JP2011078493A - Device for sterilizing powder and granular material enabling cleaning in place - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for sterilizing a powder and granular material enabling cleaning in place for continuously performing a sterilizing treatment on powder and granular materials such as foodstuffs by using superheated steam of a high pressure. <P>SOLUTION: The device for sterilizing a powder and granular material includes four sections of a sterilizing zone for performing a thermal sterilizing treatment by continuously supplying a powder and granular material and superheated steam, a solid-gas separation zone for separating the powder and granular material from the superheated steam, a cooling zone for cooling the powder and granular material, and a product recovery zone for recovering the powder and granular material as a product and is quipped with a high pressure rotary valve for supplying the powder and granular material at an entrance of the sterilizing zone and a nozzle which adjusts a differential pressure between the sterilizing zone and the solid-gas separation zone and is located between the zones. Further, in the device having a low pressure rotary valve in the solid-gas separation zone, at least the low pressure rotary valve has a structure in which a bypass flow passage is formed only in washing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a powder sterilizer capable of stationary cleaning, which continuously sterilizes powder particles such as food using high-pressure superheated steam. Here, the granular material such as food includes not only food raw materials but also health foods, pharmaceuticals, cosmetic raw materials, feed, fertilizers and the like.
In-place cleaning (CIP, Cleaning In Place) is a cleaning method in which a cleaning function is incorporated into the configuration of equipment and devices without disassembling the equipment and parts.

  As a powder sterilizer, as seen in Patent Documents 1 to 3, a superheated steam sterilizer has been practically developed for about 30 years. These are called airflow sterilizers, and are continuous processing devices that put granular foods or the like into superheated steam flowing in an airflow pipe and instantly sterilize them during transfer. Superheated steam has not only a large heat capacity compared to hot air and a great bactericidal effect, but also has the property of condensing when it comes into contact with a low-temperature substance like saturated steam. For this reason, the superheated steam sterilizer is a very convenient sterilizer when sterilizing at a high temperature so as not to change the quality while keeping the moisture content of a granular material such as food at room temperature appropriately. However, the development of cleaning of each component device has been delayed so far, and there has been nothing to consider for stationary cleaning. For this reason, it is necessary to disassemble and clean the apparatus at the time of changing the raw material, and the operating time of the apparatus is reduced, and the nominal capacity of the apparatus cannot often be exhibited.

When the raw material is supplied into the high-pressure superheated steam by using such a superheated steam sterilizer, a high-pressure rotary valve as found in Patent Documents 4 and 5 is used. The rotary valve is necessary when connecting the devices having a pressure difference and transferring the powder while air-locking.
The rotary valve of Patent Document 4 is stored in a packing housed in a packing housing chamber of a blade of a rotor, and a hole provided through the packing housing chamber through the center of the rotor, and has one end at the bottom of the packing. And a means for adjusting the sticking-out of the packing via the working body provided at the center of the rotor.

  This type of valve is called a blade type rotary valve. Each pocket is surrounded by a flat seal material and a circumferential seal material to block the pressure in the pocket from the surroundings, and a flat seal that adheres closely to the surrounding casing. It has a mechanism for extruding materials (Teflon (registered trademark) packing, PEEK packing, metal packing, etc.) in accordance with wear due to wear. This rotary valve is not only difficult to drop the sticky material and light fluffy material in the pocket, can not increase the capacity of the pocket, no consideration is given to cleaning, it must be disassembled and cleaned It was something that I did not get.

The rotary valve of Patent Document 5 is also similar to the type of Patent Document 4, and the rotary valve is provided with a superheated steam inlet, and superheated steam is introduced into the pocket. It was only for heat sterilization of the raw material, and not for cleaning. There are other methods for supplying raw materials to high-pressure superheated steam, such as the extruder method and the double damper method. However, in any case, it is not sufficient to perform stationary cleaning for cleaning the inner surface of the device and the rotating part. It was a thing.
In addition, decomposition cleaning has also been performed in cyclones and low-pressure rotary valves that separate superheated steam and sterilized powder particles.

