JP2004237233A - Concentrator equipped with crystal separating mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a concentrator equipped with a new crystal separating mechanism capable of handling a liquid raw material having a high viscosity while preventing the foaming of a liquid component and capable of easily and certainly removing crystals precipitated accompanied by concentration. <P>SOLUTION: The concentrator equipped with the crystal separating mechanism is characterized in that the intake port 50 of a return pipeline 5 is located in the separated liquid component region E, which is formed by separating crystals C from a liquid component L1, provided near the center of an evaporation boiler 2. The foaming of the liquid component L1 can be suppressed by the centrifugal effect of the revolving stream of the liquid component L1 and the separation of the crystals C from the liquid component L1 can be performed easily and certainly. Further, since the liquid component L1 is taken in at a place most separated from the crystals C moved to the vicinity of the inner wall of the evaporation boiler 2, it can effectively be avoided that the crystals C enter the return pipeline 5. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an evaporator used for concentrating liquid raw materials such as various seasonings and various extracts, and particularly capable of handling a liquid raw material which is easily foamed, a liquid raw material having a high viscosity and various waste liquids. The present invention relates to a concentrating device provided with a crystal separation mechanism capable of easily and surely removing crystals precipitated due to concentration.
[0002]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Conventionally, various liquid substances such as herbal medicine herbal extracts, various seasonings, animal extracts, seafood extracts, plant extracts, fermentation liquids, and aqueous solutions or various waste liquids of amino acids, yeasts, proteins, and the like have been used as liquid raw materials. When performing concentration, various evaporators are used.
Many of these evaporators evaporate water (solvent) while circulating the raw material liquid in a substantially closed path, so that the solute is deposited as crystals as the concentration increases. Such crystals cause clogging of the circulation path if left unchecked. Therefore, the crystals are removed by various means.
However, the existing crystal removing means requires a power source such as a drawing pump or the like, resulting in an increase in cost and a low efficiency of removing crystals.
[0003]
By the way, the applicant has the advantage that the initial cost is low because of a simple structure having no mechanical moving parts, the running cost including the maintenance cost is low because there is almost no failure, and the installation area is further reduced. A further improvement has been made to a certain liquid film elevating type evaporator, and a patent application has been filed as Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-135055 "High-speed revolving evaporator".
According to the present invention, the swirling flow of the liquid component generated in the evaporator can be made to have a high flow velocity, the foaming of the liquid component is effectively prevented by the centrifugal effect, and the liquid component in a further concentrated state is provided. This prevents sticking or the like due to insufficient mixing with the newly introduced liquid material, and enables the liquid material which is easily foamed or the liquid material having a high viscosity to be handled.
Subsequently, the present applicant worked on the development of a mechanism capable of effectively removing crystals without increasing the cost in the liquid film rising type evaporating apparatus.
[0004]
[Technical issues to be solved]
The present invention has been made in view of such a background, and prevents foaming of a liquid component, and further prevents burning due to insufficient mixing of a liquid component in a concentrated state and a newly introduced liquid material, and foaming. Development of a concentrator equipped with a new crystal separation mechanism that can handle liquid raw materials that are easy to process and liquid raw materials with high viscosity, and that can easily and reliably remove crystals precipitated during concentration. Is a technical issue.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
That is, in the concentrating apparatus having the crystal separation mechanism according to the first aspect, a circulation path is formed by connecting the heating can and the evaporator with a blowing pipe and a return pipe, and the heating vessel and the evaporating vessel are arranged in the heating can. The liquid component that has flowed into the elongated tube is boiled by conduction heat from the heating medium supplied to the outside of the elongated tube to evaporate the solvent component, and the concentrated liquid component and the vapor component are separated into the evaporator. In the evaporator, the liquid component and the vapor component are separated in the evaporator to obtain a high-concentration liquid component. In the evaporator, the evaporator has a circular cross section in plan view. In connection with the above-mentioned blowing pipe, the connection is made so as to form a flow path in the tangential direction of the circular cross section, thereby generating a swirling flow of the liquid component in the evaporator. A crystal separation mechanism, wherein an intake in the return line is located in a separated liquid component region near the center of the evaporator where crystals are separated from the liquid component. Concentrator with a.
