Sonomechanics Blog

Wine is highly susceptible to oxygen exposure, which can dramatically affect its quality and longevity. The presence of dissolved oxygen can initiate oxidation, altering the wine's sensory characteristics and diminishing its overall value. As a result, the ability to reduce oxygen levels in wine has become a critical focus for winemakers and researchers alike.

In this blog post we will dive into this age-old problem and discuss how Industrial Sonomechanics' (ISM) cutting-edge ultrasonic degassing technology can be used as an innovative solution while setting new standards for wine preservation.

The Problem: Dissolved Oxygen-Induced Oxidation in Wine

Dissolved oxygen is both a friend and a foe in winemaking. While small amounts of oxygen can be beneficial during certain stages of the winemaking process, such as micro-oxygenation to soften tannins, excessive exposure during storage, aging, or bottling can lead to unwanted oxidation. Oxidation can cause the wine to lose its vibrant color, develop off-flavors, and otherwise deteriorate in quality. White wines are particularly sensitive to oxygen, but red wines are not immune, as oxidation can cause the loss of fruity aromas and the development of stale or sherry-like notes [1, 2].

The challenge for winemakers is to manage oxygen exposure throughout the entire winemaking process, from fermentation to the final bottling. Even small amounts of oxygen can compromise the wine's integrity, leading to significant economic losses and a negative impact on brand reputation.

Degassing (deaeration, in the case of air) is the process of removing dissolved gasses and/or small entrained gas bubbles from a liquid. It is one of the most common applications of ISM's ultrasonic technology, which provides the means of removing the gasses from a variety of liquids, including water, candle waxes, polymers, epoxies, silicone oils, adhesives, coatings, beverages, inks, paints, transformer oils, emulsion and suspension products, motor oils and many more. Degassing can significantly contribute to the quality of the final product (fewer defects, improved aesthetics, etc.), making it a very desirable process for many companies.

In this blog post we demonstrate the processes of ultrasonic degassing and deaeration of a high-viscosity (17,500 cps) polymer oil, carried out in the batch mode.

Liquids exposed to high-intensity ultrasound can undergo acoustic cavitation. This phenomenon can typically be seen as a cloud of bubbles forming in the vicinity of the ultrasonic source (e.g., ultrasonic horn) and heard as an intense hissing noise. Cavitation is the formation of low-pressure voids (a.k.a., vacuum bubbles or cavities) in the liquid, which grow, briefly oscillate and then asymmetrically implode with great intensity.

Are you introducing ultrasound as a new technological solution for your liquid processing application? If so, some terms used in the ultrasonic industry may be unfamiliar. With this in mind, we are launching a series of blog posts that will cover the most common ultrasonic equipment and processing-related terminology.

This first post will focus on the terms used to describe the main components of an Industrial Sonomechanics (ISM) ultrasonic liquid processor and show you how these components work together.