JP4950791B2 - Ice water slurry generator - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to ice-water slurry generator for generating ice slurry is a mixture of a large number of ice particles and water to release the supercooled state of supercooled water.

Conventionally, as this type of ice water slurry generator,
(1) As a release means for canceling the supercooling state of the supercooling water, an external force is applied to the supercooling water by causing the supercooling water to collide with a plate member installed in the vessel to form ice nuclei in the supercooling water. Provided with a collision release means to
(2) As the releasing means, a Peltier that forms an ice nucleus in the supercooled water by applying an external force to the supercooled water by bringing the supercooled water into contact with a Peltier element installed in the vessel and lowering the temperature of the supercooled water Provided with element release means,
(3) As the releasing means, an agitating releasing means for forming an ice nucleus in the supercooled water by generating external force to the supercooled water by generating cavitation in the supercooled water with a stirring member (for example, a screw) is provided. thing,
(4) As the releasing means, an ultrasonic releasing means for forming an ice nucleus in the supercooled water by applying an external force (vibration by ultrasonic waves) to the supercooled water by emitting an ultrasonic wave toward the supercooled water. Provided
The techniques (1) to (4) are known (for example, see Patent Documents 1 to 4 below).

JP-A-11-337133 JP-A-8-110133 JP 2001-241705 A JP 2007-64570 A

  However, in the above techniques (1) to (3), each member (plate member, Peltier element, stirring member) as an ice nucleus forming element that forms an ice nucleus in the supercooled water is installed in the vessel. In the process of forming ice nuclei, ice adheres to each member easily, which causes a problem that the ice water slurry generation efficiency is lowered and the ice water slurry generation function is lost. In addition, there is a problem that it is difficult to perform maintenance (repair, replacement, adjustment) of these members.

  In the above techniques (1), (2), and (4), ice nuclei are formed in the supercooled water only by applying an external force to the supercooled water. Even in the case of shortage, ice nucleation in the supercooled water tends to become unstable, so that the supercooling degree of supercooling water is set sufficiently higher than the theoretical value or an external force applied to the supercooling water is set. There is a need to set it sufficiently larger than the theoretical value, which causes a problem of increasing the cost of generating ice water slurry.

  Furthermore, when the supercooling degree of the supercooling water is set sufficiently higher than the theoretical value, the instability of the supercooling water increases, so that unexpected ice nuclei are formed in the supercooling water in the supercooling water transport system. The formation of ice nuclei may cause clogging in the transport system.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its main problem is to effectively solve the above problem by rationally improving the supercooling release method of supercooling water.

By the way, to constitute an ice water slurry generator that generates an ice water slurry by releasing the supercooled state of the supercooled water introduced into the vessel by the release means ,
As the releasing means, adiabatic expansion releasing means for releasing an overcooled state of supercooled water by forming ice nuclei in the supercooled water by adiabatic expansion of gas in the supercooled water may be provided .

  In other words, if the gas is adiabatically expanded in the supercooled water, the temperature of the supercooled water due to the adiabatic expansion is lowered, the temperature of the contact surface with the gas in the supercooled water is lowered, and the volume of the supercooled water is increased due to the adiabatic expansion. It has been found that by applying an external force to the contact interface, ice nuclei are formed in the supercooled water to cancel the supercooled state of the supercooled water.

And if the above configuration is provided with adiabatic expansion release means for releasing the supercooling state of the supercooled water by forming ice nuclei in the supercooled water by adiabatic expansion of the gas in the supercooled water, the ice nuclei are formed. The ice nucleation element to be formed can be made of a gas that is free from the risk of ice adhesion and does not require maintenance. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the ice water slurry generation efficiency from being reduced due to ice adhesion to the ice nucleation element. In addition, the ice water slurry production efficiency can be stably maintained, and the maintainability can be effectively improved.

  Moreover, since the supercooling degree of the supercooling water can be increased by the low temperature action due to the adiabatic expansion, even when the supercooling degree of the supercooling water is insufficient, the supercooling degree of the supercooling water can be compensated. It is possible to effectively prevent the ice nucleus formation in the cooling water from becoming unstable.

In the implementation of the above configuration,
The adiabatic expansion releasing means may be configured to inject compressed gas into supercooled water through a nozzle or an orifice plate and adiabatically expand the compressed gas in supercooled water .