According to the present invention, the swirling flow of the liquid component generated in the evaporator can be made to have a high flow velocity, the foaming can be effectively suppressed by the centrifugal effect, and the crystal is formed in the upper layer of the liquid component. Is moved to the vicinity of the inner wall of the evaporator, so that crystals can be easily and reliably separated from the liquid component.
In addition, since the liquid component is taken in at a position farthest from the crystal moved near the inner wall of the evaporator, it is possible to effectively prevent the crystal from entering the return pipe.
[0006]
Furthermore, a concentrating device having a crystal separation mechanism according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in addition to the above requirements, the lower portion of the evaporator is tapered.
According to the present invention, the crystal can be lowered along the inner wall of the evaporator and concentrated near the center thereof.
The above object is achieved by using the configuration of the invention described in each of the claims.
[0007]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on the illustrated embodiments. The reference numeral D in FIG. 1 denotes a concentrator according to the present invention, which is constituted by connecting a heating can 1 and an evaporating can 2 by a blowing line 3. Then, the liquid material L flowing into the long tube 11 disposed in the heating can 1 is boiled by conduction heat from the heating medium supplied to the outside of the long tube 11 to evaporate the solvent component, thereby evaporating the concentration of the solvent. This is an apparatus that blows the elevated liquid component L1 and vapor component S into the evaporator 2 and separates the liquid component L1 from the vapor component S in the evaporator 2.
[0008]
Hereinafter, various members constituting the concentration device D will be described in detail.
First, the heating can 1 will be described. This heating can 1 is provided with a plurality of long pipes 11 which are pipes made of a heat-resistant material such as a metal in a casing 10 having a sealed property. The lower end of the long tube 11 communicates with a liquid supply port 12 formed at the lower part of the housing 10, while the upper end of the long tube 11 faces the discharge port 13 formed at the upper part of the housing 10. A tapered duct 31 is connected to the outlet 13 as described later. Further, a steam port 14 and a drain port 15 are formed in a side peripheral portion of the housing 10.
[0009]
Next, the evaporator 2 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, for example, an evacuation port 21 is provided at an upper portion of a housing 20 which is a hollow member having a shape in which an inverted conical portion 20B is connected to a lower portion of a cylindrical portion 20A. Is formed, a crystal discharge port 22 is formed in the lower part, and an inflow port 23 is formed in a side peripheral part. As a form of the housing 20, as shown in FIG. 4, an inverted conical portion 20B is connected to a lower portion of the cylindrical portion 20A, and a small diameter cylindrical portion 20a and an inverted conical portion 20b are further connected to a lower portion of the inverted conical portion. It may be.
A crystal discharge pipe 25 is connected to the crystal discharge port 22. A recovery vessel 27 is provided below the crystal discharge pipe 25 with a valve 26 interposed therebetween. The crystal C deposited in the raw material L and accumulated in the crystal discharge pipe 25 can be discharged to the outside.
[0010]
The discharge port 13 of the heating can 1 and the inflow port 23 of the evaporating vessel 2 are connected to each other by the blowing line 3. The liquid supply port 12 of the heating can 1 and the inside of the evaporating vessel 2 are connected to each other. Are connected to each other by a return line 5. As a result, a circulation path including the evaporator 2, the return pipe 5, the heating can 1, and the blow pipe 3 is formed.
Here, the return line 5 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the return line 5 penetrates the peripheral portion of the crystal discharge tube 25 to reach the inside of the crystal discharge tube 25, and then bends and rises to form a casing. It is arranged so as to reach the inside of the body 20. The intake port 50, which is the upper end of the return pipe 5, is located, for example, in the inverted conical portion 20B that forms the lower part of the housing 20, and the separated crystal C is separated from the liquid component L1. It is located in the liquid component region E.
By attaching a filter made of a wire mesh or the like to the intake port 50 appropriately, the inflow of the crystal C into the return line 5 may be positively prevented.
The return pipe 5 is provided with a concentrated liquid discharge port 51, and the valve 52 is opened so that the concentrated liquid component L1 can be discharged to the outside.
[0011]
Here, the configuration of the blow-in pipe 3 and the inlet 23 will be described in more detail. For example, the configuration of these is described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-135055 “High-speed swirling evaporator” which is a patent application by the present applicant. Is adopted.
