FR2742350A1 - Static decantation apparatus for non refined liquids - Google Patents

Abstract

A static decanter (18) for clarifying juices or liquids comprises: (i) a rectangular or cylindrical vessel having two juice inlets (11, 12) placed just above a slurry collection chamber (27) in the base of the vessel; (ii) a multi-stages decantation system formed by a series of chicanes (13, 14) through which the juice flows and decantation is forced; (iii) a clear juice recovering system collecting the juice at the top (20 and 21) and enabling the injection of purification additives; and (iv) a slurry recovery central system (22) where solids are collected. The additives are include vegetable carbon (3) or animal black (19), bleach (26) or an anti-calcium carbonate product (17).

Description

The subject of the present invention is a static decanter which, as its name suggests, is charged with decanting and clarifying juices or liquids. This decanter is preferably intended for sweets but it can be used in any other field where decantation and clarification are necessary.

This device is equipped with a juicing and forcing system which aims to control and direct the progress of the juice, to bring the juice closer to the settling zones and therefore to force the juice to settle; this decanter also consists of a central recovery system which makes it possible to recover the sludge from the decantation and to direct it towards the bottom of the tank without it having to cross again the juice being decanted or the clear juice.

And lately, this decanter aims to optimize the clarification of the juice by acting on the impurities inherent in the decantation, the efnuves or the traces of the products used for the decantation, or of the substances present in the juice and which are at Origin poor purification and clarification of the juice.

The main problem which motivated this project and which is at the origin of this invention is: obtaining a cloudy and impure juice at the end of the sugar settling process.

The causes which can create this problem are numerous but we can cite, among others, causes such as the conduct of the juice, forcing the decantation, positioning of the inputs and outputs of the different products of the decanter, separation between the juice and the sludge, recovery of sludge, impurities not affected by decantation and still present at the outlet of the juice, disturbance of decantation by currents of all kinds, ..

All these causes are of course harmful to the purification process and, the invention cited in this patent is therefore responsible for trying to reduce their effects and harms.

The main goal of this project is obviously the release of a clear, pure and limpid juice from the decanting process.

The achievement of this objective will go through the culmination of several secondary objectives such as the design and implementation of a pipe and a forcing of the juice during decantation, better positioning of the inputs and outputs of the decanter, the recovery of concentrated and compact sludge, elimination of impurities or substances not affected by the decantation process, reduction of currents in the decanter for maximum rest and defecation of the juice.

The invention therefore presents a decanter composed of two juices which are located at the level of a sludge chamber at the bottom of the apparatus, a multi-stage decantation control and forcing system, a clear juice recovery system allowing the injection of purification products, a sludge chamber at the bottom of the decanter, a central sludge recovery system and the placement or injection of multiples products like vegetable charcoal, animal charcoal, bleach and anti-lime to help clarify the juice
The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention:
FIG. 1 represents the decanter according to the invention,
FIG. 2, 3,4 represents different driving and forcing systems,
FIG. 5 represents a juice diffuser for the recovery of sludge,
FIG. 6 represents a baffle for optimizing the driving and forcing the juice,
- Figure 7 shows a peripheral recovery of sludge.

Taking mainly into account the progress of the decantation process, the deseription of this invention will be carried out in several stages, the order will be as follows: shape of the decanter, arrival of the juice, driving and forcing the juice during decantation, recovery of the clear juice, separation between juice and sludge, sludge recovery, sludge evacuation, arrival of the flocculant, technical systems and chemical solutions for optimizing the clarification of the juice.

The decanter 18 can be rectangular or cylindrical in shape; the rectangular shape allowing a larger volume to be obtained for the same dimensions.

The arrival of the juice is carried out by two inlets 11 and 12 separated by the fins 23 of the mud chamber 27 and the vertical pipe 22 for collecting impurities. This two-part juice entry allows an injection of flocculant at two very distinct points, which avoids any interaction between them and optimizes their work on the juice as much as possible.

