Wineries

Clean In Place (CIP) of Piping

Winemakers’ most pressing concern in the production of wine is the possibility of contamination during the long production process from harvest to tank to barrel to final bottling.

Clean-in-Place (CIP) involves the cleaning and sanitizing of production equipment, including pump systems, pipes, tanks, hoses, filters and bottling lines. Dissolved ozone water is circulated through the piping systems and reacts with organic materials. Ozone generators have built-in controls that receive signals from ozone sensors connected to the pipes or tanks. This allows machinery to be cleaned and sanitized easily and automatically.

Ozone is gentler than many common chemicals currently used for CIP sanitation. It is measured to a specific level to remain in the plumbing system to protect against bacteria, biofilm and other contaminants.

The use of ozone also saves time and money. If a winemaker uses soaps, detergents, pressurized water and a chemical like chlorine, these cleaning steps can require multiple rinses, often with hot water or steam, to remove residues. This process is labour intensive, uses a lot of energy, poses worker safety concerns, and can consume up to ten gallons of water for each gallon of wine produced.

If ozone is not used by a winemaker, CIP sanitation is traditionally done either by using chemicals or heat.

The chemical treatment involves the use of chlorine or iodine solutions that require multiple rinses afterwards to remove noxious residues. Ozone sanitizes quickly and strongly without the use of chemicals and it is environmentally friendly, with no harmful residual.

The heat treatment involves the use of high-temperature water or steam, which is very expensive to produce and creates a danger for cellar employees. Hot water or steam can also cause welds to expand or contract, which can degrade the pipelines and require repair. In addition, this treatment can also “bake on” materials inside the lines, making them more difficult to clean. Since ozone is dissolved in cold water, it avoids these heat-based CIP sanitation issues.

Surface and Equipment Sanitation

Ozone can be safely used for cleaning surfaces – such as harvest bins, crushing and de-stemming machines, conveyors equipment, walls, floors and tables – reducing costs for soap, acid and cleaners.

Surfaces are cleaned using industry standard practices and ozone is applied as a final rinse to sanitize the surface, destroying bacteria, viruses, fungi, and spores. Only cold water is required, and no subsequent rinse is needed, as ozone leaves no residue. The ozone sanitation process significantly reduces water and energy costs.

For cleaning tanks, ozone can either be applied as a final rinse after another type of sanitation or for the first sanitation itself, with follow-up rinses. And, since stainless steel tanks may stand empty for a week or more after initial sanitization, many wineries rinse all stainless-steel vessels with ozonated water immediately prior to filling to ensure they are properly sanitized.

Bottles and Bottle-Equipment Washing

A winery that bottles its own wine must also wash and sanitize the new or used bottles before they are filled. New bottles often contain chemical impurities, dust or crystal particles, and a perfect washing and disinfecting of the bottles is an important step prior to filing.

Traditional automated wash cycles consist of the following steps:

• Rinse the bottles with water

• Wash with a hot sodium, hydroxide solution

• Rinse with hot water (70°C)

• Rinse with water at room temperature (15-25°C)

Ozone sanitation is a sustainable treatment and is more cost effective than traditional bottle washing methods:

• It does not require chemicals (like chlorine), soaps or cleaners that can harm the environment

• Less water is required to rinse, surfaces, tanks and piping (Cleaning process can consume up to ten gallons of water for each gallon of wine produced)

• Wastewater can be treated and re-used, resulting in significant savings in water costs

• Prolongs the use of bottling equipment, reducing impact on landfills

• No hot water rinses required, decreasing energy and labour costs (no need to heat and cool the water being used)

• Produced onsite; no need to purchase, transport, store and physically handle chemicals

• System is fully automated, reducing labour costs

Wastewater and Re-Use

Waste water is generated in nearly all steps of making wine – including the cleaning of containers, reactors and filters. Composition of the waste water typically contains soluble organic material (FOG, SS, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia and phosphate) from product remnants and removed deposited soil. It also contains residues of cleaning agents, such as acid or alkali solutions.

The highest concentrated waste water is produced during fermentation, fining and ageing/racking due to the washing out of the sediments (lees).

Ozonated water used for disinfection can potentially be re-used for the initial cleaning stages. Since the wastewater is oxygenated by ozone conversion, ozone use will improve the performance of aeration tanks and the treatment processes for biological wastewater. Furthermore the use of ozone in CIP systems reduces at least by 50% the organic load in the cleaning waste waters produced.