JPH067135A - Method for treating food material under high pressure and apparatus therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the pressurizing treatment of preheated or precooled food materials under temperature control by effectively utilizing a high-pressure chamber in a high-pressure vessel. CONSTITUTION:A heat insulating vessel T having a treating chamber (7A) therein is attached to a high-pressure chamber 6 in a high-pressure vessel 1 and materials 15 to be treated are immersed in a preheated hydraulic medium 16 when the materials 15 to be treated are preheated and the precooled hydraulic medium 16 when the materials 15 to be treated are precooled. In this state, the materials 15 are arranged in the treating chamber (7A) and subjected to high-pressure treatment in a state of the hydraulic medium communicating with the treating chamber (7A) and high-pressure chamber 6.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an object to be treated such as food,
The present invention relates to a method and a device for performing pressure treatment under isotropic pressure in a warm or low temperature range.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In conventional food processing, heat is almost always used as a physical variable for processing, and pressure is incidentally derived from thermal action. . Recently, however, the utilization of pressure for food processing has attracted attention, and research and development are progressing. In this case, it is attempted to cause temperature to act synergistically with pressure.

As a device for applying such pressure and temperature to food, there is a known warm hydrostatic pressure device. This conventional apparatus stores an object to be processed in a processing chamber in a pressure container, pressurizes a fluid pressure medium in the processing chamber to apply isotropic pressure to the object to be processed, and from the outside of the pressure container. The object to be treated is heated by heating the pressure vessel or by heating the pressure medium outside the pressure vessel and supplying the heating pressure medium to the processing chamber.

In the case of heating from the outside of the pressure vessel, since the heating is performed from the outside of the thick pressure vessel, the heat transfer efficiency to the internal processing chamber is remarkably poor, and in particular, the heat capacity of the object to be treated is increased. When it is large, it takes a long time to reach the target temperature, which is a big problem in terms of productivity. On the other hand, when the heating pressure medium is supplied to the processing chamber, it is heated to a predetermined temperature outside the pressure vessel and supplied to the processing chamber, so it is necessary to handle temperature changes in the processing chamber due to heat absorption of the object to be processed. There was a problem that I could not do it.

Therefore, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-89877, the object to be processed is preheated, and the object to be processed is placed in a container provided with a heat insulating material and a heating device in a high-pressure container. A technique has been proposed in which the material is charged and pressure-treated under heating (conventional example 1). Further, as a device for performing a pressurizing operation in a low temperature range as well as the above-mentioned warm range for processing foods and the like, it is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-182157 (Prior art example 2).

[0006]

However, in the conventional example 1, the incorporation of the heating device inside the high-pressure vessel is
In particular, the higher the pressure required for pressure treatment of food, the more difficult it becomes.
Further, there is a problem that an extra space is required in the high pressure container, and the volume utilization efficiency in the high pressure container is reduced.

Further, this is a similar problem in the conventional example 2 in which the cooling device is incorporated. Further, there is a problem in terms of handleability in mounting the object to be processed in the high pressure container and taking out the object to be processed from the high pressure container.
Therefore, the present invention has a relatively simple device configuration, and pressure-treats an object to be treated such as food under temperature control, that is, a preheated object to be treated does not fall below a predetermined temperature. In addition, in the pre-cooled object to be processed, the temperature is simply controlled so that the temperature does not rise above a predetermined temperature and the pressure is applied, and the high-pressure processing is also easy to handle. It is an object to provide a method and a device.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention achieves the above-mentioned object in a method of subjecting an object to be treated such as preheated or precooled food to a high-pressure chamber of a high-pressure container under isotropic pressure with a hydraulic medium. In order to do so, the following technical measures are taken. That is, in the present invention according to claim 1, the heat insulating container 7 having the processing chamber 7A therein is mounted in the high pressure chamber 6 of the high pressure container 1, and when the workpiece 15 is preheated, the preheated hydraulic medium is preheated. 16 and, when pre-cooling the object 15 to be processed, the precooled hydraulic medium 16 is immersed in the processing chamber 7A and the processing chamber 7A and the high pressure chamber 6 are connected to each other. It is characterized in that it is subjected to pressure treatment under high pressure.

