CA2594193A1 - Beverage dispensing system with temperature control - Google Patents

Beverage dispensing system with temperature control Download PDF

Info

Publication number
CA2594193A1
CA2594193A1 CA 2594193 CA2594193A CA2594193A1 CA 2594193 A1 CA2594193 A1 CA 2594193A1 CA 2594193 CA2594193 CA 2594193 CA 2594193 A CA2594193 A CA 2594193A CA 2594193 A1 CA2594193 A1 CA 2594193A1
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
heat exchanger
beverage
chiller
line
beer
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
CA 2594193
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Ian Douglas
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Molson Canada 2005
Original Assignee
Molson Canada 2005
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Molson Canada 2005 filed Critical Molson Canada 2005
Priority to CA 2594193 priority Critical patent/CA2594193A1/en
Publication of CA2594193A1 publication Critical patent/CA2594193A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • FMECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F25REFRIGERATION OR COOLING; COMBINED HEATING AND REFRIGERATION SYSTEMS; HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS; MANUFACTURE OR STORAGE OF ICE; LIQUEFACTION SOLIDIFICATION OF GASES
    • F25DREFRIGERATORS; COLD ROOMS; ICE-BOXES; COOLING OR FREEZING APPARATUS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • F25D31/00Other cooling or freezing apparatus
    • F25D31/002Liquid coolers, e.g. beverage cooler
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B67OPENING, CLOSING OR CLEANING BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; LIQUID HANDLING
    • B67DDISPENSING, DELIVERING OR TRANSFERRING LIQUIDS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B67D1/00Apparatus or devices for dispensing beverages on draught
    • B67D1/08Details
    • B67D1/0857Cooling arrangements
    • B67D1/0858Cooling arrangements using compression systems
    • B67D1/0861Cooling arrangements using compression systems the evaporator acting through an intermediate heat transfer means
    • B67D1/0862Cooling arrangements using compression systems the evaporator acting through an intermediate heat transfer means in the form of a cold plate or a cooling block
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B67OPENING, CLOSING OR CLEANING BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; LIQUID HANDLING
    • B67DDISPENSING, DELIVERING OR TRANSFERRING LIQUIDS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B67D1/00Apparatus or devices for dispensing beverages on draught
    • B67D1/08Details
    • B67D1/0857Cooling arrangements
    • B67D1/0858Cooling arrangements using compression systems
    • B67D1/0861Cooling arrangements using compression systems the evaporator acting through an intermediate heat transfer means
    • B67D1/0865Cooling arrangements using compression systems the evaporator acting through an intermediate heat transfer means by circulating a cooling fluid along beverage supply lines, e.g. pythons
    • B67D1/0867Cooling arrangements using compression systems the evaporator acting through an intermediate heat transfer means by circulating a cooling fluid along beverage supply lines, e.g. pythons the cooling fluid being a liquid
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B67OPENING, CLOSING OR CLEANING BOTTLES, JARS OR SIMILAR CONTAINERS; LIQUID HANDLING
    • B67DDISPENSING, DELIVERING OR TRANSFERRING LIQUIDS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B67D1/00Apparatus or devices for dispensing beverages on draught
    • B67D1/08Details
    • B67D1/0878Safety, warning or controlling devices
    • B67D1/0882Devices for controlling the dispensing conditions
    • B67D1/0884Means for controlling the parameters of the state of the liquid to be dispensed, e.g. temperature, pressure

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Thermal Sciences (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Combustion & Propulsion (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Devices For Dispensing Beverages (AREA)
  • Devices That Are Associated With Refrigeration Equipment (AREA)

Abstract

A system is provided for delivering a beverage from a cold storage area to a dispensing tap at a desired temperature. At least one beverage line runs from a bulk beverage container in the cold storage area, to an inlet of a heat exchanger located in the vicinity of said dispensing tap. At least one beverage line extends from an outlet of the heat exchanger to the dispensing tap. A chiller is provided for chilling a cooling liquid connected via a coolant outflow line to a coolant inlet on the heat exchanger, and via a coolant inflow line to an outlet on the heat exchanger. A thermostat for the chiller has a switch on the chiller, and a temperature sensor in proximity to the heat exchanger.

Description

BEVERAGE DISPENSING SYSTEM WITH TEMPERATURE CONTROL
The present invention relates to the field of beverage dispensing. In particular, the present invention provides a novel system for draft beer dispensing that permits the draft beer to be dispensed at a consistent temperature, but is compatible with most aspects of current state of the art beverage dispensing systems.

