JP2008018349A - Method for detecting abnormality of element in candle-type filter machine - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for more easily and exactly grasping a minute abnormality of an element in a candle-type filter machine for use in a filtration of beer, or the like compared with a conventional method. <P>SOLUTION: The method for detecting the abnormality of the element in the candle-type filter machine comprises the steps of: cutting a connection of a screw part at an outlet of each element in the candle-type filter machine to a device of a subsequent stage; temporarily connecting the screw part to a tube for extracting a sample; feeding a suspension of diatomaceous earth to the filter machine when a preparation of extracting the sample from each tube has been set up; extracting a liquid discharging from the tube for extracting each sample through each element to a container for extracting a sample; and measuring the turbidity of sampled water with a turbidimeter or an absorptiometer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for detecting an element abnormality in a candle filter.

  In the beer production process, beer filtration is performed in order to remove beer yeast and excess protein from beer after the completion of fermentation, and a beer filter using diatomaceous earth as a filter aid is widely used. There are various types of beer filters, but candle-type filters are common in today's large-scale beer factories (FIG. 1). The candle type filter is provided with a large number of candles 2, 2... In the filtration tank 1, and the liquid to be filtered is supplied from the lower part of the filtration tank and passes through the candles 2, 2. Filtration is performed (the filtered liquid is discharged from the upper part of the filtration tank, filtered through a pipe, and then sent to a beer tank). Each candle has a large diameter diatomaceous earth particle on the surface of a hollow support (hereinafter referred to as an element) 4 having a slit 13 of about 70 μm as shown in FIG. The diatomaceous earth layer 6 having a small diameter and the layer 5 are formed, and filtration is performed by the two diatomaceous earth layers. In a normal filtration process, this filter forms a diatomaceous earth layer on the element surface as described in Non-Patent Document 1, and then flows beer containing diatomaceous earth through the filter to beer filter. After filtering for a certain time, for example, one day, stop the work and remove all diatomaceous earth layers by backwashing. At the next use, the filtration operation is resumed after forming a new diatomaceous earth layer again as described above. Each of these layers 5 and 6 forms a layer having a desired thickness by circulating a liquid in which diatomaceous earth having a particle size appropriately selected according to the quality of the beer to be filtered, the component to be removed by filtration, or the degree of removal ratio is suspended for a predetermined time. be able to. As beer passes through this layer, yeast and proteins are trapped in the voids in the layer.

  Each element of the filter is subjected to various mechanical shocks during use, various chemicals for cleaning and sterilization are used, and the temperature rises during sterilization with hot water and the distortion due to the subsequent temperature drop occurs. Due to this, various damages are taken. When the damage is significant, a visible deformation occurs, resulting in the formation of a diatomaceous earth layer that is not uniformly performed, resulting in a decrease in filtration capacity such as yeast or proteins in beer not being removed normally. In such a case, the filter capacity is restored by replacing the element with a new one. Such significant deformation of the filter element may be found by observing the interior from the filter manhole. If necessary, the filter can be disassembled and the elements can be removed one by one for observation. However, this method uses a filter with a large filtering capacity to remove and observe, for example, 500 elements, and it is difficult to find and install fine elements. There is a possibility that the element may be damaged during the work, and it is difficult to find a defect in a state where the element is installed.

  As a method of discovering the failure of the element during actual filtration, as seen in Non-Patent Document 1, the upper lid of the filter is removed and a cylindrical transparent plate is installed there to collect the filtered liquid. A method (hereinafter referred to as an open test) is used to check whether or not the liquid coming out from the element outlet is cloudy by filtering a diatomaceous earth suspended in a dummy liquid (such as water). It is done in the industry. In any of these methods, there is no idea of trying to inspect each element one by one.

However, abnormalities cannot be found in the open test, but if there is a small amount of damage that is not visible, the filtering ability is often not extremely reduced. For this reason, the cause of the decrease in filtration capacity may be misunderstood as other causes, such as whether the filtration conditions have changed or the filtration method is not set as set. It is often difficult to find anomalies for an element.
Therefore, a simpler and more accurate element defect detection method is desired.

December 28, 1999, published by Food Industry Newspaper Co., Ltd., Hideo Miyaji, “Beer Brewing Technology”, pp. 339-341

  An object of the present invention is to provide a simple and highly accurate inspection method for inspecting the liquid coming out from the outlet of each element one by one in a candle filter used for beer filtration and the like. It is in.

  The conventional open test employs a method of visually observing the entire liquid group coming out from the element group outlet and detecting the presence or absence of an element abnormality based on the presence or absence of turbidity. However, since it is necessary to look over the entire upper part of the filter, it is difficult to detect the turbidity from the element outlet close to the center of the filter. Therefore, the present invention provides a method of collecting the liquid coming out from the outlet for each element and inspecting the collected liquid.

