable equipment, with a driver, to assemble the warehouses the first ti me, even
with full barrels, as shown in the photograph.
In some cases, the process can be automated with AGVs, laser-guided vehicles, which operate automatically and without a driver.
7. Customization
We can cover the metal areas with designer tarpaulins.
