JP3154812B2 - Puffing equipment for agricultural products such as tobacco raw materials - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a puffing apparatus for puffing agricultural products such as tobacco raw materials, foods and the like. More specifically, in the present invention, for example, in a continuous expansion device using gaseous carbon dioxide as an expansion aid, the temperature of the raw material transferred from the impregnation vessel to the raw material discharge system is reliably reduced to a low temperature. The present invention relates to a continuous expansion device provided with a cooling device capable of controlling and efficiently expanding a raw material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As such a leavening apparatus, a raw material, for example, a tobacco raw material is impregnated with carbon dioxide as a leavening aid at a high pressure, and the tobacco raw material is decompressed and heated to expand the impregnated carbon dioxide. Some of them expand the raw material.

In such an expansion device, after a predetermined amount of tobacco raw material is stored in an impregnation container, high-pressure carbon dioxide is supplied into the impregnation container, and the tobacco raw material is impregnated with the carbon dioxide. There are a batch type that takes out and expands, and a continuous type that continuously supplies the tobacco raw material and carbon dioxide into the impregnation vessel.

[0004] The former batch type has a simple structure, but is inefficient and has a problem that a large amount of carbon dioxide is dissipated. The latter continuous type has the advantage that the efficiency is high and the carbon dioxide can be recovered and reused.

In general, in order to increase the degree of expansion of tobacco raw materials and the like, it is necessary to contact carbon dioxide at a low temperature and a high pressure to impregnate as much carbon dioxide as possible. Also, the tobacco raw material impregnated with carbon dioxide is taken out of the impregnation vessel while maintaining the lowest possible temperature,
It is necessary to prevent the impregnated carbon dioxide from dissipating and to instantaneously heat the tobacco raw material to effectively expand the impregnated carbon dioxide.

However, in the continuous apparatus as described above,
The temperature and supply amount of the tobacco raw material supplied into the impregnation container, the amount of heat entering the expansion device from the outside, the amount of frictional heat generated when the rotary valve rotates, and the like vary within a considerable range. Therefore, due to the change in these conditions, the temperature of the tobacco raw material supplied into the impregnation vessel is increased and the amount of carbon dioxide impregnated is reduced, or the tobacco raw material taken out of the impregnation vessel passes through the rotary valve. When heated, a part of the impregnated carbon dioxide is dissipated, and the degree of expansion is reduced.

In order to prevent such a problem, the carbon dioxide supplied into the impregnation vessel is cooled, and the sensible heat of the cooled carbon dioxide absorbs the heat of the raw material and the equipment downstream of the impregnation vessel. It was conceived to keep this raw material at a low temperature. However, if the cooling amount of the carbon dioxide is too small, the cooling of the tobacco raw material and the heat removal of the equipment on the downstream side of the impregnation container are not sufficiently performed, and the effect is small. Conversely, if the cooling amount of the carbon dioxide is too large, when the tobacco raw material is discharged under reduced pressure from the discharge system, the carbon dioxide solidifies to form dry ice. When dry ice is formed in this way, the tobacco raw material is solidified by this,
A problem occurs in the heat expansion process. In addition, the amount of carbon dioxide discharged out of the system together with the raw materials increases, and the amount of carbon dioxide loss also increases.

[0008] It is economically and qualityally unfavorable to operate under such conditions that produce dry ice. Therefore, it is necessary to impregnate carbon dioxide in the impregnation vessel in a gaseous state. For this reason, it is necessary to appropriately control the amount of cooling of the carbon dioxide supplied into the impregnation container, that is, the amount of cooling heat to remove heat from the supplied carbon dioxide.

However, the above-mentioned temperature of the tobacco raw material, the supply amount of the tobacco raw material, the amount of heat intrusion from the outside of the expansion device,
The calorific value of the rotary valve or the like is not constant and fluctuates in a considerable range. For this reason, it has been difficult to impregnate the tobacco raw material with gaseous carbon dioxide under preferable conditions in the impregnation vessel.

