JP2006003038A - Method and device for manufacturing ice structure and ice containing salt - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve easily handlable large ice while keeping improved freshness keeping capacity that ice containing salt has, with no salt concentration variation as a whole, improving fragile properties peculiar to ice containing salt, and keeping sufficient strength for transportation, storage, or the like, when manufacturing large ice containing salt. <P>SOLUTION: When raw water with salt concentration adjusted to preset concentration is loaded into an ice can 11 and the ice can 11 is cooled for manufacturing lumps of ice containing salt, fresh water is used as the raw water when starting to manufacture ice, remaining fresh water is discharged after the ice wall of fresh water ice reaches a thickness having sufficient strength for transportation or storage from the inner surface of the ice can 11 to the center, new salt-containing water adjusted to the concentration is supplied, an operation for discharging the remaining salt-containing water and supplying new salt-containing water adjusted to the concentration is repeated, the remaining water containing salt is discharged in the final process, and fresh water is supplied again for completing ice making. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention is effective in maintaining the freshness of marine fish and shellfish, and can realize an ice structure that is easy to handle, and eliminates variations in the salinity concentration of large ice containing salt over a long period of time. This makes it possible to produce salt water ice that can maintain an accurate cooling temperature and maintain the high freshness of seafood for a long period of time.

  In general, it is well known to use low-temperature seawater in order to maintain marine fishery products with high freshness. The reason for using seawater is to maintain a state close to the habitat of seafood and to maintain a constant concentration balance inside and outside the seafood. If ice made from fresh water is brought into direct contact with seafood, it will cause ice burns and easily discolor.

  In Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-115945), as a method for maintaining the freshness of fresh food, it is formed from salt-containing water having a salt concentration of about 0.5 to about 2.5% by weight below seawater concentration. A method is disclosed in which the use of slurry ice suppresses the influence of osmotic pressure and enables suitable chilled refrigeration.

  That is, the salt-containing water having a salt concentration of about 0.5 to 2.5% by weight, which is lower than the salt concentration of seawater, is frozen and chilled refrigeration is performed with salt-containing ice formed into a slurry. By forming a chilled temperature zone (no ice crystals) near the freezing point of the food corresponding to the salinity of the salt-containing water at −1 ° C. or lower, allowing constant temperature ice storage in the chilled temperature zone of the food, It is intended to maintain efficient freshness.

Conventional ice making methods having a salinity concentration include a supercooled ice making method, a plate that flows down on an ice making plate, and a flake type ice making method using seawater or seawater or salt water with adjusted salt concentration as raw water.
Ice produced by these methods is sherbet, flakes (thin claw-like), and ice having a salt concentration of about 10 to 15 mm. These ices are effective as ice for maintaining the freshness of fish and shellfish, and there is a demand for ice that adjusts the salinity of ice and has little variation in salinity.

  As a technique for producing flaky salt-containing ice, for example, in Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-229525), ozone generated by an ozone generator is mixed with water to produce water having a high oxygen content. Then, salt is added to the produced high oxygen content water and mixed by stirring to produce concentrated salt water in which the water and salt are not separated, while the concentrated salt water is appropriately mixed with the high oxygen content water to obtain a desired concentration. It is possible to prevent the separation of water and salt water during the ice making process, and to adjust the concentration of contained salt freely. A method for producing salt water ice that can be adjusted to the above is disclosed.

  In Patent Document 3 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-150742), seawater supplied to the tank is circulated between the circulation pipe and the tank, and a part of the seawater is frozen by an ice making device to produce seawater ice. A dedicated tank is installed by discharging the cooled seawater with high salt concentration in the tank to the sea through the circulation circuit and the discharge circuit, and supplying fresh seawater to the tank through the water circuit and the circulation circuit. There is disclosed a method for producing seawater ice that can reliably produce seawater ice having a salt concentration without deteriorating the quality of seafood.

JP 2002-115945 A JP-A-9-229525 JP 2004-150742 A

  Currently, an ice making method is generally used to produce large-sized ice, using an ice tube, placing water in the ice tube, and cooling with a refrigerant, but when raw water with a salt concentration is made by this method, Because the ice making process is slow freezing, freeze concentration phenomenon occurs during ice making, and ice making progresses while salt content is eliminated during ice making, so the resulting ice has a low salinity concentration on the ice side and a salt content on the residual raw water side. Since the concentration increases with the progress of the ice making process, there is a problem that when the ice making is completed, the salt concentration of the whole ice greatly varies.