According to this configuration , since the compressed gas is jetted into the supercooled water through the nozzle or the orifice plate, it is possible to suppress the pressure drop of the compressed gas before being jetted into the supercooled water, and The gas can be ejected into the supercooled water at a predetermined pressure, and the compressed gas can be effectively adiabatically expanded in the supercooled water.

  Further, for example, even when the gas supply path for supplying compressed gas is provided with a valve member to start and stop the gas injection into the supercooled water, the position away from the gas injection section into the supercooled water in the gas supply path It is possible to provide an operation valve, and it is possible to make it easier to start and stop the gas ejection into the supercooled water than to provide the valve member at or near the gas ejection portion.

In the implementation of the above configuration,
The adiabatic expansion canceling unit may be configured to eject the compressed gas into the supercooled water in a pressure state in which bubble compression occurs in the compressed gas in the supercooled water .

According to this configuration, an external force due to bubble splitting of the compressed gas can be imparted to the supercooled water, and accordingly, ice nuclei can be stably formed in the supercooled water.

For the ice water slurry generation method ,
By forming ice nuclei in the supercooled water by adiabatic expansion of the gas in the supercooled water, the supercooled water may be released from the supercooled state to generate an ice water slurry .

According to this method, since ice nuclei are formed in the supercooled water by the adiabatic expansion of the gas in the supercooled water to cancel the supercooled state of the supercooled water, the ice nucleation elements forming the ice nuclei are attached to the ice. Therefore, the gas can be made of a gas that does not require maintenance and does not require maintenance.

  Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent the ice water slurry generation efficiency from being lowered due to the ice adhering to the ice nucleation element, to stably maintain the ice water slurry generation efficiency, and to maintain ice water excellent in maintainability. A slurry generator can be constructed.

Moreover, since the supercooling degree of the supercooling water can be increased by the low temperature action due to the adiabatic expansion, even when the supercooling degree of the supercooling water is insufficient, the supercooling degree of the supercooling water can be compensated. It is possible to effectively prevent the ice nucleus formation in the cooling water from becoming unstable.
[ 1] Here, the first characteristic configuration of the present invention relating to the ice water slurry generator is:
An ice water slurry generator for generating an ice water slurry by releasing the supercooled state of the supercooled water introduced into the vessel by the release means,
As the release means, provided with adiabatic expansion release means for releasing the supercooled water supercooled state by forming ice nuclei in the supercooled water by adiabatic expansion of the gas in the supercooled water,
The adiabatic expansion release means includes a gas compression means for generating a compressed gas having a pressure higher than the pressure in the vessel,
A compressed gas supply path for supplying the compressed gas generated by the gas compression means into the vessel as a gas for adiabatic expansion in supercooled water;
A nozzle or orifice plate provided at the tip of the compressed gas supply path in a posture toward the center of the vessel;
An operation valve for starting and stopping the ejection of the compressed gas through the nozzle or the orifice plate with respect to the supercooled water in the vessel,
While providing a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the supercooled water in the vessel,
A controller that opens the operation valve when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor reaches a predetermined temperature, and jets the compressed gas into the supercooled water in the vessel through the nozzle or the orifice plate to release the pressure. Provided,
This controller is configured to close the operation valve when a predetermined opening time elapses after the operation valve is opened.
That is, in this configuration, the controller opens and operates the operation valve when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor reaches a predetermined temperature. Basically, once the supercooling release chain is started, the supercooling release chain is maintained even without induction by the adiabatic expansion releasing means. After the opening time (for example, a short time such as about 0.1 second (s)), the operation valve is closed and operated.
[ 2] The second characteristic configuration of the present invention is:
The controller is configured to open the operation valve only for 0.1 seconds as a predetermined opening time.
That is, when the operation valve is opened for 0.1 s, ice nuclei are sufficiently formed, and the supercooled state of the supercooled water can be released. Therefore, in this configuration, the controller opens the operation valve for 0.1 seconds as the predetermined opening time.
[ 3] The third characteristic configuration of the present invention is
The controller is configured to re-execute a compressed air ejection operation for opening the operation valve for a predetermined opening time when ice nuclei are not formed in the supercooled water by the first ejection of compressed air. is there.
In other words, if ice nuclei cannot be formed at an opening time of 0.1 s, ice nuclei cannot be formed even if the operation valve is further opened and compressed air is continuously supplied. From this, in this configuration, when the ice core is not formed in the supercooled water by the first jet of compressed air, the controller again executes the compressed air jet operation for opening the operation valve for a predetermined opening time. .
[4] The fourth characteristic configuration of the present invention is:
The controller is configured to automatically change the pressure of the compressed gas based on a temperature detected by the temperature sensor in the supercooling water in the container.
That is, ice nuclei are more reliably formed as the pressure of the compressed air is higher. Therefore, in this configuration, the controller automatically changes the pressure of the compressed gas based on the detected temperature of the supercooled water in the container by the temperature sensor.