The present invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the pre-cooled object 15 contains water and is a frozen body thereof. In the present invention according to claim 3, the processing chamber
The heat-insulating container 7 having the heat storage body 14 or the cool storage body 14 on the side facing the 7A is used. The present invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the heat storage body 14 or the cool storage body 14 has a freezing point or a melting point at a processing temperature.

In the present invention according to claim 5, a heat insulating layer is further provided on the side of the heat storage body 14 or the cool storage body 14 which is in contact with the processing chamber 7A.
It is characterized by using an insulating container 7 having 7B. Further, in the present invention, in an apparatus for pressurizing an object to be treated such as preheated or precooled food under a isotropic pressure by a hydraulic medium in a high pressure chamber of a high pressure container, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the following technique is used. Are taking appropriate measures.

That is, in the present invention according to claim 6, the high-pressure chamber 6 of the high-pressure container 1 has a processing chamber 7A therein, and a hydraulic medium passage 8 for communicating the processing chamber 7A with the high-pressure chamber 6 is provided. The heat insulating container 7 is provided with a heat storage body 14 or a cool storage body 14 on the side facing the processing chamber 7A, and the heat storage body 14 or the cool storage body 14 is provided with an inside object 15 and an object to be processed. 15
With the preheated or precooled hydraulic medium in which is immersed, the holder 10 is configured so that it can be freely taken in and out of the heat insulating container 7.

Further, in the present invention according to claim 7, the high-pressure chamber 6 of the high-pressure container 1 has a treatment chamber 7A therein, and the treatment chamber 7A
A heat insulating container 7 having a hydraulic medium passage 8 communicating between the high pressure chamber 6 and the high pressure chamber 6. The heat insulating container 7 has a heat storage body 14 or a cool storage body 14 on the side facing the processing chamber 7A. It is characterized in that the object to be treated 15 is immersed in a preheated or precooled hydraulic medium at 1, and can be freely taken in and out of the high pressure chamber 6 of the high pressure container 1.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, a pressure supplying means 18 for supplying a preheated or precooled hydraulic medium under pressure is provided outside the high-pressure container 1, and the hydraulic medium supplied by the pressure supplying means 18 is supplied. Is configured so as to flow into the inside of the heat insulating container 7 without contacting the inner wall of the high pressure container 1.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments and operation of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a first embodiment of the present invention, in which a piston 2 having a packing 4 is inserted into the upper opening of a cylindrical high-pressure container 1, while the lower opening of the high-pressure container 1 is inserted. A lower lid 3 having a packing 5 is attached, and a high pressure chamber 6 is formed in the high pressure container 1 by these.

Although not shown in the drawing, the piston 2 is configured as a hydraulic cylinder and is pressed downward by hydraulic pressure to compress the hydraulic medium 16 in the high pressure chamber 6,
This constitutes a so-called piston type pressurizing device that generates isotropic pressure. The axial force acting on the piston 2 and the lower lid 3 is supported by a rectangular frame although not shown.

Inside the high-pressure chamber 6, a bottomed cylindrical heat-insulating container 7 having a processing chamber 7A therein is mounted so that it can be freely taken in and out. Above the heat-insulating container 7, the processing chamber 7A and the high-pressure chamber are installed. A communication hole 8 for establishing communication between the hydraulic medium 16 and the hydraulic medium 16 is formed, and the upper opening of the heat insulating container 7 is covered with a lid 9. The communication hole 8 may be formed in the lid 9.

