JP7007573B2 - Ice making system - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to an ice making system. More specifically, the present invention relates to an ice making system for producing a sherbet-like ice slurry.

A sherbet-like ice slurry may be used to refrigerate fish and the like. As an apparatus for producing such an ice slurry, there is an ice maker that cools an object to be cooled such as seawater with a refrigerant to generate a sherbet-like ice slurry. Such an ice maker is equipped with a storage tank for storing the object to be cooled.

FIG. 5 shows a conventional storage tank 50. The storage tank 50 is a closed tank, and the object to be cooled 51 housed inside is sent to an ice maker (not shown) by a pump 52 and stored in a state containing ice generated by the ice maker. Returned to tank 50. The generated ice aggregates or solidifies to form an ice block 53. Since the ice block 53 floats on the upper part of the storage tank 50 due to buoyancy, the upper surface of the floating ice block 53 is scraped off by a rotary scraping device 54 provided in the upper part of the storage tank 50 to obtain a sherbet-shaped ice slurry. rice field.

As the amount of ice produced increases, so does the ice block 53 in the storage tank 50. When the operation of the ice maker is stopped for a long period of time with the ice block 53 in the storage tank 50, as shown in FIG. 6, the ice block in contact with the inner wall surface 55 of the side portion 50a of the storage tank 50 due to the freezing phenomenon. The portion 53 may be adsorbed on the inner wall surface 55. Even if the operation of the ice maker is restarted in this state, the ice block 53 is adsorbed on the inner wall surface 55 and does not rise, so that there arises a problem that the ice on the upper surface thereof cannot be scraped off.

Conventionally, in order to solve such a problem, an electric heater is wound around the side portion of the storage tank 50 to heat the storage tank 50, and the ice block 53 comes into contact with the inner wall surface 55 of the side portion 50a of the storage tank 50. Was prevented from adsorbing on the inner wall surface 55.
However, in this method, it is necessary to keep the electric heater energized at all times, and there is a problem that an electric cost (running cost) is required.

The present disclosure is intended to provide an ice making system capable of reducing running costs.

The ice making system according to the first aspect of the present disclosure is
(1) Ice making in which an ice maker that cools an object to be cooled by a refrigerant to generate ice, a storage tank that stores the object to be cooled, and a pump that supplies the object to be cooled to the ice maker are connected by a pipe. It ’s a system,
The ice making system is equipped with a refrigerating device capable of cooling operation and heating operation.
A heating pipe that supplies the object to be cooled to the upper part of the storage tank during the heating operation is branched from the pipe that returns from the ice maker to the storage tank.
The storage tank is provided with a discharge unit that discharges the object to be cooled supplied from the heating pipe into the storage tank.

In the ice making system according to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the object to be cooled can be heated by heating the refrigerating device, and the heated object to be cooled can be heated from the upper part of the storage tank via the heating pipe. By releasing it into the storage tank, the ice adsorbed on the inner wall surface of the storage tank can be melted.

(2) In the ice making system of the above (1), the ice making machine includes an inner pipe and an outer pipe provided coaxially with the inner pipe on the radial outer side of the inner pipe, and the inside of the inner pipe is provided. It can be a double-tube ice maker in which an object to be cooled flows and a refrigerant flows in the space between the inner pipe and the outer pipe. In this case, the ice adsorbed on the inner wall surface of the storage tank can be melted by discharging the cooled object warmed in the inner pipe from the upper part of the storage tank into the storage tank via the heating pipe.

The ice making system according to the second aspect of the present disclosure is
(3) Ice making in which an ice maker that cools an object to be cooled by a refrigerant to generate ice, a storage tank that stores the object to be cooled, and a pump that supplies the object to be cooled to the ice maker are connected by a pipe. It ’s a system,
It is equipped with a supply tank that supplies the object to be cooled to the storage tank.
A heating pipe is provided on the outer surface of the side of the storage tank.
It has a switching unit that selectively supplies the object to be cooled to the storage tank or the heating pipe.

