JP2018080846A - Vacuum cooling equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide vacuum cooling equipment capable of ensuring sterilization in vacuum piping.SOLUTION: Vacuum cooling equipment includes: a processing tank 2 for storing an object to be cooled; a vacuum generator 1 connected to the processing tank 2 by vacuum piping 9 to suck gas in the processing tank; and heat exchangers 4, 5 for cooling halfway the gas sucked from the processing tank 2 by the vacuum generator 1. By making inside of the processing tank vacuum, cooling of the object to be cooled is performed. Upstream cleaning water piping 16 for supplying cleaning water is connected to an upstream side of the heat exchangers 4, 5 in the vacuum piping 9, and an upstream cleaning water valve 13 is installed in the middle of the upstream cleaning water piping 16, so as to enable the cleaning water to be supplied from the upstream cleaning water piping 16 to the heat exchangers 4, 5.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a vacuum cooling apparatus that evacuates a processing tank and cools the object to be cooled using heat of vaporization generated when water is evaporated from the object to be cooled in the processing tank.

  There is a vacuum cooling device that accommodates an object to be cooled such as food cooked in a processing tank and cools the object to be cooled by evacuating the inside of the processing tank. When the inside of the treatment tank containing the object to be cooled is depressurized and the boiling point in the treatment tank is lowered below the temperature of the object to be cooled, moisture in the object to be cooled evaporates, and at that time, from the object to be cooled Since the heat of vaporization is taken away, the object to be cooled can be cooled in a short time. As a vacuum generator used for a vacuum cooling device, one using an ejector by water or steam or a water-sealed or dry vacuum pump is known. When the gas in the treatment tank is sucked by the vacuum generator, the vapor generated from the object to be cooled is sucked simultaneously with the sucked gas. However, since the volume of water greatly increases when water is changed to gas, if the vapor is sucked into the vacuum generator as it is, the amount of gas that must be discharged by the vacuum generator increases. In that case, since the time required for pressure reduction in the treatment tank becomes longer, the cooling process time becomes longer.

  Therefore, as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-152982, a heat exchanger that cools the gas sucked by the vacuum generator is provided in the middle of the vacuum pipe that sends the gas in the processing tank to the vacuum generator. The gas is cooled in the middle of the vacuum pipe. When the gas is cooled by the heat exchanger, the volume of the gas is reduced, and particularly when the vapor is cooled and returned to the liquid, the volume is significantly reduced. Cooling efficiency can be increased. In the invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-152982, a heat exchanger tube is installed in a chilled water tank that collects chilled water produced by a chilled water unit. A first heat exchanger is provided to reach the lower part of the chilled water tank, and a second heat exchanger is provided to reach the upper part of the chilled water tank through the chilled water part from the lower part of the chilled water tank. The unit and the second heat exchanger are connected at the bottom of the cold water tank.

In the case of a vacuum cooling device that cools food, it is necessary to keep not only the inside of the processing tank but also the inside of the vacuum pipe and the heat exchanger clean, but the heat exchanger is difficult to clean because the internal structure is complicated. . And as a sterilization method in the case of performing sterilization in the heat exchanger, steam or water can be supplied into the heat exchanger, and sterilization by heat has been performed. Sterilization can be performed by heating the inside of the vacuum pipe, but sterilization is insufficient due to long flow paths in the heat exchanger or temperature irregularities due to differences in specific heat of the flow path components. There was a problem that sometimes. In addition, PVC pipes are often used for drainage pipes such as drain pipes for vacuum cooling devices due to economic reasons. However, when sterilizing by heating with steam, the drainage pipes also need to be heat-resistant. Therefore, it is also a problem that the cost increases.