In these conventional airflow sterilizers, continuous sterilization is possible, but a high-pressure rotary valve and a rotary valve downstream of the cyclone are used between the zones and between the devices. Therefore, continuous cleaning is difficult, and it is necessary to disassemble and clean the apparatus during cleaning.
Even in a device for heat-treating a granular material in a heated and pressurized mixed gas containing incompressible gas and water vapor without using superheated water vapor as in Patent Document 6, a high-pressure rotary valve or cyclone is used. A downstream rotary valve is used, and it is necessary to disassemble and clean the device during cleaning.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-50984 JP-A-57-153654 Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-53 JP 52-62858 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-211103 JP 2000-24091 A

  In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a powder sterilization apparatus capable of stationary cleaning, which continuously sterilizes powders and the like using high-pressure superheated steam. Here, the cleaning in the present invention includes sterilization of the apparatus. In addition, the heat sterilization treatment of the granular material such as food includes general heat treatment of food and the like. The heat sterilization treatment includes heat treatment for the purpose of alteration of foods.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention of claim 1 includes a sterilization zone for continuously supplying powder and superheated steam to heat sterilize, a solid-gas separation zone for separating the powder from superheated steam, It consists of four sections, a cooling zone for cooling the powder and a product recovery zone for collecting the powder as a product, and a high-pressure rotary valve for supplying the powder is provided at the sterilization zone inlet A nozzle for adjusting the differential pressure between the two zones is provided between the sterilization zone and the solid-gas separation zone, and a low-pressure rotary valve is provided in the solid-gas separation zone. In the granular sterilizer, at least the low-pressure rotary valve has a structure in which a bypass channel is formed only during cleaning.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the low-pressure rotary valve comprises a main body having an inlet and an outlet, a side wall, and a slide cover, and the low-pressure valve casing. A rotor having a plurality of pockets accommodated therein and rotatably supported; and the slide cover is slidable on an inner peripheral surface of the low-pressure valve casing in an axial direction of the rotor, The slide cover is separated from the rotor in the axial direction so that a bypass channel is formed only during cleaning.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the nozzle has a structure capable of switching between a throttle channel and an open channel for cleaning.

  The invention of claim 4 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the high-pressure rotary valve comprises a main body having a raw material inlet and a raw material outlet, and a high-pressure valve casing comprising two side walls, A rotor housed in the high-pressure valve casing and rotatably supported in a cantilevered manner and having a plurality of pockets partitioned by rotor blades, and a sealing mechanism between the inner peripheral surface of the high-pressure valve casing and the rotor blades Each of the plurality of pockets is formed by the rotor blade, two sidewalls, and a bottom surface of the pocket, and a side wall in contact with one side wall is in contact with the bottom surface of the pocket. An opening is provided in one of the plurality of pockets, and one of the pockets communicates with the material outlet in all of the plurality of pockets. During the high pressure steam inlet provided in the side wall of the one, and the opening provided in one of said pockets is characterized in that it is configured to communicate.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the solid-gas separation zone is provided with at least two cyclones, and the cyclone discharge ports are respectively provided. The low-pressure rotary valve is provided.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the low-pressure rotary valve has a main body having a delivery port and a delivery port, a side wall, and a slide cover, and is housed in the low-pressure valve casing and is rotatable. A rotor having a plurality of pockets supported by a shaft is provided, and the slide cover is slidable in an axial direction of the rotor on the inner peripheral surface of the low pressure valve casing, and the slide cover is axially moved from the rotor. It is characterized by having a structure in which a bypass channel is formed only during cleaning by being separated from each other.

  By continuously supplying water and saturated water vapor at the time of cleaning, a part or all of the sterilization zone, solid-gas separation zone, cooling zone, and product recovery zone can be continuously cleaned in place.

