JP2006189227A - Sherbet ice forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve problems wherein automation of a sherbet ice forming device is impossible, work in the middle of night is difficult, human error occurs, personnel expenses rise, and cost of sherbet ice is increased because salt concentration of seawater being a raw material is manually measured using a portable salt densitometer and salt concentration is adjusted by adding fresh water and salt water using it as base in the conventional sherbet ice forming device using seawater as the main raw material. <P>SOLUTION: Automation of salt concentration measurement is realized when phenomenon in which temperature rises instantaneously by temperature allowance during cooling operation of seawater by pouring fixed amount of seawater into a tank and then starting cooling operation as it is, namely, over cooling release phenomenon occurs or by a method for calculating salt concentration by catching temperature when temperature reduction speed is greatly reduced and ice making is started to save human labor, reduce the number of workers, and reduce running cost. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

The present invention relates to an apparatus for generating sherbet ice used for maintaining the freshness of marine products and agricultural products.

When using seawater as the main raw material and adding salt water to this to make salt water, sherbet ice is produced with this water, and when this is used to fish, preserve and cool fish, depending on the type and size of the fish It is necessary to appropriately determine the cooling temperature, that is, the ice temperature determined by the salinity of the salt water. On the other hand, the salinity of seawater, the main raw material, varies depending on the day, season, and weather, and is not fixed.

At present, when measuring the salinity of seawater or salt water when generating sherbet ice, a portable salt concentration meter, for example, an optical salt concentration refractometer (see Non-Patent Document 1), an electric conductivity salt concentration meter (Non-Patent Document 2) Etc.) and manually.

Atago Sangyo Co., Ltd. Website Salt Concentration Refractometer S-10E MC Scientific Homepage Small Digital Salinometer SALT-6

A conventional sherbet ice generator will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, 1 is a tank for storing sherbet ice, 2 is salt water as a raw material for sherbet ice, 3 is a stirrer for stirring sherbet ice, 4 is a rotating blade of the stirrer 3, 20 is a portable salt concentration meter, and 21 is a salt concentration. When measuring with a sensor, the tip is immersed in water, 7 is a water cooler, 8 is a circulation pump that circulates salt water between the water cooler 7 and the storage tank 1 during sherbet ice generation, and 9 is a cooler 7 A suction pipe, 10 is a discharge pipe from the cooler 7, 11 is a seawater supply pipe, 12 is an electric valve for the seawater supply pipe, 13 is a fresh water supply pipe, and 14 is an electric valve for the fresh water supply pipe.

Since the conventional sherbet ice generator is configured as described above, first, the electric valve 12 of the seawater supply pipe 11 is opened to inject seawater as the main raw material, and when a certain amount of water is stored in the tank 1, the portable salt content Measure the salinity by immersing the sensor 21 of the densitometer 20 in the seawater of the tank 1, and calculate the amount of fresh water to be added when diluting based on the difference from the target salinity, or the amount of added salinity when increasing the concentration. To do. When fresh water is added, the amount calculated by opening the motor-operated valve 14 of the fresh water supply pipe 13 for a certain period of time is added. When adding salt, a predetermined amount is added in the state of salt or salt water (not shown). When the salt water in the tank 1 reaches the target salinity, the stirrer 3, the circulation pump 8, and the water cooler 7 are operated to start the sherbet ice generation operation. In this way, the conventional sherbet icing device measures the salinity of seawater with a hand-held salinity meter by hand, making automation impossible and difficult to work at night, causing human error. However, there are problems such as labor costs and high sherbet ice costs.

The present invention is intended to solve the problem of such a conventional configuration, and automatically measures the salinity of seawater without helping a person to automatically operate a sherbet ice generator. The purpose of this is to realize at a low cost.

In the sherbet ice generator according to the present invention, a cooling operation is started in a state as it is without any adjustment after injecting a certain amount of seawater into the tank. As the seawater temperature decreases, a temperature that continues to decrease at a certain point in the minus temperature region increases instantaneously within a certain temperature range (for example, 0.7 ° C.). This is a reversal of the temperature that occurs when the so-called supercooling phenomenon is breached, and at the same time the icing starts at a rising and calm temperature, at the same time the temperature drop speed of the water is significantly higher (about 1/45). Down to a degree).

Since the temperature that settles after this sudden reversal of temperature is determined by the salinity of seawater, use a temperature measurement / control device that has the function to store and calculate measurement data. If there is a reversal by comparing the data with the data at the current time, the calm temperature can be known, so the salinity of seawater can be obtained from that temperature.

The second solution uses a temperature measurement / control device that has the function of storing and calculating measurement data to compare the temperature at the previous time with the temperature at the current time to know the speed of the current temperature drop. If the current temperature drop speed is significantly lower than that at the time, the salinity of the seawater can be determined from the current temperature, that is, from the start temperature of icing.

The operation of the first solving means and the second solving means is as follows. Since the salinity can be known by measuring the temperature of the seawater discharged from the cooler, the salinity measurement can be automated. This makes it possible to use a relatively inexpensive temperature measurement / control device for salinity concentration measurement, eliminates restrictions on measurement work time, prevents human error, suppresses labor costs, It is possible to provide a sherbet ice making device that can reduce both running costs.

