JP7445282B2 - Granular gas melt ice production equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an apparatus for producing granular gaseous melted ice, which is obtained by freezing a solution in which a gas such as carbon dioxide gas is dissolved into granules.

Patent Document 1 describes a pressure-resistant ice-making container into which ice-making raw water containing carbon dioxide gas is poured, and a pressure-resistant ice-making container that expands by being supplied with a pressurized medium and contacts the surface of the ice-making raw water poured into the pressure-resistant ice-making container. A cooling means comprising a hollow elastic pressurized bag disposed inside the pressure-resistant ice-making container, a brine wrapping section that cools the pressure-resistant ice-making container from the outside, and a central brine supply section that also cools the pressure-resistant ice-making container from the center side. Disclosed is an invention of a carbonated ice production apparatus characterized by the following.
Further, Patent Document 2 discloses that raw water for ice making is poured into a pressure container up to a predetermined position, alcohol and carbon dioxide are dissolved in the raw water for ice making, pressurized with an insoluble gas, the pressure container is cooled, and the raw water for ice making is Disclosed is an invention of a method for producing carbonated ice characterized by freezing carbonated ice.

However, the inventions of Patent Documents 1 and 2 require removing the top lid of the pressure container, pouring raw ice water into the pressure container, and then removing the top lid of the pressure container again after ice making to take out the carbonated ice inside the pressure container. , it is not possible to automatically produce large quantities of carbonated ice.

Therefore, the present inventors supplied carbonated water from a pressure-resistant container for carbonated water that stores carbonated water to a pressure-resistant ice-making container, pressurized the carbonated water in the pressure-resistant ice-making container with an inert gas, and cooled the pressure-resistant ice-making container. After freezing carbonated water, the pressure-resistant ice-making container is heated to separate the carbonated ice from the inner surface of the pressure-resistant ice-making container, and the carbonated ice is discharged from the carbonated ice outlet by opening an electric ball valve. (See Patent Document 3).

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 7-120123 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2014-219194 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-45101

Carbonated ice is preferably granular because it is used in drinks or as frozen desserts. However, in conventional carbonated ice production equipment, carbonated ice is produced in large chunks. Therefore, a separate device is required to crush the produced carbonated ice into particles. This is one of the reasons that prevents the spread of carbonated ice production equipment.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus capable of producing a large amount of granular gaseous melted ice without crushing the produced gaseous melted ice into particles.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an apparatus for producing granular gas melted ice in which a solution in which a gas is dissolved is frozen into granules,
a pressure-resistant container into which the gas is pressurized;
a cooling means for cooling the gas;
a conveyor belt having a plurality of recesses formed on its surface and moving within the pressure container;
a solvent supply means for injecting a solvent in which the gas is dissolved into the recess;
It is characterized by comprising an ice discharge valve that is connected to an outlet for discharging the granular gaseous melted ice formed in the recessed portion from the pressure vessel and maintains the pressure within the pressure vessel.

When an appropriate amount of solvent is injected into the recesses formed in the conveyor belt, the solvent within the recesses takes on a raised shape like a polka dot due to surface tension. The gas pressurized into the pressure container dissolves into the solvent in the recess as fine bubbles. The solution in the recess in which the gas has been dissolved is cooled by the gas in the pressure-resistant container and freezes, forming particulate gas-melted ice.

Further, in the granular gas melt ice manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, it is preferable that the conveyor belt has water repellency. As a result, the granular gaseous melted ice that has frozen within the recess easily leaves the recess without adhering to the recess.

In the granular gaseous melted ice production apparatus according to the present invention, a solvent is injected into the recesses formed in the conveyor belt, and the gas is dissolved in the solvent and cooled to produce granular gaseous melted ice. Thereby, a large amount of granular gaseous melted ice can be produced without crushing the produced gaseous melted ice.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional plan view of a granular gas melted ice manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a sectional side view of the same granular gas melt ice production apparatus. It is a perspective sectional view of the same granular gas melt ice production device. FIG. 2 is an image diagram of the terminal end of a belt conveyor constituting the granular gas melted ice manufacturing device.

Next, embodiments embodying the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings to provide an understanding of the present invention.
In the following embodiments, carbon dioxide is selected as the gas to be dissolved, and raw water (water) is selected as the solvent for dissolving the gas to produce granular carbonated ice (corresponding to "granular gas melted ice" in the present invention). Let me explain the case.

