JP5192920B2 - Heating and pressing system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a heating and pressurizing system including a pressure vessel that accommodates a workpiece and heats and pressurizes the workpiece with steam.

  According to the above heating and pressurizing system, it is possible to efficiently heat-treat an object to be processed in a relatively short time by the action of high-temperature and high-pressure steam. As such a conventional heating and pressurizing system, for example, The one disclosed in FIG. 1 of Patent Document 1 is known.

JP 2007-160121 A

  However, since the conventional heating and pressurizing system requires a large amount of high-temperature steam, there is room for improvement in terms of saving energy and reducing running costs when generating steam.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to save energy in the heating and pressurizing system.

In order to achieve the above object, in the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention, a pressure-resistant container that accommodates an object to be processed and heat-presses the object to be processed with steam, and is discharged from the pressure-resistant container. A heat recovery device that recovers heat from the steam; a discharge chamber that can store the steam discharged from the pressure-resistant container; and a chimney that communicates with the outside. The steam stored in the discharge chamber includes the chimney and the heat. It is characterized by being transported separately from the collection device .
[Action and effect]
In the present invention, since a heat recovery device that recovers heat from the steam discharged from the pressure vessel is provided, for example, the heat of the steam is absorbed by water flowing in the heat recovery device, and the heat of the steam is recovered as hot water. By reusing the hot water with a steam generator or the like, it is possible to save energy when generating steam.
Of course, the recovered hot water is not limited to the steam generator in the present invention, but can be used in other apparatuses that can be provided for the present invention, or can be used as appropriate in the factory equipment in which the present invention is installed. Is possible.
The invention according to claim 2 of the present invention is characterized in that an exhaust flow rate adjusting damper is provided in the chimney .

In the invention according to claim 3 of the present invention,
In the heat recovery device, a partition is provided between the vapor and a liquid having a temperature lower than that of the vapor, and heat from the vapor is transferred by moving heat of the vapor to the liquid through the partition. It is characterized by collect | recovering.
[Action and effect]
In the present invention, the heat recovery device can be constituted by a commonly used heat exchanger, and it is not necessary to use any special device, and by combining with an existing heating and pressurizing system, It can be easily configured.

The invention according to claim 4 of the present invention is characterized in that the heat recovery device is a plate heat exchanger or a multi-tubular cylindrical heat exchanger .
[Action and effect]
In the present invention, since a plate heat exchanger with low heat loss of steam is used, it is possible to efficiently recover the heat, and the installation area of the plate heat exchanger is small because the installation area is small. High degree of freedom and easy installation.
Further, in the present invention, a multi-tubular cylindrical heat exchanger with low steam pressure loss is used. Therefore, when pre-heating the workpiece by supplying steam to the pressure vessel (the remaining air in the pressure vessel can be discharged from the pressure vessel together with the steam), almost no air in the pressure vessel remains. Further, the heat of the steam is easily transmitted to the object to be processed, and it is possible to prevent the temperature unevenness between the objects to be processed .

In the invention according to claim 5 of the present invention,
The heat recovery device recovers heat from the vapor by directly contacting the vapor and a liquid having a temperature lower than that of the vapor and recovering the liquid.
[Action and effect]
In the present invention, the heat recovery device can be constituted by a packed tower that is generally used, and it is not necessary to use any special device, and it can be easily combined with an existing heating and pressurizing system. Can be configured.

In the invention according to claim 6 of the present invention,
The object to be treated is a sealed container filled with food and drink, and the pressure-resistant container is a retort kettle.
[Action and effect]
In the present invention, for example, when a large amount of canned coffee or the like is sterilized with a retort kettle, it can be sterilized with a lower running cost than a conventional heating and pressurizing system.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
The configuration of the heating and pressurizing system 1 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 1 schematically shows the configuration of the heating and pressurizing system 1 (first embodiment).
As shown in FIG. 1, the heating and pressurizing system 1 includes a pressure vessel 2 (for example, a retort kettle or the like), a heat exchanger 3 (heat recovery device), a steam generator 4, a cooling water tank 5, a discharge chamber 6, A hot water recovery tank 7 and a chimney 8 are provided.

