Combined generation of heat and cooling for a winemaking process using a solar-assisted absorption chiller

One of the key processes in winemaking is the alcoholic fermentation, an anaerobic process carried out by the metabolic action of a microorganism. During this process, temperature has an important effect on the fermentation kinetics of the process. As the fermentation is an exothermic process most of the wineries use a cooling system composed by mechanical refrigeration cycles and cooling towers in order to control the process temperature during summer and winter, when eventually additional heating might be required. Solar energy could supply both the heating and cooling demands by using an absorption chiller driven by process heat from a solar field. The aim of this study is to assess the thermal performance of the novel system composed by an absorption chiller driven by solar and biomass sources, investigating the behavior of the system in an industrial winemaking process (Miguel Torres Chile). This system consist of a lithium bromide absorption chiller, a flat plate collector solar field and a biomass-burner water heater. The results indicate that the proposed system is able to supply 48% of the cooling demand during the summer and over 90% of the heating demand during the winter.