JP6327721B2 - Granular freezing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a granular freezing apparatus.

  Conventionally, freezing devices disclosed in, for example, Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2 are known as devices for continuously freezing small foods and droplets to generate a large amount of frozen matter. Such a freezing apparatus, for example, as described in Patent Document 2, allows a low-temperature liquefied gas to flow through a bowl (3), and in the upstream portion thereof, an object to be frozen (A) to be frozen is introduced, and the low-temperature liquefied gas is supplied. The object to be frozen (A) is frozen by using the process of riding on the flow of, and the frozen object (B) is generated.

  By the way, in the freezing apparatus as described above, the objects to be frozen continuously dropped collide with each other in the process of flowing together with the refrigerant such as the low-temperature liquefied gas in the basket, so that two or more pieces adhere to each other. It is important that there is no such thing. However, in Patent Documents 1 and 2, the depth of the low-temperature liquefied gas in the soot is not constant from upstream to downstream, and furthermore, the flow rate of the low-temperature liquefied gas is not uniform and is disturbed. There is a problem that the two collide with each other and easily adhere.

  Patent Document 3 discloses an apparatus that improves the above problem. In this document, the ridge (2) in which the flow path has a certain inclination is adopted. Furthermore, the two dam plates (11, 12) are adopted upstream of the cage (2) to make the flow of the low-temperature liquefied gas (C) uniform, thereby colliding / attaching the objects (A) to be frozen. Devise to avoid is made.

Japanese Patent No. 2998741 Japanese Patent No. 3215991 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 07-023757

  In particular, in the case where liquid foods and medicines are dripped through a syringe or a nozzle as an object to be frozen to generate such granular frozen objects, the problem of adhesion needs to be grasped more strictly. That is, the liquid dropped into a refrigerant such as a low-temperature liquefied gas is a liquid that does not freeze for a few seconds depending on its physical properties. On the other hand, the periphery of the dropped liquid is surrounded by a gas generated by evaporation of the refrigerant. Accordingly, when the flow of the refrigerant is slow, the dropped liquid is pushed back to the upstream side by the energy of the vaporized gas, and mutual adhesion is likely to occur. Therefore, more strict measures are required.

  From such a viewpoint, as a device for preventing the droplets that are continuously dropped from adhering to each other, while improving the uniformity of the flow of the low-temperature liquefied gas as described above, or under the premise thereof, There is a strategy to increase the flow rate of the low-temperature liquefied gas by increasing the inclination of the ridge with respect to the ground (the installation surface of the device) and to reduce the possibility of individual collision. However, in order to fully freeze the object to be frozen, there is a premise that it must be kept in the low-temperature liquefied gas for a predetermined time or longer according to the object to be frozen. There is a problem in that the length of the apparatus must be increased, resulting in an increase in the size of the apparatus.

  By the way, some granular freezing devices are provided with a plurality of dripping nozzles in the width direction of the basket for the purpose of efficiently generating a large number of granular frozen substances, and dripping simultaneously and in parallel with these dripping nozzles. . In the case of such an apparatus, it is necessary to prevent adhesion of adjacent droplets in addition to before and after time. Therefore, in this case, it may be possible to simply reduce the possibility of adhering droplets by increasing the width of the ridge. However, there is a fact that originally the speed of the refrigerant flowing through the soot differs depending on the position in the width direction of the soot channel. Specifically, due to the influence of the friction on the side wall surface of the ridge, the center portion farthest from both side walls is the fastest, and the flow velocity is slowed as it approaches the side walls. Therefore, the flow of the refrigerant is disturbed by the difference in the speed of the refrigerant according to the position in the width direction of the ridge, so that the neighbors are likely to collide with each other. In this respect, when the width of the ridge is widened, there is no change in the situation, so widening the width is not a drastic measure to prevent adhesion.

  From the viewpoint of eliminating the influence of the flow rate difference of the refrigerant in the width direction of the soot channel and preventing the collision and adhesion of the droplets in the refrigerant, the applicant proposes a solution in Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-199253. doing. Therein, a partition plate (13) having a plurality of plates that equally divide the width direction of the soot flow path is employed to equalize the flow velocity of the refrigerant in the width direction of the soot flow path, This shows how to prevent adhesion. However, in Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-199253, the partition plate (13) extends to the end of the bowl-shaped flow path (1), and there is no viewpoint of how long it is. .