JP 2014-152982 A

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a vacuum cooling device that can reliably and uniformly perform cleaning and sterilization in vacuum piping in a vacuum cooling device.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a treatment tank for storing an object to be cooled, a vacuum generator connected to the treatment tank by a vacuum pipe and sucking a gas in the treatment tank, and the vacuum generator sucks from the treatment tank. It is a vacuum cooling device that has a heat exchanger that cools the gas in the middle and cools the object to be cooled by evacuating the treatment tank, and supplies cleaning water upstream from the heat exchanger of the vacuum pipe Connect the upstream cleaning water pipe and install an upstream cleaning water valve in the middle of the upstream cleaning water pipe so that the cleaning water can be supplied from the upstream cleaning water pipe to the heat exchanger. It is characterized by that.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the above-described vacuum cooling apparatus, the heat exchanger has two stages of a first heat exchanger on the upstream side and a second heat exchanger on the downstream side, and the first heat of the vacuum pipe An upstream flush water pipe connected upstream from the exchanger and a downstream flush water pipe connected downstream from the second heat exchanger are installed, and an upstream flush water valve is located in the middle of the upstream flush water pipe, A downstream wash water valve is installed in the middle of the downstream wash water pipe, and the wash water is transferred from the upstream wash water pipe to the first heat exchanger and from the downstream wash water pipe to the second heat exchanger. It is characterized in that it can be supplied.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the vacuum cooling apparatus, the cleaning water is sterilized upstream of the upstream cleaning water valve and the downstream cleaning water valve of the upstream cleaning water pipe and the downstream cleaning water valve. A sterilizing agent supply pipe for adding a sterilizing agent for holding is connected.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the vacuum cooling apparatus, a drainage shut-off valve for stopping the outflow of the cleaning water is installed in a drain pipe for discharging the cleaning water supplied to the heat exchanger, and the heat exchanger is In the case of cleaning, it is characterized in that running water cleaning performed by opening the drain shutoff valve and soaking cleaning performed by closing the drain shutoff valve can be performed.

  By carrying out the present invention, the inside of the heat exchanger of the vacuum pipe can be cleaned and sterilized, and the object to be cooled can be cooled without being contaminated.

Flow chart of vacuum cooling device in one embodiment of the present invention

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of a vacuum cooling apparatus in an embodiment of the present invention. The vacuum cooling device includes a processing tank 2, a vacuum generator 1, a first heat exchanger 4, a second heat exchanger 5, a cold water unit 3, a cold water tank 10, and the like. The vacuum cooling device evaporates water from the object to be cooled (high-temperature food) accommodated in the processing tank 2 by evacuating the inside of the processing tank 2, and performs cooling by the action of heat of vaporization generated at that time. .

  The processing tank 2 and the vacuum generator 1 are connected by a vacuum pipe 9 and the gas in the processing tank 2 is discharged by operating the vacuum generator 1. At this time, if the vapor generated from the object to be cooled is sucked by the vacuum generator 1 together with the gas in the treatment tank 2, the volume of the gas that the vacuum generator 1 must suck increases, and the treatment tank Since the pressure reduction in 2 takes time, the cooling time becomes longer. Therefore, a heat exchanger must be provided in the middle of the vacuum pipe 9, and the gas sucked by the vacuum generator 1 and the vapor contained in the gas must be cooled by the heat exchanger to be sucked. The gas volume is reduced.

  The heat exchanger has two stages of a first heat exchanger 4 on the upstream side and a second heat exchanger 5 on the downstream side, and is provided in the cold water tank 10. The heat transfer tubes of the first heat exchanger 4 and the second heat exchanger 5 on the downstream side are installed so as to penetrate the water portion of the cold water tank 10. An upper dispersion chamber for dispersing the gas sucked from the processing tank 2 to the plurality of heat transfer tubes of the first heat exchanger 4 and an upper portion of the second heat exchanger 5 are disposed above the first heat exchanger 4. An upper collecting chamber is provided for collecting the gases flowing through the plurality of heat transfer tubes of the two heat exchangers 5.

  The cold water tank 10 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and is connected to the cold water unit 3 by a cooling water pipe 7 to collect cold water generated in the cold water unit 3. The cooling water pipe 7 can circulate cold water between the cold water unit 3 and the cold water tank 10, and a circulation pump 8 is provided in the middle of the cooling water pipe 7. In the lower part of the cold water tank 10, a lower collecting chamber is provided for collecting the gas that has flowed in a plurality of heat transfer tubes of the first heat exchanger 4. The lower collecting chamber turns the gas flow at the lower part of the cold water tank 10 and flows it to the second heat exchanger 5. The ceiling surface of the lower collecting chamber is the bottom plate of the cold water tank, and the first heat exchanger 4 and The lower end of the heat transfer tube of the second heat exchanger 5 is configured to reach the lower collecting chamber. A drain pipe is connected to the bottom of the lower collecting chamber so that condensed water (drain) generated in the heat exchanger can be sent to the drain tank 6 provided below through the drain pipe. A drain cutoff valve 19 is installed in the middle of the drain pipe, and drainage is operated by opening and closing the drain cutoff valve 19.

