Propane chillers for the wine sector
Frascold, Cagnasso Frigoriferi and Cantine Capetta “toast” a fruitful collaboration
A ground-breaking choice, which has proved successful in fully satisfying operational needs.
Different shades of ruby red, pale yellow with a soft taste and an elegant aromatic finish: a good glass of wine is always a “trusted friend” with whom you can share some of the most pleasant moments in life or toast on special occasions. Cantine Capetta – along with the controlled brands Duchessa Lia and Balbi Soprani – know it well. Since 1953, they have dedicated their efforts to promoting the extraordinary Piedmontese wine heritage through their renowned labels. A great example of true Italian excellence rooted in prestigious regions that have been devoted for hundreds of years to vine growing and wine production, and today are included among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
“Nature, technology and innovation: these are the principles that have always underpinned our continuous improvement of the entire production process which boasts impeccable quality control over the entire supply chain. So, each wine can express its own personality in its most authentic nuances”, says Paolo Bussi, Technical Director of Cantine Capetta. And he continues: “During each winemaking process, we pay utmost attention to temperature control to manage the refrigeration of the musts to the best of our possibilities. This is the most delicate phase that has a decisive influence on the organoleptic properties of the final product. For this reason, utilising a high-performance refrigeration system plays a crucial role”. He adds: “In our case, following an increase in production, we were faced with the need to double the cooling capacity for the refrigeration of the musts, that is about 20,000 litres/hour from 28 °C to 0 °C. Installing an additional ammonia-based chiller on top of the existing one would have required a specific license and more stringent controls, as well as higher water consumption for the cooling tower. This was definitely not an option for our company that, besides being the first one in the sector, in Piedmont, to have obtained the ISO 14001 certification, has always been devoted to sustainability and the protection of resources”. He concludes: “So, we relied on the consolidated experience of Cagnasso Frigoriferi, that directed us towards a propane chiller which offers numerous advantages such as proven efficiency, simplification of system management and reduction of the carbon footprint”.
“A ground-breaking choice for Cantine Capetta, which has proved successful in fully satisfying its operational needs.” Maurilio Cagnasso, the owner of Cagnasso Frigoriferi, adds: “An excellent result achieved thanks to the collaboration with Frascold, our long-term partner, in which we repose our trust in light of the superiority of its solutions and the deep-rooted trust relation we have built with the company’s technical team. More specifically, the project consisted in the construction of an advanced R290 chiller, capable of ensuring a cooling capacity of 581kW at 50Hz, obtained thanks to two Frascold semi-hermetic screw compressors. A compact system, with a glycol-saving plate heat exchanger and a Microchannel air-cooled condenser with high efficiency and low refrigerant requirements. The chiller also stands out for its efficiency management software, regenerative heat exchanger, economisers, EC fans and a full stainless steel body. In addition, to ensure maximum safety, Frascold has equipped the compressors with flow switches and we have included a sniffer to disperse any leaks of refrigerant into the air, making it inert thanks to the electricity supply cut and the activation of the fans”.
Nika Bagdasarian, Sales Area Manager - North West Italy of Frascold, concludes “We are very grateful to Cagnasso Frigoriferi for entrusting us another project and for involving us in this interesting application, which has allowed us to prove the reliability of our compressors, certified as ‘ATEX zone 2’ compliant. In addition, with a view to further reducing energy consumption, two inverters have been installed, which vary the frequency from 30 to 60 Hz to better modulate the power requirement of the compressors, according to the workloads. We firmly believe that more and more companies operating in the wine industry will, over time, transition to natural refrigerants and, specifically, to propane, as a new opportunity to combine efficiency and sustainability”.
For this project, two CXHI52-160-468AX semi-hermetic “ATEX Zone 2” certified screw compressors have been chosen.