In addition, when the sherbet ice production operation is performed, if the ice production rate exceeds the limit, it becomes difficult to carry by the pump, so the operation is automatically stopped when a certain production rate (for example, 30%) is reached. Driving operation is required. When generating the sherbet ice after adjusting the salinity in advance, it is possible to set the automatic stop temperature according to the salinity from the beginning. However, when producing sherbet ice with different salinity without changing the salinity of seawater, the amount of ice produced is a certain percentage when the salinity of seawater is determined by the method of the present invention. Since the temperature at which sherbet ice reaches (for example, 30%) can be calculated and the automatic stop temperature can be set, manual temperature setting is not necessary, eliminating work time restrictions and human error. Thus, it is possible to provide a sherbet ice making device that can reduce running costs by preventing the occurrence of labor costs and suppressing labor costs.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a cooling curve when seawater is cooled. In the figure, the vertical axis represents seawater temperature, and the horizontal axis represents time. For example, when 3.7% salinity seawater is placed in a 1.5-ton tank and cooling starts from 15 ° C (temperature point 15 when seawater starts cooling), -2.9 ° C (seawater supercooling arrival point 16) after 5 hours. At this temperature, the temperature rises to -2.2 ° C (freezing start point 17 after the release of seawater supercooling), and at the same time, freezing begins, and the water temperature drops very slowly. After 12 hours, the temperature reaches -3.2 ° C (point 18 when the ice formation rate reaches 30%), but the ice formation rate at this time is 30%.

In FIG. 1, 5 is a temperature measurement / control device having a function of storing / calculating measurement data, and 6 is a temperature sensor of the same temperature measurement / control device 20 fixedly attached to the discharge pipe 10 of the water cooler 7. . Others are the same as in FIG.

The operation of the above configuration will be described below. In FIG. 1, first, the motor valve 12 of the seawater supply pipe 11 is opened to inject a predetermined amount of seawater into the tank 1. Immediately thereafter, the agitator 3, the circulation pump 8, and the water cooler 7 are operated to start the cooling operation. A temperature sensor 6 of a temperature measurement / control device 5 having a function of storing and calculating measurement data is fixedly attached to the discharge pipe 10 from the water cooler 7. If the operation continues, the temperature of the seawater discharged from the water cooler 7 will rise momentarily, but the temperature rises by comparing the temperature of the current time with the temperature of the previous time (for example, 1 minute ago). If this is the case, the current temperature is the temperature that has settled after the reverse rotation, and the salinity of seawater can be obtained from the temperature by calculation.

In the same way, compare the temperature at the previous time (for example, 1 minute) with the temperature at the current time to know the speed of temperature drop (for example, ° C / minute) at the current time, and compare it with that at the previous time. If the current temperature drop speed is significantly lower than before, the salinity of seawater can be determined from the current temperature, that is, the temperature at which ice formation starts.

When reducing the concentration based on the salinity of the seawater thus obtained, the amount of fresh water required is calculated, and fresh water is injected by opening the motor valve 14 of the fresh water supply pipe 13. On the other hand, when increasing the concentration, calculate the required amount of salt and inject the required amount in the form of salt crystals or salt water. If concentration adjustment is not necessary, skip water and salt injection. Thus, fresh water or salt is added to seawater to adjust the salinity, and then the sherbet is generated.

When manufacturing sherbet ice without adjusting the salinity of seawater, calculate the temperature reached by the sherbet ice when the amount of ice produced reaches a certain percentage (for example, 30%) when the salinity of seawater is obtained. To set the automatic stop temperature.

The sherbet ice production | generation apparatus by one Example of this invention Seawater cooling curve Conventional sherbet ice generator

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sherbet ice storage tank 2 Seawater or salt water 3 Stirrer 4 Stirrer blade 5 Temperature measurement / controller 6 Temperature sensor / temperature sensor 7 Water cooler 8 Circulation pump 9 Suction pipe 10 Discharge pipe 11 Seawater supply pipe 12 Seawater supply Pipe water valve 13 Fresh water supply pipe 14 Fresh water supply pipe motor operated valve 15 Temperature point at the start of seawater cooling 16 Seawater supercooling arrival point 17 Freezing start point after seawater supercooling release 18 Sherbet ice production rate 30% Point 20 reached to the salinity concentration controller 21 salinity concentration sensor

Claims (3)

In the sherbet ice generator that has a sherbet ice storage tank, water cooler, circulation pump, etc. and generates sherbet ice as seawater as the main raw material water, a temperature sensor for the temperature measurement / controller that has the function to store and calculate measurement data Installed in the water discharge pipe of the water cooler, injects a certain amount of seawater into the storage tank, starts the cooling operation with the seawater as it is, and the temperature that has continued to fall at a certain point in the minus temperature range is instantaneously A sherbet ice generator that adjusts the salinity of raw water by obtaining the salinity of seawater by obtaining a calm temperature that rises in width and calculating the amount of fresh water or additional salt. In the sherbet ice generator that has a sherbet ice storage tank, water cooler, circulation pump, etc. and generates sherbet ice as seawater as the main raw material water, a temperature sensor for the temperature measurement / controller that has the function to store and calculate measurement data Installed in the water discharge pipe of the water cooler, poured a certain amount of seawater into the storage tank and started cooling operation with the seawater as it is, and the temperature of the previous time and the current time are changed while the seawater temperature is decreasing. Comparing the current temperature drop speed and comparing it with the previous time, and detecting that the descent speed has fallen by several tenths, obtain the salinity of seawater from the current temperature. This is a sherbet ice generator that adjusts the salinity of raw water by calculating the amount of fresh water and salt content based on this. In the sherbet ice producing apparatus for producing the sherbet ice without adjusting the salt concentration, the salt concentration of the sea water is obtained by the method of claims 1 and 2, and the ice production amount becomes a certain percentage. The sherbet ice generator that calculates the temperature reached and sets it as the automatic stop temperature set value.

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