JPH01206979A - Thawing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the title apparatus so designed that an air discharged from a thawing chamber is mixed with ozone gas followed by spraying temperature-regulated water to effect temperature regulation of the resultant mixed gas followed by circulating said gas to the thawing chamber, thereby cleaning the air in said chamber to keep the thawed foods fresh. CONSTITUTION:Firstly, the air in a thawing chamber B is suctioned with a blower 1 and fed to a cyclone C, into which an ozone-containing gas is fed from an ozone generator G. Thence, these gases are mixed in the cyclone C and fed to a cyclone scrubber E where temperature-regulated water is sprayed to bring the temperature of the gas present to the saturation state. The resultant gas is ten freed from water droplets through a gas-liquid separation regulator F and circulated to the thawing chamber B.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a thawing device for thawing foods, beverages, pharmaceuticals, microorganisms, and various other types of frozen objects. The present invention relates to a thawing device that can maintain the freshness of frozen objects by purifying them.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, this type of device was manufactured by Tokuko Sho 617. ．． There is a thawing device described in the thawing method of No. 9027.

This equipment consists of a gas temperature device that regulates the air to a constant temperature and saturates it with water vapor, and a drip removal device that communicates with the gas temperature device and with the thawing chamber to remove excess moisture. The frozen object is thawed by bringing air containing saturated water vapor into contact with the frozen object. In addition, an efficient closed system is used in which air is circulated from the thawing chamber to the thawing chamber via a gas temperature device and a drip removing device.

The gas temperature control device is a cyclone equipped with a liquid spray device, which adjusts the temperature of the water sprayed into the cyclone, performs gas-liquid heat exchange, adjusts the temperature of the air, and saturates the air with water vapor. . The drip removal device is a cyclone, and the separation action of the cyclone removes excess moisture from the air from the gas temperature device.

Since the above device brings air containing saturated water vapor into contact with the frozen object, it is necessary to remove odors, bacteria, and dust contained in the air. For this purpose, a cyclone equipped with a liquid spraying device was used to purify the air by colliding water droplets with odor, bacteria, and dust molecules, binding them, and separating them using centrifugal force.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The above conventional technology has the following problems.

1) The above device combines odor molecules with water droplets, and this is a combination of odor molecules adsorbed to particles such as dust and water droplets, or odor molecules dissolved in water droplets, It does not break down odor molecules. Therefore, it is impossible to deodorize odors other than water-soluble ammonia, and the deodorizing ability is quite low.

2) Furthermore, bacteria is a combination of bacteria adsorbed to particles such as dust and water droplets, and does not sterilize bacteria. In addition, it is not possible to suppress the growth of psychrotrophic bacteria. Therefore, the sterilizing ability is also low.

As mentioned above, since the deodorizing ability and sterilizing ability are low, when air containing such saturated water vapor is brought into contact with frozen objects,
There is a risk that the frozen product may change color, which is unfavorable from a sanitary standpoint, and the freshness of the frozen product cannot be maintained. Furthermore, water droplets combined with odor molecules and bacteria caused odor and bacteria to grow, resulting in secondary contamination.

The present invention was made in view of the above problems, and is intended to deodorize air containing saturated water vapor that is brought into contact with a frozen object.

To provide a thawing device that can perform sterilization, purify the air in a thawing chamber, and maintain the freshness of thawed products.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is configured as follows.

A cyclone that receives air and ozone gas from a thawing chamber, a cyclone scrubber that communicates with the cyclone and sprays water from a water temperature regulator, and a gas-liquid separation regulator that communicates with the cyclone scrubber and communicates with the thawing chamber. This thawing device is characterized by:

[Effect]

The present invention operates as follows with the above configuration.