Further, it is conceivable that the above-mentioned control of the cooling amount of carbon dioxide is performed by controlling the amount and temperature of carbon dioxide generally supplied. However, the supply of carbon dioxide
It is necessary to control the pressure in the impregnation vessel to maintain a predetermined pressure, and the supply amount is determined to a constant value. Therefore, it is difficult to control the cooling amount by controlling the supply amount of the carbon dioxide. When controlling the temperature of the supplied carbon dioxide to control the cooling amount of the supplied carbon dioxide, the state of the carbon dioxide changes in phase due to changes in pressure and temperature. It is not an indicator of control. Therefore, when controlling the cooling amount of the supplied carbon dioxide, it has been difficult to control the cooling amount based on the amount and temperature of the carbon dioxide.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a puffing apparatus capable of cooling carbon dioxide supplied into an impregnation vessel and impregnating gaseous carbon dioxide into a tobacco material or the like under preferable conditions in the impregnation vessel. To provide.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a puffing aid for supplying gaseous carbon dioxide as a puffing aid to an impregnation vessel so as to maintain a predetermined impregnation pressure. A heat exchanger is provided in the middle of the piping of the system, and cooling medium is supplied from the cooling mechanism to the heat exchanger to cool the carbon dioxide supplied into the impregnation container, and impregnation with gaseous carbon dioxide is preferable. In accordance with various process amounts of this apparatus, for example, the temperature in the discharge system of the raw material (the temperature at which no liquid carbon dioxide is present), the controller can control the amount of carbon dioxide supplied into the impregnation vessel so that it can be performed under the conditions. It controls the amount of cooling (the amount of heat exchange).

As the process amount, the temperature of the tobacco raw material in the process of being discharged from the impregnation vessel or the gas temperature of carbon dioxide discharged together with the tobacco raw material is used. Alternatively, the emitted tobacco raw material and carbon dioxide may be irradiated with light, radiation, and the like, and their states such as temperature may be detected from their reflection or transmission spectra. From these process amounts, the cooling amount (heat exchange amount) of the carbon dioxide supplied into the impregnation vessel is automatically adjusted so that the temperature and other conditions of the carbon dioxide and tobacco raw material in the impregnation vessel are optimized. Is set to In addition, this setting is not performed automatically, and the operator judges manually from the temperature of the tobacco raw material discharged from the impregnation container and the temperature of the carbon dioxide gas discharged together with the tobacco raw material and manually supplies the carbon dioxide supplied into the impregnation container. The cooling amount may be set.

[0014]

In such an apparatus, the state of carbon dioxide supplied into the impregnation vessel is controlled by the process amount such as the temperature in the discharge system where the raw material is conveyed.
Even if the amount of heat entering from the outside, the amount of heat generated by the rotary valve, and the like fluctuate, these fluctuations can be quickly dealt with.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1 to 5 show a first embodiment of the present invention, which is a continuous tobacco raw material expansion apparatus using carbon dioxide as an expansion aid. 11 in the figure is an impregnation vessel. A swelling aid of a predetermined pressure, for example, carbon dioxide, is supplied so as to maintain an impregnation pressure of about 30 atm. The tobacco raw material is continuously supplied from the raw material supply system 12 into the impregnation vessel 11. Then, in the impregnation container 11, the structure of the tobacco raw material is impregnated with carbon dioxide.

The tobacco raw material impregnated with carbon dioxide is continuously conveyed to a heating device (not shown) via a raw material discharge system 13, where high-temperature air, steam or a mixed gas thereof is heated. And the impregnated carbon dioxide expands, thereby expanding the structure of the tobacco raw material.

The above-mentioned raw material supply system 12 is configured as follows. The tobacco raw material is supplied to the aero rocker valve 14
Through the first chute 15. As shown in FIG.
A rotor 14b is rotatably provided in 4a, and a plurality of blades are formed on the outer periphery of the rotor. Then, the tobacco raw material supplied from the inlet of the housing is accommodated between these blades, and is carried to the outlet of the housing by rotation of the rotor. The distal end surfaces of these blades and the inner peripheral surface of the housing are in slidable contact with each other while maintaining airtightness. Therefore, the inlet side and the outlet side of the air locker valve 14 are sealed, and the pressure difference is maintained between them, so that the tobacco raw material can be continuously transported while increasing or decreasing the pressure. The first chute 15 is supplied with carbon dioxide at a low pressure of about atmospheric pressure, and the air contained in the tobacco raw material is replaced with the carbon dioxide.