That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the liquid coming out from each element outlet is collected for each element in the candle filter, and the turbidity of each liquid is made turbid when inspecting the state of each collected liquid. The present invention relates to a method for detecting an abnormality of an element in a candle filter, characterized in that measurement is performed with a photometer or an absorbance meter.
The second aspect of the present invention is to collect the liquid coming out from each element outlet for each element in the candle type filter, and inspect the state of the collected liquid in each element outlet part in the candle type filter. After disconnecting the connection with the device at the later stage and temporarily connecting a sample collection tube to the element outlet, the diatomaceous earth suspension is fed into the filter from the inlet side of each element, and for each sample collection through each element. A method for detecting an abnormality of an element in a candle filter, characterized in that each liquid coming out of a tube is collected in each sample collection container and the turbidity of each liquid is measured with a turbidimeter or an absorptiometer. About.
The third aspect of the present invention is to collect the liquid coming out from each element outlet for each element in the candle type filter, and inspect the state of the collected liquid in each of the sample collecting tubes. A filter unit is connected, the liquid filtered by each element is filtered by each membrane filter in each filter unit, and the presence or absence (including the amount) of diatomaceous earth remaining on each membrane filter is investigated. The present invention relates to a method for detecting element abnormality in a candle filter.
The filter unit is a unit in which a membrane filter is mounted on a filter holder and integrated.
4th of this invention attaches | subjects an identification symbol to each of each said element or each said sample collection tube, and respond | corresponds to each identification symbol of each said element or each said sample collection tube also to the said sample collection container The present invention relates to a method for detecting an element abnormality in a candle filter according to claim 2 or 3.
The identification symbol may be a number, a, b, c, or the like. In short, the identification symbol indicates from which element the liquid collected in the sample collection container is collected. It should be clear without any confusion. Of the 300 to 500 elements, it is very convenient to use an identification symbol for measuring in a short time without error which element is collected. The identification symbol may be given to the element, the tube, or the container itself, but an identification tag may be used.

  The method of the present invention is a method necessary for checking the filtration function so that the performance of the beer filter in a series of processes for producing beer does not deteriorate below a desired level. If there is no problem, it will be carried out once a year for one beer filter. In the improved open test of the present invention, the liquid coming out from the outlet is collected for each element, and the turbidity of the collected liquid is measured with a turbidimeter or an absorptiometer, or filtered with a filter unit and placed on a filter. The remaining diatomaceous earth is a method of visually confirming, but in carrying out this method, for example, a diatomaceous earth layer that acts as a substantial filter by flowing water containing diatomaceous earth into the system is used as the element. It is to check for each element how much pain is caused by the abnormality and how much diatomaceous earth is mixed in the water that has passed through the element. Normally, as shown in FIG. 3, a candle is provided with a diatomaceous earth layer 5 having a large diameter and a diatomaceous earth layer 6 having a small diameter at the opening of an element 4 made of a metal tube having a coiled opening.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the same number of sample collection tubes 9 with the corresponding screw cut are prepared so as to be screwed into the screw portion 8 provided at the outlet portion of the element 4 (usually one element per filter). There are 300 to 500). Examples of the material of the tube include plastics such as vinyl chloride resin and various metals, but transparent plastics that are lightweight and easy to observe the internal liquid are preferable. Identification tags 10 and 12 are attached to the sample collection tube 9 or each element itself and the sample collection container 11 attached to each element outlet, and the liquid and the element collected from each element outlet correspond exactly. Be very careful. Thereby, it can be confirmed from which element the liquid in the sample collection tube is collected.

  Observe the turbidity of the liquid coming out of each element outlet, and measure the turbidity of the collected liquid with a turbidimeter or an absorptiometer. Elements that show a value above a certain value are considered to be abnormal and are removed, examined in detail, repaired, or replaced with new normal elements.