A traditional arrangement in a bar or pub is to store draft beer, which is contained in barrels or kegs, in a cold room, at or at slightly below the temperature at which one may wish to dispense it. The beer is carried in metal or plastic lines from the cold room to the bar, where it is dispensed from draft taps. In order to prevent the beer in the line from the cold room to the tower from heating up to an unacceptable temperature, a plurality of beer lines are typically bundled in an insulated trunk line that also includes a refrigerant line, usually glycol chilled water that flows from a chiller through the trunk line, and back to the chiller. Due to variation in the routing of the trunk line, quality of insulating materials, quality of installation, ambient temperature and other environmental factors specific to each bar, a recognized drawback of such a system is that the final temperature of the delivered product may not be consistent. While the trunk line serves to prevent the beer from warming to an unacceptable temperature, heat exchange between the refrigerant lines and the beer lines is inefficient. Consequently, cooling of the beer is limited and inadequate to maintain temperatures below that of the beer cold room in conditions of even moderate rates of beer dispense.

Furthermore, the set-up of bars and restaurants varies widely from place to place, and often a trunk line will have to be routed 100 to 200 feet through fairly warm areas, like kitchens, or near warm air heating ducts.

Systems have been developed to dispense beer and other beverages at very low temperatures, such as those shown in Canadian Patent Application No.
2,516,150; Canadian PatentApplication No. 2,516,148; Canadian PatentApplication No. 2,504,120; Canadian Patent Application No. 2,496,156; Canadian Patent Application No. 2;486,630; Canadian Patent Application No. 2,482,264; U.S.
Patent No. 6,598,417; and U.S. Patent No. 5,564,602. These systems involve the addition, to the system discussed above, of a chiller and heat exchanger located as near as practical to the point of delivery of the beverage. Accordingly, even if the beer in the trunk line has heated up significantly from the cold room to the bar, if the heat exchanger is located just below the bar, the beer can be cooled immediately prior to dispensing resulting in an acceptably cool product.

The improved systems involve a chiller, and a heat exchanger. It is important to locate the heat exchanger close to the point of dispense to ensure consistent delivery of beer at the desired temperature. The chiller may be located either near tot he bar or more remotely dependent on the space constraints encountered in each bar. The present applicant has significantly improved the existing chiller/heat exchanger arrangement by dividing the temperature control into two components and moving the temperature sensor to the heat exchanger, while the controller remains at the chiller. This arrangement ensures flexibility of location of the chiller while assuring consistent control of the refrigerant temperature at the point of heat exchange. This provides for consistent beer dispense temperatures regardless of the variations and environmental conditions noted earlier. Coolant lines extend from the chiller to and from the heat exchanger located at the bar. The coolant lines must, therefore, be routed from the chiller to the heat exchanger. Accordingly, the coolant lines are often routed through areas of unpredictable temperature, such as ceilings, walls, and past exits.

All previous chiller/heat exchangers known to the applicant are thermostatically controlled by providing a thermostat having a temperature sensor in the reservoir of the chiller. If the person dispensing the beer or other beverage perceives that it is not cold enough, they adjust the thermostat at the chiller, until the beer is the desired temperature. Unfortunately, conditions change from day to day, or even hour to hour, and a great deal of beer is served at temperatures other than those deemed desirable.

The present applicant has significantly improved the existing chiller/heat exchanger arrangement, and taken virtually all the guesswork out of temperature selection by dividing the thermostat into two components, and moving the temperature. sensor to the heat exchanger. In this way, the chiller will still cycle on and off in response to the thermostat, but will do so in a way that maintains the temperature at the heat exchanger, which is very near to the point of dispensing, at a uniform temperature.
In a broad aspect, the present invention relates to a system for delivering a beverage from a cold storage area to a dispensing tap at a desired temperature comprising: at least one beverage line from a bulk beverage container in said cold storage area, to an inlet of a heat exchanger located in the vicinity of said dispensing tap; at least one beverage line from an outlet of said heat exchanger to a said dispensing tap; a chiller for chilling a cooling liquid connected via a coolant outflow line to a coolant inlet on said heat exchanger, and via a coolant inflow line to an outlet on said heat exchanger; and a thermostat having a switch on said chiller, and a temperature sensor in proximity to said heat exchanger.
In drawings that illustrate the present invention by way of example:
Figure 1 is a schematic of a beer dispensing system according to the present invention;
Figure 2 is an exploded view of a preferred heat exchanger with fluid flow paths shown.

Referring now to Figure 1, in the beer (or other beverage) dispensing system according to the present invention, kegs 1 of draft beer are held in a cold room 2.
Cold room 2 is provided with a refrigeration device 3.

Beer from each of the kegs travels via beer lines 4. A number of lines 4 are bundled together in a trunk line 5 that extends from the cold room 2 to the vicinity of beer dispending area which may be a bar that is provided with one or more draft towers 7. Each tower is provided with one or more draft taps 8. There is one tap for each beer line 4.