The heat insulating container 7 and the lid 9 are made of a heat insulating material such as Bakelite, and the heat insulating container 7 is a lower lid.
3 Placed on top. On the side facing the processing chamber 7A of the heat insulating container 7, inner and outer double holders 10 and 12 made of SUS steel and formed in a cup shape are mounted with a gap 11 formed between them by a leg 11 or the like. A heat storage body or a cold storage body 14 enclosed in a flexible bag is arranged in the gap 13, whereby the heat insulating container 7 or the holder 10 is placed in the processing chamber 7A such as fish meat or meat storage. The object 15 to be packed is immersed in the hydraulic medium (16) and can be put into and taken out of the high-pressure chamber 6 or the heat insulating container 7.

Here, it is desirable that the heat storage body 14 has a heat capacity larger than that of water normally used as a hydraulic medium, and if it has a freezing point at the preheating temperature, latent heat (phase transition heat) during solidification is obtained. ) Is released to maintain a constant temperature inside, and is recommended as a more preferable one. Further, as the regenerator, a frozen body such as water or a liquid containing water as a main component can be used. By using the frozen body, absorption of latent heat accompanying melting due to temperature rise due to heat input from the outside Since the inside is kept at a constant temperature, and the amount of such latent heat is remarkably large as compared with the amount of heat by sensible heat without phase transition, it is possible to maintain the constant temperature by an extremely simple method.

When propylene glycol, which is a food additive, is added to water, the melting point is lowered by the addition of a solute in the solvent. Therefore, the addition amount of the additive is adjusted so that the temperature is 0 ° C. or lower. The temperature control in the minus temperature range can be performed very easily, and it can be used as a pressure medium having no safety problem for food. Next, FIG.
An example of the pressurizing process of the object to be treated 15 such as fish meat and meat that is packed (packed) using the device shown in FIG.

The object to be treated 15 is preheated or precooled outside the high-pressure container 1 in the holders 10 and 12 together with the heat storage or regenerator 14 and the hydraulic medium 16, and then stored in the high-pressure chamber 6 of the high-pressure container 1. Processing chamber 7A for heat-insulated container 7 that is stationary
The hydraulic medium 16 which is loaded and preheated or precooled is additionally charged therein. That is, the processing chamber 7A and the high pressure chamber
6 surrounds the object to be treated 15 by the preheating hydraulic medium when the object 15 is preheated and by the precooling hydraulic medium when the object 15 is precooled.

Then, in the illustrated first embodiment, the piston
2 is lowered and the isotropic pressure of the hydraulic medium 16 acts, and the object 15 to be processed is subjected to pressure treatment under heating or cooling. In this case, the object to be treated 15 is kept warm or cold in the heat insulating container 7 and is kept in the allowable temperature range by maintaining the temperature of the hydraulic medium in the treatment chamber 7A by heat radiation or heat absorption from the heat storage body or the cold storage body 14. That is, the heating process is performed so that the temperature does not drop below the predetermined temperature, and the cooling side does not rise above the predetermined temperature.

It is desirable that the heat storage body or the cool storage body 14 is provided so as to cover the entire outer periphery of the object to be processed 15 by providing it over the entire inner surface of the heat insulating container 7 (the contact side of the processing chamber 7A). It may be dispersed on the inner surface of the container 7. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a cup-shaped holder 10A made of SUS steel may be provided on the outside of the heat insulating container 7 so that the heat insulating container 7 can be carried into the high pressure chamber 6 of the high pressure container 1. . 2 that are common to those in FIG. 1 are designated by common reference numerals.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3, by enclosing the heat storage body or the cold storage body 14 in a cup-shaped flexible double bag 14A and making the outer portion of the double bag 14A thick, a heat insulating container You may make it double as 7. In FIG. 4, the high pressure chamber 6 is formed by liquid-tightly fitting an upper lid 17 having a conduit 31 and a shutoff valve 32 to the upper opening of the high pressure container 1 instead of the piston described above with a packing 17A. This is an embodiment in which a pressurizing and supplying means 18 for a hydraulic medium connected to the processing chamber 7A of the heat insulating container 7 is provided outside the high pressure container 1 to enable adjustment of the pressure.

