JP2000093131A - Device and method for concentration - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable to easily control temperatures of a device for concentration by a freezing method of fruit juice, etc., miniaturize the device and reduce its installation space and cost. SOLUTION: In this concentrator installed with a cooler for concentrating a liquid to be treated such as fruit juice by cooling to a temperature in the vicinity of its freezing point and freezing water included in the liquid, a crystallizing tower for growing ice, a separating tower for separating ice and a concentrated liquid and a thawing device for thawing the ice and discharging it outside as water, the crystallization tower and the separation tower are integrally constructed, to which the thawing device is attached.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for concentrating fruit or vegetable juices or extracts by freezing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 2 shows an example of a conventional concentrator of this type. The liquid 2 to be treated, such as fruit juice, stored in the supply tank 1 is extracted by the pump 3 and sent to the cooler 4, where it is cooled to a temperature near the freezing point, so that the moisture in the liquid 2 is fine. It becomes ice crystals.

Next, the ice crystals enter the crystallization tower 10 through the pipe 9 together with the liquid 2, where they are stirred by the spiral blades 12 that are driven to rotate by a motor 11, thereby forming the ice crystals. The liquid 2 grows and the liquid 2 is further concentrated.
The concentrated liquid is collected through the collection path 14 through the filter 13.

[0004] The ice grown in the crystallization tower 10 forms a slurry and enters a separation tower 16 via a pipe 15 and an on-off valve 24 interposed therein, where it is separated into ice and water. The separated ice is conveyed by an ice scraper 23 rotated by a motor 17 and enters the melting device 8 via a pipe 27, where it is thawed to become water.

[0005] This water is urged by the pipe 25 and the pump 18 interposed therebetween and circulates again in the separation tower 16, and the water remaining in the separation tower 16 is continuously washed by the water. As a result of this washing, the concentrate adhering to the surface of the ice is separated from the ice and returns to the cooler 4 through the filter 20, the pipe 20, the valve 22 interposed therebetween, and the pump 3.

[0006] When the on-off valve 26 is opened after the completion of the washing, the water melted by the melting device 8 is discharged through the drain passage 19.

[0007] The refrigerant gas compressed by the compressor 5 enters the melting device 8 via the pipe A, where the ice is thawed and condensed and liquefied. This liquid refrigerant enters the expansion valve 6 via the pipe B, where it undergoes adiabatic expansion to become a gas-liquid two-phase.

The gas-liquid two-phase refrigerant enters the receiver 7, where the liquid refrigerant is separated from the gas refrigerant. The liquid refrigerant enters the cooler 4, evaporates and evaporates by cooling the liquid 2, and is then sucked into the compressor 5 through the liquid receiver 7.

[0009]

In the above-mentioned conventional concentrating apparatus, the slurry-like ice crystals extracted from the crystallizing tower 10 are sent to a separation tower 16 through a pipe 15, and from the separation tower 16. The extracted ice is sent to the melting device 8 through the pipe 27, but if the size of the ice crystals and the amount of ice become excessive, the ice cannot be sent.

Therefore, temperature control has been carried out in order to make the size of ice crystals and the amount of ice moderate, but there has been a problem that this temperature control is extremely difficult.

[0011]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the gist of the first invention is to convert a liquid to be treated such as fruit juice near its freezing point. A cooler that cools to a temperature and condenses it by freezing the water contained in this liquid, a crystallizing tower that grows ice, a separation tower that separates the ice and the concentrated liquid, and thaws the ice to the outside as water. A concentrating apparatus having a melting device for discharging, wherein the crystallizing tower and the separation tower are integrally formed, and the melting device is attached thereto.

Another feature is that the separation tower is a centrifugal filter.

[0013] The gist of the second invention is that a liquid to be treated such as fruit juice is cooled by a cooler to a temperature near its freezing point, and then this liquid is combined with a crystallizing tower and a separating tower. The ice is grown by introducing it to a device with a melting device, where the concentrated liquid is separated and collected via a recovery route, and then the grown ice is melted by a melting device to form water as a drainage route. And a method of concentrating the waste water.

Another feature is that the separation tower is constituted by a centrifugal filter, and when the melting of the ice is started, the centrifugal filter is operated to separate the liquid adhering to the ice surface from the ice. And collect it.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 30 denotes an outer tank, in which an inner tank 31 made of a perforated plate is provided. The inner tank 31 is driven by a motor 32 and rotates at high speed around a vertical axis.

A heat transfer tube 33 is provided in the inner tank 31.
Around the heat transfer tube 33, a heater 34 made of a heating wire or the like is wound. Then, the refrigerant sent from the refrigerator 29 circulates in the heat transfer tube 33.

The liquid 2 to be treated, such as fruit juice, stored in the supply tank 1 is extracted by the pump 3 and sent to the cooler 4, where it exchanges heat with the refrigerant sent from the refrigerator 28. As a result, the liquid 2 to be treated is cooled to a temperature near its freezing point, whereby the water contained in the liquid 2 is frozen to form fine ice crystals, and the liquid 2 is thereby concentrated.