In the ice making system according to the second aspect of the present disclosure, by operating the switching unit, the object to be cooled can be supplied from the replenishment tank to the heating pipe provided on the outer surface of the side portion of the storage tank. The temperature of the object to be cooled in the replenishment tank is, for example, in the range of 10 to 25 ° C. when the object to be cooled is seawater, and the side portion of the storage tank is supplied by supplying the object to be cooled to the heating pipe. The inner surface can be heated. This makes it possible to melt the ice adsorbed on the inner wall surface of the storage tank.

(4) In the ice making system of the above (3), the ice making machine includes an inner pipe and an outer pipe provided coaxially with the inner pipe on the radial outer side of the inner pipe. It can be a double-tube ice maker in which an object to be cooled flows and a refrigerant flows in the space between the inner pipe and the outer pipe.

It is a schematic block diagram of one Embodiment of the ice making system of this disclosure. It is a side view of the double tube type ice making machine in the ice making system shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing explanatory drawing of the blade mechanism in the double tube type ice making machine shown in FIG. It is a schematic block diagram of another embodiment of the ice making system of this disclosure. It is a figure explaining the storage tank in the conventional ice making system. It is a figure explaining the storage tank in the conventional ice making system.

Hereinafter, the ice making system of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. It should be noted that the present disclosure is not limited to these examples, and is indicated by the scope of claims, and is intended to include all modifications within the meaning and scope equivalent to the scope of claims.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an ice making system A according to an embodiment (first embodiment) of the present disclosure.
The ice making system A uses seawater as a object to be cooled, and in addition to the double-tube ice making machine 1 constituting the heat exchanger on the user side, the compressor 2, the heat exchanger on the heat source side 3, the four-way switching valve 4, and the expansion valve 5 , 25, a superheater 6, a receiver 7, a seawater tank (storage tank) 8, and a pump 9. A refrigerating device is composed of a double-tube ice maker 1, a compressor 2, a heat source side heat exchanger 3, a four-way switching valve 4, expansion valves 5, 25, a superheater 6, and a receiver 7, and these devices or members. Are connected by pipes to form a refrigerant circuit. Further, the double-tube ice making machine 1, the seawater tank 8, and the pump 9 are also connected by pipes to form a seawater circulation path. As will be described later, the refrigerating device in the present embodiment is a device capable of cooling operation and heating operation by switching the four-way switching valve 4.

During the normal ice making operation (cooling operation), the four-way switching valve 4 is held in the state shown by the solid line in FIG. The high-temperature and high-pressure gaseous refrigerant discharged from the compressor 2 flows into the heat source-side heat exchanger 3 that functions as a condenser via the four-way switching valve 4, and exchanges heat with air by the operation of the blower fan 10 to condense. Liquefaction. The liquefied refrigerant flows into the expansion valve 5 via the receiver 7 and the superheater 6. The refrigerant is depressurized to a predetermined low pressure by the expansion valve 5, and the inner pipe 12 and the outer pipe 13 constituting the double-tube ice maker 1 are discharged from the nozzle (not shown) of the double-tube ice maker 1. It is ejected into the annular space 14 between and.

The refrigerant ejected into the annular space 14 exchanges heat with the seawater flowing into the inner pipe 12 by the pump 9 and evaporates. The seawater cooled by the evaporation of the refrigerant flows out from the inner pipe 12 and returns to the seawater tank 8. The refrigerant evaporated and vaporized by the double-tube ice maker 1 is sucked into the compressor 2. At that time, when the refrigerant in a state containing liquid that cannot be completely evaporated by the double tube type ice maker 1 enters the compressor 2, it is compressed due to a sudden increase in the internal pressure of the compressor cylinder (liquid compression) and a decrease in the viscosity of the refrigerating machine oil. In order to protect the compressor 2, the refrigerant leaving the double-tube ice making machine 1 is overheated by the superheater 6 and returned to the compressor 2 because it may cause the machine 2 to fail. The superheater 6 is a double-tube type, and the refrigerant leaving the double-tube ice maker 1 is superheated while passing through the space between the inner tube and the outer tube of the superheater 6 and returns to the compressor 2. ..