  The vacuum pipe 9 from the processing tank 2 is connected to the upper dispersion chamber of the first heat exchanger 4, and the vacuum pipe 9 connected to the vacuum generator 1 is connected to the upper collecting chamber of the second heat exchanger 5. The gas sucked from the treatment tank 2 passes through the first heat exchanger 4 and the second heat exchanger 5 and then reaches the vacuum generator 1. The first heat exchanger 4 is connected with a large number of heat transfer tubes between the upper dispersion chamber and the lower collecting chamber, and the second heat exchanger 5 is also connected with a number of heat transfer tubes between the upper collecting chamber and the lower collecting chamber. It is. Therefore, the gas taken out from the treatment tank 2 advances from the upper dispersion chamber to the heat transfer tubes of the first heat exchanger 4 and gathers by entering the lower collecting chamber provided below the cold water tank 10. After that, after turning in the lower collecting chamber, it proceeds again divided into the heat transfer tubes of the second heat exchanger 5, gathers in the upper collecting chamber 13, and then goes to the vacuum generator 1. Since the heat transfer tubes of the first heat exchanger 4 and the second heat exchanger 5 are installed through the water portion of the cold water tank 10, the outside of the heat transfer tubes is in contact with the cold water in the cold water tank 10.

An upstream vacuum valve 11 is installed between the treatment tank 2 of the vacuum pipe 9 and the first heat exchanger 4, and a downstream vacuum valve 12 is installed between the second heat exchanger 5 of the vacuum pipe 9 and the vacuum generator 1, The vacuum pipe 9 can be closed by an upstream vacuum valve 11 and a downstream vacuum valve 12. Further, a cleaning water pipe for cleaning and sterilizing the first heat exchanger 4 and the second heat exchanger 5 is connected to the vacuum pipe 9. The washing water pipe is connected between the upstream washing water pipe 16 connected between the upstream vacuum valve 11 and the first heat exchanger 4 of the vacuum pipe 9 and between the second heat exchanger and the downstream vacuum valve 12. A downstream washing water pipe 17 is installed. The connecting part of the upstream cleaning water pipe 16 and the connecting part of the downstream cleaning water pipe 17 are positioned higher than the first heat exchanger 4 and the second heat exchanger 5, and the cleaning water is used as the first heat exchanger. 4 and the second heat exchanger 5 are allowed to flow naturally from above to below.

An upstream cleaning water valve 13 is installed in the middle of the upstream cleaning water pipe 16, and a downstream cleaning water valve 14 is installed in the middle of the downstream cleaning water pipe 17, and the upstream cleaning water is supplied only when the cleaning water flows. The valve 13 and the downstream washing water valve 14 are opened. Sterilization in which a sterilizing agent is added to the upstream side of the upstream flush water pipe 16 and the downstream flush water pipe 17 from the upstream flush water valve 13 and the downstream flush water valve 14 to give the flush water a sterilizing action. An agent supply pipe 18 is installed. Sodium hypochlorite is widely used as an additive for the washing water to have a bactericidal action. Of course, the germicidal agent is not limited to sodium hypochlorite, as long as it has a germicidal action. Further, a cleaning component such as a neutral detergent may be added through the bactericide supply pipe 18. A sterilizing agent supply valve 15 is provided in the sterilizing agent supply pipe 18, and the supply of the sterilizing agent is adjusted by the sterilizing agent supply valve 15.

  The driving | operation operation | movement in an Example is demonstrated. When vacuum cooling is performed, an object to be cooled is accommodated in the processing tank 2 and the processing tank 2 is sealed. The upstream cleaning water valve 13, the downstream cleaning water valve 14, and the sterilizing agent supply valve 15 are opened during cleaning and are closed during cooling. When the vacuum cooling operation is performed by operating the vacuum generator 1, the cold water unit 3, and the circulation pump 8, the gas in the processing tank 2 is taken out from the vacuum generator 1 through the vacuum pipe 9, and the processing tank 2. The pressure inside decreases. When the pressure in the treatment tank decreases, the water evaporates from the object to be cooled accommodated in the treatment tank 2, and when the water evaporates, the heat of vaporization is taken away from the surroundings. It goes down.