Next, the slurry-like liquid 2 containing the ice crystals enters the inner tank 31 through the pipe 9, where it exchanges heat with the refrigerant flowing through the heat transfer tube 33 and is further cooled. As a result, ice crystals grow around the heat transfer tube 33,
Accordingly, the liquid 2 is further concentrated. The concentrated liquid 2 gradually exits through a number of holes in the inner tank 31 and is collected from the outer tank 30 via a discharge pipe 35 and a solenoid valve 36 via a collection path 37.

When the ice around the heat transfer tube 33 has grown sufficiently, the heater 34 wound around the heat transfer tube 33 is energized to melt the ice and separate it from the heat transfer tube 33.

Next, the concentrated liquid adhering to the surface of the inner tank 31 is separated from the ice in the inner tank 31 by driving the inner tank 31 around the vertical axis by the motor 32. The separated concentrated liquid flows out into the outer tank 30 through a number of holes in the inner tank 31 and is collected via the discharge pipe 35, the solenoid valve 36, and the collection path 37.

When the concentration of the concentrate does not reach the target value, the solenoid valve 36 is switched, and the concentrate discharged from the discharge pipe 35 is passed through the solenoid valve 36 to a pipe 38 and a check valve inserted therein.
39. The enrichment process can be repeated by circulating again through the cooler 4 via the pump 3.

After the concentrated liquid is separated from the ice and collected, an inner tank
If ice remains in the heater 31, the heater 34 is energized to defrost it to form water. This water is discharged from the outer tank 30 to the discharge pipe 35,
The liquid is discharged by a pump 42 via an electromagnetic valve 36 and a discharge path 40. The other configuration is the same as that of the conventional one shown in FIG. 2, and the corresponding members are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

Thus, a centrifugal filter, ie, a separation tower, for separating the ice and the concentrated liquid by the inner tank 31 and the motor 32 for rotating the inner tank 31 about a vertical axis is constituted. The outer tank 30, the inner tank 31, and the heat transfer tube 33 immersed in the slurry-like liquid stored in the outer tank 30 and the inner tank 31 constitute a crystal tower in which ice is grown.

A heater wound around the heat transfer tube 33
Reference numeral 34 denotes a melting device for thawing ice and turning it into water. Thus, since the crystallization tower and the separation tower are integrated and the melting device is attached to this, the concentration device can be reduced in size and the installation space and cost can be reduced.

[0025]

According to the present invention, since the crystallizing tower and the separation tower are integrally formed and a melting device is attached thereto, ice is grown here, while the concentrated liquid is separated and the grown ice is separated. Can be melted. In addition, the size and size of the concentrator can be reduced and the installation space and cost can be reduced.

Further, since the crystallizing tower and the separation tower are integrated and a melting device is attached to the same, the ice grown in the crystallizing tower as in the prior art is transferred to a pipe for transferring the ice to the separation tower. And the ice extracted from the separation tower does not clog the pipes sending it to the melting device.

If the separation tower is constituted by a centrifugal filter, the concentrated liquid adhering to the ice surface can be efficiently separated from the ice in a short time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a concentrator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system diagram of a conventional concentration device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Supply tank 2 Fruit juice 3 Pump 4 Cooler 9 Piping 28, 29 Refrigerator 30 Outer tub 31 Inner tub 32 Motor 33 Heat transfer tube 34 Heater 35 Discharge pipe 36 Solenoid valve 37 Recovery path 38 Piping 39 Check valve 40 Discharge path 42 pump

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Isami Yoneda 3-chome, Asahicho, Nishibiwajima-cho, Nishi-Kasugai-gun, Aichi Prefecture F-term (reference) 4B017 LG04 LP01 LP02 LP14 LT05

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A cooler for cooling a liquid to be treated such as fruit juice to a temperature near its freezing point to freeze water contained in the liquid, thereby concentrating the liquid, a crystal tower for growing ice, and ice and concentrating. A concentrating device equipped with a separation tower for separating liquid and a melting device for thawing ice and discharging it to the outside as water, wherein the crystallizing tower and the separation tower are integrally formed, and a melting device is attached thereto. Concentrator. 2. The concentrator according to claim 1, wherein the separation tower is a centrifugal filter. 3. A liquid to be treated such as fruit juice is cooled by a cooler to a temperature near its freezing point, and then the liquid is guided to a device in which a crystallization tower and a separation tower are integrated and a melting device is attached. Here, while growing ice, the concentrated liquid is separated and collected through a recovery path, and then the grown ice is melted by a melting device and drained as water through a drain path. Concentration method. 4. The separation tower is constituted by a centrifugal filter, and when the ice starts to be separated, the centrifugal filter is operated to separate and collect the liquid adhering to the ice surface from the ice. The concentration method according to claim 3, wherein