FIG. 4 shows a conventional ice tube 01. From the inner surface of the ice tube 01 toward the center (ice making direction p), icing progresses and ice i is generated, and the remaining raw water w remains in the center. FIG. 5 shows the salt concentration in the aa cross section in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the salinity concentration gradually increases in the central part where icing is slower.
Further, since the salt-containing ice contains salt as an impurity, there are problems that the ice crystal is small and becomes brittle ice, it is easy to break when handling the ice, and the workability is not good because it does not catch the claw of the ice.

  As described above, the reason for using seawater to maintain marine fishery products with high freshness is to maintain a state close to the habitat of fishery products and to maintain a constant concentration balance of fishery products inside and outside the body. This is because it is necessary to maintain the temperature, and as described in Patent Document 1, the freezing point varies depending on the salt concentration of the salt-containing water. Therefore, if the salinity concentration contained in ice varies depending on the location, it is difficult to maintain the object to be frozen at a high freshness for a long period of time, and it is not possible to maintain a precise freezing temperature.

  In view of the problems of the prior art, the present invention has no variation in the salinity concentration as a whole while maintaining the above-described excellent freshness-holding ability of the ice containing salt when producing ice containing large-sized salt. In addition, the object is to improve the brittle nature unique to ice containing salt, and to realize large ice that can be easily handled while maintaining sufficient strength for transportation, storage, and the like.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention proposes an ice structure formed by wrapping a surface layer of an ice block having a salinity concentration with strong fresh water ice.
Preferably, the salt concentration of the ice block having the salt concentration is substantially constant from the outer surface portion to the center portion.
Further, the present invention provides raw water whose salt concentration is adjusted to a preset concentration in an ice making container, and when the ice container containing the salt content is manufactured by cooling the container, the ice making container is centered from the inner surface toward the center. A method for producing salt-containing ice, wherein the operation of discharging residual salt-containing water and supplying new salt-containing water adjusted to the concentration is performed at least once while the ice thickness grows to suggest.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the ice structure of the present invention is a structure in which an entire surface layer is covered with fresh water ice pw in an ice tube 1 that is an ice making container, and salt ice s is present inside. By covering with strong fresh water ice, brittleness, which is a defect of salt water ice, can be compensated, and sufficient strength can be provided for transportation, storage and the like.

  Further, the production method of the present invention is an operation for discharging residual salt-containing water having a high salt concentration and supplying new salt-containing water adjusted to the concentration as freezing proceeds from the inner surface of the ice making container toward the center. Therefore, large salt water ice with a substantially constant salinity from the outer surface to the center can be created. FIG. 2 schematically shows the salt concentration from the outer surface to the center of the salt water ice made by the method of the present invention. 2, the aa cross section shows the aa cross section of FIG.

  In addition, as a method for producing the ice structure of the present invention, raw water whose salt concentration is adjusted to a preset concentration is put into an ice making container, and when the ice container containing salt is produced by cooling the container, ice making is started. Sometimes fresh water is used as raw water, and after the ice wall of fresh water ice reaches a thickness that is strong enough to be transported or stored from the inner surface to the center of the ice making container, residual fresh water is discharged, Supplying the adjusted new salt-containing water, and then discharging the residual salt-containing water and supplying the new salt-containing water adjusted to the above concentration one or more times. The present invention proposes a method for producing ice containing salt, which is characterized by draining and supplying fresh water again to complete ice making.

In the method of the present invention, fresh water is used as raw water at the start of ice making, for example, ice is made to have an ice thickness of about 10 to 20 mm, then raw water (fresh water) is discharged, and raw water whose salt concentration is newly adjusted is supplied, and thereafter The operation of discharging residual salt-containing water and supplying new salt-containing water adjusted to the above concentration is repeated, and the residual salt-containing water is discharged in the final step, and fresh water is supplied again to complete ice making.
Preferably, in the final step, fresh water is supplied so as to cover the freezing surface in the ice making container so that the entire surface layer of the salt water ice can be completely covered with fresh water ice.