Further, if the flow of seawater in the inner pipe 12 of the double-tube ice maker 1 is stagnant and ice is accumulated in the inner pipe 12 (ice accumulation), the double-tube ice maker 1 cannot be operated. .. In this case, a defrost operation (heating operation) is performed to melt the ice in the inner pipe 12. At this time, the four-way switching valve 4 is held in the state shown by the broken line in FIG. The high-temperature and high-pressure gaseous refrigerant discharged from the compressor 2 passes through the four-way switching valve 4 and the superheater 6 in the annular space 14 between the inner pipe 12 and the outer pipe 13 constituting the double-tube ice making machine 1. It flows into the inner pipe 12 and exchanges heat with seawater containing ice in the inner pipe 12 to condense and liquefy. The liquefied refrigerant flows into the expansion valve 25 via the superheater 6 and the receiver 7, is depressurized to a predetermined low voltage by the expansion valve 25, and flows into the heat source side heat exchanger 3 functioning as an evaporator. During the defrost operation, the refrigerant flowing into the heat source side heat exchanger 3 that functions as an evaporator exchanges heat with air by the operation of the blower fan 10, vaporizes, and is sucked into the compressor 2.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the double-tube ice making machine 1 in the ice making system A according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, which is shown in FIG. The double-tube ice maker 1 is a horizontal double-tube ice maker provided with an inner tube 12 and an outer tube 13.

The inner pipe 12 is an element through which seawater, which is a object to be cooled, passes through, and is made of a metal material such as stainless steel or iron. Both ends of the inner pipe 12 are closed, and a blade mechanism 15 is provided inside the inner pipe 12 to scoop up the sherbet-like ice slurry generated on the inner peripheral surface of the inner pipe 12 and disperse it in the inner pipe 12. ing. A seawater inlet pipe 16 for supplying seawater into the inner pipe 12 is provided on one end side (right side in FIG. 2) of the inner pipe 12 in the axial direction, and the other end side in the axial direction of the inner pipe 12 (left side in FIG. 2). ) Is provided with a seawater outlet pipe 17 from which seawater is discharged from the inner pipe 12.

The outer pipe 13 is provided coaxially with the inner pipe 12 on the radial outer side of the inner pipe 12, and is made of a metal material such as stainless steel or iron. A plurality of (three in this embodiment) refrigerant inlet pipes 18 are provided in the lower part of the outer pipe 13, and a plurality of (two in the present embodiment) refrigerant outlet pipes 19 are provided in the upper part of the outer pipe 13. It is provided. The wall 13a of the outer pipe 13 is provided with a nozzle for ejecting a refrigerant for cooling the seawater in the inner pipe 12 in the annular space 14 between the outer pipe 13 and the inner pipe 12. The nozzle is provided so as to communicate with the refrigerant inlet pipe 18.

As shown in FIG. 3, the blade mechanism 15 includes a rotating shaft 20, a support bar 21, and a blade 22. The other end of the rotating shaft 20 in the axial direction extends outward from the flange 23 provided at one end of the inner pipe 12 in the axial direction, and is connected to the motor 24 constituting the drive unit for driving the blade mechanism 15. Support bars 21 are erected on the peripheral surface of the rotating shaft 20 at predetermined intervals, and blades 22 are attached to the tips of the support bars 21. The blade 22 is made of, for example, a strip-shaped member made of resin, and has a tapered side edge on the front side in the rotation direction.

The storage tank 8 is a closed type tank made of a metal material such as stainless steel or iron. Above the inside of the storage tank 8, a rotary scraping device 26 for scraping the upper surface of the ice block floating in the seawater stored in the storage tank 8 to obtain a sherbet-shaped ice slurry is provided. .. The scraping device 26 is rotated by a drive device such as a motor (not shown).