The receiving tank of the inlet system linked to the inlet pipe 4 is responsible for relaxing and slowing down the juice, which therefore makes it possible to reduce the inlet currents in the decanter.

The dispensing cone located at the upper level of the juice delivery system is loaded, as its name suggests, to dispense the juice in the clarifier; it allows a central and peripheral distribution, from where a natural and uniform distribution of the juice in the device.

The juice is inserted just below the first baffles responsible for helping to settle, which allows immediate processing of the juice, and just above the sludge chamber, which allows the juice to settle in this area of see their sludge descend into the lower tank of the decanter by passing through the fins 23 responsible for trapping the sludge.

During breakdowns or stops, the decanter can, after decanting all the juice stored in the device, be drained using these juices, the latter being linked to the network 9 of clear juice via the valve 8. This technique makes it possible to recover a large volume of clear juice, which is not always possible on certain other devices.

The driving and forcing of the juice for decantation are carried out by the baffles located between the arrival of juice 11 and 12 and the recovery of clear juice (20/21) carried out in the upper part of the decanter.

The central baffles 13 of the decanter, equipped with the central sludge recovery system formed by the pipes 22, are responsible in their lower part for conducting the juice to the periphery and forcing it to decant, ie at the bottom of the decanter for the first chicane, or either on the peripheral baffles 14 for the others; and in their upper part, these central baffles have the function of recovering the sludge coming either from the defecation which takes place above them or from that coming from the peripheral baffles 14.

The peripheral baffles 14 of the clarifier are responsible in their lower part for conducting the juice as close as possible to the internal baffles 13 and also for forcing it to settle.

In their upper part, these peripheral baffles 14 have the function of conducting the sludge which is deposited on them towards the central baffles so that these are then sent to the bottom of the decanter.

This descent of sludge from the peripheral chicane to the central chicane makes it possible to create a curtain of sludge, which can optimize clarification since observations have been made as what unjus crossing a curtain of sludge is better purified and clarified because, these impurities in descent allow a kind of natural filtration of the juice which rises.

The angle of the baffles and the spacing between them may vary depending on the nature of the sludge to be treated and the rate of sedimentation thereof.

The angle of the baffles should normally vary between 35 and 600.

To improve and thus strengthen the forcing and clarification of the juice, a complementary baffle 42, such as that drawn in FIG. 6 by way of example, can be added to the end of a main baffle 41, whether this is central. or peripheral.

Figures 2, 3, and 4 show us, without imitative, several types of pipe and forcing that can be used; criteria such as the nature of the sludge or sludge to be treated, the type of final product desired, or the volume of impurities to be recovered which can guide the choice of one of these systems.

FIG. 2 shows a decanter 28 consisting of central baffles 29 which are responsible at their lower part for driving and forcing the juice to decant and at their upper part for recovering the sludge. The peripheral baffles 30 also have, for function of driving and forcing the juice to their lower part and their upper parts are used for the recovery of sludge.

Figure 3 shows us a static decanter 31 which is formed of several peripheral baffles 32 which have the function at their lower part to drive and force the juice and at their upper part to allow the recovery of impurities from the juice to be clarified.

FIG. 4 shows us a more complex decanter 33 which is made up of peripheral baffles 34 responsible for conducting and forcing the juice at their lower part and recovering the impurities at their upper part. The central baffles 35, they have the function of driving and forcing the juice at their lower part to improve the settling, and at their upper part to conduct the impurities towards the peripheral baffles 34. And lately, the baffle 36 which is at the bottom of the decanter has the function at its lower part of driving and forcing the juice to decant; and at its upper part to recover the sludge from the juices and bring them to the bottom of the decanter 33.

Clear juices are collected at the top and in the center of the decanter after the juice handling and forcing system.

The recovery system for the clarified product is composed of:
a reception cone 20 responsible for recovering the juice uniformly over the entire surface of the decanter,
- a progressive re-acceleration tank 21 of the juice which has the function of avoiding excessive currents in the clarifier and also of allowing the injection of additional clarification products such as the bleach product 26 and the anti-lime product 17 ,
- an outlet pipe 16 charged simply with evacuating the clear juice towards the rest of the sugar process via the pump 9.