  Another problem with the conventional freezing apparatus as disclosed in Patent Document 3 is that if the depth of a refrigerant such as a low-temperature liquefied gas flowing in the tub is not sufficient, a droplet dropped from the dropping nozzle It may adhere to the flow path surface and cause clogging.

  The present invention has been made for the above-described circumstances, and when passing droplets through a refrigerant flowing in a tub, the granular freezing apparatus does not allow the droplets to adhere to each other and to the tub. It is an issue to provide.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following configuration.
That is, in the granular freezing apparatus of the present invention, the object to be frozen is continuously dripped by the one or more dripping nozzles into the low-temperature refrigerant flowing in the inclined bowl, and is allowed to flow to the bowl along with the refrigerant for a predetermined time. It is a granular freezing apparatus that cools in the above and generates granular frozen matter, and the gist of the gutter is that the slope of the downstream part is made gentler than the inclination of the upstream part. Here, typically, the upstream portion and the downstream portion are separated by providing one bent portion on the ridge.

  Moreover, the said collar can also be comprised by the constant width part from an upstream side to a predetermined position, and the part from which the width | variety becomes narrow gradually toward the terminal from the predetermined position.

  In particular, when a plurality of the dropping nozzles are provided transversely to the ridge, the flow path surface of the ridge includes a dropping position by the dropping nozzle so that the dropped droplets do not adhere to each other. A rectifying plate that forms a plurality of flow paths with partition plates corresponding to the number of the dropping nozzles is placed over a position until the surface is frozen.

  According to the granular freezing apparatus of the present invention, with respect to the soot, by making the slope of the downstream portion gentler than that of the upstream portion, the flow of the refrigerant is accelerated in the upstream portion of the soot so that the droplets On the other hand, in the downstream part, in order to ensure a cooling action for a predetermined time with a short length, by slowing the flow of the refrigerant, adhesion of droplets can be avoided and the apparatus can be enlarged. Prevention can be achieved.

  Further, the dripping nozzle is configured with a constant width portion from the flow side to a predetermined position and a portion in which the width gradually decreases from the predetermined position toward the end, with a relatively small flow rate of the refrigerant. Since the depth of the refrigerant at the dropping position due to can be controlled to a predetermined value or more, it is possible to prevent the dropped droplet from adhering to the flow path surface of the soot.

  In addition, when a plurality of dripping nozzles are provided transversely to the ridge, the dripping nozzle includes a dripping position on the flow path surface of the ridge, and the surface freezes to the extent that the dropped droplets do not adhere to each other. A rectifying plate that forms a plurality of flow paths with a partition plate corresponding to the number of dripping nozzles is placed across the position until the liquid droplets collide with each other. Adhesion can be prevented.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the granular freezing apparatus which is one Embodiment to which this invention is applied, The figure (a) is a side view, The figure (b) is a top view. It is a figure for demonstrating the detail of the shape of the collar 4 in the said embodiment, and the baffle plate 7 mounted in the collar 4, The figure (a) is a perspective view, The figure (b) is a side surface FIG. It is a figure which shows the detailed structure of the baffle plate 7 in the said embodiment. It is a figure which shows the detailed structure around the dropping nozzle 6 in the said embodiment. It is a perspective view for demonstrating the structure which concerns on the immersion tank in the said embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the separator 8 in the said embodiment, The figure (a), (b), (c) is a top view, a side view, and a front view, respectively.

  Hereinafter, a granular freezing apparatus which is an embodiment to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, in the drawings used in the following description, in order to make the features easy to understand, there are cases where the portions that become the features are enlarged for the sake of convenience, and the dimensional ratios of the respective components are not always the same as the actual ones. Absent.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a granular freezing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, where FIG. 1 (a) is a side view and FIG. 1 (b) is a plan view. The granular freezing apparatus shown in the figure is, for example, an apparatus for continuously freezing liquid foods in a refrigerant such as a low-temperature liquefied gas and exposing them to the refrigerant for a predetermined time, thereby freezing them in millimeters. It is. An example of the low temperature liquefied gas is liquid nitrogen. In addition to liquid foods, pharmaceuticals can be listed as the target for granular freezing.

First, the schematic configuration of the granular freezing apparatus will be described by explaining the process up to granular freezing of food droplets with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the low-temperature liquefied gas stored in the upstream side immersion tank 1 a is sucked into the liquefied gas supply pipe 3 by the pump 2 and discharged to the most upstream part of the basket 4. As will be described later in detail, since the ridge 4 has a generally slide-like shape, the low-temperature liquefied gas discharged to the uppermost stream portion is caused to flow downstream by gravity. On the other hand, there is a raw material tank 5 in which liquid food is stored above the upstream portion of the basket 4, and a configuration in which droplets of the food can be dropped onto the upstream part of the basket 4 via the dropping nozzle 6. It has become.