  According to the present invention, only a diatomaceous earth leak with a concentration of 100 ppm or more can be found at most in the conventional open test, and there has been a big trouble before realizing that there is a problem. This is a great merit that the element can be easily repaired or replaced before a major trouble occurs.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Example 1
Stop the operation of the candle-type beer filter shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, which has been operated until now, and by first flowing water from the opposite direction to each element 4, that is, by backwashing, all the diatomaceous earth layers are completely removed. Remove. Next, an aqueous suspension of diatomaceous earth having a large particle diameter is circulated and supplied to the element having the slit 13 to form a diatomaceous earth layer 5 having a desired thickness. Next, an aqueous suspension of diatomaceous earth having a small particle diameter was similarly circulated and supplied to form a diatomaceous earth layer 6 having a desired diameter on the diatomaceous earth layer having a large diameter.
Next, as shown in FIG. 3, a sample collection tube 9 made of vinyl chloride resin with a screw cut is attached to a screw portion 8 provided at the outlet of the element 4, and the sample collection tube 9 is identified. A tag 10 (No. 1 is attached to the identification tag 10 in FIG. 3, which indicates that it is a sampling sample of the element of number 1). This operation was performed for all elements of the beer filter. Thus, identification numbers from No. 1 to No. 300 were assigned to the sample collection tubes attached to the respective elements. On the other hand, in order to collect the liquid coming out from the sample collection tube 9, a sample collection container 11 was prepared, and an identification tag 12 was also attached thereto (in FIG. 3, No. 1 was assigned to the identification tag 12). Attached). The number of sample collection containers corresponding to the identification number of the sample collection tube was prepared, and an identification number corresponding to each was assigned.

At this stage, an aqueous suspension (concentration 200 ppm) of diatomaceous earth [trade name Radiolite Fine Flow B, manufactured by Showa Kagaku] is flowed from the element inlet side to the system, and the liquid flowing out from each sample collection tube through each element outlet The sample was collected in a sample collection container having an identification number corresponding to the identification number of each sample collection tube, and the turbidity of the liquid was measured for each container with a sigrist turbidimeter and an absorptiometer. The results are shown in Table 1.

On the other hand, using the same diatomaceous earth particles for confirmation of detection sensitivity, 100 ppm, 50 ppm, 25 ppm, 12.5 ppm, 6.25 ppm, 3.13 ppm, and 1.56 ppm aqueous suspensions were prepared. The turbidity and absorbance of each were measured without passing through a filter, and also visually confirmed. The results are shown in Table 2.

  The sigrist in the table (Ebc / 25 °) is measured using a sigrist turbidimeter manufactured by Glossary, and 25 ° applies incident light to, for example, a cylindrical cell (sample container) containing a sample solution. The scattered light that emerges is measured by shifting the incident light by an angle of 25 °, not the facing surface (the opposite side) of the cell. It is a common measuring device in the beer and beverage industry.

  FIG. 4 was created from the absorbance and turbidity as the measurement data. From FIG. 4, the diatomite concentration of the suspension can be determined for any absorbance or concentration. According to Table 2, the detection limit diatomite concentration of the suspension in each method of absorbance, turbidity, and visual observation can be estimated. According to the present invention, it can be seen that the absorbance can be measured up to a concentration of about 3 ppm, and the turbidity can be measured even at a concentration of about 1.5 ppm.

  According to this example, when one of the elements in which turbidity was observed was removed and investigated, the interval between the slits was wider than usual. Further, when the other one was investigated in the same manner, the interval between the joints with the screw portion at the top of the element was wide. These two were regarded as abnormal and were replaced with new ones. As a result, no leakage of diatomaceous earth was observed in the sample after replacement.

Example 2
A membrane filter (manufactured by Nippon Millipore) having a pore size (pore size) of 0.45 μm was set in a holder having a diameter of 13 mm, and a fixed amount of diatomaceous earth suspension prepared to a concentration of 2 ppm was sucked to supplement diatomaceous earth. The membrane filter after suction was removed from the holder, and it was tested whether the presence or absence of diatomaceous earth supplemented by visual observation could be confirmed. The results are shown below.

注＊：青色のメンブランフィルター上に補足された白色あるいは乳白色の珪藻土
の存在が目視により明確に判別できるかどうかにより判断した。

Note *: Judgment was made based on whether the presence of white or milky white diatomaceous earth supplemented on the blue membrane filter could be clearly identified by visual observation.

