ES2418446B1 - APPARATUS TO PRODUCE LIQUID ICE - Google Patents

Abstract

Apparatus for producing liquid ice, formed by a central tube (1) of good thermal conductive material, through which a freezing liquid is circulated, a thermally insulating outer jacket (2) going around said central tube (1), between which and the central tube (1) there is a gap (3), where a liquid refrigerator is introduced under pressure, which evaporates by expansion causing heat absorption that causes the formation of ice microstructures in the liquid that It circulates through the central tube (1), going inside said central tube (1) a vane stirrer (8) that removes the liquid to prevent the ice microstructures from adhering to the tube wall.

Description

APPLIANCE TO PRODUCE LIQUID FINE

Technical sector

The

Present invention is related with the

production

from ice, destined for Applications from

refrigeration

Proposing a apparatus that It allows the

Obtaining very concentrated liquid ice, with a high production yield.

State of the art

In many applications of product conservation, in the field of food, biotechnology, industry, etc., the use of ice cooling techniques is common.

In the current state of the art, various methods and installations for producing solid ice in the form of blocks or cubes and for producing liquid ice in the form of a solution with suspended ice particles are known.

Due to its characteristics, liquid ice offers some qualities that make it particularly suitable for some applications, obtaining this type of ice in facilities specially designed for it, such as those described in Patents ES 2166727, OS 6119467 6 JP 1010076, depending on the characteristics of each installation, the production performance and the quality of the liquid ice that is obtained in each of them.

In that sense, Patent ES 2166727 describes, for example, a liquid ice generator, which uses

a refrigerant gas to produce cold intended to freeze a liquid, by passing the refrigerant gas through a defined helical conduit around a central tube through which the liquid to be frozen circulates, so that by the effect of the cold it produces the refrigerant gas and that is transmitted through the wall of the central tube, in the liquid circulating inside said central tube, ice particles are formed, resulting in a suspension constituting the liquid ice. However, the ice particles that form in the liquid adhere to the wall of the tube, so that inside the tube Sl3 has a scraper to release said ice particles so that they are suspended in the liquid .

Said embodiment has the disadvantage that the ice particles that adhere to the wall of the tube through which the liquid to be frozen circulates, act as an insulator, hindering thermal transmission through said tube wall, which reduces the performance of ice production and also, when the accumulation of ice adhered to the tube is excessive, so that the action of the scraper is not enough to release that amount of ice: it is necessary to stop the production to perform a defrosting of the apparatus. And on the other hand, the action of the scraper to detach the adhered ice particles, causes a deterioration of the paI: ed of the tube that forces considerable maintenance costs.

Object of the invention

According to the invention, an apparatus is proposed that allows liquid ice to be produced in an advantageous manner, with an embodiment that significantly improves the

function of the conventional methods that are used

For this application.

This apparatus object of the invention consists of a central tube of good thermal conductor material, said central tube being surrounded by a thermally insulating outer jacket, which defines between it and the central tube a hollow space that is established with a tight seal with respect to the interior of the central tube.

In this apparatus, a liquid intended for freezing is circulated through the central tube, while a liquid refrigerant is introduced under pressure into the hollow space defined between said central tube and the outer jacket, so that in said hollow, It acts as an expansion chamber, the liquid refrigerator evaporates, causing a heat absorption that produces a cooling of the central tube, so that the liquid that circulates through it freezes forming ice microstructures that remain in suspension in the liquid .

Inside the central tube there is a rotary vane stirrer, which removes the solution of the frozen liquid, to prevent the ice microstructures that form in the liquid from fixing on the tube wall. To avoid such fixation of the ice microstructures, the tube wall is also polished and hardened by lapping and ceramic treatment.

An apparatus is thus obtained in which, thanks to the evaporation of the liquid refrigerator, a

"

liquid ice formation uniformly throughout the volume of the central tube, achieving a high quality liquid ice, with an ice concentration percentage of up to 60%, which makes it very effective for application uses.