The separation between the juice and the sludge, ensured by the numerous fins 23 has several advantages: it makes it possible to create a sludge chamber 27 in the bottom of the decanter tank, which therefore makes it possible to prevent already decanted sludge from can disturb the juices during decantation, it also allows clear juices trapped in the chamber to rise while at the same time it allows sludges defecating above it to descend to reach the bottom of the device; and lately it keeps the sludge from the central pipes of the clarifier which collects the impurities from the settling.

The fins are longitudinal and extend over the entire surface of the decanter, and in addition they must avoid coming into contact with other surfaces to avoid creating a zone of deposition of sludge which could be conducive, then to proliferation. microbial.

Sludge recovery is carried out by a system of conduits 22 placed at the center of the central baffles and which penetrate into each other.

The last conduit which is placed below the outlet of the clear juice has the smallest diameter since it is located at the end of settling (hence less sludge) and it will partially penetrate the conduit which is just in below and which has a larger diameter; the latter doing the same with the conduit located below him. The first conduit, located at the start of decantation, therefore has the largest diameter and it will pass through the juslboues separation system 23 to allow impurities to arrive at the sludge chamber which is none other than the bottom of the decanter.

This recovery system 22 allows the sludge located at all levels of the decanter to descend to the bottom of the decanter without contaminating clear juice or during defecation. In addition, this system allows the clear juice present in the conduits to rise; and if the theory of the filtration of the juices by the mud is confirmed, the juices leaving these conduits should be particularly clear and limpid.

A facial recuperator, as shown in FIG. 7 by way of example, can be installed on the external walls of the decanter. This recuperator would be installed for decanters whose peripheral baffles would be oriented to recover impurities in defecation. It would be composed of slots 45 located at the bottom of the baffles and which would allow sludge recovery, of a corridor 44 created by a partition placed around the decanter and who would be responsible for driving the sludge to the bottom of the device; while a slot 43 located at the top of the collector would allow the clear juice present in the system to pass into the clarifier.

The cone 10 of FIG. 1, which has an orifice in the center, is responsible for reducing the central suction of the sludge and allowing a peripheral suction of the sludge, all this in order to allow an efficient and uniform evacuation of the sludge present in the room 27.

A diffuser 37, as shown without implied limitation; in FIG. 5, can help with the recovery of sludge: the cone-shaped orifice 38 and which is located below the baffle 40 allows the introduction of the juice, the juice undergoes an acceleration thanks to the small diameter of the pipe 39 and then the juice disperses along the surface of the baffle 40 by means of the spreader 37, which makes it possible to push a portion of the sludge towards the recovery system.

The conduct of the sludge to the recovery system can also be carried out by means of squeegees placed on the baffles and rotated.

The evacuation of the trapped sludge in the chamber at the bottom of the decanter is carried out by the pipe 7 linked to the bottom of the clarifier.

This sludge can be evacuated by a peristaltic pump 6 or a pump specialized in fragile products which will be responsible for driving them towards their future treatment.

The flocculant which allows agglomeration of the impurities and an optimization of the settling can be injected inside the tank of the arrivals of juice 1 1 and 12. The eddy juice penetrating into the settling tank allowing to mix the product naturally and to disperse it through all of the juice.

On leaving the clarifier, the clear juice may still be cloudy or impure.

This disorder can come either from impurities which have not been able to settle by their rarefaction, or from impurities or substances inherent in decantation, or else by the presence of the products which were responsible for decantation such as lime by example.

In sweets, in cane juice for example, these impurities can be polysaccharides such as starch and gums, inorganic acids, amino acids, proteins, lipids, colored substances such as chlorophyll, xanthophyll, carotene or anthocyanin, non-colored substances such as polyphenols, inorganic non-sugars such as potassium, iron, aluminum, sulfur salts, and lastly we can mention impurities such as residual lime ( product most often used in decantation), magnesia, or phosphates although for the latter, its level must be monitored to avoid problems such as the destruction of reducing sugars or an increase in lime salts.