  Furthermore, the present invention is an ice making device that is provided in an ice making machine as an apparatus for producing ice containing salt, into which raw water whose salt concentration has been adjusted to a preset concentration is charged, and injected into the ice making vessel A sensor that detects the salinity of salt water, a refrigerator that supplies heat to the ice maker to exchange heat with the raw water in the ice making container, a fresh water tank that stores fresh water, and a salinity concentration A salt water tank for storing salt water, a pipe for supplying fresh water or salt water from the fresh water tank or the salt water tank to the ice making container, and a pipe for returning fresh water or salt water from the ice making container to the fresh water tank or the salt water tank; A salinity adjuster that adjusts the salinity of salt water intervened in the pipe line and a detection value of the salinity concentration sensor are input, and fresh water or salt water is injected into or discharged from the ice making container, or the salinity of the salt water is measured. It proposes an apparatus for manufacturing ice containing salt, characterized in that a control device for controlling an integer.

  In the apparatus of the present invention, ice making is performed by supplying fresh water or salt-containing water whose salt concentration is adjusted to a desired value to the ice making container, but injection of fresh water or salt-containing water into the ice making container by the control device, The ice structure of the present invention can be manufactured, and salt water ice with a substantially constant salt-containing concentration from the outer surface to the center can be manufactured.

  According to the present invention, an ice structure formed by wrapping the surface layer of an ice block having a salinity concentration with strong fresh water ice can overcome the brittleness of salt water ice, the workability surface is hard, the strength Allows ice shape with Thus, since sufficient strength can be maintained for transportation, storage, etc., handling is greatly improved.

In addition, fresh water ice has a freezing point of approximately 0 ° C, is less meltable than salt water ice with a freezing point of about -4 ° C, and has the effect of prolonging the internal salt water ice. Can remove fresh water ice on the surface layer and use salt water ice with good freshness retention ability.
Further, in the ice structure, preferably, the freshness retaining ability of the object to be cooled such as seafood by the saltwater ice can be further improved by setting the saltwater ice inside to a substantially constant salt-containing concentration.

  Further, in the first production method of the present invention, when the raw water whose salt concentration is adjusted to a preset concentration is put into an ice making container and the container is cooled to produce an ice block containing salt, the inner surface of the ice making container As the ice thickness grows from the center to the center, the remaining salt-containing water is discharged, and the operation of supplying new salt-containing water adjusted to the above concentration is performed at least once to complete ice making. Variation in salinity in the salt water ice can be minimized.

  This makes it possible to maintain marine fish and shellfish with high freshness over a long period of time, and because the freezing point can be set accurately, it is suitable for cooling, refrigeration, and freezing that require accurate temperature maintenance such as chilled refrigeration. It is.

Further, the second production method of the present invention is a method in which raw water whose salt concentration is adjusted to a preset concentration is placed in an ice making container, and the container is cooled to produce an ice block containing salt. Was used as raw water, and after the ice wall of fresh water ice reached a thickness sufficient to transport or store from the inner surface of the ice making container to the center, the fresh water was discharged and adjusted to the concentration Supplying new salt-containing water, then discharging residual salt-containing water and supplying new salt-containing water adjusted to the above concentration one or more times, discharging residual salt-containing water in the final step, By supplying fresh water again to complete ice making, the ice structure of the present invention can be produced efficiently and inexpensively.
In this case, preferably, in the final step, the whole surface layer of the salt water ice can be completely covered with fresh water ice by supplying fresh water so as to cover the frozen surface.

Further, the manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention is provided in an ice making machine, and an ice making container into which raw water whose salt concentration is adjusted to a preset concentration is introduced, and the salinity concentration of salt water injected into the ice making vessel is detected. A sensor that performs heat exchange with the raw water in the ice making container to supply a refrigerant that freezes the raw water to the ice making machine, a fresh water tank that stores fresh water, and a salt water tank that stores salt water having a salt concentration A pipe for supplying fresh water or salt water from the fresh water tank or the salt water tank to the ice making container, a pipe for returning fresh water or salt water from the ice making container to the fresh water tank or the salt water tank, and a pipe. A salt concentration adjuster for adjusting the salt concentration of salt water and a detection value of the salt concentration sensor are input, and control for controlling the adjustment of the salt concentration of fresh water or salt water into or out of the ice making container or the salt water concentration is controlled. By providing a device, in a simple and inexpensive device structure, it is possible to implement the first manufacturing method and the second manufacturing method of the present invention.
Therefore, according to the apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to manufacture salt water ice that can substantially eliminate variations in the salinity concentration, and to efficiently manufacture the ice structure of the present invention.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. However, the dimensions, materials, shapes, relative arrangements, and the like of the component parts described in this example are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention only to specific examples unless otherwise specified. Only.
FIG. 3 is a system diagram of a manufacturing apparatus according to the first embodiment when manufacturing the ice structure of the present invention.