It is a schematic explanatory drawing which shows the sterilizer of one Embodiment of this invention. It is a front view of the high-pressure rotary valve used for one embodiment of the present invention. (A) is a side view of the high-pressure rotary valve of FIG. 2, and (b) is a cross-sectional view of FIG. It is a front view of the nozzle used for one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the low pressure rotary valve used for one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 6 is a side view of the low pressure rotary valve of FIG. 5.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. About each embodiment, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the part of the same structure, and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view showing a sterilizer according to an embodiment of the present invention. The granular material as a raw material is supplied from a hopper through a supply device, from a charging device 1 having a chute for raw material charging into a pocket of a high-pressure rotary valve 100 (details will be described later), through a first line 11, It is transferred to a heating tube 2 that is heated by an electric heater. In addition, this heating is not restricted to an electric heater, You may heat with a high temperature fluid with a double pipe.
The superheated steam introduction line 20 is a line that superheats saturated steam generated in a boiler, for example, with a super heater (not shown) under a certain pressure and supplies superheated steam. The superheated steam introduction line 20 communicates with the line 21 near the material outlet of the high-pressure rotary valve 100, and further communicates with the first line 11 and the line 22. The first line 11 constitutes an airflow pipe and passes through the heating pipe 2 and is connected to the second line 12. During this time, the granular material is thrown into the superheated steam flowing in the airflow pipe, and sterilization is performed during the transfer.

As an example of the state of the superheated steam in the superheated steam introduction line 20, the pressure is about 0.1 to 1.0 MPa, preferably 0.2 to 0.3 MPa at the outlet of the super heater. The temperature is about 150 to 300 ° C, preferably 170 to 220 ° C.
The inlet of the sterilization zone is provided with a high-pressure rotary valve 100 for supplying powder particles, and a nozzle 30 (pressure control means for maintaining the pressure of the sterilization zone at a high pressure at the end of the second line 12. Details will be described later). And the sterilization zone is before the nozzle 30.

  The raw material (powder particles) that has passed through the nozzle 30 is depressurized and transferred to the third line 13 while floating in the air stream, and enters the solid-gas separation zone. In the solid-gas separation zone, the sterilized raw material is recovered as a product, and thus separated from superheated steam. The third line 13 is connected to the first cyclone 4, and a low pressure rotary valve 200 (details will be described later) is provided at the outlet. An ejector 5 is provided at the delivery port of the low-pressure rotary valve 200, and hot air is sent from the blower through the line 50 in order to prevent condensation of superheated steam. The line 50 must be provided with a filter to prevent contamination. The first cyclone 4 mainly has a function of separating the raw material from the superheated steam.

Next, the raw material that has passed through the fourth line 14 passes through the second cyclone 6 and the ejector 7, passes through the cooling zone of the fifth line 15, and is transferred to the product recovery zone. The second cyclone 6 has a function of not only separation but also drying. Moreover, the 5th line 15 which is a cooling zone is cooled with cooling water with a double pipe. The cooling can be performed by any method other than the case of using a double tube, and the double tube may be omitted.
After being transferred to the product recovery zone at the outlet of the fifth line 15, it is recovered as a product via the cyclone 8 and the valve 9.

The line 21 is charged with stationary cleaning steam (as will be described later, superheated steam for sterilization transfer is also input). The line 60 is a cleaning line that is fed into the chute of the feeding device 1.
The above sterilization line is an example as an embodiment, and various modifications are made according to the target raw material. The heating tube 2 may be omitted, or the number of cyclones in the solid-gas separation zone may be not only one but also two or more stages. As a fluid to be flowed for cleaning, superheated steam, high-pressure steam, high-pressure air, high-temperature hot water, city water, a mixture thereof, or a mixed phase may be appropriately used depending on the target of the cleaning site and zone. In the case of an adhesive raw material, it may be cleaned by adding steam and an acid or alkali chemical to water.

  Next, the high-pressure rotary valve 100, the nozzle 30, and the low-pressure rotary valve for realizing stationary cleaning in the granular material sterilizer will be described in detail. These constitute the invention as a single unit.

(High pressure rotary valve)
FIG. 2 is a front view of a high-pressure rotary valve used in one embodiment of the present invention. 3A is a side view of the high-pressure rotary valve of FIG. 2, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line BB in FIG. 3B.