Next, the tobacco raw material is pressurized from the first chute 15 to a medium pressure of about 15 atm through a first rotary valve 16 and sent to a second chute 17.
The pressure in the second chute 17 is adjusted to a medium pressure of about 15 atm.

The rotary valve 16 and the first chute 15 as described above are configured as shown in FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a housing of the rotary valve. The housing 1 has a supply port 2 and a discharge port 3 formed therein. Also, a rotating body 4 is provided in the housing 1.
Are rotatably housed in an airtight manner. A plurality of pockets 5 are formed on the outer periphery of the rotating body 4. Further, the housing 1 is formed with a plurality of pressure increasing ports 6 and pressure reducing ports 7. A carbon dioxide supply pipe 9 is connected to a port at the high pressure final stage of the boosting side port 6, and about 15 atm of carbon dioxide is supplied from the second chute 17. Further, a carbon dioxide recovery pipe 44 is connected to a port at the low pressure final stage of the pressure reduction side port 7, and the low pressure carbon dioxide is recovered. Further, the other pressure-raising-side port 6 and the pressure-reducing-side port 7 are respectively connected by a communication pipe 8.

The inside of the supply port 2 is, for example, an atmosphere at atmospheric pressure, and the inside of the discharge port 3 is an atmosphere of carbon dioxide at about 15 atm. Then, the tobacco raw material put into the supply port 2 via a hopper or the like is accommodated in each pocket 5 of the rotator 4, and is sequentially conveyed to the discharge port 3 by the rotation of the rotator 4.

Since the inside of the outlet 3 is a medium-pressure carbon dioxide atmosphere, the inside of the empty pocket 5 from which the tobacco raw material is discharged facing the outlet 3 is a medium-pressure carbon dioxide atmosphere. While the pockets 5 sequentially face the pressure reducing port 7, the medium-pressure carbon dioxide in the pockets 5 is sequentially released to the pressure reducing port 7, and the pressure is reduced, for example, by about 5 atm. Since these decompression-side ports 7 communicate with the pressure-increase-side ports 6 via the communication pipes 8, the carbon dioxide discharged into each pressure-decrease-side port 7 is supplied to each pressure-decrease-side port 6. Therefore, while the tobacco material-accommodating pockets 5 sequentially face these pressure-increase-side ports 6, the pressure is increased by, for example, 5 atm. Is raised to the same pressure as
The stored tobacco material is discharged into the outlet 3.

When the empty pocket 5 faces the decompression port 7 at the final stage, the low-pressure carbon dioxide remaining in the pocket 5 is recovered from the decompression port 7 via the carbon dioxide recovery pipe 44. The inside of the pocket 5 is returned to the atmospheric pressure.

In the discharge pipe 3, there is provided a nozzle wall 3.
b is provided, and an ejection port 3a communicating with a gap between the nozzle wall 3b and the inner surface of the discharge port 3 is formed.
High-pressure carbon dioxide is supplied from the ejection port 3a, and high-pressure carbon dioxide is ejected from a gap with the nozzle wall 3b into an empty pocket 5 from which the stored tobacco material is discharged. The tobacco raw material remaining in 5 is removed.

The above-mentioned rotary valve is a rotary valve for continuously supplying the tobacco raw material while increasing the pressure. However, the structure of the rotary valve for discharging the tobacco raw material while reducing the pressure is the same as that described above. The effects of increasing and decreasing pressure are opposite.

The first chute 15 constitutes an airtight container, from which tobacco raw material is supplied via the air locker valve 14. Further, a carbon dioxide recovery pipe 44 is connected to the pressure reducing side port 7 at the last stage of the rotary valve 16, and the carbon dioxide recovery pipe 44 is connected to the first chute 1 through a cyclone 45.
5 communicates. Therefore, the carbon dioxide discharged from the pressure-reducing port 7 at the final stage is recovered via the pipe 46 after a small amount of tobacco raw material contained in the cyclone 45 is removed.