In addition, since the ice microstructures are not fixed on the wall of the central tube in which the liquid ice is formed, no additional thermal insulation is produced, maintaining the effectiveness of the thermal transmission for the production of liquid ice and, on the other l ado, it is not necessary to stop the

production

for perform defrosts, the which

impact

too in a increase of the performance from the

production.

Therefore, said apparatus object of the invention results from very advantageous characteristics for the production of liquid ice to which it is intended, acquiring its own life and preferential character with respect to the known systems and devices used for said function.

Description of the figures

Figure 1 shows a longitudinal sectional view of an apparatus for the production of liquid ice, according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus of the previous figure.

Detailed description of the invention

The object of the invention relates to an apparatus

.-,

intended to produce liquid ice, which, as seen in the embodiment represented in the drawings, is formed by a central tube (1) of a good thermal conductor material, such as steel or

aluminum,

Y a shirt Exterior (2) from nature

thermally

insulating, WHAT ~ giving between both of them elements

a

hole (3).

The central tube (1) is provided at its ends with respective mouths (4 and 5), to establish connection of inlet, outlet and circulation outlet of a liquid capable of freezing, such as water.

The hole (3) determines a chamber that is established insulated with a tight seal with respect to the interior of the central tube (1), in turn having said hole

(3) at their ends respective mouths (6 and 7) through which an inlet and outlet connection of a liquid refrigerator is established, which is pressed into the hole (3) that acts as an expansion chamber, wherein, due to the expansion due to the change in pressure, said liquid refrigerator evaporates.

This evaporation of the liquid refrigerator inside the hole (3), causes a heat absorption that produces a cooling of the central tube (1), which causes the formation of ice microstructures in the liquid that circulates inside said tube central (1), said microstructures of ice being suspended in the liquid, which thus becomes liquid ice.

Inside the central tube (1) there is a rotary vane stirrer {8l, which removes the suspension

B

of the liquid ice, preventing the ice microstructures that are formed in it from adhering to the wall of said central tube (1), thereby preventing the effectiveness of thermal transmission through said central tube wall ( 1) can decrease by

the

training a cap insulating from ice on she,

affecting

to the performance from the production of the ice

liquid.

The paddle agitator (8) is incorporated on a shaft (9) that has an outgoing coupling (10) at one end, for actuation by means of a motor (not shown), which is provided with several revolution frequencies, to provide a variable drive depending on the reoligic characteristics of the liquid to be stirred.

To avoid the adhesion of the ice microstructures in the wall of the central tube (1) during the formation of the liquid ice, the inner surface of said wall is also polished and hardened by lapping to a grain size of less than 4 microns and subsequent application of a ceramic treatment, which also improves the production of liquid ice and its quality up to a percentage of 60% concentration.

Claims (3)

1. - Device for producing liquid ice, comprising a central tube (1) of good thermal conductor material and an outer jacket (2) of thermally insulating nature, for freezing a circulating liquid through the central tube (1), by cooling produced by a refrigerator that is inserted between said central tube (1) and the outer jacket (2), characterized in that a gap (3) is established between the central tube (1) and the outer jacket (2) which is established insulated with airtight closure with respect to the interior of the central tube (1), said hollow (3) defining an expansion chamber, in which a liquid refrigerant which is pressed under pressure into said chamber is evaporated, causing heat absorption that causes the formation of ice microstructures in the liquid that circulates through the central tube (1), going inside said central tube (1) a rotating blade agitator (8) that r emulates the

liquid

circulating for avoid what the microstructures

from

ice be stick to the wall  from that tube central

(l).

2. Apparatus for producing liquidO ice, according to the first claim, characterized in that the inner wall of the central tube (1) is polished and hardened by lapping to a grain size of less than 4 microns and subsequent application of a ceramic treatment 3. - Device for producing liquid ice, according to the first claim, characterized in that the paddle agitator (8) is actuated, through a coupling (10) thereof that goes outside, by means of a motor of several frequencies of revolution that allows to provide a variable drive depending on the rheological characteristics of the liquid to be stirred. "