First, as shown in FIG. 3, the blowing line 3 is connected to the evaporator 2 so as to form a flow path in a tangential direction of a circular cross section, so that the liquid component L1 and the vapor component It is configured to generate a swirling flow of S. A connecting portion of the blowing line 3 with the heating can 1 is constituted by a tapered duct 31. Further, an opening cross-sectional area S3 near a connecting portion of the blowing line 3 with the evaporating can 2 is the same as that of the plurality of long lines. It was set so as to be smaller than the total sum of the opening cross-sectional areas S11 of the tubes 11.
As shown in FIG. 3 (c), the inlet 23 is a rectangular slit whose vertical side is longer than the horizontal side. The shape is also rectangular so that the vertical side is longer than the horizontal side, and the liquid component L1 and the vapor component S blown into the evaporator 2 are formed in a thin layer state.
[0012]
Further, the condenser 7 is connected to a portion of the evaporator 2 after the exhaust port 21, and a vacuum pump P is further connected to a portion after the exhaust port 21.
Furthermore, in this embodiment, the liquid raw material L is supplied into the casing 20 of the evaporator 2, and the opening degree of the valve 81 is adjusted by using the liquid raw material L stored in the liquid supply tank 8. Thus, the fuel is ejected from the nozzle 82 provided in the housing 20.
[0013]
Furthermore, a steam supply device 9 is connected to a steam port 14 formed in the heating can 1, and steam supplied from the steam supply device 9 into the housing 10 is supplied to the liquid raw material L (condensate) located in the long pipe 11. The heat is conducted to the liquid component L1 (which will be described later), and as a result, the vapor condenses and is discharged from the drain port 15 to the outside.
[0014]
The concentrating device D of the present invention is configured as described above as an example, and an operation mode of this device will be described below.
First, the vacuum pump P is started to reduce the pressure in the path in which the liquid raw material L and the liquid component L1 circulate, and in this state, the opening of the valve 81 is adjusted, and the herbal medicine extract, various seasonings, animal extracts, fish and shellfish are extracted. Various liquid substances such as extracts, plant extracts, and fermentation liquids, aqueous solutions of amino acids, yeasts, proteins, and various waste liquids are supplied as liquid raw materials L from the nozzle 82 into the evaporator 2. Next, the steam is supplied from the steam supply device 9 into the heating can 1, and the steam that has heated the long tube 11 aggregates and is discharged from the drain port 15 to the outside. In this embodiment, the pressure in the circulation path is reduced by using the vacuum pump P to reduce the boiling point of the liquid raw material L. However, depending on the type of the liquid raw material L, the pressure may not be required in some cases.
[0015]
Under such circumstances, the liquid raw material L was supplied to the heating pipe 1 via the return pipe 5 and was supplied into the long pipe 11, and was boiled inside the long pipe 11 by heat conducted from the steam and generated. When the vapor component S rises inside the long tube 11, the liquid component L1 is pulled up.
The vapor component S and the liquid component L1 rise in the long pipe 11 to reach the discharge port 13 and enter the blowing pipe 3 from here. At this time, the vapor component S and the liquid component L1 pass through the tapered duct 31 and evaporate. The flow velocity increases because the gas flows through the blowing conduit 3 in which the opening cross-sectional area S3 near the connection portion with the can 2 is set smaller than the sum of the opening cross-sectional areas S11 of the plurality of long tubes 11. In this embodiment, the flow rates of the vapor component S and the liquid component L1 in the blowing line 3 are set to 100 to 250 m / s.
[0016]
Next, the vapor component S and the liquid component L1 flow into the housing 20 from the inflow port 23 in the evaporator 2. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the evaporator 2 has a circular cross section in a plan view, and the blowing pipe 3 forms a flow path in the tangential direction of the circular cross section with respect to the evaporator 2. Thus, a swirling flow of the liquid component L1 can be generated in the evaporator 2.
In particular, in this embodiment, the rotation speed of the swirling flow can be set to about 20,000 rpm for a small apparatus and about 1000 rpm for a large apparatus, which is higher than that of an existing apparatus. L1 foaming can be effectively suppressed. Further, in this embodiment, since the opening cross section of the connecting portion of the blowing line 3 with the evaporator 2 is formed in a rectangular shape whose vertical side is longer than the horizontal side, the liquid component L1 and the vapor component blown into the evaporator 2 are formed. S is in a thin layer state, and the flow of the vapor component S moving from the inlet 23 toward the outlet 21 interferes with the flow of the liquid component L1 moving from the inlet 23 toward the outlet 22. There is no.