  The gas sent through the vacuum pipe 9 branches from the upper dispersion chamber of the first heat exchanger 4 to the plurality of heat transfer tubes, flows downward, and travels toward the lower collecting chamber. The heat transfer tube is installed in the cold water tank 10 for storing low-temperature cold water. Since the outer surface of the heat transfer tube is in contact with the cold water, the heat transfer tube is cooled from the surroundings. Therefore, the gas flowing in the heat transfer tube proceeds while being cooled from the periphery of the heat transfer tube. The gas flowing downward in the first heat exchanger 4 turns in the lower collecting chamber and flows upward in the second heat exchanger 5. Since the heat transfer tube of the second heat exchanger 5 is also in contact with the cold water around it, the gas flowing in the second heat exchanger 5 is further cooled.

  When the gas is cooled by the first heat exchanger 4 and the second heat exchanger 5, the vapor contained in the gas is condensed, and the condensed water is transferred down the inner surface of the heat transfer tube and below the heat transfer tube. It flows down to the lower assembly room. The condensed water that has flowed down to the bottom of the lower collecting chamber flows down to the drain tank 6 installed below through a drain pipe connected to the bottom of the lower collecting chamber. When the steam becomes condensed water, the volume is significantly reduced. Therefore, the gas sucked from the treatment tank 2 is reduced in volume by the first heat exchanger 4 and further reduced in volume by the second heat exchanger 5. Therefore, the cross-sectional area of the gas flow path required in the second heat exchanger 5 is smaller than that of the first heat exchanger 4, and the number of heat transfer tubes installed in the second heat exchanger is the first heat exchanger 4. Can be less. When the volume of the gas is reduced, the amount of gas that must be exhausted by the vacuum generator 1 is reduced, so that the pressure in the treatment tank 2 can be reduced more quickly, and the time required for cooling can be shortened. When the cooling is completed, the vacuum generator 1 and the like are stopped, and the inside of the processing tank is returned to the atmospheric pressure by introducing the atmosphere into the processing tank 2. When the inside of the processing tank returns to the atmospheric pressure, the door of the processing tank can be opened, and the object to be cooled can be taken out from the processing tank 2.

The vacuum cooling device is cleaned at a timing after the one-day cooling step is completed. When cleaning and sterilization are performed in the first heat exchanger 4 and the second heat exchanger 5, the upstream vacuum valve 11 and the downstream vacuum valve 12 are closed, and the upstream cleaning water valve 13 and the downstream cleaning water pipe 17 are opened. The cleaning water is supplied. In the case of cleaning, cleaning water in which a detergent is added to water is supplied, and in the case of sterilization, water for sterilization in which a bactericide is added to water is supplied. In the case of sterilization, the sterilizing agent supply valve 15 is opened to add a sterilizing agent such as sodium hypochlorite to the cleaning water so that the cleaning water has a sterilizing action. Wash water (sterilizing water) is sent between the upstream vacuum valve 11 and the first heat exchanger 4 through the upstream wash water pipe 16, and the second heat exchanger 5 and the downstream vacuum valve through the downstream wash water pipe 17. It is supplied with 2 systems of what is sent during 12. In the figure, the flow of cleaning water is indicated by black arrows.

The wash water sent through the upstream wash water pipe 16 enters the upper dispersion chamber provided in the upper part of the first heat exchanger 4 and is dispersed in a plurality of heat transfer tubes connected to the upper dispersion chamber, so that heat transfer It flows downward in the tube and then flows down to the lower collecting chamber below the heat transfer tube. The wash water sent through the downstream wash water pipe 17 enters the upper collecting chamber provided in the upper part of the second heat exchanger 5 and is dispersed in a plurality of heat transfer pipes connected to the upper collecting chamber. It flows downward in the tube and then flows down to the lower collecting chamber below the heat transfer tube. Thereafter, the washing water flows down from the lower collecting chamber to the drain tank 6 and is drained through the same route as the drain discharge. If the drainage shutoff valve 19 installed in the pipe between the lower collecting chamber and the drain tank 6 is opened, the washing is washed with running water, and if the drainage shutoff valve 19 is closed, the first heat exchanger 4 and The second heat exchanger 5 can be immersed and washed (sterilized). Further, if the pipe is closed on the downstream side of the drain tank 6, the drain tank 6 and the drain tank 6 can be immersed and washed (sterilized).