  In such a configuration, when droplets are continuously dropped from the dropping nozzle 6 onto the bowl 4, they fall into the low-temperature liquefied gas flowing through the bowl 4 as described above, and ride on the flow of the low-temperature liquefied gas. Will be carried downstream. In the course of flowing through the low-temperature liquefied gas, frozen particles in millimeters are generated. Note that the temperature of the liquid dropped from the dropping nozzle 6 is desirably temperature-controlled in order to make the frozen state uniform.

  Here, although the number of dripping nozzles 6 may be one, in this embodiment, a plurality of dripping nozzles 6 are provided in the width direction of the basket 4 for the purpose of efficiently generating many granular frozen materials. And the dripping nozzle 6 performs dripping simultaneously and in parallel. The means for avoiding the adhesion of the droplets in the portion of the ridge 4 and the means for avoiding the adhesion of the droplet to the bottom surface of the ridge 4 will be described in detail later. Details of the dropping nozzle 6 will be described later.

  The generated frozen particles are separated from the low-temperature liquefied gas by the separator 8. The separated low-temperature liquefied gas falls into the downstream immersion tank 1b and is stored. On the other hand, the frozen particles are temporarily retained in the slow cooling basket 9.

  The reason for this is that when the droplets are frozen with a low-temperature liquefied gas, freezing unevenness occurs between the surface and the inside of the droplet, so even if the surface is frozen, the inside remains relatively hot and does not freeze. It is because it ends up. Therefore, in this apparatus, when the surface of the droplet is frozen, the surface and the inside are frozen uniformly by separating the particles and the low-temperature liquefied gas. Thereby, since the inside of a droplet can also be fully frozen, the crack of a frozen particle in a subsequent process can be prevented.

  The slow cooling basket 9 is a member for making the temperature of the surface and the inside uniform in a droplet having a frozen surface. Specifically, the slow cooling basket 9 is provided with, for example, three partition plates every 120 degrees, and is configured such that frozen particles stay between the plates. Then, after a sufficient time has passed for the temperature to be uniform, it rotates 120 degrees. As a result, the frozen particles are then loaded into the immersion basket 10.

  The immersion basket 10 is provided on the downstream immersion tank 1b and can move up and down. With this configuration, when the immersion basket 10 on which the frozen particles are loaded descends, the immersion basket 10 is immersed in the downstream immersion tank 1b. And the frozen particle | grains frozen uniformly are obtained by being immersed in the downstream side immersion tank 1b for a fixed time.

  Thereafter, the dipping basket 10 rises again, and this time moves to the right of the drawing. There is a stop rod 11 in the moving direction of the immersion basket 10, and when the immersion basket 10 collides with it, the immersion basket 10 receives a rotating force from the stop rod 11. As a result, the immersed basket 10 is tilted, and the frozen particles loaded inside fall onto a shooter (not shown) and are transported to the subsequent steps.

  On the other hand, the upstream immersion tank 1a and the downstream immersion tank 1b are connected via an immersion tank connection pipe 12. Accordingly, as the apparatus is operated, the low-temperature liquefied gas in the upstream immersion tank 1a decreases, and conversely, even if the downstream immersion tank 1b increases, the low-temperature liquefied gas in the downstream immersion tank 1b generally depends on the atmospheric pressure difference. Returns to the upstream immersion tank 1a. In addition, the detailed structure regarding the upstream side immersion tank 1a and the downstream side immersion tank 1b and the effects obtained thereby will be described in detail later.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the details of the shape of the collar 4 and the current plate 7 placed on the collar 4, wherein FIG. 2 (a) is a perspective view and FIG. 2 (b) is a side view. is there.
As shown in FIG. 2, the first feature of the shape of the ridge 4 in the embodiment of the present invention is that the shape of “<” is shown in side view in the middle of the longitudinal direction as shown in FIG. It is bent. Here, the relative angle is θ. Accordingly, with reference to FIG. 1 as well, in relation to the installation surface of the apparatus, the slope is relatively steep in the upstream portion of the ridge 4, whereas the slope is relatively gentle in the downstream portion after bending. It becomes composition. With this configuration, the upstream portion of the ridge 4 has a steep slope to increase the flow of the low-temperature liquefied gas to prevent the droplets from adhering to each other, while the downstream portion has a short length and a cooling action of a predetermined time or more. In order to ensure this, the flow of low-temperature liquefied gas is slowed by slowing the slope. Thereby, the effect from both sides of avoiding adhesion of droplets and preventing the enlargement of the apparatus is achieved.