The air inside the thawing chamber that has been placed inside the cyclone comes into contact with ozone gas in the cyclone, and the ozone gas decomposes, deodorizes, and sterilizes odor molecules and bacteria in the air, and the cyclone separates the dust in the air from the air. and dust is removed. The air extracted from the cyclone and introduced into the cyclone scrubber comes into contact with the spray water particles whose temperature is controlled by the water temperature controller in the cyclone scrubber, and the particles contain decomposed odor molecules in the air, minute bacteria, and other particles. Fine dust etc. are dissolved and adsorbed, and ozone gas is dissolved in the particles to sterilize and deodorize them.The particles are separated from the air by the separation action of the cyclone scrubber, and the air is humidified and heated by sprayed water. The air contains saturated water vapor at a certain temperature. The air is drawn out from the cyclone scrubber and introduced into the gas-liquid separation regulator, where large water particles are separated from the air.
The air will be conditioned to contain saturated water vapor with only small water particles and will be returned to the thawing chamber. The air containing saturated water vapor introduced into the thawing chamber comes into contact with the frozen object in the thawing chamber and thaws the frozen object.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a schematic diagram for explaining the present invention in detail, Figure 2 is a front cross-sectional view of a cyclone according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 3 is a sectional view of a cyclone according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is a plan view of a cyclone according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line TV-TV' of the thawing chamber in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings, the thawing device A includes a blower 1 that sends air from inside the thawing chamber B to a cyclone C, a cyclone C that receives the air and ozone gas, and a water pipe connected to the cyclone C. A cyclone scrubber E that sprays water from the container, and an air-liquid bone that communicates with the cyclone scrubber E and also connects with the thawing chamber B! 11 regulator F, and an ozone generator G that supplies ozone gas to the cyclone C. In addition, since two cyclone scrubbers E and two water temperature controllers were used, the cyclone scrubber E is the first cyclone scrubber E1 and the second cyclone scrubber E1.
It consists of a cyclone scrubber E2, and a water temperature regulator consists of a first water temperature regulator and a second water temperature regulator D2.

The blower 1 is connected to the thawing chamber B by a pipe 1a, and
It is connected to the introduction pipe 3 of the cyclone C via b. Further, as the blower 1, it is preferable to use a ring blower or a roots blower that can quantitatively transfer air.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, the cyclone C has a spherical main body 2 that separates solid particles such as gas and dust, and liquid particles such as water, and a spherical main body 2 that contains particles inside the main body 2. An introduction pipe 3 that introduces gas, an outlet pipe 4 that leads out the gas separated from the particles within the main body 2, and an exhaust pipe that discharges the particles separated from the gas within the main body 2 to the outside of the main body 2. It consists of 5.

The main body 2 has a two-part structure divided in half from the center, and consists of a hemispherical upper part 2a and a hemispherical lower part 2b.The open end of the upper part 2a and the open end of the lower part 2b are attached, and a ring-shaped The upper part 2a and the lower part 2b are fixed by a gasket 6 and a ring band 7 having a U-shaped cross section.

The introduction pipe 3 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the upper part 2a of the main body 2, and the outlet pipe 3 is provided so as to extend from the top of the upper part 2a of the main body 2 toward the center of the main body 2. Further, the discharge pipe 5 is provided at the bottom of the lower part 2b of the main body 2, and a valve 8 is provided below the discharge pipe 5, and the valve 8 is connected by a pipe 9 to a container for dust, etc. (not shown).

This cyclone C operates and functions as follows.

The gas containing particles introduced from the introduction pipe 3 into the main body 2 by a blower etc. becomes a spiral spiral flow that descends while swirling along the inner wall of the main body 2, and during this time centrifugal force acts on the particles. The particle is main body 2.

It will move towards the wall of the wall and be separated from the airflow.

The separated particles are discharged from the discharge pipe 5 to the outside of the main body 2 via the valve 8. In the swirling spiral flow, the swirl becomes larger and the flow velocity decreases from the upper part to the lower central part. Further, as one goes downward from the center, the diameter of the vortex becomes smaller and the flow velocity increases, and an upward air current is generated at the center and is led out of the main body 2 from the lead-out pipe 4.

Since the above-mentioned swirling spiral flow is generated due to the shape of the main body 2, the pressure loss in the main body 2 is small, and a high flow velocity can be obtained in the upper and lower parts, so particles that cannot be separated in the upper part can be separated in the lower part as well. Since it has the ability to separate twice, even if the gas contains a large number of particles, it can be separated, which is better than using a cylindrical cyclone.

The outlet pipe 4 of the cyclone C is connected to the inlet pipe 12 of the first cyclone scrubber EI via a pipe 10.

The first cyclone scrubber E is equipped with a sprayer H1 that sprays water on the cyclone C, and has a main body 1.
1. Introductory tube 12. Outlet pipe 13. Discharge pipe 14. Sprayer H1
It consists of.