The first heat exchanger 4 and the second heat exchanger are supplied without supplying sterilization unevenness by supplying the cleaning water containing the sterilizing agent from the two systems of the upstream cleaning water piping 16 and the downstream cleaning water piping 17. The whole of 5 can be sterilized. Further, the washing water pipe is branched into the upstream washing water pipe 16 and the downstream washing water pipe 17, but the washing water valve for controlling the supply of the washing water is the upstream washing water pipe 16 and the downstream washing water pipe. It is installed in the part after branching to 17. The sterilizing agent supply pipe 18 is connected to the upstream cleaning water pipe 13 and the downstream cleaning water valve 14.

If only the supply of the washing water is controlled, the washing water valve may be installed in the washing water pipe before branching. However, when the washing water valve is installed in the washing water pipe before branching, the vacuum pipe 9 The upstream side of the first heat exchanger 4 and the downstream side of the second heat exchanger 5 are connected by the upstream washing water pipe 16 and the downstream washing water pipe 17. In that case, at the time of a vacuum cooling process, the air sucked from the treatment tank 2 flows in the washing water pipe and is sent to the vacuum generator 1 without passing through the first heat exchanger 4 and the second heat exchanger 5. Therefore, since the volume cannot be reduced by cooling the air flow rate, the decompression efficiency is lowered.

The upstream flush water valve 13 and the downstream flush water valve 14 are respectively installed in the upstream flush water pipe 16 and the downstream flush water pipe 17 after branching, and the disinfectant supply pipe 18 is also used for the upstream flush water valve 13 and the downstream flush water valve. If it is installed upstream from the washing water valve 14, the air sucked from the treatment tank 2 during the vacuum cooling process is washed by the upstream washing water valve 13 and the downstream washing water valve 14. No more going upstream of the water pipe. Therefore, the air sucked from the treatment tank 2 is cooled through the first heat exchanger 4 and the second heat exchanger 5, and the volume of the air can be reduced. This can be done and the time required for cooling can be shortened.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and many modifications can be made by those having ordinary knowledge in the art within the technical idea of the present invention.

1 Vacuum generator
2 treatment tank
3 Cold water unit
4 First heat exchanger
5 Second heat exchanger
6 Drain tank
7 Cooling water piping
8 Circulation pump
9 Vacuum piping
10 Cold water tank
11 Upstream vacuum valve
12 Downstream vacuum valve
13 Upstream wash water valve
14 Downstream wash water valve 15 Disinfectant supply valve 16 Upstream wash water pipe 17 Downstream wash water pipe 18 Disinfectant supply pipe 19 Drain cut-off valve

Claims (4)

  A processing tank that contains the object to be cooled, a vacuum generator connected to the processing tank by a vacuum pipe and sucking the gas in the processing tank, and a heat exchange that cools the gas sucked from the processing tank by the vacuum generator halfway This is a vacuum cooling device that cools the object to be cooled by evacuating the inside of the treatment tank, and connected to the upstream cleaning water piping that supplies cleaning water upstream from the heat exchanger of the vacuum piping. The vacuum cooling device is characterized in that an upstream cleaning water valve is installed in the middle of the upstream cleaning water piping so that the cleaning water can be supplied from the upstream cleaning water piping to the heat exchanger. .   2. The vacuum cooling device according to claim 1, wherein the heat exchanger has two stages of a first heat exchanger on the upstream side and a second heat exchanger on the downstream side, and is upstream of the first heat exchanger of the vacuum pipe. The upstream flush water pipe connected to the downstream and the downstream flush water pipe connected downstream from the second heat exchanger are installed. The upstream flush water valve and the downstream flush water pipe are located in the middle of the upstream flush water pipe. In the middle of this, a downstream flush water valve is installed, and the flush water can be supplied from the upstream flush water pipe to the first heat exchanger and from the downstream flush water pipe to the second heat exchanger. A vacuum cooling device characterized by that.   3. The vacuum cooling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein sterilization is provided for the sterilizing action of the washing water upstream of the upstream washing water valve and the downstream washing water valve of the upstream washing water pipe and the downstream washing water pipe. A vacuum cooling apparatus characterized by connecting a bactericide supply pipe for adding an agent. The vacuum cooling device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a drainage shut-off valve for stopping the outflow of cleaning water is installed in a drain pipe for discharging cleaning water supplied to the heat exchanger, and the heat exchanger is When cleaning, a vacuum cooling device characterized in that running water cleaning performed by opening a drainage shutoff valve and soaking washing performed by closing the drainage shutoff valve can be performed.

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