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Magnets for Wine Processing

Magnets for Wine Processing

The biggest risk with metal contamination and tramp iron in the wine industry is serious damage to expensive processing equipment.

In wine processing, it’s a matter of cost vs. risk…and it’s an easy solution. Magnetic separation equipment is relatively inexpensive when compared to the risk of equipment damage and the cost of having to repair or replace expensive processing equipment.

What Type Of Contaminants Are Found In Grape Recievals?

The majority of contaminants originate from the fields and are found in incoming grape receivals. The most common include:

Vine fencing staples,
Pieces of wire,
Nails,
Fasteners and
Small-medium sized metal brackets and tools.

What Is The Risk?

The main risk of metal contaminants is the potential equipment damage they can cause. If metal enters operating machinery it can cause them to malfunction or break – thus requiring repair or, in worse cases, replacement.

Repairing winery equipment is an expensive process – repair costs can exceed thousands of dollars depending on the equipment and damage caused. On top of this, lines may need to be put out of action until the equipment is repaired or replaced, resulting in loss of production and downtime.

The equipment most in danger of damage by metal contaminants in winery intakes include de-stemmers, crushers, pressing machines, and must-pumps, screw flights, and other downstream filtration and screening equipment.

Reducing The Risk

The risk of equipment damage caused by foreign metal contaminates is easily reduced by magnetic separation equipment. Magnattack has developed a range of high-strength durable RE80™ magnet systems especially for the wine industry, which are outlined below.

The Multi-Finger Receival Bin Magnet was originally designed by Magnattack in the 1990’s for a New Zealand winery. Since then, this magnet has become a popular addition to wineries across New Zealand and Australia. This is a robust system that is typically installed under the auger outlet and on bulk grape intakes on a heavy-duty adjustable mounting. The bar diameter, spacing and lengths are variable to allow for difficult product characteristics.

The new RE80™ Dimple-Mag™ Extraction System has been recently developed to overcome problems associated with the grape bunches and vine debris becoming entangled around the bars of the Multi-Finger Receival Bin Magnet. The Dimple-Mag™ is installed under auger discharges, on chute outlets, or suspended over conveyors and discharge points. This system has been designed to improve the capture of magnetics and product flow characteristics.