The pressure vessel 2 can accommodate an object to be processed (not shown) therein, and can sterilize the accommodated object by heating and pressurizing with steam. As the pressure vessel 2, any one of existing pressure vessels can be used. For example, (1) a treatment tank for retort sterilization disclosed in JP-A-11-347105, or (2) The steaming tank etc. which were disclosed by Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 9-192016 are mentioned.
A pipe 9A for supplying steam into the pressure vessel 2 and a fluid in the pressure vessel 2 (for example, residual air, steam, hot water, compressed air, etc. in the pressure vessel 2) are provided below the pressure vessel 2. A pipe 9B for discharging to the outside is connected.

  A steam generator 4 (boiler or the like) is provided upstream of the pipe 9 </ b> A, and the steam generated by the steam generator 4 is supplied to the pressure-resistant vessel 2.

  The pipe 9B is provided with an on-off valve 10, and a heat exchanger 3 for recovering heat from the steam discharged from the pressure vessel 2 is provided downstream thereof. In addition, the heat exchanger 3 in this embodiment can use a commonly used heat exchanger (for example, a plate heat exchanger or a multi-tubular cylindrical heat exchanger).

  When a plate heat exchanger is used, the heat loss of the steam is small, so it is possible to efficiently recover the heat, and the installation area of the plate heat exchanger is small, so the degree of freedom in installation is low. High and easy to install.

  Further, when a multi-tubular cylindrical heat exchanger is used, the pressure loss of the steam can be suppressed. Therefore, when the steam is supplied to the pressure resistant container 2 and the object to be processed is preheated (at this time, the pressure resistant container together with the steam). 2), the air in the pressure vessel 2 hardly remains and the heat of the vapor is easily transmitted to the objects to be processed, resulting in temperature unevenness between the objects to be processed. Can be prevented.

In the cooling water tank 5, a liquid (for example, room temperature water) having a temperature lower than that of the vapor in the pressure resistant container 2 is stored. This low-temperature liquid is transferred into the heat exchanger 3 through the pipe 9C by driving the pump 11A, absorbs the heat of the vapor to become hot water, and then passes through the pipe 9D to the hot water recovery tank 7. It is configured to be discharged. The hot water can be used as a hot heat source or washing hot water in the steam generator 4 and other devices that can be provided in the present invention without being discharged into the hot water recovery tank 7, or the present invention can be used. It can also be used as appropriate in the installed factory equipment.
The fluid (residual air, compressed air, steam, hot water, etc. in the pressure vessel 2) transferred from the pressure vessel 2 through the pipe 9B to the heat exchanger 3 is discharged to the discharge chamber 6 through the pipe 9E. It is configured as follows.

Next, the operation of the heating and pressurizing system 1 of the present embodiment having the above configuration will be described.
In the heating and pressurizing system 1 of the present embodiment, when an object to be processed (not shown) accommodated in the pressure resistant container 2 (for example, a sealed container filled with food and drink and sealed) is heated and pressurized with steam to sterilize, Preheating the workpiece is performed.

In the preheating, the primary heating in which the temperature in the pressure vessel 2 is increased to a predetermined temperature (the temperature is referred to as a primary heating temperature, and the primary heating temperature is, for example, 90 ° C. to 110 ° C.) It is configured by preheating holding for maintaining the heating temperature for a predetermined time (for example, 5 minutes).
In this preheating, the steam generator 4 is driven for a predetermined time to generate steam, the steam is supplied into the pressure vessel 2 through the pipe 9A, the on-off valve 10 of the pipe 9B is opened, and the pressure vessel 2 is opened. This is a process of heating the object to be processed to a predetermined temperature while driving the residual air inside the pipe 9B out of the pressure vessel 2, and during this time, steam containing the residual air in the pressure vessel 2 is discharged from the pipe 9B. Continue to be.