The pressurizing and feeding means 18 connects a pressure medium tank 19 having a heater 25 and a cooler 26 to a heat-insulated pipe line 27, and a high pressure pump 20 and a check valve 21 to the lower lid 3. Formed insulation
It is connected to the line 28 having 33, and the line 27 has a pressure gauge 2
2. A bypass valve 27A is equipped with a stop valve 23 and a throttle valve 24. At the bottom of the heat insulating container 7, there is a communication hole 29 that connects the conduit 28 to the processing chamber 7A, and a packing 30 is provided on the container mounting surface of the lower lid 3, and it flows out from the upper communication hole 8 and has a high pressure. Heat transfer due to natural convection circulation of the hydraulic medium flowing down the inner surface of the container 1 and reaching the communication hole 29 is prevented.

Therefore, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, the preheated or precooled object to be processed 15 is stored in the processing chamber 7A of the heat insulating container 7 and when the object to be processed 15 is preheated. When the object to be treated 15 is pre-cooled, the heater 25 is actuated by the cooler 26 so that the hydraulic medium preheated or pre-cooled is piped by driving the high-pressure pump 20.
It is directly charged into the processing chamber 7A through 27 etc., so that it does not undergo heat exchange by the inner wall of the high-pressure vessel 1 having a large heat capacity, and at the initial stage of charging, the upper connection hole 8 and the upper lid 17
After flowing out from the conduit 31 and the shutoff valve 32 to remove air, the pressurization process is performed with the shutoff valve 32 closed.

Even in the pressurizing process shown in FIG. 4, the action relating to the heat retention or cold retention of the object 15 is the same as that described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 shows an embodiment in which a gap 37 is provided between the inner surface of the heat insulating container 7 and the holding tool 10. In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the hydraulic medium introduced from the communication hole 29 passes through the gap 37 to the upper part. Heat storage or cool storage 14
The heat is exchanged by means of this, which is even more advantageous in terms of temperature control of the hydraulic medium.

Note that, in FIG. 5, the other reference numerals are the same as those in FIG. 4 in common. FIG. 6 shows an embodiment in which a valve means is provided which is opened when the holders 10 and 12 are inserted and set and is closed when the holders 10 and 12 are inserted into the heat insulating container 7 which is placed in the high pressure chamber 6. Yes, inside holder
In addition to providing the workpiece holder 36 via the leg 36A,
A valve body 34 for opening and closing the communication hole 29 is elastically pulled in a closing direction by a coil spring 35 to be provided on the lower surface of the mounting table 36, and a projecting end 33 of the conduit 28 is provided to project upward from the communication hole 29.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the holders 10 and 12 containing the object to be treated 15 are closed by the spring 35 before the charging device 10 and 12 is loaded into the heat insulating container 7, while the heat insulating container 7 is closed. Processing room
7A, the valve body 34 is pushed up against the spring 35 by the protruding end 33, so that the passage formed in the protruding end 33.
The preheated or precooled hydraulic medium can be introduced and pressurized into the processing chamber 7A via 33A.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the device shown in FIG.
A cup-shaped inner heat-insulating layer 7B is also provided on the inner peripheral surfaces of 10, 12, which is effective when a frozen body containing water as a main component is used as the regenerator 14. That is, it has been experimentally confirmed that the frozen body is partially melted with pressurization, and at that time, a phenomenon of causing a supercooling phenomenon and lowering the temperature is observed. In the case of being unfavorable, for example, it is effective in the case of performing a pressure treatment without freezing the water content in the food in a refrigeration or ice temperature range.

Of course, the inner heat insulating layer 7B can be provided also in FIGS. 4 and 5. When partial melting and supercooling temperature drop due to pressurization of ice are used, when the object to be processed 15 contains water, by freezing the object to be processed, only the heat insulating container 7 without the regenerator, In addition to not raising the temperature above a predetermined temperature, maintaining the supercooling temperature makes it possible to further enhance the sterilizing effect.

It is also possible to keep the high-pressure container 1 warm or cold, whereby heat energy due to heat radiation of the object to be processed is accumulated in the high-pressure container system and the heat of the object to be processed is used for a long time. It is advantageous in that the physical control can be further stabilized.