A granular gas melt ice manufacturing apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 3.
The granular gas melt ice production apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes a pressure container 11 into which carbon dioxide is pressurized, a belt conveyor 12 installed in the pressure container 11, and a solvent that supplies raw water in which carbon dioxide is dissolved. It includes a supply means 23, a cooling means for cooling the carbon dioxide pressurized into the pressure vessel 11, and an outlet 19 for discharging the produced granular carbonated ice from the pressure vessel 11.

The pressure container 11 is composed of a horizontally arranged cylindrical container. Both ends of the cylindrical container are openably and closably sealed with bowl-shaped flanges.

The belt conveyor 12 is arranged in the direction of the central axis of the pressure container 11, and an endless conveyor belt 13 is wound between two rollers 15 and 16. The conveyor belt 13 located on the upper side is the forward belt 13a, and the conveyor belt 13 located on the lower side is the return belt 13b.
A driven roller 15 is arranged on the starting end side of the outgoing belt 13a, and a driving roller 16 is arranged on the trailing end side. A motor 17 for rotating the drive roller 16 is installed at one end of the drive roller 16 . As a result, the conveyor belt 13 moves within the pressure container 11.

A plurality of recesses 14 are formed on the surface of the conveyor belt 13. The recesses 14 are hemispherical and are arranged in a matrix at predetermined intervals in the width direction and movement direction of the conveyor belt 13, respectively. The concave portion 14 opens upward in the forward belt 13a, and opens downward in the backward belt 13b.
The conveyor belt 13 is preferably water-repellent, and thermoplastic silicone rubber or the like can be used as the water-repellent material.

A solvent supply means 23 for injecting an appropriate amount of raw water into each recess 14 is installed above the starting end of the outgoing belt 13a. In this embodiment, a plurality of quantitative batch type solvent injection pipes are used as the solvent supply means 23. The discharge port of the solvent injection tube is arranged to be located directly above each recess 14 arranged in the width direction of the conveyor belt 13. The solvent injection tube is surrounded by a heat insulating material 24.

The cooling means includes a gas cooler 27 that cools the carbon dioxide in the pressure vessel 11, an outgoing pipe 28 that supplies the carbon dioxide in the pressure vessel 11 to the gas cooler 27, and a carbon dioxide cooled by the gas cooler 27. It is generally composed of a return pipe 29 that supplies carbon to the pressure vessel 11.
One end of the outgoing pipe 28 and one end of the return pipe 29 are each connected to a gas cooler 27. The other end of the outgoing pipe 28 is connected to the lower part of the flange on the terminal end side of the outgoing belt 13a that seals the end of the pressure vessel 11, and the other end of the return pipe 29 is connected to the upper part of the flange on the terminal end side. has been done.

Between the other end of the outgoing pipe 28 and the other end of the return pipe 29, a rectifying plate 25 whose base end is joined to the flange on the terminal end side and projects horizontally into the pressure vessel 11 is installed. There is. Further, a gas supply pipe 26 for supplying carbon dioxide to the pressure vessel 11 is connected near the other end of the return pipe 29 .

The granular carbonated ice that has frozen in the recess 14 is passed through a hopper 18 placed at the end of the outbound belt 13a, and then from a discharge port 19 formed in the pressure vessel 11 to a discharge pipe 20 equipped with ice discharge valves 21 and 22. is discharged to. The ice discharge valves 21 and 22 maintain the pressure within the pressure vessel 11.

Next, a method for producing granular carbonated ice using the granular gas melted ice producing apparatus 10 will be described.
(1) Carbon dioxide in a carbon dioxide gas cylinder (not shown) is pressurized into the pressure vessel 11 via the gas supply pipe 26. The pressure of carbon dioxide in the pressure container 11 is preferably about 0.5 MPa to 1.0 MPa. The pressure inside the pressure vessel 11 is automatically adjusted based on a pressure gauge (not shown) attached to the pressure vessel 11 so that a set pressure is maintained.
Note that if the inside of the pressure container 11 is brought into a vacuum state using a vacuum pump before carbon dioxide is injected, it becomes easier to obtain granular carbonated ice having a predetermined carbon dioxide concentration.

(2) The gas cooler 27 is operated to circulate and cool the carbon dioxide in the pressure vessel 11. The lower the cooling temperature, the better, but economically speaking, a temperature of -20°C to -35°C is sufficient.
(3) Drive the belt conveyor 12 and inject raw water into each recess 14 of the outgoing belt 13a from the solvent injection pipe. The temperature of the raw water is preferably a low temperature close to 0°C.