Also bundled in trunk line 5 is a coolant line 9 that circulates coolant liquid, such as chilled water or glycol from first chiller 10 located in or near the cold room.
The trunk line 5 terminates at a heat exchanger 11, which is provided with one or more inlet 12 for beer - one inlet for each beer line 4. Each inlet is connected to an independent flow path in the heat exchanger in a conventional manner.
Appropriate heat exchangers are available from GEA FlatPlate Inc.
A second chiller 13, with an integral pump is provided to circulate cooling liquid via line 14 to inlet 15 (there may be more than one line and inlet) of the heat exchanger 11. The cooling liquid flows through the heat exchanger preferably in a multiple pass, countercurrent flow pattern relative to the beer flowing though the heat exchanger, and exits via outlet 16 (there may be more than one outlet) and returns via return line 17 to the second chiller 13.
Referring now to Figure 2, the construction of an appropriate plate heat exchanger 11 is illustrated. The heat exchanger 11 comprises a series of plates 111 stacked side by side, with a flow channel being formed in the space between adjacent plates. Each plate has appropriate inlets and outlets formed therein, some of which direct fluid past the space between the plates, as shown by a flow path 112 or 113 and some of which direct flow into the space between plates. Since a flow path in only one direction can be provided between each pair of plates, the more plates that are provided, the more parallel adjacent flow paths can be created, with each alternate path between a pair of plates being used to accommodate cooling fluid 112, and the remaining paths between the pairs of plates accommodating beverage flow. In this way, the residence time of the beverage in the heat exchanger can be maximized, which will result in the temperature of the beverage and the cooling fluid being very close to equal at the outlet 16 of the cooling fluid and the outlet 114 of the beverage.

It has been found that maximizing the length of the flow paths in the heat exchanger, thereby also maximizing the contact time between the cooling fluid and the beverage, will permit one to use relatively warmer cooling fluid which minimize the chance that the beverage flow path will freeze in the heat exchanger. That is, if residence time in the heat exchanger is short, then to achieve cool enough beverage, colder cooling liquid must be used, which can result in a freeze up in the heat exchanger.

Beer exits via delivery lines 18 to towers 7, with one line 18 leading to each tap 8.
In order to maintain consistency in the temperature of beer being dispensed, a temperature sensor 19 is provided in connection with the heat exchanger.
Preferably the temperature sensor will be installed in the coolant line at the inlet to the heat exchanger. This is considered close enough to the point of dispensing that there will be insignificant warming of the beer from the heat exchanger to the tap.
The temperature sensor 19 outputs a signal to a thermostat located at the chiller 13. The thermostat will control the on/off cycling of the chiller in response to the temperature signal from the sensor. The result is a very precisely controlled dispensing temperature for beer and other beverages, with no guess work or variation depending on ambient temperatures.

It has been disclosed by the present applicant that beer about 2 C, or 3.6 F
cooler than previously thought practical can be delivered through implementation of the present invention.

Claims (6)

1. A system for delivering a beverage from a cold storage area to a dispensing tap at a desired temperature comprising:
a) at least one beverage line from a bulk beverage container in said cold storage area, to an inlet of a heat exchanger located in the vicinity of said dispensing tap;
b) at least one beverage line from an outlet of said heat exchanger to a said dispensing tap;
c) a chiller for chilling a cooling liquid connected via a coolant outflow line to a coolant inlet on said heat exchanger, and via a coolant inflow line to an outlet on said heat exchanger; and d) a thermostat having a switch on said chiller, and a temperature sensor in proximity to said heat exchanger.
2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said heat exchanger is a plate heat exchanger.
3. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said heat exchanger is a multiple pass, plate heat exchanger.
4. A system as claimed in claim 2 or 3 wherein said temperature sensor is located on or in the coolant inlet of said heat exchanger.
5. A system as claimed in claim 2 or 3 wherein said temperature sensor is located on or in said coolant outflow line adjacent said coolant inlet of said heat exchanger.
6. A system as claimed in any one of claims 1-5, wherein said heat exchanger is located a sufficient distance from said cold storage area that beverage in said beverage line will tend to increase in temperature between said bulk beverage container and said heat exchanger.
CA 2594193 2007-07-23 2007-07-23 Beverage dispensing system with temperature control Abandoned CA2594193A1 (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA 2594193 CA2594193A1 (en) 2007-07-23 2007-07-23 Beverage dispensing system with temperature control

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA 2594193 CA2594193A1 (en) 2007-07-23 2007-07-23 Beverage dispensing system with temperature control

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA2594193A1 true CA2594193A1 (en) 2009-01-23

Family

ID=40278587

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA 2594193 Abandoned CA2594193A1 (en) 2007-07-23 2007-07-23 Beverage dispensing system with temperature control

Country Status (1)

Country Link
CA (1) CA2594193A1 (en)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2010057493A1 (en) * 2008-11-18 2010-05-27 Danfoss A/S Beverage dispensing device and method for monitoring a beverage dispensing device

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2010057493A1 (en) * 2008-11-18 2010-05-27 Danfoss A/S Beverage dispensing device and method for monitoring a beverage dispensing device
EA019180B1 (en) * 2008-11-18 2014-01-30 Данфосс А/С Beverage dispensing device and method for monitoring a beverage dispensing device

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EEER Examination request
FZDE Dead

Effective date: 20121203