Distillatore innovativo sottovuoto a bagnomaria con colonna di arricchimento senza piatti a riflusso regolabile

"Innovative double vacuum distiller featuring an enrichment column with no trays and adjustable reflux"

The work describes an innovative vacuum distiller featuring a column with no trays, and provides a profile of the volatile compounds to be obtained from various distillation phases in different vacuum conditions, both when redistilling Grappa and directly producing it from a number of grape marc types. A comparison is also made with traditional Grappa obtained from double boiler plants operating in Italy. The results show considerably improved products, or otherwise peculiar ones, due to: a) strong reduction of head impurities, such as acetaldehyde and its acetal as well as ethyl acetate; b) significant reduction of esters (acetates of different alcohols and ethyl esters of fatty acids) in the low, medium and high boiling point categories, producing a different, milder fruity note; c) possible small reduction of methanol and maintained picture of higher alcohols and other alcohols, even C6 ones; d) maintained good level of monoterpenes, with possible profile variation, and increase of some very typical ones (see Amarone). It should be emphasized, however, that several of these important compositional changes cannot be obtained from normal operations or process adaptations in discontinuous systems, particularly as regards bain-marie equipment.