The sprayer H5 includes a spray nozzle 15 that sprays fine water particles at the center of the main body 11, a pump 16 that supplies water to the spray nozzle 15, and a tank 17 containing water. The pump 16 and the spray nozzle 15 are connected by a pipe 18, and the pump 16 and the tank 17 are connected by a pipe 19.
The tank 17 is connected via a pipe 21 to a valve 20 provided below the discharge pipe 14, so that the sprayed water is circulated. Further, the valve 20 is preferably a needle valve that can adjust the flow rate, and is preferably adjusted so that a small amount of atomized water accumulates at the bottom of the main body 11. The tank 17 has a tapered bottom, and when dust, etc. in the water accumulates at the bottom, an automatic valve 17a provided below the bottom opens and discharges the dust, etc. in the water out of the tank 17. The valve 17b is opened to replenish water into the tank 17.

In this first cyclone scrubber EI, water particles sprayed into the main body 11 collide with particles in the airflow within the main body 11,
The diameter of the particles can be increased to facilitate separation from the airflow, and the gas within the main body 11 can be humidified to become a gas containing saturated water vapor.

The first water temperature regulator is the first cyclone scrubber E.
A pipe 22 is wrapped around the outer peripheral wall of the tank 17 of the sprayer H1, and a cooler 23. It is connected to the heater 24 through piping 25 and piping 26, and the tank 17 is cooled and heated by the cooling medium and heating medium from the cooler 23 and the heater 24 to adjust the temperature of the water in the tank 1f. By spraying this temperature-adjusted water, the temperature of the gas within the main body 11 is regulated by gas-liquid heat exchange.

The outlet pipe 13 of the first cyclone scrubber E is connected to the inlet pipe 2 of the second cyclone scrubber Et via a pipe 27.
It is connected to 9. - The second cyclone scrubber Ex is similar to the first cyclone scrubber E1 described above, and the main body 28. Introductory tube 29. Outlet pipe 30. It consists of a discharge pipe 31° and a sprayer H2.

The sprayer H1 is similar to the sprayer H1 described above,
Spray nozzle 32. Pump 33. It consists of a tank 34.

This pump 33 and spray nozzle 32 are connected by a pipe 35,
The pump 33 and the tank 34 are connected by a pipe 36, and the tank 34 is connected to a pulp 37 provided below the discharge pipe 31 via a pipe 38. Further, the tank 34 is provided with an automatic valve 34a and an automatic valve 34b similarly to the tank 17.

The second water temperature regulator D2 is the first water temperature regulator described above,
It is similar to the pipe 3 wrapped around the outer peripheral wall of the tank 34.
9 and cooler 40. The heater 41 is connected by piping 42 and piping 43.

The outlet pipe 30 of the second cyclone scrubber E2 is connected to the W inlet pipe 46 of the gas-liquid separation regulator F via a pipe 44.

The gas-liquid separation regulator F is the above-mentioned cyclone C equipped with a cooling device I, and has a main body 45. Inlet pipe 46, outlet pipe 4
7. Discharge pipe 48. Cooling device ■ and so on.

The cooling device (1) has a pipe 49 wrapped around the outer peripheral wall of the main body 45 and is connected to a cooler 50 through pipes 51 and 52, and cools the main body 45 with the refrigerant from the cooler 50.

A pulp 53 is provided below the discharge pipe 48, and the pulp 53 is connected by a pipe 54 to a container for water or the like (not shown).

This gas-liquid bone m regulator F separates gas and liquid by the separation action of a cyclone and the dew condensation action of cooling, and the main body 45
Among the water particles contained in the gas, larger diameter water particles are separated from the gas.

Said gas liquid bone ii! The outlet pipe 47 of the I regulator F is connected to the thawing chamber B via a pipe 55.

A heating device jJ and an air supply blower 56 are provided in the middle of the pipe 55.

The heating device J has a pipe 57 wrapped around the outer peripheral wall of the pipe 55 and connected to a heater 58 through pipes 59 and 60, and heats the pipe 55 with a heating medium from the heater 58 to heat the pipe 55.
heats the gas passing through it. In this heater WJ, the thawing device A is a closed circulation system, and if the temperature of the frozen object thawed in the thawing chamber B is particularly low, the temperature of the gas containing saturated water vapor cannot be adjusted to the desired temperature with the water temperature controller. This is why I used it.