A part of the carbon dioxide supplied from the carbon dioxide recovery pipe 44 is supplied into the first chute 15 together with the separated tobacco raw material. Therefore, the inside of the first chute 15 is maintained in an atmosphere of carbon dioxide, and the air contained in the tobacco raw material supplied through the air locker valve 14 together with the air is replaced by the carbon dioxide, and The amount of air entering the impregnation vessel 11 is small. The carbon dioxide supplied into the first chute 15 and mixed with the air is collected through the pipe 51.

Then, the tobacco raw material is further fed from the second chute 17 through the second rotary valve 18 to about 30 minutes.
The pressure is increased to a high pressure and sent to the impregnation vessel 11. As described above, carbon dioxide is supplied into the impregnation vessel 11 so as to maintain a pressure of about 30 atm. The impregnating container 11 has a cylindrical shape, and a screw conveyor (not shown) is provided therein, and the supplied tobacco raw material is sent to the outlet side.

The material discharge system 13 is configured as follows. The tobacco raw material discharged from the outlet 24 of the impregnation vessel 11 is sent to a third chute 20 after being reduced to a medium pressure of about 15 atm by a third rotary valve 19. The inside of the third chute 20 is maintained at a medium pressure of about 15 atm.

Further, the tobacco raw material is reduced to a low pressure from the third chute 20 by a fourth rotary valve 21 and sent to a fourth chute 22. The inside of the fourth chute 22 is maintained at a low pressure of about atmospheric pressure. Then, from the fourth chute 22, the air rocker valve 2
It is sent to the above-mentioned heating mechanism via 3 and is heated and expanded.

This heating mechanism includes an air feed pipe 110, through which a mixed gas of air at a predetermined temperature and superheated steam flows. And this wind feed pipe 1
The tobacco raw material supplied into 10 floats in the flow of the mixed gas, is carried together with the mixed gas, and is heated and expanded by the high-temperature mixed gas during this time. The expanded tobacco raw material is separated from the mixed gas by a conventionally known tangential separator or the like and recovered.

An intermediate container 111 is provided between the fourth chute 22 and the air feed pipe 110. The intermediate container 111 is disposed substantially horizontally, and one end of the intermediate container 111 is connected to the fourth chute 22 via the air locker valve 23. Further, the other end of the intermediate container 111 is connected to the above-mentioned wind feed pipe 110 via an air locker valve 112. And
In the intermediate container 111, a conveyor 113 is provided in a horizontal direction.
Is provided.

The tobacco raw material discharged from the fourth chute 22 falls into one end of the intermediate container 111 via an air locker valve 23, is conveyed by a conveyor 113 in the horizontal direction, and From the other end through the air rocker valve 112, the wind feed pipe 1
Fall into 10. The air locker valve 23 at one end of the intermediate container 111 and the air locker valve 11 at the other end
2, since the position is shifted in the horizontal direction, the high-temperature mixed gas that has risen from the wind feed pipe 110 does not directly go below the fourth chute 22, and this mixed gas is Is prevented from invading.

Next, a system for recovering and supplying the expansion aid, ie, carbon dioxide, of the expansion apparatus will be described. 30 in the figure
Is a low-pressure tank, and the recovered low-pressure carbon dioxide is finally recovered in this low-pressure tank. Reference numeral 31 denotes a supply source of carbon dioxide, for example, a tank of liquefied carbon dioxide. This carbon dioxide is vaporized through an evaporator 32 and supplied to the low-pressure tank 30.

The carbon dioxide in the low-pressure tank 30 is boosted to a medium pressure of about 5 to 15 atm by the low-pressure booster 33 and sent to the medium-pressure tank 34. The carbon dioxide in the medium-pressure tank 34 is pressurized to a slightly higher pressure than the impregnation pressure by the high-pressure booster 36, the moisture is removed by the dehumidifier 37, and then sent to the impregnation vessel 11 via the supply pipe 35. .