Then, the vapor component S reaches the condenser 7 from the exhaust port 21 and is discharged to the outside as a flocculant.
[0017]
On the other hand, the liquid component L <b> 1 flows into the intake port 50 located substantially at the center of the swirling flow, and is taken into the return pipe 5.
At this time, the crystals C precipitated as the liquid raw material L is concentrated are concentrated near the inner wall of the housing 20 by the rotation of the swirling flow, and as shown in FIG. A separated liquid component region E in which the crystal C is separated from the liquid component L1 is formed. Thereafter, the crystal C gradually descends with the water flow, and eventually accumulates in the crystal discharge pipe 25. Therefore, the crystal C does not flow into the return pipe 5.
By continuing such an operation, the concentrated liquid component L <b> 1 is again located in the long pipe 11 of the heating can 1 with the new liquid raw material L supplied from the nozzle 82. . At this time, since the concentrated liquid component L1 is mixed with the newly supplied liquid raw material L, the concentrated liquid component L1 is supplied to the heating can 1 in a state in which the concentration is uniform, and the plurality of long tubes 11 The flow rate of the liquid does not become non-uniform, and overheating and scorching due to running out of liquid do not occur. Further, since the crystal C does not enter the long tube 11, the crystal C is not blocked, and the heat conduction is not hindered.
[0018]
The above operation is continued, and when the liquid component L1 reaches a desired concentration, the valve 52 is opened to discharge the concentrated liquid component L1 to the outside. When a certain amount of crystals C have accumulated in the crystal discharge pipe 25, the valve 26 is opened to discharge the crystals to the outside.
[0019]
【The invention's effect】
ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, foaming of the liquid component which concentrated the liquid raw material L is prevented, and the sticking etc. by insufficient mixing of the liquid component L and the newly added liquid raw material L are prevented, and it is easy to foam. The liquid raw material L and the high-viscosity liquid raw material L can be efficiently concentrated, and the crystals C precipitated due to the concentration can be easily and reliably removed. Particularly, since the crystal C is separated from all the liquid components L1 located in the evaporator 2, this separation can be performed with extremely high efficiency. Further, since no special power is required to remove the crystal C, an increase in the cost of the apparatus can be avoided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing a concentration device of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional side view showing the inside of the evaporator.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view, a plan view, and a side view showing how a return pipe is connected to a steam can.
FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing an evaporator having a different form.
[Explanation of symbols]
D Concentrator 1 Heating can 10 Casing 11 Long pipe 12 Supply port 13 Outlet 14 Steam port 15 Drain port 2 Evaporating can 20 Casing 20A Cylindrical section 20a Cylindrical section 20B Inverted conical section 20b Inverted conical section 21 Exhaust port 22 Crystal Outlet 23 Inlet 25 Crystal discharge pipe 26 Valve 27 Recovery container 3 Blowing line 31 Duct 5 Return line 50 Inlet 51 Concentrated liquid outlet 52 Valve 7 Capacitor 8 Supply tank 81 Valve 82 Nozzle 9 Steam supply device C Crystal E Separated liquid component region L Liquid raw material L1 Liquid component P Vacuum pump S Vapor component S3 Open sectional area S11 Open sectional area

Claims (2)

A circulation path is formed by connecting the heating can and the evaporator with a blowing pipe and a return pipe, and the liquid raw material flowing into the long pipe arranged in the heating can is supplied to the outside of the long pipe. The solvent component is evaporated by boiling due to the conduction heat from the supplied heating medium, and the liquid component and the vapor component having the increased concentration are blown into the evaporator, and the liquid component and the vapor component are separated in the evaporator. In an evaporator for separating and obtaining a high-concentration liquid component, the evaporator has a circular cross section in plan view, and a circular cross section is used for connecting the blowing pipe to the evaporator. Are connected so as to form a flow path in the tangential direction of the evaporator, thereby generating a swirling flow of the liquid component in the evaporator. The isolation liquid component region which is formed separately, the concentrator equipped with crystals separating mechanism, characterized in that positions the inlet of the return line. 2. The concentrator according to claim 1, wherein the lower portion of the evaporator is tapered.

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