The air supply blower 56 is used to send gas containing saturated water vapor to the thawing chamber at a desired flow rate.

The ozone generator G is a device that generates ozone gas, and converts air into ozone gas by silent discharge or the like. Since NOx is generated depending on the air that is converted into ozone gas, it is preferable that the air that is converted is dry air at a temperature of -60°C. For this purpose, a heatless air dryer 61 and a filter 63 equipped with an air intake port 62 are used. This heatless air dryer 6°1 consists of twin cylinders tightly filled with a desiccant that has a strong affinity for moisture.

The filter 63 and the heatless air dryer 61 are connected by a pipe 64, the heatless air dryer 61 and the ozone generator G are connected by a pipe 65, and the ozone generator G and the cyclone C are connected by a pipe 66. Outside air is used as the air to be converted into ozone gas, and dust is removed from the outside air by a filter 63 and sent to a heatless air dryer 61.

The air sent to the heatless air dryer 61 is made dry air at -60°C by the heatless air dryer 61.
It is sent to ozone generator G. The dry air sent to the ozone generator G becomes ozone gas in the ozone generator G, and is sent to the cyclone C. Also, outside air (general air)
When oxygen is used as a raw material instead of , the amount of ozone gas generated is doubled, NO and 1 are also not generated, which is effective, and the heatless air dryer 61 becomes unnecessary.

The thawing chamber B is a chamber 67 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4.
Approximately HF pipe 68 is arranged at the bottom of the inside. This piping 68 includes a central piping 68a and piping 68b, 68 on both sides.
Each end of the pipes 68b and 68C is located at each bottom corner of the chamber 67 and has pipes (hollow cylindrical bodies) 69.70 and 71.72 extending in the vertical direction. .

Slits 69a, 70a, 71a, 72a are formed in the pipes 69.70, 71.72 in the longitudinal direction.
The slit 69a of the pipe 69 extends in the direction of the pipe 70.
The slit 70a of the piping 71 goes in the direction of the piping 71, and the slit 71a of the piping 71 goes in the direction of the piping 72.
2a respectively face the direction of the pipe 69. Further, blind caps are attached to the upper ends of the pipes 69, 70, 71° and 72.

Gas containing saturated water vapor comes out from the slits 69a, 70a, 71a, and 72a, and the saturated water vapor is removed through the slits 69a, 70a, 71a, and 72a, and the pipe 1a connected to the upper center of the chamber 67. The gas contained therein is swirled within the chamber 67 so as to uniformly contact the frozen body. Also shown in the figure is a stand on which to place frozen objects. Since the slits 69a, 70a, 71a, and 72a are formed in the vertical direction, the gas containing saturated water vapor can be brought into uniform contact with the thawed material even if the stands K are stacked or the amount of frozen material is changed.

Next, the operation and function of the defrosting device A will be explained.

The air in the thawing chamber B is sent to the cyclone C via the proar 1. The air introduced into cyclone C contacts ozone gas from ozone generator G while rotating within cyclone C, and the ozone gas decomposes, deodorizes, and sterilizes odor molecules and bacteria in the air. Particles such as dust in the air are separated from the airflow, separated from the air, and removed.

Air led out from cyclone C is introduced into first cyclone scrubber E.

The air introduced into the first cyclone scrubber E, while swirling within the first cyclone scrubber E, is temperature-controlled by the first water temperature regulator D1, and is also controlled by the sprayer H5.
When the water comes into contact with the sprayed water particles, decomposed odor molecules, microscopic bacteria, and microscopic dust in the air dissolve into the sprayed water particles.

The ozone gas in the water particles is absorbed and dissolved to sterilize and deodorize the particles. The water particles are separated from the air stream and separated from the air by the separating action of the first cyclone scrubber EI. Among the sprayed water particles, water particles whose diameter has increased due to contact with odor molecules, bacteria, dust, etc. in the air are separated, but water particles with a small diameter that do not come into contact with them are suspended in the air. The first water temperature regulator is used to humidify the air.

Since the temperature is regulated, the air contains saturated water vapor at a certain temperature.

The air led out from the first cyclone scrubber E is introduced into the second cyclone scrubber E.

The air introduced into the second cyclone scrubber Et acts in the same manner as the first cyclone scrubber E, and further water particles combine with the dirty water particles in the air, reducing the diameter of the water particles. increase and facilitate separation from the airflow.