The high-pressure rotary valve 100 will be described below.
The high-pressure rotary valve 100 includes a main body having a raw material inlet 102 and a raw material outlet 103 and two side walls 104, and is housed in the high-pressure valve casing 101 and rotatably supported by a cantilever shaft. Further, the rotor 106 having a plurality of pockets 130 partitioned by the rotor blade 107, and a sealing mechanism 140, 121, 108 between the inner peripheral surface of the high-pressure valve casing 101 and the rotor blade are provided, and the plurality of pockets 130 is formed by the rotor blade 107, the two sidewalls 113 (side seal plates 114 and 110 are attached to the sidewall 113), and the bottom of the pocket, respectively, on the side in contact with one side wall 104. Side wall 113 (including side seal plate 110 , Each of the plurality of pockets 130 is provided with an opening 112 at a position in contact with the bottom surface of the pocket, and the one side wall is in a period during which one of the pockets 130 communicates with the material outlet 103. And the opening 112 provided in one of the pockets 130 is in communication with each other. Further, in the high-pressure rotary valve 100, the one side wall 104 may be adjustable in the axial direction of the rotor 106.

The granular material as the raw material is charged into the raw material inlet 102 from the charging device 1 and stored in the pocket 130 of the rotor 106. The pocket 130 rotates around the rotor shaft 150, and the raw material is discharged downward at the raw material outlet 103 and transferred to the first line 11.
The high-pressure valve casing 101 is provided with a raw material inlet 102 on the upper side, a raw material outlet 103 on the lower side, and a residual pressure release port 160 (see FIG. 3) on the side. The pocket 130 is partitioned by the rotor blade 107, and the side wall 113 and the side seal plate 110 on the side in contact with one side wall 104 are each provided with an opening 112 at a position in contact with the bottom surface of the pocket.

  The figure showing the lower part of the rotor near the material outlet 103 in FIG. 2 is a little difficult to understand because the cross section taken along the line BB in FIG. 3B is displayed. When coming to the outlet 103, the high-pressure steam port 105 provided in the side wall 104 and the opening 112 penetrating the side wall 113 and the side seal plate 110 communicate with each other via the communication path 111 provided in the side wall 104. It has become. Since the opening 112 is provided at a position in contact with the bottom of the pocket, the inside of the pocket can be thoroughly cleaned. The sidewall 113 on the opposite side of the opening 112 is inclined so that high-pressure steam is jetted toward the raw material outlet. As the rotor rotates, each pocket 130 is cleaned. At this time, if water is allowed to flow from the upper raw material inlet 102, the cleaning is further improved.

  The high-pressure steam port 105 provided in the side wall 104 is not only used for cleaning, but also in the case of an adhesive material or a light and fluffy material contained in the pocket, the high-pressure steam is opened to the opening 112 during normal operation. When spraying toward the bottom of the pocket, the raw material is well discharged, which is advantageous for transporting the raw material. A conventional pocket has a very shallow bottom. On the other hand, in the high-pressure rotary valve used in the present invention, high-pressure steam is injected from the opening 112. No longer occurs. Thereby, the volumetric efficiency of a pocket can be raised and transfer efficiency can be made high. Therefore, the rotor can be rotated at a low speed, wear of the sealing material can be reduced, and the replacement period of the sealing material can be extended.

  A sealing mechanism between the inner peripheral surface of the high-pressure valve casing 101 and the rotor blade 107 in the high-pressure rotary valve will be described. This is basically the same as that of Patent Document 4, but is greatly different in that it can be supported even if the side seal plate is worn out. The axial center portion of the rotor 106 is hollow, and a screw 141 is cut at the end thereof with a conical surface, and a tapered body 140 having a square hole is inserted in the right end surface of FIG. ing. In the center of the right side wall 104 in FIG. 2, there is a hole, and from there, an adjustment shaft having a square end surface can make the tapered body 140 movable in the rotor axial direction. When the adjustment is complete, the cap is always closed with a Mekura cap.

  The rotor shaft 150 is provided with a flange portion 142 at the right end in FIG. 2, and can rotate integrally with the rotor 106. A gland packing 116 and a packing presser 117 are provided on the left side wall 104 so as to seal between the rotor shaft 150 and the left side wall 104.