These impurities, which as we can see are numerous, can in addition to give a cloudy and impure juices, generate many problems or disadvantages which can go against the production of quality sugar, a good process sugar bowl, or even good machine maintenance. These problems can be the significant coloration of the juice and sugar, the creation of melassogenic substances, the presence of colloidal substances, the breakdown of reducing sugars (glucose, fructose, levulose), the inversion of sucrose, the increase in viscosity of the syrup, the slowing down of crystallization, the encrustation of heating appliances, the increase in the consumption of steam and cleaning products like soda, and last but to a lesser extent the decrease in sugar purity.

This invention therefore aims to allow, in addition to good decanting, better clarification and purification of the juice to avoid a business the production of lower quality sugar, possible additional costs, or even harm the environment with the massive consumption of products such as soda. This project therefore goes beyond a simple defecation process
In order to optimize decantation, clarification and purification of the juice, this invention will therefore use four products and a magnetic system to achieve the best possible result. These products are vegetable knuckle, animal black, a bleach product, an anti-lime product and lastly a magnetic system.

The vegetable charcoal used would be activated or activated charcoal.

This charcoal prepared to pattir peat would be charged thanks to its absorbent and bleaching properties to help degassing of the juice which can disturb the deca'tson and also to absorb certain impurities as long as the absence of these does not affect not defecation.

The vegetable charcoal (or also animal charcoal if necessary) would be placed in cartridges 3 which are formed of a grid for retaining the charcoal. And as necessary to limit the absorption effect of the impurities of the charcoal, a filter can be put in place to protect the charcoal and allow impurities to remain in the juice. These cartridges 3, for greater efficiency should be placed as in Figure 1, inside a degassing tank 1 which has the function of '' remove the oxygen which is contained in the impure juice.

The dosage and quantity of charcoal to be used should be determined according to the rate and duration of absorption of the charcoal used and the juice flow from the plant.

Animal charcoal, also called animal black, which is a residue from the calcination of animal bones in a vacuum, is said to absorb impurities such as anthocyanin, polyphenols, amino acids and proteins, and still many other elements which are at the origin of a bad coloring of the juice.

The animal charcoal would be placed at the end of decantation at the level of the clear juice arrival (20/21) in mesh cartridges 19 responsible for retaining the charcoal. The quantity of charcoal to be used would essentially depend on the desired discoloration rate, on the efficiency of the charcoal used, and lately on the rate and the duration of absorption thereof.

The use of animal charcoal would be especially recommended for companies faced with refractory juices or with significant coloring of their juice.

The bleach product (also called bleach) which is a solution partly composed of sodium hypochlonte and sodium chloride obtained by the mixture of solutions of sodium carbonate and lime chloride, would be responsible for purifying the clarified juice .

It would have a bleaching and bleaching function by acting on the colored substances, a purifying function by destroying impurities such as gums, and lately a juice preservation function by purifying the juice of any organism or bacillus responsible for proliferation. microbial.

This product would be injected into the clear juice recovery tank 21 through the conduit 26; and its metering would be carried out by a metering pump 5.

Its use and dosage will be conditioned by its clarifying effect and the desired juice pH; the dosage should be very low and should vary between 0.5 and 2.5 mg / l.

The anti-limescale product is a water softener made up of resins (responsible for replacing the insoluble mineral salts with soluble mineral salts), a regenerating salt (composed of pure and active sodium chloride and responsible for functioning and renewal resins), phosphates, enzymes, oxygen bleach, and nonionic surfactant.

Mainly used in softening water and descaling household appliances, the anti-lime product would have, in the clarification process, firstly a purifying function by eliminating impurities such as lime residues, residual lime from decantation, gums, waxes, salts such as iron, aluminum, sulfur, potassium, aconitate and many more; secondly, a clarification function by acting on colored substances such as anthocyanin, xantophyll, carotene, chlorophyll, or other elements such as polyphenols which can also give colored substances.

