DESCRIPTION:
The exhausted grapes from the distillery (60% moisture by weight --- 1kg = 600g of water + 400g of dry matter) are dosed (the auger is inverter-driven) and passed to an elevator and another auger to be placed in the rotary dryer; this has a diameter of 1800mm and a length of 14000mm; it is driven by a 5.5kW VEM electric motor via a robust gearbox.
Hot air from the oven (1000°C) passes through it to cause the water inside the grapes to turn to steam. The dried grapes (skins + seeds) exit at around 80°C and 8-10% moisture (less moisture is not a problem) and are sieved via another auger and another elevator (year 2000).
The sieve separates the seeds (suitable for oil extraction) and the peels.
The skin (and seeds) are moved via cable conveyors (manufactured by AZA International and built in 2000); the skins go into the mill's feed tank. From there, they are dosed using a special inverter-driven belt with a magnet that removes any metal particles that could catch fire during milling.
The hammer mill is new, built in 2000 with a 22 kW motor, and is also suitable for grains or other applications. It is equipped with a 20 m² baghouse air filter and a PLC for compressed air conservation.
The crushed skin (like talcum powder) is fed into a 6 m³ storage tank using another elevator (also newly built in 2000).
Using another cable conveyor, the powder is transferred to a small storage tank where it is dosed to the furnace burner via an inverter-driven screw.
The steam exiting the rotating tube is drawn in by an 11 kW fan and blown into a cyclone (with an acid-resistant coating); the cyclone outlet is connected by an 800 mm diameter A/304 stainless steel pipe to a scrubber to remove any dust from the steam.
Instead of using the scrubber, a fully equipped 480 m² A/304 stainless steel baghouse air filter, complete with a 15 kW extractor fan, built in 2000 and with ZERO HOURS of operation, can be used.
Both exhausts are collected in a 950 mm diameter A/304 stainless steel flue reaching a height of 20 meters.
The total installed power of the system is approximately 100 kW, but 40-50 kW is typically used (this means all motors are oversized).
The entire system is controlled by a new 2000 electrical panel complete with a PLC for all main functions.
The system's capacity is 80-100 tons/24 hours of 60% moisture-containing grape distillery waste, reduced to 10% moisture every 24 hours.
The system operated only from August 2000 to February 2002, for a total of 670 hours.
Its normal use is for spent dried grapes from grappa distillation: grape seeds are an excellent source of oil, while the skins are used for animal feed or, more recently, as organic soil fertilizer.
The system is highly versatile and robust, and can be used to dry a large amount of substrates, such as brewery waste, vegetables, some grains, algae, compost, soil, etc.
Attached is a photo of the decommissioned system in our building.
Please feel free to contact us for any questions.