If the taper body 140 moves to the left in FIG. 2 with the screw 141, the pin 121 provided through the rotor blade 107 protrudes and presses the packing 108 to the inner peripheral surface of the high-pressure valve casing 101. Sealing is to be performed.
As shown in FIG. 2, the rotor 106 is cantilevered by bearings 118 and 119. The left end 143 of the rotor shaft 150 can be connected to a transmission. Sprockets are used for chain transmission, and gears are keyed for gear transmission. Since the rotor 106 is supported in a cantilever manner in this way, a hole can be provided in the right side wall so that the tapered body 140 can be moved in the rotor axial direction by the adjustment shaft.

Further, when the side seal plates 114 and 110 are worn, the right side wall 104 is tightened and adjusted with the screw 120, so that the seal can be appropriately maintained corresponding to the wear. The side seal plates 114 and 110 may be disk-shaped. That is, in the high pressure rotary valve 100, when the thickness of the side seal plate attached to the rotor 106 is reduced due to wear, the side wall on one side of the high pressure valve casing 101 may be closed in the rotor axial direction. Thus, by making the gap between the side seal plate attached to the rotor 106 and the side wall as zero as possible, leakage of high-pressure steam can be prevented and the sealing performance can be improved.
As the side seal plate, glass-filled Teflon (registered trademark), PEEK, ceramic, metal, or the like can be used. Instead of the communication path 111 provided in the side wall 104, an L-shaped communication path 111 may be provided in the side seal plate 110 so that the high-pressure steam port 105 and the opening 112 communicate with each other.

(Variable nozzle)
FIG. 4 is a front view of a nozzle used in an embodiment of the present invention. This nozzle has a structure capable of switching between a throttle channel and an open channel for cleaning.
As shown in FIG. 4, the minimum flow path diameter of the restriction in the cylindrical tube 36 is larger in the second nozzle 34 than in the first nozzle 33 and larger in the third nozzle 35, and becomes an open flow path for cleaning. ing. As shown in FIG. 4, the first to third nozzles are sealed with each other by an O-ring in the cylindrical tube 36.
The movable body provided integrally with the first to third nozzles rotates the operating shaft 37 (screw) by the handle 38, and cooperates with the screw hole provided in the closing upper lid 39, thereby the nozzle inlet 31. Any one of the first to third nozzles is positioned at the nozzle outlet 32. The moving body and the operating shaft 37 are rotatably attached. The movement of the moving body is not limited to manual operation, and fluid pressure or an electric motor may be used.
At the time of cleaning, the third nozzle 35 having an open flow path is selected. Thereby, at the time of stationary cleaning, the sterilization zone to the product recovery zone are connected, and the cleaning steam, hot water, and their mixed phase can be easily passed at once.

(Low pressure rotary valve)
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a low-pressure rotary valve used in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a side view of the low pressure rotary valve. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line CC in FIG.
The low-pressure rotary valve 200 includes a main body having an inlet port 202 and an outlet port 203, a side wall 205, and a slide cover 206, and a low-pressure valve casing 201 that is housed in the low-pressure valve casing 201 and is rotatable. A rotor 210 having a plurality of pockets supported by a shaft is provided, and the slide cover 206 is slidable on an inner peripheral surface of the low-pressure valve casing 201 in the axial direction of the rotor, and the slide cover 206 is By separating from the rotor in the axial direction, the bypass flow path 240 is formed only during cleaning. Thereby, the pocket communicating with the inlet 202, the bypass channel 240 shown in FIG. 5 and the pocket communicating with the outlet 203 form a continuous channel (in FIG. The left side of each pocket in the vertical direction with respect to the plane communicates with the bypass channel 240).
In this low pressure rotary valve 200, a seal is provided between the inner peripheral surface of the low pressure valve casing 201 and the slide cover 206.

  The inlet 202 of the low pressure rotary valve 200 is connected to the outlets of the cyclones 4 and 6, and the outlet 203 is connected to the fourth line 14 or the fifth line 15. The low-pressure valve casing 201 includes a main body having an inlet port 202 and an outlet port 203, a side wall 205, and a slide cover 206. The rotor 210 is housed in the low-pressure valve casing 201, is rotatably supported, and is driven by a drive shaft 231 of a speed reducer that is driven by an electric motor. If a motor is directly connected to the low-pressure valve casing 201 to form a motor direct connection type, the size can be reduced. A plurality of rotor blades 211 are attached to the rotor 210. Each pocket has no sidewall.