The steam discharged from the pressure vessel 2 is transferred to the heat exchanger 3 through the pipe 9B.
The heat exchanger 3 converts the heat of the transferred steam into a partition wall (not shown) between the steam discharged from the pressure vessel 2 and the liquid supplied from the cooling water tank 5 in the heat exchanger 3. The heat is recovered from the steam by moving to a low-temperature liquid (for example, room temperature water) supplied from the cooling water tank 5 via the

  The liquid flowing in the heat exchanger 3 (low temperature liquid supplied from the cooling water tank 5) absorbs the heat of the steam to become warm water (the heat of the steam is recovered as warm water), and warm water passes through the pipe 9D. By discharging and storing in the recovery tank 7 and reusing the hot water as a heat source such as the steam generator 4, it becomes possible to save energy when generating steam. In addition to the configuration using the liquid stored in the cooling water tank 5, for example, heat exchange with a liquid (washing water, etc.) that is used in factory equipment where the present invention is installed and that requires heating. It is also possible to save energy.

  Of the fluid (remaining air, compressed air, steam, hot water, etc. in the pressure vessel 2) discharged from the pipe 9E, liquid components (steam, hot water, etc. condensed in the heat exchanger 3) are discharged. The gas components (residual air, compressed air, steam, etc. in the pressure-resistant container 2 that has not been condensed in the heat exchanger 3) stored in the chamber 6 are discharged out of the heating and pressurizing system 1 through the chimney 8.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the heating and pressurizing system 1 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2. However, in order to avoid redundant description, only the configuration and operational effects different from those of the first embodiment will be mainly described. To do.
FIG. 2 schematically shows the configuration of the heating and pressurizing system 1 (second embodiment).

In the present embodiment, the same configuration as that of the first embodiment described above is provided except that a packed tower 12 filled with a packing material 13 (Raschig ring or the like) is used as a heat recovery device.
The steam discharged from the pressure vessel 2 is transferred to the filling tower 12 through the pipe 9B.
The packed tower 12 recovers heat from the steam by bringing the transferred steam into direct contact with a low-temperature liquid (for example, room temperature water) supplied from the cooling water tank 5 and recovering the liquid. It is configured.

  The liquid flowing in the filling tower 12 (low temperature liquid supplied from the cooling water tank 5) absorbs the heat of the steam to become hot water (the heat of the steam is recovered as hot water), and the pipe 9D is driven by the pump 11B. By passing the hot water through the hot water recovery tank 7 and storing it, and reusing the hot water as a heat source for the steam generator 4 or the like, it is possible to save energy when generating steam. In addition to the configuration using the liquid stored in the cooling water tank 5, for example, heat exchange with a liquid (washing water, etc.) that is used in factory equipment where the present invention is installed and that requires heating. It is also possible to save energy.

  In addition, according to this embodiment, since vapor | steam directly contacts with the low temperature liquid supplied from the cooling water tank 5 in the filling tower 12, the heat exchange in said 1st Embodiment which collect | recovers heat via a partition is performed. Compared with the vessel 3, heat loss of steam is small, and heat can be recovered more efficiently.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, a third embodiment of the heating and pressurizing system 1 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3. However, in order to avoid redundant description, only the configuration and operational effects different from those of the second embodiment will be mainly described. To do.
FIG. 3 schematically shows the configuration of the heating and pressurizing system 1 (third embodiment).