Here, as shown in FIG. 2 (b), and the entire length of the gutter 4 and L _1, and the upstream portion of the front and rear bending and downstream portion length of the L ₁₁ and L _12, respectively. Which position in the longitudinal direction to be bent, in other words, how many L ₁₁ and L ₁₂ are to be determined, is determined by first determining the angle with respect to the installation surface of the upstream portion of the ridge 4 and then the liquid at that angle. What is necessary is just to decide from a viewpoint of those surfaces that freeze so that the droplets may not adhere to each other when the droplets flow. In other words, L ₁ , L ₁₁ , L ₁₂ , θ, widths w ₁ and w ₂ described later, and the time interval of the dropped droplets are determined depending on each other.

  In addition, in this embodiment, although the case where it bends in one place is illustrated, it is not restricted to this, You may bend in several places. Furthermore, ultimately, it may be formed continuously, that is, with a curved surface. If the number of bent parts is reduced, there is an advantage that the processing is easier, and conversely, if formed with a curved surface, the disturbance of the flow of low-temperature liquefied gas at the bent part is reduced to the maximum, and that part is There is an advantage that the adhesion of the droplets at the top is avoided to the maximum.

Next, the second feature of the shape of the ridge 4 in the embodiment of the present invention is the configuration in which the flow path width is gradually narrowed in the downstream portion as shown in FIG. With this configuration, the low-temperature liquefied gas is less likely to flow out of the ridge 4, so that the liquid level of the low-temperature liquefied gas in the entire ridge 4 can be raised. Thereby, since the depth of the low-temperature liquefied gas in the dropping position by the dropping nozzle 6 can be controlled to a predetermined value or more, it is possible to prevent the dropped droplet from adhering to the flow path surface of the ridge 4. In FIG. 2, the flow path width at the position to start reducing the channel width, i.e. the channel width of the upstream portion of the trough 4 and w _1, the final end of reducing the channel width, i.e. the outlet of the trough 4 the flow path width is set to w _2.

  Here, at the position where the flow path width starts to decrease, it is typical to bend the side wall. However, as in the first feature, it may be configured to be continuously smooth. The effect is the same, and when it is bent at one place, it is easy to process, and when it is constituted by a curved surface, there is an advantage that the disturbance of the flow of the low-temperature liquefied gas can be suppressed.

  The first feature and the second feature are conceptually independent features. However, if the first feature and the second feature are combined with the second feature in addition to the first feature, the first feature functions as desired. Each numerical value to be taken into consideration also considers the degree of decrease in the channel width in the second feature. In this case, that is, as shown in FIG. 2, it is typical that the bent position of the first feature and the bent position of the second feature are matched, but this is not necessarily the case.

Another feature of the embodiment of the granular freezing apparatus of the present invention resides in that the current plate 7 is placed on the flow path surface of the basket 4 as shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of the current plate 7. As shown in the figure, the rectifying plate 7 is composed of a plurality of partition plates 71 juxtaposed in a standing position at a predetermined interval w ₃ and a plurality of positioning rods 72 that weld and fix them transversely. The Note that the number of the partition plate 71 corresponds to the number of drip nozzles 6 arranged in parallel, the interval w ₃ corresponds to the interval of each dropping nozzle 6. Further, the length of each partition plate 71 in the longitudinal direction is L ₂ and the height is H ₂ . Further, the rectifying plate 7 is not fixed to the flange 4 and can be attached and detached.

  Since the width direction of the flow path of the ridge 4 is equally divided corresponding to the dropping nozzle 6 by placing it on the flow path surface of the ridge 4 of the rectifying plate 7 having such a configuration, when a plurality of dropping nozzles 6 are provided. Even if it exists, the collision and adhesion of the adjacent droplets can be prevented. Even within the same flow path, since the width is narrow, there is little difference in flow velocity in the width direction, and flow disturbance is suppressed, so that collision and adhesion can be prevented. The position where the current plate 7 is placed and the viewpoint of determining its length include the dropping position, and the length to the downstream side is the length until the surface is frozen to the extent that the droplets do not adhere to each other. Say it. In other words, it becomes unnecessary over the downstream portion thereafter.