  FIG. 1 shows an ice making apparatus, 1 is an ice storage tank for storing an ice water slurry S which is a mixture of ice particles I and water W, 2 is a pump P for removing water W taken from the lower part of the ice storage tank 1 through a water intake channel 3. This is a supercooling water generator that generates supercooling water Ws (for example, water at −1.5 ° C.) by cooling to below the freezing point without changing the phase as raw water for generating supercooling water.

  An ice water slurry generator 4 generates an ice water slurry S by releasing the supercooling state of the supercooling water Ws introduced from the supercooling water generator 2 through the introduction pipe 5 by the releasing means F. .

  That is, in this ice making device, the supercooling water Ws is continuously introduced from the supercooling water generator 2 to the ice water slurry generator 4 through the introduction pipe 5, and the supercooling state of the supercooling water Ws is changed to the ice water slurry generator. The ice water slurry S, which is a mixture of the ice particles I and the water W generated by this supercooling release, is continuously sent from the ice water slurry generator 4 to the ice feed path 6, The ice water slurry S to be delivered is stored in the ice storage tank 1.

  Then, the ice water slurry S in the ice storage tank 1 is used, for example, as a cooling heat source for cooling in an air conditioner, and the ice particles I in the ice water slurry S are melted by the use as the cooling heat source. It is taken out from the intake channel 3 as raw water for generating supercooled water.

  The ice water slurry generator 4 is supercooled as the release means F by a substantially cylindrical container 4A connected to an introduction path 5 for introducing the supercooling water Ws and an ice supply path 6 for delivering the ice water slurry S. Adiabatic expansion canceling means 7 is provided to release ice from the supercooled water Ws by forming ice nuclei in the supercooled water Ws by adiabatic expansion of the gas in the water Ws.

  The adiabatic expansion canceling means 7 is generated by a gas compressing means 8 (for example, a compressor or an air cylinder) that generates a compressed gas A having a pressure higher than the pressure inside the container (inside the container body 4A) and the gas compressing means 8. The compressed gas supply path 9 for supplying the compressed gas A into the chamber is provided as a main component.

The pressure of the compressed gas A is set to a pressure at which bubble splitting may occur in the compressed gas A in the supercooled water Ws. In this example, the pressure of the compressed gas A is about 0.3 MPa (absolute pressure) than the pressure inside the container 4A. ) is set to high pressure.

  A nozzle or orifice plate 10 is provided at the tip of the compressed gas supply passage 9 so as to face the central portion of the container, and the pressure drop occurs in the compressed gas A before being jetted into the supercooled water Ws. Suppressing and releasing pressure rapidly is adopted. The compressed gas supply path 9 is provided with an operation valve 11 (for example, an electromagnetic valve) for starting and stopping the ejection of the compressed gas A into the container.

  That is, the adiabatic expansion canceling means 7 converts the compressed gas A generated by the gas compressing means 8 by opening the operation valve 11 from the nozzle or orifice plate 10 into the supercooled water Ws in the container through the compressed gas supply path 9. The compressed gas A is adiabatically expanded in the supercooled water Ws.

  Then, the supercooled water Ws is cooled at the contact interface between the compressed gas A and the supercooled water Ws that have been lowered in temperature (for example, lowered to −10 ° C. or lower) by adiabatic expansion in the supercooled water Ws. The degree of supercooling of the water Ws is locally increased to increase the degree of instability of the supercooled water Ws in the vicinity of the contact interface, and the adiabatic expansion process and bubble splitting process of the compressed gas A (and the movement process by buoyancy) Thus, an external force is effectively applied to the supercooling water Ws near the contact interface, thereby stably forming ice nuclei in the supercooling water Ws and releasing the supercooling state of the supercooling water Ws.

  Reference numeral 12 denotes a temperature sensor that detects the temperature of the supercooling water Ws in the container, and 13 denotes a controller that opens and closes the operation valve 11 mainly based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 12.