As shown in Table 3, when 0.4 mg or more of diatomaceous earth is supplemented on the filter, it can be determined that diatomaceous earth is present in the liquid that has passed through the filter by visual observation. I understand.
The test as in this example was performed in the test room because the oven test as in Example 1 could not be performed. However, when the results in Table 3 were performed as an open test, what level of diatomite concentration was required? It was calculated below whether the leakage of diatomaceous earth could be detected.
First, the discharge flow rate from the element in the open test method is calculated. For example, when the filtration amount is 30 kiloliters / hour and the number of filter elements is 390,
30000 ÷ 390 ÷ 60 = 1200 ml / min. Next, when a membrane filter is set on the filter element, detection is possible if 0.4 mg of diatomaceous earth is supplemented on the filter. Therefore, what level of diatomaceous earth can be detected is calculated.
After installing the holder set with the membrane filter by screwing it into each element outlet, when a 1-minute open test is performed, 0.4 mg of diatomaceous earth is supplemented on the filter with a discharge amount of 1200 ml From
Minimum concentration = 0.4mg ÷ 1200ml ≒ 0.3ppm
Thus, it can be seen that leakage can be detected even at a low diatomite concentration of about 0.3 ppm. This concentration is much lower than when using an absorptiometer or turbidimeter, and it is possible to judge the leak immediately by visual inspection after removing the screwed filter holder after passing water for a certain period of time in an open test. Therefore, it can be seen that the method of claim 3 is a method that has high detection sensitivity, is simple, and is very excellent.
In addition to the blue color used in the examples, commercially available membrane filters include black and dark blue, and if these dark-colored filters are used, the difference from white or milky white diatomaceous earth is clear. As a result, the detection sensitivity further increases. Moreover, although the water flow time of the test solution in the open test was calculated here for 1 minute, the detection sensitivity can be further improved by further extending the water flow time.
The filter holder installed at the element outlet is, for example, as shown in FIG. 5 (in the figure, the filter holder is depicted as being transparent, and the left and right holders are separated by the filter provided at the center. Can be used as long as the connecting portion is threaded and connected by meshing the screws).

Comparative Example 1
The operation of the candle-type beer filter that has been operated so far is stopped, and the diatomaceous earth layer is completely removed by first flowing water into each element from the opposite direction, that is, backwashing. Next, an aqueous suspension of diatomaceous earth having a large particle diameter is circulated and supplied to the element to form a diatomaceous earth layer having a desired thickness. Next, an aqueous suspension of diatomaceous earth having a small particle diameter was similarly circulated and supplied to form a diatomaceous earth layer having a desired diameter on a large diameter diatomaceous earth layer.
At this stage, an aqueous suspension of diatomaceous earth particles having a small diameter was poured by an open test method, and it was observed whether or not a turbid liquid appeared with the naked eye from the element outlet. As a result, it was found that a turbid liquid was flowing only in a specific number of elements.

  As a result, it was investigated below how much the concentration of the suspension was when compared with the case of Example 1 of the present invention when it was judged that it was cloudy by the naked eye.

  The turbidity of the turbidity meter or the absorptiometer is collected by collecting the turbid liquid from the sample collection tube using the sample collection container for only a few elements that have been judged to be turbid by the naked eye. Measured with The concentration of diatomaceous earth corresponding to the turbidimeter or absorptiometer scale was determined using a calibration curve prepared in advance, and was about 100 ppm. From this, it is considered that the concentration of diatomaceous earth that can be found abnormal by the open test method is about 100 ppm.

It is sectional drawing of the candle type filter used in the Example and the comparative example. It is an expanded sectional view of the candle shown in FIG. It is an enlarged view of a candle when Example 1 is implemented. It is a graph which shows the relationship between a light absorbency and diatomaceous earth concentration, and the graph which shows the relationship between turbidity and diatomaceous earth concentration. It is the schematic which shows an example of the filter holder installed in an element exit.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Beer filtration tank 2 Candle 3 Candle mounting plate 4 Element 5 Diatomaceous earth layer with large diameter 6 Diatomaceous earth layer with small diameter 7 Flow path in element 8 Screw part 9 Sample collection tube 10 Identification tag attached to sample collection tube 11 Sample collection Container 12 Identification tag attached to sample collection container 13 Element slit (shaded area)

Claims (4)

  For each element in a candle filter, collect the liquid coming out of each element outlet and measure the turbidity of each liquid with a turbidimeter or absorptiometer when checking the state of the collected liquid. A method for detecting an abnormality of an element in a candle filter.   When collecting the liquid coming out from each element outlet for each element in the candle filter and inspecting the state of the collected liquid, each element outlet in the candle filter is connected to the subsequent device. After temporarily connecting a sample collection tube to the element outlet, the diatomaceous earth suspension is fed into the filter from the inlet side of each element, and each element coming out of each sample collection tube through each element. A method for detecting an abnormality of an element in a candle filter, which comprises collecting a liquid in each sample collecting container and measuring the turbidity of each liquid with a turbidimeter or an absorptiometer.   For each element in the candle type filter, the liquid coming out from each element outlet is collected, and in checking the state of the collected liquid, a filter unit is connected to each of the sample collection tubes, The liquid filtered by the element is filtered by each membrane filter in each filter unit, and the presence or absence (including the amount) of diatomaceous earth remaining on each membrane filter is investigated. How to detect anomalies. Each element or each sample collection tube is provided with an identification symbol, and the sample collection container is also provided with an identification symbol corresponding to each identification symbol of each element or each sample collection tube The method for detecting an element abnormality in the candle filter according to claim 2 or 3.

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