Viticultural and Enological Engineering

1. Methodology of the machinery use in vineyards, in Italy and in the other countries in which the vineyard cultivation is popular. 2. Recall of the basic elements of agricultural mechanics: work, torque, power and rotational speed. Friction. Efficiency. Transmission components. 3. The agricultural tractor (details). Coupling tractor-implements and its suitability 4. Safety and ergonomics in vineyards tasks 5. Implements (soil preparation, fertilizing, spraying, grape harvesting and vineyards care) 6. Technical visits in machinery manufacturers' premises and in vineyard farms, including in these last cases the execution of some tests on machinery, with data acquisition and relevant elaboration.

1. Design elements of a wine cellar: technical elements of choice of economic systems: fixed costs, variable, the record of profitability. The preliminary study of the cellar, identification of objectives, analysis of the process cycle, size of machine performance, structural components of the cellar, a study of lay-out (the method of traffic). The problem of storage capacity: the tanks, types. The materials for enological use: glass, plastic, steel, stainless steel, wood. 2. The main wine-making machines: Block diagram of the major wine-making machines: crushers, stalk, stalk-presses, dripping machine, racking machine, presses. Oenological pumps: positive displacement and centrifugal pumps. Curves, selection criteria, operating principles, the organization of a plant (regulation, pumps in series and in parallel). 3. The electrical current in the cellar: reminders of the main laws of electrical engineering, transformers, electric motors, electrical safety. 4. Refrigeration: The purpose of chilling, reversed Carnot cycle, efficiency refrigerators, refrigerants (characteristics and diagrams of equilibrium), the refrigeration cycle, system components (compressors, condensers, expansion systems, the evaporators). 5. The adjustment of temperature and humidity in the cellar: its aims, the heat balance of an environment, the Mollier diagram (description, changes isobars of humid air, the cycle of "summer"), components of plant. 6. The production and distribution of heat is heat in the wine industry, heat transfer fluids, production of steam (steam generators, temperature control), the distribution of the vapor (the piping, pressure drops, heat loss, ancillary elements of plant).