  In this example, the controller 13 is set to execute control for opening the operation valve 11 when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 12 reaches a predetermined temperature after the operation of the pump P is started. Basically, once the supercooling release chain has been started, the supercooling release chain is maintained without triggering by the adiabatic expansion releasing means 7, so the controller 13 has performed the opening operation described above. Thereafter, the control for closing the operation valve 11 is executed after a short time (for example, about 0.1 second (s)).

In addition, 14 is a check valve equipped in the compressed gas supply path 9 for maintenance of the gas compression means 8 and the operation valve 11, and 15 is for releasing the gas in the ice water slurry S generated by the ice water slurry generator 4. Is an air vent valve installed in the delivery path 6.

  Next, a verification experiment of the effect of canceling the supercooling state of the supercooling water Ws by the adiabatic expansion canceling means 7 and the experimental result will be described. Each experiment mentioned later was implemented using the model device similar to the ice water slurry generator 4 shown in FIG. In this model device, a check valve for compressed air having an inner diameter of 2.0 mm was used as the check valve 14, and a compressed air tube having an inner diameter of 2.0 mm was used as the compressed air supply path 9. In addition, the distance between the distal end portion of the compressed air tube (that is, the jet portion of the compressed air A) and the check valve 14 was about 30 mm.

(Experimental example 1)
In this experiment, a nozzle or an orifice is placed at the tip of the compressed air tube under the condition that the pressure of the compressed air A is 0.9 MPa (absolute pressure) and the internal pressure of the ice water slurry generator 4 is 0.2 MPa (absolute pressure). In the state where the plate 10 is provided, the nozzle or orifice plate 10 is provided at the tip of the compressed air tube when the distance L from the check valve 14 to the operation valve 11 is 110 mm and 1350 mm (example 2). In each of the cases where the distance L from the check valve 14 to the operation valve 11 was 110 mm and 1350 mm in the absence, the presence or absence of ice nuclei was confirmed every time the operation valve 11 was opened.

  From the experimental results shown in FIG. 2, if the compressed gas A is adiabatically expanded in the supercooling water Ws, it is possible to form ice nuclei in the supercooling water Ws and release the supercooling state of the supercooling water Ws. It could be confirmed. This is because the contact interface with the compressed gas A in the supercooled water Ws due to the low temperature of the compressed gas A due to adiabatic expansion and the contact interface of the supercooled water Ws with the increase in the volume of the compressed gas A due to adiabatic expansion. This is thought to be due to the application of external force to.

  Further, except when the distance L in the state where the nozzle or orifice plate 10 is not provided is 1350 mm, the ice valve is sufficiently formed when the opening time of the operation valve 11 is 0.1 s, and the supercooled state of the supercooled water Ws is released. From this, it can be confirmed that when the nozzle plate or the orifice plate 10 is provided, the compressed gas A can be efficiently adiabatically expanded, and the open time of the electromagnetic valve is 0.1 s, and the ice core is formed. If it could not be formed, it was confirmed that ice nuclei could not be formed even if the operation valve 11 was opened and compressed air A was continuously supplied.

(Experimental example 2)
In this experiment, the internal pressure of the ice water slurry generator 4 is 0.2 MPa (absolute pressure) and the opening time of the operation valve 11 is 0.1 s with the nozzle or orifice plate 10 provided at the tip of the compressed air tube. Under the conditions, whether or not ice nuclei were generated for each pressure of the compressed air A was confirmed for each of the cases where the distance L from the check valve 14 to the operation valve 11 was 110 mm and 1350 mm.

  From the experimental results shown in FIG. 3, if the compressed gas A is adiabatically expanded in the supercooling water Ws, it is possible to form ice nuclei in the supercooling water Ws and release the supercooling state of the supercooling water Ws. It could be confirmed.

  Furthermore, when the distance L is 110 mm, ice nuclei are formed when the pressure of the compressed gas A is 0.4 MPa (absolute pressure) or more, and when the distance L is 1350 mm, the pressure of the compressed gas A is 0. It can be confirmed that ice nuclei are formed at a pressure of .5 MPa (absolute pressure) or more. From this, it is confirmed that ice nuclei are more reliably formed as the pressure of compressed air A is higher, and ice nuclei are formed. It was confirmed that it would be sufficient if the compressed air A having a pressure approximately 0.3 MPa (absolute pressure) higher than the pressure in the vessel was ejected into the supercooled water Ws. Incidentally, when the compressed air A having a pressure higher by about 0.3 MPa (absolute pressure) than the pressure in the vessel is jetted into the supercooled water Ws, the compressed air A of 30 ° C. is introduced into the vessel from the adiabatic expansion formula. Even so, the air temperature immediately after adiabatic expansion is -50 ° C or lower.