[0032]

The present invention is as described above, and it is possible to extremely easily pressurize an object to be processed such as food under thermal control, simplify the structure of the apparatus, and temperature by external preheating or precooling. The high-speed processing of the food material can be reduced by speeding up the adjustment and processing, and further increasing the efficiency of use of the high-pressure container, thereby further promoting the industrialization of the high-pressure application to food.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an essential part of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a modified cross-sectional view of a heat insulating container.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts of a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts of a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of essential parts of a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 High-pressure container 2 Pressurizing piston 6 High-pressure chamber 7 Insulation container 14 Heat storage body 14 Cold storage body 16 Hydraulic medium

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A method for pressurizing a preheated or precooled object to be processed such as food under a isotropic pressure with a hydraulic medium in a high-pressure chamber of a high-pressure container, which has a processing chamber (7A) inside.
Place (7) in the high-pressure chamber (6) of the high-pressure vessel (1), and
Preheated hydraulic medium (16) when preheating (15) and precooled hydraulic medium (16) when precooling the object (15).
Placed in the processing chamber (7A) and immersed in the processing chamber (7A) and the high-pressure chamber (6) under isotropic pressure under the condition that the hydraulic medium is in communication. A method for high-pressure treatment of food materials, characterized by: 2. The high-pressure processing method for food materials according to claim 1, wherein the pre-cooled object to be processed (15) contains water and is a frozen body thereof. 3. The high-pressure treatment of food material according to claim 1, characterized in that a heat insulating container (7) having a heat storage body (14) or a cool storage body (14) is used on the side facing the processing chamber (7A). Method. 4. The method for high-pressure treatment of food materials according to claim 3, wherein the heat storage body (14) or the cold storage body (14) has a freezing point or a melting point at a treatment temperature. 5. A processing chamber for the heat storage body (14) or the cool storage body (14)
5. The method for high-pressure treatment of food materials according to claim 3, wherein a heat insulating container (7) further having a heat insulating layer (7B) is used on the side facing (7A). 6. A device for pressurizing an object to be treated such as preheated or precooled food under a isotropic pressure in a high-pressure chamber of a high-pressure container with a hydraulic medium, in the high-pressure chamber (6) of the high-pressure container (1), An insulating container (7) having a processing chamber (7A) and a hydraulic medium passage (8) communicating with the processing chamber (7A) and the high pressure chamber (6) is provided, and the insulating container (7) Is the heat storage body on the side that is in contact with the processing chamber (7A)
(14) or a regenerator (14), and the regenerator (14) or the regenerator (14) is the inner workpiece (1
5) and the preheated or precooled hydraulic medium in which the object to be treated (15) is immersed, and the holder (10) is configured so that it can be freely taken in and out of the heat insulating container (7). High pressure processing equipment. 7. An apparatus for pressurizing an object to be treated such as preheated or precooled food in a high-pressure chamber of a high-pressure container under a isotropic pressure with a hydraulic medium, in the high-pressure chamber (6) of the high-pressure container (1), An insulating container (7) having a processing chamber (7A) and a hydraulic medium passage (8) communicating with the processing chamber (7A) and the high pressure chamber (6) is provided, and the insulating container (7) Is the heat storage body on the side that is in contact with the processing chamber (7A)
(14) or a high-pressure chamber (6) of the high-pressure vessel (1) with a regenerator (14) and with the object to be treated (15) immersed in a preheated or pre-cooled hydraulic medium in the treatment chamber (7A) A high-pressure processing apparatus for food materials, characterized in that it can be freely moved in and out. 8. A pressure supply means (18) for supplying a preheated or precooled hydraulic medium under pressure is provided outside the high-pressure container (1),
The liquid pressure medium supplied by the pressure supply means (18) is a high-pressure container (1).
The high-pressure processing apparatus for food material according to claim 6, wherein the high-pressure processing apparatus is configured so as to flow into the inside of the heat insulating container (7) without contacting the inner wall of the food material.