The medium-pressure carbon dioxide recovered from the second chute 17 and the third chute 20 is
It is collected in the medium pressure tank 34 via the pipes 41 and 42 and the bag filter 43. The low-pressure carbon dioxide discharged from the first rotary valve 16 is supplied to the pipe 4.
The powder of the tobacco raw material that has been sent to the separator 45 via the pipe 4 and separated is separated, and then collected in the low-pressure tank 30 via the pipe 46 and the bag filter 47. Also, the fourth
The low-pressure carbon dioxide discharged from the rotary valve 21 is collected in the low-pressure tank 30 through the bag filter 47 after the mixed tobacco raw material powder is separated by the separator 49.

Further, the low pressure carbon dioxide recovered from the first chute 15 at the start end and the fourth chute 22 at the end end contains air and the like.
2. Separation / recovery tank 5 via bag filters 53 and 54
Collected in 5. The carbon dioxide collected in the separation / collection tank 55 is sent to the separation device 56, where the mixed air is separated, and then collected in the low-pressure tank 30 via the separation surge tank 57.

FIG. 3 and FIG.
Is shown. The recovery and separation device 56 is an adsorption-type carbon dioxide separation device. That is, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a plurality of, for example, two adsorption towers 94a and 94b are provided. These adsorption towers 94a and 94b are filled with an adsorbent such as activated carbon or zeolite. These adsorbents selectively adsorb carbon dioxide from a mixed gas of air and carbon dioxide, and the higher the pressure, the larger the amount of adsorption, and the lower the pressure, the smaller the amount of adsorption.

This apparatus is provided with a pressurizing pump 95 and a suction pump 96. These pumps are connected to one ends of the adsorption towers 94a, 94b via valves 98a, 98b, 99a, 99b, respectively. It is connected. The other ends of the adsorption towers 94a and 94b are connected to the exhaust pipe 101 via valves 97a and 97b, respectively.

In this recovery / separation apparatus, for example, first, valves 98a and 97a of one adsorption tower 94a are opened, and a mixed gas of carbon dioxide and air from the hermetic containers 15 and 22 is supplied by a pressure pump 95 to one side. Is supplied to the adsorption tower 94a to adsorb carbon dioxide. The remaining gas such as air separated from the carbon dioxide is discharged from the exhaust pipe 101 to the outside. In this case, the valve 98 of the other adsorption tower 94b is used.
b, 97b and the valve 99a of one of the adsorption towers 94a are closed, and the valve 99b is opened.
6 exhausts the inside of the other adsorption tower 94b to a low pressure. As a result, the carbon dioxide adsorbed by the adsorbent in the other adsorption tower 94b is desorbed and recovered, and returned to the system of the expansion device.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the open / close state of the valve is reversed, and the pressure in one adsorption tower 94a is reduced to desorb and collect the adsorbed carbon dioxide. Is adsorbed on the adsorption tower 94b. Hereinafter, such operation is repeated, and these adsorption towers 94a, 94b
Are alternately adsorbed and regenerated to separate and recover carbon dioxide. The cycle interval is, for example, 90 seconds or more.
It is repeated at a relatively short cycle of 180 seconds.

According to such a recovery and separation device 56, it is possible to recover the carbon dioxide mixed with the air and to efficiently remove the air, separate and recover only the carbon dioxide, and return it to the system of the expansion facility. it can. Therefore, carbon dioxide is not wasted to the outside, and the concentration of carbon dioxide in the system can be accurately controlled.

Since the recovery / separation device 56 separates carbon dioxide by adsorption, it can be efficiently separated even if the concentration of carbon dioxide in the recovered gas is low, and has good responsiveness. Can stably control the concentration of carbon dioxide in the circulation system.

