JP2014117164A - Continuous steam sterilization device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately perform sterilization treatment without changing the quality of a food product.SOLUTION: A continuous steam sterilization device comprises: a sterilization chamber 20 for sterilizing a food product; a conveyor 6 which is provided so as to penetrate the sterilization chamber and has a net-like conveyor belt 18 on which the food product is mounted; a jet part 22 which is provided in the sterilization chamber and closer to the bottom side than the arrangement position of the conveyor belt, and has a jet port for jetting steam toward the bottom side of the sterilization chamber; a discharging part 24 for discharging hot blast in the sterilization chamber; a carry-in port 8 through which the food product is carried into the sterilization chamber by the conveyor; and a shield plate 12 for shielding a carry-out port 10 through which the food product is carried out from the sterilization chamber by the conveyor.

Description

  TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a continuous steam sterilizer that transports food by a belt conveyor into a sterilization chamber filled with water vapor and performs sterilization treatment.

  Conventionally, a steamer is known in which rice conveyed by a belt conveyor is steamed with water vapor and gelatinized (for example, Patent Document 1). According to this steamer, since heat is transferred by vapor condensation, rice can be efficiently heated with high heating capacity.

  In addition, a steam oven is known in which when food is processed and cooked by baking or drying, steam is spouted with hot air to prevent the food from being burnt or overdried.

JP-A-6-181842

  However, the above-described steamer is not suitable for sterilizing food because the quality of the food is greatly changed by steam water.

  Moreover, in the above-mentioned steam oven, the amount of water vapor in the warehouse is reduced due to the leakage of water vapor from the warehouse, so that the heating capacity is insufficient, and the food cannot be sterilized accurately.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a continuous steam sterilizer that can perform sterilization accurately without changing the quality of food.

  The continuous steam sterilization apparatus of the present invention includes a sterilization chamber for sterilizing food, a conveyor having a net-like conveyor belt disposed so as to penetrate the sterilization chamber, and the conveyor belt in the sterilization chamber. Is disposed on the bottom side of the arrangement position of the sterilization chamber, the ejection portion having a spout for ejecting water vapor toward the bottom surface side of the sterilization chamber, the discharge portion for discharging hot air into the sterilization chamber, and the food by the conveyor It is characterized by comprising a carry-in port that is carried into the sterilization chamber and a shielding plate 12 that shields a carry-out port through which the food is carried out from the sterilization chamber by the conveyor.

  In the continuous steam sterilizer according to the present invention, the temperature of the water vapor at the jet outlet is a predetermined temperature between 120 and 130 ° C.

  In the continuous steam sterilization apparatus of the present invention, the temperature of the hot air at the discharge port of the discharge unit is a predetermined temperature between 100 ° C and 110 ° C.

  The continuous steam sterilization apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that the food is cooked sugar beet.

  According to the continuous steam sterilization apparatus of the present invention, sterilization can be performed accurately without changing the quality of food.

It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of the steam oven which concerns on embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the internal structure of the steam oven which concerns on embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the internal structure of the conventional steam oven. It is the figure which compared the experimental result regarding the temperature rising capability, such as the steam oven which concerns on embodiment, and the conventional steam oven.

  Hereinafter, a continuous steam sterilization apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, taking as an example a steam oven used when sterilizing a large amount of cooked food in a food factory or the like. In the following description, an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system is set, and description will be made with reference to this XYZ orthogonal coordinate system. In the XYZ orthogonal coordinate system, as shown in FIG. 1, the X axis is set in parallel to the direction of food transport by the conveyor, the Y axis is set in a direction perpendicular to the X axis in the horizontal plane, and the Z axis is set in the vertically upward direction.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a steam oven according to the embodiment. The steam oven 2 has a sterilization chamber 20 (see FIG. 2) inside, a rectangular parallelepiped chamber 4 extending in the X-axis direction, a conveyor 6 penetrating the chamber 4 in the X-axis direction, and the sterilization chamber 20 by the conveyor 6. A carry-in port 8 for carrying in, a carry-out port 10 for carrying out food from the sterilization chamber 20 by the conveyor 6, a carry-in port 8, a shielding plate 12 for shielding the carry-out port 10 so as to reduce the opening area, and the steam oven 2 are controlled. The control part 14 which performs, the gas burner 15 which produces | generates a hot air, and the base part 16 are provided.