Next, the structure around the dropping nozzle 6 will be described.
By the way, the low-temperature liquefied gas stored in the raw material tank 5 is supplied to the one or more dropping nozzles 6 via a predetermined pipe and finally a noise header in which one or more dropping nozzles 6 are suspended. Although supplied, in a high temperature environment, condensation occurs in the predetermined piping and the noise header. When the condensation generated in this way drops down to the dropping nozzle 6 and mixes with the dropped low-temperature liquefied gas at the tip of the dropping nozzle 6, the dripping state of the low-temperature liquefied gas collapses to form a shower. It gets worse. As a result, the diameter of the frozen particles becomes large, the dispersion occurs, and the frozen particles adhere to the flow path surface of the ridge 4.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, a structure that avoids the situation around the dropping nozzle 6 is employed. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration around the dropping nozzle 6. FIG. 4A is an example thereof, and here, the tip of each dropping nozzle 6 suspended from the nozzle header 21 is formed in an S shape. With this structure, the condensed water drops from each dropping nozzle 6 before reaching the tip of each dropping nozzle 6, so that it does not mix with the low-temperature liquefied gas dropped from the tip of each dropping nozzle 6. Condensed water dripping down from each dripping nozzle 6 may be received by the receiving tray 22 for discharging condensed water and discharged.

  FIG. 2B shows another example, in which a dew condensation water mixing prevention pen 23 through which the dropping nozzles 6 penetrate is provided at the center of each dropping nozzle 6. Even in such a configuration, the condensed water is physically separated from each dropping nozzle 6 before reaching the tip of each dropping nozzle 6, so that it mixes with the low-temperature liquefied gas dropped from the tip of each dropping nozzle 6. There is nothing.

Next, details of the immersion bath will be described.
By the way, when handling a refrigerant having a large temperature difference from the atmosphere or ambient temperature in an open system, the refrigerant is likely to be warmed when the contact area with the atmosphere is large, and particularly when using a low-temperature liquefied gas as the refrigerant, there is a vaporization loss. It tends to grow. In addition, when a large container or tank is used, distortion and deformation are likely to occur due to a large temperature difference between normal temperature and low temperature, resulting in an increase in production cost and weight.

  From the above viewpoint, in the embodiment of the present invention, the immersion tank is basically separated into two, upstream and downstream. FIG. 5 is a perspective view for explaining a configuration according to the immersion tank in the embodiment. As shown in the figure, the upstream immersion tank 1a and the downstream immersion tank 1b are communicated with each other via an immersion tank connection pipe 12. As described above, the low-temperature liquefied gas stored in the upstream immersion tank 1a is pumped up by the pumping pump 2 and supplied to the trough 4.

  On the other hand, as described above, the downstream immersion tank 1b serves as a tray for the low-temperature liquefied gas discharged from the basket 4, and also functions as a tank for submerging the frozen particles that are unevenly frozen to freeze them evenly. Plays. Here, as described above, the upstream immersion tank 1a and the downstream immersion tank 1b are configured to communicate with each other via the immersion tank connection pipe 12, so that the low-temperature liquefied gas does not contact the outside air as much as possible. It has become. With such a configuration, intrusion of heat from the outside air can be prevented. Further, although not shown, a lid may be provided on the upstream immersion tank 1a and the downstream immersion tank 1b as much as possible (relationship with the pumping pump 2 and the immersion basket 10).

  The immersion tank connection pipe 12 includes a drain valve 121, a gas vent 122, and a joint portion 123. First, the presence of the joint portion 123 allows the positions and inclinations of the upstream immersion tank 1a and the downstream immersion tank 1b to be freely changed. Actually, the upstream immersion tank 1a is positioned slightly below the downstream immersion tank 1b. In addition, you may comprise with a flexible tube instead of employ | adopting the joint part 123. FIG. Further, by providing the drain valve 121, it is possible to suppress the perturbation of the liquid level of the low temperature liquefied gas in the upstream side immersion tank 1a and the downstream side immersion tank 1b, and a uniform liquid level can be realized immediately.

  On the other hand, particularly when the apparatus is used for food or pharmaceuticals, there is an advantage that cleaning after use of the apparatus is facilitated by extracting the low-temperature liquefied gas from both tanks through the drain valve 121. In addition, when it is set as the structure which provides a drain valve in each of the upstream immersion tank 1a and the downstream immersion tank 1b, especially when low-temperature liquefied gas is made into a refrigerant | coolant, it will be in a boiling state with the gas evaporated inside the drain. The liquid level in each tank will swing and affect the proper control of a liquid level sensor (not shown).

