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Gently and efficiently remove pomace without worker entry. With Zero Tank Entry, workers are removed from the dangerous job of climbing into confined spaces to shovel pomace. The PomaceShovel only requires 1 employee operating the machine and 1 employee transporting bins to the press. The PomaceShovel will empty a 50 ton fermenter in approximately 1 hr 45min. The machine can be docked immediately to the tank without waiting for the air ventilation system to be hooked up or the oxygen monitoring to be completed. This could be as much as 30 minutes of time that the PomaceShovel can save per tank.. The PomaceShovel also removes the risks of back injuries especially when employees have been hand shoveling tanks all day. Initial testing by ETS laboratories has shown that the quality of pressed wine from the PomaceShovel is equal to that of hand shoveling. SAVE LIVES, SAVE COSTS, MAINTAIN QUALITY Wineries are under tremendous pressure to reduce their costs and yet maintain quality or improve quality. The PomaceShovel offers the winemakers a “win-win” scenario. The PomaceShovel can reduce wineries costs, and maintain the quality of the pomace without worker entry. 
POMACESHOVEL vs. SLUICING
The quality of the wine is of paramount consideration. Many wineries are working very hard to eliminate the use of all pumps on the wine. They are starting to use gravity feed systems to gently transport the wine and maintain its very high quality. Sluicing uses high pressure pumps on a portion of the free-run to liquefy and remove the pomace. Once the pomace comes out it is pumped again to the press. This type of intense maceration can cause a significant downgrading of the wine value and impart flavors that the winemakers don’t want. Sluicing typically requires 2 employees to empty a fermentation tank. One person usually operates the high pressure wine hose while the other guides the slurry into the pump. The PomaceShovel also requires 2 people; therefore they have the same labor impact on the cellar. Time to empty a tank must also include the significant amount of time required to move and set up the pumps and hoses as well as the actual sluice time and post processing ramifications. There are approximately 4% to 5% more solids than a shoveled tank and therefore requires more filtration and racking. This could add as much as 3 1/2 hours of post processing time per tank due to sluicing.
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