Model Development of a Thermosyphon Heat Pipe for the Temperature Management in a Wine Fermenter Tank

Abstract

The grape must temperature management in a fermenter tank is fundamental to guaranty a high-quality wine. The fermentation is an exothermic process and a good cooling system in fermenter tanks is required. However, for reducing costs and increasing the efficiency of the cooling operation, a passive device based on the heat pipe technology was proposed. Since its thermal sizing must necessarily be accurate to allow a correct temperature of the product during fermentation, in this paper a thermal model of the proposed device was proposed and experimentally validated.