  A bush 212 is fitted into the left end of the rotor 210 in FIG. 5 and supports a shaft 207 screwed into the slide cover 206. The slide cover 206 is configured to characterize the low pressure rotary valve, and the inner peripheral surface of the low pressure valve casing 201 can be slid in the axial direction of the rotor 210, and the slide cover 206 is separated from the rotor 210 in the axial direction. The bypass channel 240 is formed only during cleaning. The inner peripheral surface of the low pressure valve casing 201 and the slide cover 206 must be sealed with an O-ring or the like.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the bypass cover 240 is formed only during cleaning by the slide cover 206 being separated from the rotor 210 in the axial direction. However, the present invention is not limited to this. In another embodiment of the bypass flow path, some rotor blades rotate in the circumferential direction with respect to the rotor, causing a phase difference between the rotor blades and the remaining rotor blades fixed to the rotor. A zig-zag bypass passage may be formed in the direction. Various other embodiments are possible.

  A handle fixing stay 220 is fixed to the left end of the low pressure valve casing 201 in FIG. When the handle 214 is rotated, the slide cover 206 can be moved. 217 is an oil-free washer, and 215 is a tightening body for positioning and fixing the slide cover 206. The guide 211 is a guide that allows the slide cover 206 to which the guide plate 219 is fixed to slide without rotating. The slide cover 206 may be moved by a fluid pressure cylinder instead of a screw.

According to one embodiment of the present invention described above, the raw material and high-pressure superheated steam are continuously supplied to the sterilization zone, where heat sterilization is performed, and the product after sterilization is heated in the solid-gas separation zone. The product is recovered after being separated from the product and cooled. In the sterilization zone, solid-gas separation zone, cooling zone, and product recovery zone, it is possible to perform cleaning in place (CIP: Cleaning in Place) in all zones or a part of the zones. That is, the product recovery zone can be cleaned from the sterilization zone by continuously supplying water, saturated water vapor, and the like to the sterilization zone during cleaning.
In the case of an adhesive raw material, it may be cleaned by adding steam and an acid or alkali chemical to water, and a line for circulating these may be provided in whole or in part.

  The cleaning method of one embodiment of the present invention is also effective in cleaning cyclones. When the low-pressure rotary valve connected to the cyclone discharge section is stopped, a mixture of water vapor and hot water is accumulated upstream, and the cyclone can be washed. After the slide cover is moved, the bypass channel is opened and discharged to the drain, it can be washed again with steam or city water again. Various other methods can be considered for the cleaning method of the embodiment of the present invention.

As an example of the procedure of cleaning and device sterilization according to an embodiment of the present invention, the following procedure may be used.
(1) Turn off the super heater to make saturated water vapor.
(2) Turn off the blower on line 50.
(3) The washing water for the line 60 is charged.
(4) The throttle valve 30 is set to 35 in FIG.
(5) Open the bypass flow path of the low pressure rotary valve 200.
(6) After an appropriate cleaning time has elapsed, the rotation of the low-pressure rotary valve 200 of the cyclone 4 is stopped, the bypass flow path is closed, and piping associated with the cyclone (such as piping from which gas is exhausted during solid-gas separation) is cleaned.
(7) Reopen the bypass flow path of the low pressure rotary valve of the cyclone 4.
(8) Next, the same operation is performed for the cyclone 6 and subsequent ones.
(9) With the bypass flow paths of all the low-pressure rotary valves open, the rotor is rotated, the washing water is stopped, and the apparatus is sterilized with saturated steam.
(10) After an appropriate sterilization time has elapsed, the saturated water vapor is stopped, the blower in the line 50 is operated, and the apparatus is dried.
If there is no problem with the heat resistance and pressure resistance of the device parts, superheated steam can be used during device sterilization.

