November/December 2021 - 18

TECHNOLOGY WINE-MAKING
The IoT
and wine making
HOW THE INTERNET OF THINGS CAN
AFFECT THE FILTRATION PROCESS
By Ian Rickard
Contributing Writer
LET'S IMAGINE THE FOLLOWING
scenario: On Friday, your operator
filtered a 2018 Merlot. On Monday,
another operator is on shift and filters
the same type of Merlot but the output
is significantly lower. You notice the
difference but cannot explain why. Is
the machine chemically cleaned before
the weekend?
Did the cleaning work correctly? Did
the operators use the same machine
settings? Is there something wrong
with the machine? You quickly realize
that this is not the most efficient way
to ensure a successful filtration season.
To improve this very reactive state,
you ask each operator to log his/her
activities manually. This is a process
improvement, but the written data is
subjective and open to interpretation.
Many wineries exist in a current state
where obtaining and understanding
data is complicated; the data itself
is subjective based on the person
collecting it. You're left trying to find
useful insights from the data and more
than likely still cannot determine the
18 NOVEMBER /DECEMBER 2 0 21
root cause of the inefficiencies - is it
the operator or is it subpar machine
performance?
In general, gathering data on
operational and machine performance
is an obstacle for many wineries
because:
* There is no guarantee of accurate or
consistent data collection performed
by humans.
* Resources (person or equipment) are
required to monitor data such as:
- Water flow rate after cleaning
- Wine filtration flow rate
- Run time
* Data is archived after it is collected.
* Expertise is required to analyze
for trends and determine optimal
settings.
Here is where the Internet of Things
(IoT) and smart machines come
into play. IoT refers to a network of
devices and sensors that capture and
communicate data with one another.
The sensors in the system enable the
collection of data, for example, flow
rate, temperature, uptime/downtime -
or the tracking of volumes like water,
wine and chemicals
Through the collection of this data,
wineries can identify key problems and
root cause(s) with their wine filtration
process - not only for one specific
machine, but even all machines at sites
across the globe.
Identifying problems faster enables
corrective actions to be taken more
quickly as well, helping to ensure a
more effective and consistent outcome.
Now you don't have to ask each operator
to manually record flow rates or when
they are cleaned - everything is
collected and stored by the filtration
system and accessible in the cloud.
For example, in the past, an operator
may have initiated operation at a flow
rate that's way too fast for the specific
wine being filtered. The operator
believes that the high instantaneous
flow rate is efficient, but does not
realize that running too fast can foul
the membranes more quickly resulting
in the need to stop and clean more
frequently. On top of the time lost,
you suffer unnecessary wine loss from
the hold up in the system before each
cleaning. You're filtering less and have
more downtime, this equates to loss of
time and revenue.
By leveraging IoT with a wine filtration
system that is connected to the cloud, you
no longer have performance variances in
data collection between operators; the
system collects the data for you. This
enables process visibility that can help
detect problems, expedite emergency
service and better predict requirements
November/December 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of November/December 2021