Next, an apparatus for controlling the cooling amount (heat exchange amount) of carbon dioxide supplied into the impregnation vessel 11 will be described. A heat exchanger 61 is provided in the middle of the supply pipe 35 for supplying the impregnated vessel 11 with the carbon dioxide boosted to a slightly higher pressure than the impregnation pressure by the high-pressure booster 36. A cooling mechanism 62 includes a refrigerator, a heat exchanger (not shown), and the like, and is configured to supply low-temperature brine. The brine is supplied to the heat exchanger 6 through the brine pipes 63 and 64.
1 to cool the supplied carbon dioxide.

Further, a control device 72 for controlling the cooling amount of the carbon dioxide is provided. This control device 72
The process volume of this expansion device, for example the third chute 2
The temperature within 0 is detected by the temperature detector 73, and the cooling amount of the carbon dioxide supplied into the impregnation vessel 11 is determined in accordance with the temperature signal. A program based on data obtained by preliminarily analyzing the characteristics of the expansion device through a test is input into the control device 72, and the cooling amount of the carbon dioxide is determined according to the program. The control device 72 sends a control signal to a control valve 74 provided in the middle of the above-mentioned brine pipe 63 to control the flow rate of the brine, and controls the cooling amount of carbon dioxide supplied into the impregnation vessel 11. I do.

For example, when the impregnation pressure is about 30 atm,
The inside of the third chute 20 is maintained at about 15 atm. The temperature in this chute is the saturation temperature (about -28 ° C)
The cooling amount (heat exchange amount) of the carbon dioxide supplied into the impregnation vessel is controlled so that the temperature becomes higher, preferably −10 to −25 ° C., and more preferably −18 to −23 ° C.

In such a controlled state, the tobacco raw material discharged from the impregnation step is impregnated with carbon dioxide under atmospheric pressure at a dry weight ratio of 1 to 3%. The temperature of the tobacco raw material at this time is −20 to −40 ° C., and there is no problem such as generation of dry ice, and the amount of loss of carbon dioxide can be reduced. Also, the dispersion of the tobacco raw material in the subsequent puffing and drying steps is good, and a sufficient puffing effect can be obtained.

Further, the impregnating container 11 employs a heat insulating structure in order to reduce and stabilize the amount of heat entering from the outside. This heat insulating structure is used for the impregnation vessel 1
It comprises a vacuum insulated container 81 which is arranged so as to surround one outer peripheral surface 83. This vacuum insulated container 81 has an outer wall 82
These walls have an airtight structure, and a vacuum is evacuated between these walls.

Next, the operation of the expansion device will be described. The carbon dioxide supplied into the impregnation vessel 11 is
It is cooled in the heat exchanger 61 by brine below its saturation temperature. The cooled carbon dioxide comes into contact with the tobacco raw material moving in the impregnation vessel 11 and cools the tobacco raw material, thereby effectively impregnating the carbon dioxide.

The temperature and amount of the tobacco raw material supplied into the impregnation vessel 11, the amount of heat entering the expansion device from the outside, the amount of heat generated by the rotary valve, and the like vary within a considerable range. In this case, an appropriate cooling amount of carbon dioxide as described above fluctuates due to this fluctuation. But,
When these amounts of heat fluctuate, the process amount of the expansion device, for example, the temperature in the third chute 20 as described above fluctuates. This change in temperature is detected by a temperature detector 73, and the control device 72 controls the control valve 74 according to a program set in advance in response to this change, and controls the control valve 74 to supply the carbon dioxide supplied into the impregnation vessel 11. Controls the amount of carbon cooling. Therefore, the cooling amount of carbon dioxide is always controlled to an appropriate amount in response to the change in the amount of heat. Therefore, preferable gaseous carbon dioxide impregnation conditions are set.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment for detecting this process amount. In this case, a light transmitting window 120 is formed in a part of the wall of the third chute 20, and light emitted from the tobacco material inside through the window 120 is detected by a photodetector 121. It is configured as follows. The photodetector 121 detects the temperature from the spectral distribution of light emitted from the tobacco raw material, and a signal of the temperature of the tobacco raw material is sent to the control device 72.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the process amount detection and control. This is Shoot 2
0, a visual thermometer 126 is attached, and an operator manually operates the operation panel 127 by judging from the thermometer 126,
It controls the amount of heat exchange of carbon dioxide supplied into the impregnation vessel 11.