A heating pipe 27 is branched from a pipe P1 returning from the double-tube ice maker 1 to the storage tank 8, and the heating pipe 27 is connected to an opening (not shown) of the top plate 28 of the storage tank 8. During normal ice making (cooling operation), the on-off valve 29 provided in the heating pipe 27 is in the “closed” state, and the seawater containing ice produced by the double-tube ice making machine 1 is “open”. It is returned to the storage tank 8 through the on-off valve 30 in the state of. When the double-tube ice maker 1 is heated to prevent the ice lumps from adsorbing on the inner wall surface 31 of the storage tank 8 or to melt the already adsorbed ice lumps, the on-off valve 30 is "closed". And the on-off valve 29 is opened, and the seawater warmed by the double-tube ice maker 1 is supplied from the heating pipe 27 to the storage tank 8.

The opening of the top plate 28 is provided with a nozzle 32, which is a discharge portion for discharging (discharging) the warmed seawater supplied from the heating pipe into the inside of the storage tank 8. It is desirable that the nozzle 32 has a spout (not shown) that discharges seawater toward the inner wall surface 31 from the viewpoint of efficiently melting the ice block portion adsorbed on the inner wall surface 31 of the storage tank 8.

The temperature of the warmed seawater is preferably a certain temperature or higher, for example, 5 ° C. or higher from the viewpoint of effectively melting the ice block, but if the heating capacity of the refrigerating device is insufficient, the rotation speed of the pump 9 The desired seawater temperature can be obtained by reducing the temperature or by performing intermittent operation when the pump 9 is a constant speed pump.

[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of an ice making system B according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. In the ice making system B according to the present embodiment, instead of the heating pipe 27 in the ice making system A shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a supply tank 33 separate from the storage tank 8 is provided, and the outer periphery of the side portion of the storage tank 8 is heated. A pipe 34 is provided. Therefore, the same reference numerals are given to the elements or devices common to the ice making system A, and the description thereof will be omitted for the sake of simplicity.

The replenishment tank 33 contains seawater supplied to the storage tank 8. The replenishment tank 33 accommodates seawater obtained from an intake port (not shown) with a filter provided in the sea. A heating pipe 34 for heating the storage tank 8 is spirally provided on the outer surface of the side portion of the storage tank 8. Further, a heat insulating material 35 for increasing the heating efficiency is wound around the outside or the outside of the heating pipe 34.

A circulation pump 37 is provided downstream of the outlet 36 of the replenishment tank 33, and a path for supplying seawater from the replenishment tank 33 into the storage tank 8 and a path for supplying seawater to the heating pipe 34 are provided downstream of the circulation pump. A three-way valve 38, which is a switching unit that can be switched, is provided.
As mentioned above, the temperature of seawater is usually in the range of 10 to 25 ° C. By operating the circulation pump 37 and switching the three-way valve 38 to a path for supplying seawater to the heating pipe 34, seawater can be supplied to the heating pipe 34 to heat the inner wall surface 31 of the storage tank 8. .. As a result, the portion of the ice block adsorbed on the inner wall surface 31 can be melted, and the ice block can be prevented from being adsorbed on the inner wall surface 31.

In the present embodiment, the seawater in the replenishment tank 33 can be circulated to heat the storage tank 8 to precool the seawater. Therefore, by supplying the pre-cooled seawater to the storage tank 8, the electricity cost (running cost) required for ice making can be suppressed.

[Other variants]
The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, as an ice maker that cools an object to be cooled to generate ice, a so-called scraping type double-tube ice maker provided with an inner tube and an outer tube is exemplified. The present disclosure can be applied not only to such a double-tube ice maker, but also to, for example, a supercooling double-tube ice maker and a harvest type ice maker.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, a spiral pipe is used as the heating pipe, but as long as the storage tank can be heated, for example, one end is connected to the inlet header and the other end is connected to the outlet header. It is also possible to use a heating pipe composed of a C-shaped pipe. In this case, the seawater supplied to the inlet header is distributed to a plurality of C-shaped pipes, collected in the outlet header after passing through the C-shaped pipes, and then returned to the supply tank.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, one double-tube ice maker is used in the ice-making system, but two or more double-tube ice makers can be arranged in series or in parallel for use. ..
Further, in the above-described embodiment, the horizontal double-tube ice maker is described as an example, but the present disclosure can also be applied to the vertical double-tube ice maker.