The anti-lime product would also be injected into the clear juice recovery tank 21 through the conduit 17 and its metering would also be carried out by a metering pump 15.

Its dosage should be lower than the bleach product and should vary between 0.2 and 0.7 mgll, the limiting factors of dosage being the ph of the desired juice and the phosphate content which should remain between 10 and 30 mg / l in the juice. It is preferable to use this product at the end of decantation because if it contains oxygenated bleaching agents, decantation could be disturbed.

If an interaction between the bleach product and the anti-lime product was noted, which could cause a reduction in the effectiveness of the products or a nuisance aujus, it would be preferable to inject either the anti-lime product or the bleach product at another level of the sugar process, for example just before evaporation. Another solution is to combine the two products.

A static mixer 24 would have the function, as its name suggests, of mixing the bleach product and the anti-lime product with the juice so that their effects on the juice are homogeneous and complete.

The magnetic bracelet 25 which could be of the type of those placed in houses to combat tartar, would have the function of destroying the lime residues which could still be present in the clarified juice even after treatment with the anti-lime product, the latter, not Let us not forget, which has a limited dosage depending on the pH of the juice or the phosphate level and whose action could not necessarily be complete.

This magnetic bracelet 25, which can be either permanent or electric, is to be placed on the outlet pipe 16 of the decanter 18 just after the static mixer 24.

This static decanter is intended more particularly for sweets for the treatment of their sugary juices in the decantation and clarification processes but it can also be used in other fields where decantation is necessary.

Claims (12)

1. Static settling tank 18 having the function, as its name suggests, of allowing  decanting and clarification of juice or liquids, and characterized in that it can  be rectangular or cylindrical and in that it has two arrivals from  juices 11 and 12 placed in a sludge chamber 27 at the bottom of the decanter  18, a multi-stage sedimentation control and forcing system  formed by baffles 13 and 14, of a clear juice recovery system formed by  20 and 21 allowing the injection of purification products, from a sludge chamber 27 to  bottom of the settling tank, a central sludge recovery system 22 and  injection of multiple products such as vegetable charcoal 3, animal black 19,  bleach 26, and anti-lime 17 to help clarify the juice. 2. Static settling tank according to claim 1, characterized in that the two inlets  juice 1 1 and 12 can be used to drain clear juice when the appliance stops  via valve 8 and the clear juice pump 9. 3. Static settling tank according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises  through baffles 13 and 14 a system for driving and forcing the  decantation. 4. Static settling tank according to any one of the preceding claims,  characterized in that the orientation, inclination and arrangement of the baffles  peripherals or central units can be modified as desired depending on the performance of  the desired decantation or the characteristics of the juice to be treated. 5. Static settling tank according to any one of the preceding claims,  characterized in that it includes a central sludge recovery system which  is formed by conduits 22 which fit into each other. 6. Static settling tank according to any one of the preceding claims,  characterized in that vegetable charcoal installed in cartridges 3 can be  used to allow degassing and a first purification of the liquid. 7. Static settling tank according to any one of the preceding claims,  characterized in that animal charcoal installed in cartridges 19 can be  used to allow better clarification of the juice after decanting. 8. Static settling tank according to any one of the preceding claims,  characterized in that a bleach can be used to aid in the  clarification of the juices to be processed. 9. Static settling tank according to any one of the preceding claims,  characterized in that an anti-lime product can be used to help the  clarification of the juice to be treated. 10. Static settling tank according to any one of the preceding claims,  characterized in that a peripheral sludge recovery system (43,44,45)  can be used to recover sludge from peripheral baffles. 11. Static settling tank according to any one of the preceding claims,  characterized in that a diffuser (37,38,39,40) can be installed on the baffles  central or peripheral to allow an improvement in the movement of  sludge to the impurity recovery system linked to the chicane concerned. 12. Static settling tank according to any one of the preceding claims,  characterized in that a complementary baffle (42) can be installed on a  main baffle (41), whether central or peripheral, to optimize the  driving and forcing the juice.