  Next, the separator 8 will be described. FIG. 6 is a view for explaining the structure of the separator 8, and FIGS. 6A, 6B, and 6C are a plan view, a side view, and a front view, respectively. As shown in FIG. 4A, the separator 8 is provided with a plurality of slits 81. The width of each slit 81 is preferably about 1 to 2 mm smaller than the diameter of the frozen particles that can be obtained satisfactorily. Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, the separator 8 is provided with a folding member 82 for guiding the low-temperature liquefied gas that has passed through the slit 81 toward the downstream immersion tank 1b.

  As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, the ridge 4 is provided with a bent portion, the slope is relatively steep in the upstream portion of the ridge 4 to increase the speed of the low-temperature liquefied gas, and the downstream portion after the bend is inclined. However, it is possible to earn a freezing time by making it relatively slow. Thereby, it is possible to avoid adhesion between droplets and to prevent the apparatus from becoming large.

  Further, by adopting a configuration in which the flow path width is gradually narrowed in the downstream portion of the trough 4, the depth of the low-temperature liquefied gas at the dropping position by the dropping nozzle 6 is a predetermined value or more with a relatively low flow rate of the low-temperature liquefied gas. Can be controlled. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the dropped liquid droplet from adhering to the flow path surface of the ridge 4.

  Further, a plurality of dropping nozzles 6 are provided by placing a baffle plate 7 on the flow path surface of the ridge 4 so as to extend from the dropping position in the ridge 4 to a position where the surface of the droplet freezes and does not adhere to each other. Even when the width of the ridge 4 is increased, the flow of the low-temperature liquefied gas in the width direction can be made uniform to prevent the collision and adhesion of droplets.

  In addition, since the condensed water is not mixed with the low-temperature liquefied gas that is dripped at the tip of the dripping nozzle 6, the diameter of the frozen particles becomes large or varies, and the flow of the trap 4 Situations that would stick to the road surface are avoided.

  Moreover, since the immersion tank is separated into two upstream immersion tanks 1a and downstream immersion tanks 1b and both are connected by the immersion tank connection pipe 12, the influence of heat from the outside air on the low-temperature liquefied gas is prevented. Can do.

Specific examples are shown below.
Example 1
In FIG. 2, for example, w ₁ = 120 mm and w ₂ = 60 mm. The relative angle θ = 1 to 2 °. _Further, an L 1 = 1000~1500mm, is determined depending on the object to be frozen. For example, L ₁₁ = L ₁₂ is satisfied. Further, the height _H 1 = 30 to 50 mm, preferably a 40 mm.
In FIG. 3, for example, L ₂ = 300 to 600 mm, H ₂ = 10 to 15 mm, and w ₃ = 20 mm.

  The granular freezing apparatus of the present invention can be employed, for example, when it is desired to freeze a liquid food or pharmaceutical product in a granular form.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1a Upstream side immersion tank 1b Downstream side immersion tank 2 Pumping pump 3 Liquefied gas supply piping 4 樋 5 Raw material tank 6 Dripping nozzle 7 Current plate 71 Partition plate 72 Positioning rod 8 Separator 81 Slit 82 Folding member 9 Slow cooling basket 10 Immersion basket 11 Stop rod 12 Immersion tank connection piping 121 Drain valve 122 Gas vent 123 Joint portion 21 Nozzle header 22 Condensate drain tray 23 Condensation water mixture prevention cap

Claims (4)

An object to be frozen is continuously dropped by one or more dripping nozzles on a low-temperature refrigerant flowing in a sloping ridge, and cooled by flowing in the tub for a predetermined time together with the refrigerant to generate a granular frozen material. A granular freezing device,
The granule freezing apparatus characterized in that the ridge has a gentler slope at its downstream portion than that at its upstream portion.   The granular freezing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bent portion is provided with one bent portion to separate the upstream portion and the downstream portion.   The said ridge is comprised by the constant width part from an upstream side to a predetermined position, and the part from which the width | variety becomes narrow gradually toward the terminal from the predetermined position, The Claim 1 or 2 characterized by the above-mentioned. Granular freezing equipment. A plurality of the dropping nozzles are provided transversely to the ridge,
A partition plate corresponding to the number of the dripping nozzles over the position where the surface freezes to the extent that the dripped liquid droplets do not adhere to each other, including a dropping position by the dropping nozzle on the flow path surface of the tub. The granular freezing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a current plate that forms a plurality of flow paths is placed.

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