The following high-pressure rotary valve, nozzle, and low-pressure rotary valve are used in the powder sterilizer according to an embodiment of the present invention. These have the following effects. Regarding the high pressure rotary valve for supplying the raw material to the high pressure sterilization zone and corresponding to CIP cleaning, the rotor has a cantilever type, the side seal has a thrust type, and has a structure capable of gas (vapor) in a pocket. The variable nozzle corresponding to CIP cleaning can be switched between a throttle channel that acts to maintain the back pressure during sterilization operation and an open channel during cleaning. As for the low pressure rotary valve that supports CIP cleaning, the low pressure rotary valve used for dividing each zone has a structure in which a lid (slide cover) on one side can slide and a bypass flow path is formed during cleaning. Have The variable nozzle and the slide cover of the low-pressure rotary valve are driven by an electric motor or fluid pressure cylinder, and the valves are automatic valves, enabling full automatic sterilization and automatic cleaning by sequence control.
Accordingly, it is possible to perform cleaning by applying pressure from the sterilization zone to the product recovery zone as well as at least the solid-gas separation zone.

  The high pressure rotary valve 100, the nozzle 30, and the low pressure rotary valve 200 described above constitute the invention as a single unit. In addition, all of these components exhibit excellent operational effects in stationary cleaning, and are not limited to powder sterilizers using superheated steam, heated high-temperature simple substances or mixed gases, sterilizers using chemicals, In general equipment / equipment, plant, etc., it can be used as a single unit when in-place cleaning is required.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Input device 2 Heating pipe 4, 6 1st, 2nd cyclone 5, 7 Ejector 8 Cyclone 9 Rotary valve 11-15 1st-5th line 30 Nozzle 20 Superheated steam introduction line 100 High pressure rotary valve 200 Low pressure rotary valve

Claims (6)

A sterilization zone for supplying powder and superheated steam continuously to heat sterilize, a solid-gas separation zone for separating the powder from superheated steam, a cooling zone for cooling the powder, and the powder It comprises four sections of a product recovery zone for recovering the body as a product, and a high-pressure rotary valve for supplying the granular material is provided at the sterilization zone inlet, and the sterilization zone, the solid-gas separation zone, In the powder sterilizer provided with a low pressure rotary valve in the solid-gas separation zone, a nozzle for adjusting the differential pressure between both zones is provided between
At least the low-pressure rotary valve has a structure in which a bypass channel is formed only at the time of cleaning. The low-pressure rotary valve includes a main body having an inlet and an outlet, a side wall, and a slide cover, and a plurality of low-pressure valve casings that are housed in the low-pressure valve casing and rotatably supported. A rotor having pockets of
The slide cover is slidable in the axial direction of the rotor on the inner peripheral surface of the low-pressure valve casing, and the bypass cover is formed in the axial direction from the rotor so that a bypass flow path is formed only during cleaning. The granular material sterilizer according to claim 1, wherein the powder sterilizer has a structure.   The granular material sterilizer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the nozzle has a structure capable of switching between a throttle channel and an open channel for cleaning. The high-pressure rotary valve is a high-pressure valve casing composed of a main body having a raw material inlet and a raw material outlet and two side walls, a rotor blade housed in the high-pressure valve casing and rotatably supported by a cantilever. A rotor having a plurality of partitioned pockets, and a sealing mechanism between the inner peripheral surface of the high-pressure valve casing and the rotor blade,
Each of the plurality of pockets is formed by the rotor blade, two sidewalls, and a pocket bottom surface, and each side wall in contact with one side wall has an opening at a position in contact with the pocket bottom surface. And
In all of the plurality of pockets, the high-pressure steam port provided in the one side wall and the opening provided in one of the pockets communicate with each other during a period in which one of the pockets communicates with the raw material outlet. The powder sterilizer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the powder sterilizer is configured as described above.   5. The solid-gas separation zone is provided with at least two cyclones, and the low-pressure rotary valve is provided at each of the cyclone discharge ports. 2. The granular material sterilizer according to item 1. The low-pressure rotary valve includes a main body having an inlet and an outlet, a side wall, and a low-pressure valve casing composed of a slide cover, and a plurality of rotary shafts housed in the low-pressure valve casing and rotatably supported. Comprising a rotor with pockets;
The slide cover is slidable in the axial direction of the rotor on the inner peripheral surface of the low-pressure valve casing, and the bypass cover is formed in the axial direction from the rotor so that a bypass flow path is formed only during cleaning. A low-pressure rotary valve characterized by having the structure described above.

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