(4) While the recess 14 moves from the start end to the end of the outgoing belt 13a, carbon dioxide in the pressure container 11 dissolves into the raw material water in the recess 14 as fine bubbles. The carbonated water in the recess 14 in which carbon dioxide has been dissolved is cooled and frozen by the carbon dioxide in the pressure container 11, and becomes granular carbonated ice. The time required for the recess 14 to move from the starting end to the ending end of the outgoing belt 13a is approximately 20 minutes.
(5) When the recess 14 reaches the end of the outgoing belt 13a, the recess 14 is pushed up by the drive roller 16, and the granular carbonated ice 30 in the recess 14 is pushed out of the recess 14 and falls into the hopper 18 (Fig. reference).

(6) Granular carbonated ice 30 in the hopper 18 is accumulated in the discharge pipe 20 by closing the lower ice discharge valve 22 installed in the discharge pipe 20 and opening the upper ice discharge valve 21. Next, by closing the upper ice discharge valve 21 and opening the lower ice discharge valve 22, the granular carbonated ice 30 in the discharge pipe 20 is discharged to the outside of the granular gaseous melted ice production apparatus 10. Note that if rotary valves are used in place of the ice discharge valves 21 and 22, alternate opening and closing of the ice discharge valves 21 and 22 is not necessary.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the configuration described in the above-described embodiment, and within the scope of the claims. It also includes other possible embodiments and modifications. For example, in the above embodiment, carbon dioxide is used as a gas that is a solute that dissolves in a solvent, but any type of gas can be used as long as it can be dissolved in a solvent. It does not matter whether the solubility in the solvent is high or low. Examples of gases other than carbon dioxide include ozone, nitrogen, oxygen, helium, argon, and ammonia. Further, in the above embodiment, the shape of the recess is hemispherical, but the shape is not limited to this, and may be a dice shape, a star shape, or the like.

In addition, if the combination of gas and solvent is not carbon dioxide and raw water, it is necessary to conduct a production test of granular gaseous melted ice and adjust the pressure and temperature of the gas, the temperature of the solvent, the traveling speed of the forward belt, etc.

10: Granular gas melt ice production device, 11: Pressure resistant container, 12: Belt conveyor, 13: Conveyor belt, 13a: Outbound belt, 13b: Return belt, 14: Recess, 15: Followed roller (roller), 16: Drive roller (roller), 17: motor, 18: hopper, 19: discharge port, 20: discharge pipe, 21, 22: ice discharge valve, 23: solvent supply means, 24: heat insulator, 25: rectifier plate, 26: gas supply Pipe, 27: Gas cooler (cooling means), 28: Outgoing pipe (cooling means), 29: Return pipe (cooling means), 30: Granular carbonated ice

Claims (8)

An apparatus for producing granular gas melted ice by freezing a gas solution in which gas is dissolved into particles,
a pressure-resistant container into which the gas is pressurized;
a cooling means for cooling the gas and feeding the cooled gas to the pressure-resistant container ;
a conveyor belt having a plurality of recesses formed on its surface and moving a gas- dissolved solution in the recesses in which the gas is dissolved within the pressure-resistant container;
A granular gas melted ice producing device, comprising: an ice discharge valve connected to an outlet for discharging the granular gas melted ice formed in the recess from the pressure container, and maintaining the pressure in the pressure container. . 2. The granular gas melt ice production apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor belt has water repellency. 2. The granular gas melted ice production apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a solvent supply means for injecting a solvent in which the gas is dissolved into the recesses. A method for producing granular gaseous melted ice, comprising producing the granular gaseous melted ice using the granular gaseous melted ice production apparatus according to claim 1 or 3,
Injecting a solvent in which the gas is dissolved into the recess,
moving the gas-dissolved solution in the recess in which the gas is dissolved by the conveyor belt ;
discharging the granular gaseous melted ice formed in the recess from the outlet;
A method for producing granular gaseous melted ice. The conveyor belt is an endless conveyor belt disposed within the pressure container, and the endless conveyor belt includes an outbound belt located on the upper side and a return belt located on the lower side.
The granular gas melt ice manufacturing device according to claim 1 . The cooling means includes a cooler that cools the gas, an outgoing pipe that has one end connected to the cooler and feeds the gas in the pressure container to the cooler, and one end that is connected to the cooler. and a return pipe for feeding the gas cooled by the cooler to the pressure-resistant container,
The granular gas melt ice manufacturing device further includes:
a rectifying plate disposed between the other end of the outgoing pipe and the other end of the return pipe, and protruding horizontally into the pressure vessel;
Equipped with
The granular gas melt ice manufacturing device according to claim 1 . the discharge port is arranged below the current plate;
The granular gas melt ice manufacturing device according to claim 6 . the gas is carbon dioxide;
The granular gas melt ice manufacturing device according to claim 1 .

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