  In FIG. 3, reference numeral 11 denotes an ice can arranged in the ice making machine 12, and raw water whose salt concentration is adjusted to a preset concentration is injected therein, and 13 is a cold canister stored in the ice making machine 12. In the brine pool, heat is taken from the raw water poured into the ice can 11 to freeze the raw water. 14 is a sensor for detecting the salinity of raw water injected into the ice can 11, 15 is a refrigerator having a brine cooler for cooling the brine, 16 is a fresh water tank for storing fresh water, and 17 is a salinity concentration. It is a seawater tank that stores seawater.

  18 is a conduit for supplying fresh water or seawater from the fresh water tank 16 or seawater tank 17 to the ice can 11, 19 is a conduit for returning fresh water or salt water from the ice can 11 to the fresh water tank 16 or seawater tank 17, and 20 is Control valves and a salt concentration adjuster 21, which are interposed in the pipes 18 and 19 and adjust the salt concentration of salt water, receive the detected value of the salt concentration sensor 4 as input, and inject fresh water or salt water into the ice can 11. It is a control panel that switches between injecting and discharging seawater with adjusted salt concentration in salt water.

  P1 and P2 are pumps that exchange fresh water between the fresh water tank 16 and the control valves and the salt concentration adjuster 20, and P3 and P4 are fresh water exchanges between the sea water tank 17 and the control valves and the salt concentration adjuster 20. It is a pump that performs.

In the manufacturing apparatus of this embodiment, the temperature of the cold brine pool 13 is set to about −10 ° C. during fresh water ice making, and in the case of salt water ice making, salt water has a freezing point lower than that of fresh water, so it is set to −10 ° C. or lower. Is desirable. The cold brine 13 in the ice making machine 12 is maintained at a set temperature while circulating between the cold refrigerator 13 and the connected refrigerator (brine cooler) 15.
The control panel 21 switches between fresh water injection and discharge into the ice can 11, seawater salt concentration adjustment, and seawater injection and discharge with adjusted salt concentration.

First, injecting fresh water into the ice can 11, a fixed amount is injected into the ice can 11 in accordance with an instruction from the control panel 21. As for the discharge of fresh water from the ice can 11, when the set ice thickness (for example, about 10 to 20 mm) is achieved, the remaining fresh water in the ice can 11 is discharged and returned to the fresh water tank 17. Ice thickness of fresh water ice is controlled by ice making time. Returning the remaining fresh water to the fresh water tank 16 is an effective use of the cold heat from the remaining fresh water.
Next, a set amount of seawater with adjusted salt concentration is poured into the ice can 11. The seawater to be injected is mixed with fresh water supplied from the fresh water tank 16 and seawater supplied from the seawater tank 17 by the control valves and the salinity concentration adjuster 20, and automatically adjusted to the set concentration, It is injected into the can 11.

  Next, the salinity concentration in the ice can 11 is detected by the salinity concentration sensor 14, and when the set concentration is reached, the residual seawater (concentrated seawater) is returned to the seawater tank 17 according to an instruction from the control panel 21, and the salinity concentration is newly set. The adjusted seawater is poured into the ice can 11. Here, returning the residual seawater to the seawater tank 17 is intended to effectively use the cold heat held by the residual seawater.

In the last step, the remaining raw water is discharged again, and fresh water is supplied again from the fresh water tank 16 as raw water to complete ice making. In this case, it is possible to cover the entire surface of the ice block with fresh water ice by injecting fresh water so as to cover the surface of the ice can 11 that has been made in ice.
The completion of ice making is managed by the overall ice making time and the ice is removed.