1: Double tube ice maker (ice maker)
2: Compressor 3: Heat source side heat exchanger 4: Four-way switching valve 5: Expansion valve 6: Overheater 7: Receiver 8: Seawater tank 9: Pump 10: Blower fan 12: Inner pipe 13: Outer pipe 13a: Wall 14: Ring space 15: Blade mechanism 16: Seawater inlet pipe 17: Seawater outlet pipe 18: Refrigerator inlet pipe 19: Refrigerator outlet pipe 20: Rotating shaft 21: Support bar 22: Blade 23: Flange 24: Motor 25: Expansion valve 26 : Scraping device 27: Heating pipe 28: Top plate 29: On-off valve 30: On-off valve 31: Inner wall surface 32: Nozzle 33: Supply tank 34: Heating pipe 35: Insulation material 36: Outlet 37: Circulation pump 38: Three-way Valve A: Ice making system B: Ice making system

Claims (7)

A refrigerating device including an ice maker (1) that cools the object to be cooled to generate ice, a storage tank (8) that stores the object to be cooled, and a pump that supplies the object to be cooled to the ice maker (1). (9) is an ice making system (A) connected by piping.
The refrigerating apparatus includes a cooling operation in which the object to be cooled in the ice maker (1) is cooled by a refrigerant to generate ice, and a heating operation in which the object to be cooled in the ice maker (1) is heated by a refrigerant. , It is possible to do,
From the pipe (P1) returning from the ice maker (1) to the storage tank (8), the heating pipe (27) that supplies the cooled object heated during the heating operation to the upper part of the storage tank (8) is provided. Branched and provided
An ice making system (32) provided in the storage tank (8) with a discharge unit (32) for discharging the heated object to be cooled supplied from the heating pipe (27) into the storage tank (8). A). The ice maker (1) includes an inner pipe (12), an outer pipe provided coaxially with the inner pipe (12) on the radial outer side of the inner pipe (12), and (13). A double-tube ice maker (1) in which an object to be cooled flows in an inner pipe (12) and a refrigerant flows in a space (14) between the inner pipe (12) and the outer pipe (13). Item 1. The ice making system (A) according to Item 1. The ice making system (A) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the discharge unit (32) has an outlet for discharging the heated object to be cooled toward the inner wall surface of the storage tank (8). .. An ice maker (1) that cools the object to be cooled with a refrigerant to generate ice, a storage tank (8) that stores the object to be cooled, and a pump (9) that supplies the object to be cooled to the ice maker (1). ) Is an ice making system (B) connected by piping.
The storage tank (8) is provided with a supply tank (33) for supplying the object to be cooled.
A heating pipe (34) is provided on the outer surface of the side of the storage tank (8).
An ice making system (B) having a switching unit for selectively supplying the object to be cooled from the replenishment tank (33) to the storage tank (8) or the heating pipe (34). The ice maker (1) includes an inner pipe (12), an outer pipe provided coaxially with the inner pipe (12) on the radial outer side of the inner pipe (12), and (13). A double-tube ice maker (1) in which an object to be cooled flows in an inner tube (12) and a refrigerant flows in a space (14) between the inner tube (12) and the outer tube (13). Item 4 The ice making system (B). The ice making system (B) according to claim 4 or 5, further comprising a heat insulating material (35) wound around the outside of the heating pipe (34). The heating pipe (33) cooled by supplying the object to be cooled in the replenishment tank (33) from the replenishment tank (33) to the heating pipe (34) and heating the storage tank (8). The ice making system (B) according to any one of claims 4 to 6, further comprising a circulation pump (37) for circulating the cooled object in the 34) to the replenishment tank (33).

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