Rice wine is not really wine in the conventional sense. While wine is produced from sugary fruit, rice wine – like beer – is based on a grain containing starch.
The brewing process begins with the conversion of starch into sugar – a step which is not required when producing wine. It takes about 20 days to ferment rice wine from water, rice and yeast.
The Shanghai Jinfeng Wine Co. Ltd., founded in 1939, boasts the longest history of rice wine production in China. The company is also the largest producer of yellow rice wine in China, with a production of approx. 10,000 tonnes of rice wine per year with 15% alcohol content and rice liquor with 70% alcohol content.
The starting situation
The 50:50 rice-water mixture is heated up to approx. 100°C in a 50 m long "tunnel kiln". Once boiled (until soft), the rice is cooled to about 30°C. It is then pumped into a fermenting vat using a gear pump.
The problem was due to clogging in the gear pump and the pipeline, making frequent cleaning necessary, thus hindering production.
Further disadvantages of the gear pump which was being used included shearing strain on the product and an enormous build-up of noise.
The solution
seepex supplied a BT range pump with an extended feed hopper to replace the gear pump. The conveying capacity was about 30 m³/h at approx. 4 bar. Blockages in the pump are now a thing of the past. Time-consuming pump cleaning is no longer necessary, and rice wine production can continue without interruption. The employees were also pleased with "the peace" which has descended over the production hall since the introduction of the new seepex pump.
The benefit
The lower maintenance costs mean enormous savings for the company. The seepex pump runs quietly, causing less noise and meaning that the boiled rice is treated more gently when being pumped. The seepex pump has been running without any problems since commissioning. The customer is very satisfied, and plans to work with seepex on further projects.