Thus, according to the present Example, the ice structure which covered all the surface layers of the ice lump which consists of salt water ice with strong fresh water ice can be manufactured. Therefore, while maintaining the excellent properties of salt water ice that can maintain marine fish and shellfish at high freshness, the brittle properties of salt water ice are improved, the surface is hard, workability is good, and it is sufficient for transportation, storage, etc. It is possible to realize an ice structure having a high strength and easy handling.
Further, since this ice structure has no variation in salinity as a whole, it is possible to maintain an accurate cooling temperature of the object to be cooled over a long period of time and maintain its freshness.
Furthermore, fresh water ice has an advantage that the freezing point is almost 0 ° C., and it is harder to melt than salt water ice having a freezing point in the vicinity of −4 ° C., so that it can be long during transportation and storage.

  Thus, according to the manufacturing apparatus of the present embodiment, the ice structure having the above-mentioned advantages can be manufactured easily, inexpensively and efficiently. Moreover, since fresh water or salt water injected into the ice can 11 is returned to the fresh water tank 16 or sea water tank 17, respectively, the cool heat of these fresh water or salt water can be used effectively without throwing away, improving the efficiency of the entire system. can do.

  According to the present invention, it is effective for maintaining the freshness of marine fish and shellfish, and it is possible to realize an ice structure that is easy to handle, and by eliminating variations in the salinity concentration of large ice containing salt, This makes it possible to produce salt water ice that can maintain a precise cooling temperature over a period of time and can maintain the high freshness of seafood for a long period of time.

It is explanatory drawing which shows typically the ice structure of this invention. It is a diagram which shows the salinity concentration distribution of the salt water ice manufactured with the method of this invention. It is a systematic diagram of the manufacturing apparatus which concerns on 1st Example in the case of manufacturing the ice structure of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the manufacturing method of the large ice using the conventional ice can. It is a diagram which shows the salinity concentration distribution of the large ice manufactured with the conventional method.

Explanation of symbols

01,1,11 Ice can 12 Ice machine
13 Cold brine pool 14 Salinity sensor 15 Refrigerator 16 Fresh water tank 17 Seawater tank 18 Supply line 19 Return line 20 Control valves and salt concentration controller 21 Control panel

Claims (6)

  An ice structure comprising a surface layer of an ice block having a salinity concentration wrapped with strong fresh water ice.   2. The ice structure according to claim 1, wherein the salinity of the ice block having the salinity is substantially constant from the outer surface to the center.   When raw water whose salinity is adjusted to a preset concentration is placed in an ice-making container and the container is cooled to produce ice blocks containing salt, the ice thickness grows from the inner surface of the ice-making container toward the center. In the meantime, the method for producing salt-containing ice is characterized in that the operation of discharging residual salt-containing water and supplying new salt-containing water adjusted to the concentration is performed at least once.   When raw water whose salinity is adjusted to a preset concentration is put into an ice making container and the ice container containing salt is produced by cooling the container, fresh water is used as raw water at the start of ice making, and the inner surface of the ice making container is used. After the ice wall of fresh water ice reaches a thickness that is strong enough to be transported or stored toward the center, the fresh water is discharged and fresh salt-containing water adjusted to the above concentration is supplied. Discharge the salt-containing water and supply new salt-containing water adjusted to the above concentration one or more times, discharge the residual salt-containing water in the final step, and supply fresh water again to complete ice making. A method for producing ice containing salt.   4. The method for producing salt-containing ice according to claim 3, wherein fresh water is supplied in a final step so as to cover the surface of the frozen portion in the ice making container.   An ice making container provided in the ice making machine, in which raw water whose salinity is adjusted to a preset concentration is charged, a sensor for detecting the salinity of salt water injected into the ice making container, and the inside of the ice making container A refrigerator that supplies the ice maker with a refrigerant that exchanges heat with the raw water of the raw water, a fresh water tank that stores fresh water, a salt water tank that stores salt water having a salinity, and the fresh water tank or the salt water A pipe for supplying fresh water or salt water from the tank to the ice making container, a pipe for returning fresh water or salt water from the ice making container to the fresh water tank or the salt water tank, and a salinity for adjusting the salinity concentration of the salt water interposed in the pipe A concentration controller; and a control device that inputs a detection value of the salinity concentration sensor and controls injection or discharge of fresh water or salt water into the ice making container or adjustment of salt concentration of the salt water. Ice manufacturing apparatus including a minute.

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