[Another embodiment]
Next, another embodiment will be listed.
As an improvement of the ice water slurry generator 4 described in the above embodiment, for example, when the ice core is not formed by the first ejection of the compressed air A, the controller 13 ejects the compressed air A again. You may make it the structure which performs control which performs operation.

  Further, for example, the controller 13 may be configured to execute control for automatically changing the pressure of the compressed air A based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 12 of the supercooled water Ws in the container.

  In the above-described embodiment, the ice water slurry generator 4 includes the container 4A that is provided separately from the introduction path 5 and the delivery path 6. However, for example, the introduction path 5 or the delivery path 6 is the instrument body. It may be configured as follows.

  The specific configuration of the adiabatic expansion canceling means 7 for releasing the supercooled state of the supercooled water Ws by forming ice nuclei in the supercooled water Ws by adiabatic expansion of the gas in the supercooled water Ws is described in the above embodiment. However, instead of generating the compressed gas A from the inner wall portion of the vessel body 4A, the compressed gas A can be changed at an appropriate location such as the central portion of the vessel body 4A. The structure to generate or the structure to generate the compressed gas A from a plurality of parts of the vessel 4A may be used.

  In the practice of the present invention, the raw water to be subcooled is not limited to pure water or purified water, and may be an aqueous solution such as brine depending on circumstances.

  Various things, such as air, nitrogen, a carbon dioxide, can be employ | adopted for compressed gas A, and various values can be employ | adopted for temperature, humidity, etc.

  The compressed air A may be dry air, but is preferably composed of moist air. In this way, since the liquefied moisture accompanying the low temperature during the adiabatic expansion of the compressed air A freezes immediately, the formation of ice nuclei in the supercooled water Ws can be performed more stably.

The ice water slurry generator according to the present invention is not limited to the cold heat source device in the air conditioning equipment, but can be used for various applications requiring ice.

Configuration diagram of ice making equipment The figure which shows the result of Experimental example 1 The figure which shows the result of Experimental example 2

Ws Supercooled water S Ice water slurry A Compressed gas F Release means 4 Ice water slurry generator 7 Adiabatic expansion release means 10 Nozzle or orifice plate
8 gas compression means
9 compressed gas supply path
11 operation valve
12 temperature sensor
13 controller

Claims (4)

An ice water slurry generator for generating an ice water slurry by releasing the supercooled state of the supercooled water introduced into the vessel by the release means,
Examples releasing means, set the adiabatic expansion canceling means for canceling the supercooled state of supercooled water to form ice nuclei in supercooled water by adiabatic expansion of gas in the supercooled water,
The adiabatic expansion release means includes a gas compression means for generating a compressed gas having a pressure higher than the pressure in the vessel,
A compressed gas supply path for supplying the compressed gas generated by the gas compression means into the vessel as a gas for adiabatic expansion in supercooled water;
A nozzle or orifice plate provided at the tip of the compressed gas supply path in a posture toward the center of the vessel;
An operation valve for starting and stopping the ejection of the compressed gas through the nozzle or the orifice plate with respect to the supercooled water in the vessel,
While providing a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the supercooled water in the vessel,
A controller that opens the operation valve when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor reaches a predetermined temperature, and jets the compressed gas into the supercooled water in the vessel through the nozzle or the orifice plate to release the pressure. Provided,
The controller is an ice water slurry generator configured to close the operation valve when a predetermined opening time elapses after the operation valve is opened . The ice water slurry generator according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to open the operation valve for 0.1 seconds as a predetermined opening time . The controller is configured to re-execute a compressed air ejection operation for opening the operation valve for a predetermined opening time when ice nuclei are not formed in the supercooled water by the first ejection of compressed air. The ice water slurry generator according to 1 or 2 . 4. The controller according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to automatically change the pressure of the compressed gas based on a detected temperature of the supercooled water in the container by the temperature sensor. 5. Ice water slurry generator.

Images