Cheers! Sparkling flow!

Over recent years wine has become increasingly popular in Britain and it seems fair to say that its image has changed significantly over this time. It has largely lost its elitist image and has emerged as an alcoholic beverage that is enjoyed by a large number of the population. A trip to the local supermarket or high street retailer will present the shopper with a wide choice of wines from all over the world, but do we really need to look so far afield to enjoy a glass of wine? It comes as a surprise to many, but award winning wine is produced in Britain.

A great alternative to
Rosé  Prosecco,
but really very English.

Based in Tenterden in Kent (GB), the award winning Chapel Down winery produces truly world-class Traditional Method sparkling wines and a range of still wines, as well as premium beer and cider. They boast some of the best winemaking facilities in England and were recently looking for a portable measurement device that could provide accurate measurement and volume monitoring of juice and wine during transfer operations.

After careful consideration, they decided to have a portable device manufactured that incorporated Krohne's OPTIFLUX 2100 electromagnetic flowmeter. The device consists of an OPTIFLUX 2100 attached to an inlet and outlet pipe and mounted on wheels. The device can then be easily moved around the winery to perform accurate measurement wherever it is required. The inlet pipe is attached to a tank and the medium is then pumped through it at a flowrate of 5-10,000 l/hr. It passes through the electromagnetic flowmeter and then via the outlet pipe into another vessel. The OPTIFLUX 2100 accurately measures the volume of the medium and once the desired quantity has been reached the pump is switched off.

Previously Chapel Down used sight glasses running down the side of the tank, which was labour intensive. By automating the process using KROHNE’s OPTIFLUX 2100 they now have consistently accurate measurement and instead of two people being required to carry out the transfer operation, the process can be carried out by one person alone.

Josh Donaghay-Spire, winemaker at Chapel Down comments, “We were keen to automate the transfer process, however we needed a flowmeter that could cope with dissolved CO2 as this makes the more traditional flowmeters ineffective.” He continues, "we were aware that KROHNE had previous experience with a similar application and that their OPTIFLUX 2100 could easily cope with the process conditions whilst providing accurate and reliable measurement. We can now not only make more efficient use of manpower but we can also calibrate certain tanks which previously didn’t have calibration charts.”

Portable measuring device incorporating the OPTIFLUX 2100

• Krohne products are marketed in Ireland by DWN Instrumentation.