  Here, the conveyor 6 includes a conveyor belt 18 formed in a net shape on which food to be sterilized is placed. The shielding plate 12 shields the upper portion of the opening, and includes a plurality of lower shielding plates 12b and the like (see FIG. 2) that shield the lower portion of the opening, in addition to the upper shielding plate 12a having a predetermined width in the Y-axis direction. A shielding plate is provided.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal configuration of the steam oven 2 according to the embodiment. The steam oven 2 includes a sterilization chamber 20 for sterilizing cooked food inside the chamber 4. Further, inside the sterilization chamber 20, a water vapor pipe 22 for ejecting water vapor into the sterilization chamber 20 is disposed below the conveyor belt 18 (−Z direction side), and above the conveyor belt 18 (+ Z direction side). The discharge part 24 which discharges the hot air produced | generated with the gas burner 15 in the sterilization chamber 20 is arrange | positioned.

  Here, the water vapor pipes 22 are pipes extending in the Y-axis direction, and a plurality of the water vapor pipes 22 are arranged below the conveyor belt 18 at a predetermined interval. A plurality of injection ports (not shown) for injecting water vapor toward the bottom plate 20 a of the sterilization chamber 20 are provided below the water vapor pipe 22 (−Z direction side). In addition, the water vapor | steam sent into the water vapor pipe | tube 22 is produced | generated in the water vapor | steam production | generation apparatus which is not shown in figure.

  Next, the sterilization process using the steam oven 2 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described by taking as an example the case of sterilizing cooked vegetables. First, when an operation for instructing the start of the sterilization process is performed by the operator, the control unit 14 activates the water vapor generation device by a drive unit (not shown) and ignites the gas burner 15 by an ignition device (not shown).

  After the steam generated in the steam generator is sent to the steam pipe 22, it is sprayed toward the bottom plate 20a of the sterilization chamber 20 through the spray port on the lower side of the steam pipe 22 as shown by an arrow A in FIG. Is done. Here, the temperature of the water vapor injected from the injection port is a predetermined temperature between 120 ° C and 130 ° C.

The water vapor injected from the injection port is blown to the bottom plate 20a to change its direction, and proceeds in the + Z direction as shown by an arrow B. Here, since the carry-in port 8 and the carry-out port 10 of the sterilization chamber 20 are shielded by the shielding plate 12, the amount of water vapor leaking from the carry-in port 8 and the carry-out port 10 to the outside of the sterilization chamber 20 can be reduced. . For this reason, the water vapor amount in the sterilization chamber 20 can be set to a predetermined high water vapor amount between 400 and 500 g / m ³ .

In addition, like the conventional steam oven shown in FIG. 3, when a water vapor pipe | tube is arrange | positioned above a conveyor and it is made to inject water vapor | steam toward the unshielded carrying-in port and carrying-out port, a carrying-in port and carrying-out port Since the water vapor leaks to the outside, the limit of the indoor water vapor amount is about 350 g / m ³ .

  On the other hand, hot air generated by gas combustion in the gas burner 15 is discharged from the discharge portion 24 by a fan (not shown) through a supply pipe (not shown). Here, the temperature of the hot air discharged from the discharge unit 24 is a predetermined temperature between 100 ° C and 110 ° C. The discharged hot air is blown and reaches the sterilization chamber 20 evenly. Thereby, the temperature in the sterilization chamber 20 rises to about 100 ° C.

  In addition, the control part 14 performs feedback control so that the temperature in the sterilization chamber 20 is always maintained at around 100 ° C. Specifically, when the temperature in the sterilization chamber 20 is constantly measured by a temperature sensor (not shown) disposed on the upper portion of the conveyor belt 18 and the temperature in the sterilization chamber 20 is higher than a predetermined temperature by 100 ° C. Then, the gas burner 15 is stopped and the discharge of hot air from the discharge unit 24 is stopped. Then, when the temperature in the sterilization chamber 20 becomes a predetermined temperature lower than 100 ° C., the gas is burned again by the gas burner 15 and hot air is discharged from the discharge portion 24.