In the present embodiment, a discharge chamber 6 is provided downstream of the pipe 9 </ b> B, and a pipe 9 </ b> F extending from the discharge chamber 6 leads to the filling tower 12. About another structure, it is the same as that of previous 2nd Embodiment.
The vapor discharged from the pressure vessel 2 is transferred to the discharge chamber 6 through the pipe 9B, and the condensed liquid is stored in the discharge chamber 6.
On the other hand, the steam that has not been condensed is transferred to the filling tower 12 through the pipe 9F. In the present embodiment, the chimney 8 is provided with an exhaust flow rate adjustment damper 14 so that steam preferentially flows into the pipe 9F.
The packed tower 12 recovers heat from the steam by bringing the transferred steam into direct contact with a low-temperature liquid (for example, room temperature water) supplied from the cooling water tank 5 and recovering the liquid. It is configured.

  The liquid flowing in the filling tower 12 (low temperature liquid supplied from the cooling water tank 5) absorbs the heat of the steam to become hot water (the heat of the steam is recovered as hot water), and the pipe 9D is driven by the pump 11B. By passing the hot water through the hot water recovery tank 7 and storing it, and reusing the hot water as a heat source for the steam generator 4 or the like, it is possible to save energy when generating steam. In addition to the configuration using the liquid stored in the cooling water tank 5, for example, heat exchange with a liquid (washing water, etc.) that is used in factory equipment where the present invention is installed and that requires heating. It is also possible to save energy.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, since the steam discharged from the pressure vessel 2 is configured to be transferred from the pipe 9B to the discharge chamber 6, unlike the first embodiment and the second embodiment described above, There is no vapor pressure loss due to the heat recovery device (heat exchanger 3 or packed tower 12). Therefore, when the steam is supplied to the pressure vessel 2 to preheat the object to be processed (at this time, the remaining air in the pressure vessel 2 is discharged from the pressure vessel 2 together with the steam), the air in the pressure vessel 2 is almost all. It does not remain, and the heat of the steam is easily transmitted evenly to the objects to be processed, so that it is possible to prevent temperature unevenness between the objects to be processed.

[Another embodiment]
[1] It is not limited to the configuration in which heat is recovered from the steam discharged during the preheating, and in the above-described embodiment, from the steam or hot water present in the pressure-resistant container 2 after the sterilization process is completed. You may make it collect | recover heat | fever.

Schematic configuration diagram of the heating and pressurizing system 1 of the present invention (first embodiment) Schematic block diagram of the heating and pressurizing system 1 (second embodiment) of the present invention Schematic block diagram of the heating and pressurizing system 1 (third embodiment) of the present invention

Explanation of symbols

1 Heating and pressurizing system 2 Pressure-resistant container 3 Heat exchanger (heat recovery device)
4 Steam generator 5 Cooling water tank 6 Discharge chamber 7 Hot water recovery tank 8 Chimney 9A to 9F Piping 10 On-off valve 11A, 11B Pump 12 Packing tower (heat recovery device)
13 Filler 14 Exhaust flow rate adjustment damper

Claims (6)

A pressure-resistant container for containing the object to be processed and heating and pressurizing the object to be processed with steam;
A heat recovery device for recovering heat from the steam discharged from the pressure vessel;
A discharge chamber capable of containing steam discharged from the pressure vessel;
With a chimney leading to the outside,
A heating and pressurizing system in which steam contained in the discharge chamber is transferred separately to the chimney and the heat recovery device . The heating and pressurizing system according to claim 1, wherein an exhaust flow rate adjusting damper is provided in the chimney . In the heat recovery device, a partition is provided between the vapor and a liquid having a temperature lower than that of the vapor, and heat from the vapor is transferred by moving heat of the vapor to the liquid through the partition. The heating and pressurizing system according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the system is recovered. The heating and pressurizing system according to claim 3 , wherein the heat recovery device is a plate heat exchanger or a multi-tubular cylindrical heat exchanger . The heating and pressurization according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the heat recovery device recovers heat from the steam by directly contacting the steam and a liquid having a temperature lower than the steam and recovering the liquid. system.   The heating and pressurizing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the object to be processed is a sealed container filled with food and drink and sealed, and the pressure-resistant container is a retort kettle.

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