FIG. 8 shows a second embodiment of the expansion device of the present invention.
The following shows an example. In this case, the periphery of the impregnation container 11 is surrounded by a heat insulating material 84. This has a slightly lower heat insulating effect than the vacuum vessel, but has a lower manufacturing cost. In this case, if carbon dioxide is circulated prior to the operation of the apparatus, the impregnation vessel 11 is stabilized at a predetermined temperature and does not hinder the operation. The configuration of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment except for the above points.
The same reference numerals are given to the portions corresponding to the embodiment, and the description is omitted.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the present invention is not limited to the apparatus for expanding the tobacco raw material, but it can be used as an apparatus for expanding vegetables and other agricultural products.

[0054]

As described above, according to the present invention, the amount of heat exchange of the carbon dioxide supplied into the impregnation vessel is controlled in accordance with the amount of the raw material discharged into the raw material discharge system and the process amount such as the temperature of the carbon dioxide. Controlled. Therefore, the state of gaseous carbon dioxide in the impregnation vessel can be maintained in an optimal state for impregnation in response to a change in the calorific value of each device, and efficient impregnation and expansion can be performed. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic view of a first embodiment of an expansion device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a portion of a rotary valve and a chute of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for collecting and separating carbon dioxide.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an apparatus for collecting and separating carbon dioxide.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a process amount detecting unit.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of another embodiment of the process amount detecting means.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the process amount detecting means.

FIG. 8 is an overall schematic view of a second embodiment of the expansion device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 impregnation vessel 61 heat exchanger 62 cooling means 72 control means

Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Hiroumi Uematsu 1-31 Kurobeoka, Hiratsuka-shi, Kanagawa Japan Tobacco Inc. Production Technology Development Center (72) Inventor Manabu Takeuchi 1-31 Kurobeoka, Hiratsuka-shi, Kanagawa Japan Tobacco Inc. Production Technology Development Center (72) Inventor Kensuke Uchiyama 1-31 Kurobeoka, Hiratsuka-shi, Kanagawa Japan Tobacco Inc. Production Technology Development Center (56) References -104152 (JP, A) JP-A-2-15686 (JP, A) JP-A-2-156525 (JP, A) JP-A-63-9616 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. . ^7, DB name) A24B 3/18 A23P 1/14

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An apparatus for continuously expanding a raw material such as a tobacco raw material, comprising an impregnation container, and maintaining a predetermined impregnation pressure of carbon dioxide as an expansion aid in the impregnation container by means of expansion aid supply means. In addition, the raw material is supplied to the impregnation vessel by the raw material supply means while continuously increasing the pressure, and the raw material is continuously discharged from the impregnation vessel while the pressure is reduced by the raw material discharge means. The expansion aid supply means includes a heat exchanger, and the heat exchanger cools the carbon dioxide by exchanging heat between carbon dioxide and a cooling medium supplied into the impregnation vessel. Yes, further comprising a cooling means for supplying a cooling medium to the heat exchanger, and further comprising a control means for controlling the amount of heat exchange of carbon dioxide supplied into the impregnation vessel, the control means, Impregnation vessel Or detecting the temperature of gaseous carbon dioxide or the raw material inside the raw material discharging means, and controlling the heat exchange amount of carbon dioxide supplied into the impregnation vessel in accordance with this temperature. A puffing device for agricultural products such as tobacco raw materials. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for recovering and separating carbon dioxide, wherein said recovering and separating means separates air and impurity gas mixed from the carbon dioxide recovered from said raw material supply means and raw material discharge means. 2. A device for expanding agricultural products such as tobacco raw materials according to claim 1, wherein 3. A system for recovering and separating carbon dioxide, wherein the recovering and separating unit separately recovers low-pressure carbon dioxide and medium-pressure carbon dioxide from the raw material supply unit and the raw material discharge unit. And pressurizing carbon dioxide at a medium pressure to a high pressure.
A puffing device for agricultural products such as tobacco raw materials.