  When the inside of the sterilization chamber 20 becomes a high temperature and a high water vapor amount and preparation for sterilization is completed, the control unit 14 drives the conveyor 6 and moves the conveyor belt 18 in the + X direction. Here, at the carry-in entrance 8, when the cooked side dish placed on the tray is placed on the conveyor belt 18 by the operator, the placed side dish moves together with the conveyor belt 18 in the + X direction, It is carried into the sterilization chamber 20. The carried sugar beet is heated by the heat in the sterilization chamber 20 while passing through the sterilization chamber 20 over a predetermined time. For example, bacteria attached to the surface of the sugar beet via the cook's gloves at the time of serving, etc. Sterilized.

  In addition, since the inside of the sterilization chamber 20 is filled with water vapor having a high water vapor amount at the time of sterilization, the sugar beet is prevented from being dried or burnt by heating. Moreover, since the inside of the sterilization chamber 20 is filled with a high amount of water vapor and is in a low oxygen concentration state, the sugar beet is prevented from being oxidized. The sterilized side dish is carried out from the carry-out port 10 and shipped to the business partner.

  According to the steam oven 2 according to this embodiment, the inside of the sterilization chamber 20 can be filled with a high amount of water vapor, so that drying, scorching, oxidation, etc. of the food are prevented, and the quality of the food is not changed. Sterilization can be performed accurately. Moreover, by filling the inside of the sterilization chamber 20 with water vapor having a high water vapor amount, heat can be propagated quickly and efficiently into the sterilization chamber 20, and the temperature raising capability of the apparatus can be increased. Thereby, a foodstuff can be heated at high temperature and can be sterilized accurately.

  Here, FIG. 4 is a diagram comparing the experimental results regarding the temperature raising capability of the steam oven 2 according to the embodiment and the conventional steam oven. The experiment was conducted by carrying a tray filled with room temperature water into a sterilization chamber having a high temperature and a high water vapor amount, and heating the water in the tray. (A)-(d) is a result of this experiment, and shows the temperature rise state of the water temperature in the tray heated in the sterilization chamber of each steam oven.

  Specifically, (a) shows the temperature rise state of the water temperature in the tray in a conventional steam oven (see FIG. 3). Moreover, (b) has shown the temperature rise state of the water temperature in a tray in the case of shielding the carrying-in entrance and the carrying-out exit in the conventional steam oven (refer FIG. 3). Further, (c) shows the temperature rise state of the water temperature in the tray when the steam oven 2 is provided with an injection port on the upper side of the water vapor pipe 22 and water vapor is injected toward the + Z direction side. Moreover, (d) has shown the temperature rising state of the water temperature in the tray in the steam oven 2 which concerns on embodiment.

  According to the experimental results, when using a conventional steam oven or the like, as shown in (a), (b), (c), the water temperature in the tray can only be heated to around 80 ° C, When the steam oven 2 of the embodiment is used, as shown in (d), the water temperature in the tray can be heated to 90 ° C. or higher. That is, the steam oven 2 according to the embodiment has a higher temperature raising capability than a conventional steam oven or the like. Therefore, when food is sterilized using the steam oven 2, it can be reliably sterilized at a high temperature.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 ... Steam oven, 4 ... Chamber, 6 ... Conveyor, 8 ... Carry-in port, 10 ... Carry-out port, 12 ... Shielding plate, 14 ... Control part, 16 ... Base part, 18 ... Conveyor belt, 20 ... Sterilization room, 22 ... Steam pipe, 24 ... discharge part

Claims (4)

A sterilization room for sterilizing food,
A conveyor that is arranged to penetrate the sterilization chamber and has a net-like conveyor belt on which the food is placed;
An ejection portion that is disposed on the bottom surface side of the disposition position of the conveyor belt in the sterilization chamber, and has an ejection port that ejects water vapor toward the bottom surface side of the sterilization chamber;
A discharge part for discharging hot air into the sterilization chamber;
A continuous steam sterilizer comprising: a carry-in port through which the food is carried into the sterilization chamber by the conveyor; and a shielding plate that shields a carry-out port from which the food is carried out from the sterilization chamber by the conveyor.   2. The continuous steam sterilizer according to claim 1, wherein the temperature of the water vapor at the jet outlet is a predetermined temperature between 120 and 130 ° C. 3.   The continuous steam sterilizer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the temperature of the hot air at the discharge port of the discharge unit is a predetermined temperature between 100C and 110C.   The continuous steam sterilizer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the food is a cooked side dish.

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