The air discharged from the second cyclone scrubber E2 is introduced into the air flow separation regulator F.

Current * The air introduced into the regulator F is cooled while swirling in the air flow separation regulator F, and large-diameter water particles are separated from the air, and the air contains saturated water vapor made up of only small-diameter water molecules. It will have to be adjusted by the air.

The air led out from the air flow separation regulator F is heated by a heating device, I
and sent into the thawing chamber B via the blower 56.

The air containing saturated water vapor introduced into the thawing chamber B comes into contact with the frozen object in the thawing chamber B and thaws the frozen object.

The temperature of the air containing saturated water vapor that is brought into contact with the frozen object in the thawing chamber B is set to a -(minus) temperature (for example, -0.1°C to -1°C) so that the surface temperature of the frozen object does not become + (plus).
). Further, the flow velocity of the air containing saturated water vapor should be high, and preferably 2.5 m/sec or more.

If the surface temperature of the frozen object is maintained at - (minus) temperature, frost will form on the surface of the frozen object and the thermal conductivity will improve, eliminating the temperature difference between the center and the surface of the frozen object and allowing uniform thawing. You can do it.

Furthermore, since the air in the thawing chamber B is purified, the freshness of frozen beef, frozen fish, etc. in the thawing chamber B can be maintained, and this is extremely good in terms of food hygiene.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The present invention has the following effects due to the above configuration.

Since it separates odor molecules using ozone gas, it can also deodorize odors other than ammonia, and has excellent deodorizing ability. It also has an excellent sterilizing ability because it can sterilize even cold bacteria, and in particular can inhibit the growth of cold-temperature bacteria.

Therefore, the air is purified, so that even if air containing saturated water vapor is brought into contact with the frozen object, the frozen object will not change color, which is preferable from a sanitary standpoint, and the freshness of the frozen object can be maintained. Furthermore, ozone gas dissolves water droplets that have combined with odor molecules and particles to deodorize and sterilize them, eliminating secondary contamination.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 of the drawings is a schematic diagram for explaining the present invention in detail, Figure 2 is a front cross-sectional view of a cyclone according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Figure 3 is a sectional view of a cyclone according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The figure is a plan view of a cyclone according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV' of the thawing chamber in FIG. 1. A... Thawing device B... Thawing chamber C... Cyclone D... Water temperature regulator Dl... First water temperature regulator D2... Second water temperature regulator E... Cyclone scrubber El. ... First cyclone scrubber E2 ... Second cyclone scrubber F ... Gas-liquid separation regulator G ... Ozone generator Ho ... Sprayer H2 ... Sprayer ■ ... Cooling device, y ...・Heating device 1...Blower 1a...Piping 1b...Piping 2...Main body 3...Introduction pipe 4
... Outlet pipe 5 ... Discharge pipe 6 ... Packing 7 ... Ring band ' 8 ... Valve 9 ...
Piping 10...Piping 11...Main body
12... Inlet pipe 13... Outlet pipe 14.
...Discharge pipe 15...Spray nozzle 16...Pump 17...Tank 17a...Automatic valve 17b
...Automatic valve 18...Piping 19...Piping
20... Valve 21... Piping 22
...Piping 23...Cooler 24...Heater 25...Piping 26...Piping 27...Piping 28...Two main bodies...Introduction pipe
30... Outlet pipe 31... Discharge pipe 32...
Spray nozzle 33...Pump 34...Tank 34a...Automatic valve 34b...Automatic valve 35...
・Piping 36...Piping 37...Valve
38... Piping 39... Piping 40...
・Cooler 41... Heater 42... Piping 43
...Piping 44...Piping 45...Body
46...Inlet pipe 47...Outlet pipe 4
8... Discharge pipe 49... Piping 50... Cooler 51... Piping 52... Piping 53...
・Valve 54...Piping 55...Piping
57... Piping 58... Heater 59...
・Piping 60...Piping

Claims (1)

[Claims] A cyclone that receives air and ozone gas from a thawing chamber, a cyclone scrubber that communicates with the cyclone and sprays water from a water temperature regulator, and a gas-liquid separation regulator that communicates with the cyclone scrubber and communicates with the thawing chamber. A thawing device characterized by: