JPH07250760A - Joule heating unit, and heating device using it - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To heat fluid food and drink at a uniform temperature. CONSTITUTION:A heating unit body 10a having a line for guiding a material to be heated in the inner part is formed of a cylinder body 11 having an insulating guide-surface 11a and a plurality of ring electrodes 12 having current- carrying surfaces 12a corresponding to the guide surface 11a. A stirring shaft 22 has a stirring member 23 for stirring the material to be heated in the line 13. A heating device has a product tank for housing the material to be heated which is heated by the heating unit body 10a, and the inner parts of the product tank and the heating unit body 10a are set to a prescribed pressure of the atmospheric pressure or more.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for heating foods and drinks, and particularly to foods and drinks with high viscosity containing solids such as foods and drinks with high viscosity, or a substance having fluidity as a main component. The present invention relates to a heating technique useful for heating food and drink.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Liquid foods and drinks such as juice and soup, pasty foods such as miso and kneaded mustard, and liquid or semi-solid liquids containing solids such as vegetables and meat such as beef stew. When cooking food or drink having fluidity such as food, or when heating for sterilization, usually, in the state of containing these food or drink having fluidity in a storage container, steam, gas, or The storage container is heated using boiled water or the like as a heat source.

In this way, when the food or drink contained in the storage container is heated via the storage container by heating the storage container, the food or drink, that is, the object to be heated is heated by its own heat conduction. Therefore, not only does it take time for heat to be transferred to all foods and drinks in the storage container and to reach a predetermined temperature, it also takes time, so the flavor and texture of foods and drinks May be impaired.

Especially for food and drink such as soup, it may be necessary to heat to a high temperature of 100 ° C. or higher in the final stage of commercialization, and in that case, as described above, a storage container. When the object to be heated is heated using steam or the like as a heat source via, the temperature of the part close to the storage container becomes higher than that temperature or the temperature becomes high for a long time until the inside of the object to be heated reaches a desired temperature. Will be exposed to the condition. For example, by using hot water or steam as a heat source for the heated object in the storage container, the heated object in the central portion of the container is also 120 °
It is necessary to use hot water or steam of about 120 to 135 ° C to heat to a certain degree.
It will be heated to a temperature exceeding 20 ° C.
Therefore, a part of the object to be heated is exposed to the overheated state for a long time, and the texture and flavor are impaired.

Therefore, in recent years, a heating technique has been developed in which food and drink having the above-mentioned fluidity are directly energized to be heated by Joule heat.

By the way, the inventor of the present invention uses a Joule heat to heat a food or drink having fluidity in a pipe while preventing overheating of the object to be heated. It was investigated.

The following is a technique studied by the present inventor, and the outline thereof is as follows.

That is, food and drink are used as an object to be heated so that the object is heated in a conduit, and the objects to be heated are heated by Joule heat by passing electricity between electrodes arranged in the conduit. In this case, in order to maintain a constant energization condition, it is necessary to heat the food under the condition that food and drink are reliably present between the electrodes, so from the lower end of the pipe to the upper end. I try to flush food and drink.

[0009]

However, in a heating device which heats food and drink by Joule heat while flowing the food and drink upward in the pipeline, the temperature of the food and drink in the pipeline is controlled. When it was detected at various positions in the radial direction of the pipeline, it was found that the food and drink in the central part of the pipeline tended to have a relatively higher temperature than in the peripheral parts, and it was difficult to be uniform overall. did.

The object of the present invention is to provide foods and drinks having fluidity,
The purpose is to enable efficient and overall uniform temperature heating without impairing the flavor and texture.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will be apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

[0012]

Among the inventions disclosed in the present application, a brief description will be given to the outline of typical ones.
It is as follows.

That is, the Joule heating unit has a conduit for guiding an object to be heated therein by a cylindrical body having an insulating guide surface and a plurality of annular electrodes having current-carrying surfaces corresponding to the guide surface. A stirring shaft provided with a stirring member that stirs the object to be heated in the pipeline is provided in the pipeline.

Further, the heating device has a pump for supplying an object to be heated into the Joule heating unit and a product tank for containing the heated object to be heated, and the pressure in the product tank is equal to that in the Joule heating unit. The pressure is set to atmospheric pressure or higher in accordance with the pressure in the pipeline.

[0015]

The Joule heating unit of the present invention has the stirring member, and the heated object flowing while being heated in the conduit is agitated, so that the heated object in the entire conduit has a uniform temperature and flavor. The object to be heated can be quickly heated without impairing the texture.

Further, in the heating device of the present invention, by supplying the pressurized gas to the product tank, the inside of the product tank and the joule heating unit is maintained at a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure, and the inside of the joule heating unit is heated to 100%. The object to be heated can be heated to a temperature of ℃ or more.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

1 (A) to 1 (C) are views showing an embodiment of the Joule heating unit of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1A, the Joule heating unit 10 includes a plurality of cylindrical bodies 11 made of an insulating material and having a predetermined length, and a plurality of annular bodies arranged at both ends of the cylindrical bodies 11. And the heating unit body 10a formed by the electrode 12 of FIG. Inner peripheral surface of each cylindrical body 11, that is, guide surface 11
a and the inner peripheral surface of the electrode 12, that is, the current-carrying surface 12a are substantially the same surface, and the conduit 1 for guiding food and drink into these
3 is formed.

At both ends of the heating unit body 10a, an outflow side joint portion 16 and an inflow side joint portion 17 are provided via spacers 14 and 15, respectively. Both joint parts 16, 17
Flange portions 16a, 17a provided integrally on the
The heating unit main body 10a is fastened between the joint portions 16 and 17 by connecting the bolts 18 with each other. Food and drink heated in the heating unit 10 is supplied to the inflow port 17b provided in the inflow side joint portion 17b.
From the outflow port 16 b provided in the outflow side joint portion 16.

The cylindrical body 11 and the spacers 14 and 15 are each made of an insulating fluorine-containing resin such as tetrafluoroethylene, but have a high strength such as polyetheretherketone having excellent heat resistance and pressure resistance. An insulating material may be used. Alternatively, the cylindrical body 11 and the spacers 14 and 15 may be formed of metal, respectively, and their entire surfaces may be covered with an insulating material.

On the other hand, the electrode 12 is formed of a corrosion-resistant conductive material such as titanium, but various conductive materials other than titanium can be used. Further, although the tubular body 11 and the spacers 14 and 15 each have a cross-sectional shape of the pipe line which is circular in the illustrated case, the cross-sectional shape is not limited to a circular shape and can be various cross-sectional shapes such as a quadrangle.

Although four electrodes 12 are shown in FIG. 1A, the number of electrodes 12 and the number of cylinders 11 can be set arbitrarily.

A motor 21 is attached to the outflow side joint portion 16, and a stirring shaft 22 is provided on a shaft of the motor 21. The stirring shaft 22 extends to the inflow side joint portion 17, and its tip is supported by the end portion of the joint portion 17. Then, the stirring shaft 22 has a structure shown in FIGS.
As shown in, a stirring member 23 is provided.

The illustrated stirring members 23 are each made of a plate-shaped member, and are provided in four places at one position corresponding to the position of the electrode 12 and having a phase of 90 ° in the rotation direction. In the case shown in the figure, the surface of the stirring member 23 is inclined with respect to the central axis of the stirring shaft 22, and when the stirring member 23 is rotated by the stirring shaft 22, a circle is formed with respect to the food and drink flowing in the pipe line 13. The food and drink are agitated while flowing, not only by applying a turning force in the circumferential direction but also by applying a load in a direction of promoting the flow or by applying a load in the opposite direction. However, the stirring member 23 is a rod having a circular cross section,
The stirring member itself may be of a type adapted to exert an action of only rotating food or drink in the circumferential direction. Further, the number of stirring members 23 provided at one location may be one or two, and may be any number.

By providing the stirring member 23 at the position of the electrode 12, the generation of Joule heat is not disturbed. However, the stirring member 23 should be located inside the electrode 12.
May be provided inside the cylindrical body 11 without providing, or the stirring member 23 may be provided over the entire length of the stirring shaft 22.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a control circuit for controlling the electric power supplied to the electrode 12. The electrode 12 is adapted to be supplied with the electric power adjusted by the electric power adjuster 26, and has a cylindrical shape. 11 is provided with a temperature sensor 25 for detecting the temperature of food and drink in the pipeline 13. The detection signal from the temperature sensor 25 is sent to the temperature setter 28,
A control signal is sent from the temperature setter 28 to the power regulator 26 based on the detected temperature of the set temperature input by the operator, and a signal from the voltage setter 27 is also sent to the power regulator 26. It has become. As a result, the voltage and current from the power supply 29 reach a predetermined value and the power regulator 26
And the adjusted power is adjusted by each electrode 12
Is supplied to.

The power source 29 may be a commercial power source,
Alternatively, high frequency power may be supplied to the electrode 12. In FIG. 2, a control circuit for supplying electric power to two electrodes 12 forming a pair is shown. However, when a plurality of pairs of electrodes 12 are used, some pairs are connected to a commercial power source, A high frequency power source may be connected to the other pair of electrodes.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the whole of a heating device having the Joule heating unit 10 shown in FIG. 1. This heating device has a hopper 31 into which an object to be heated composed of fluid food and drink is put. is doing. An agitator (not shown) may be provided in the hopper 31 in order to uniformly disperse solid matters and the like in the object to be heated in the hopper 31. A pump 33 is attached to the lower part of the hopper 31 in order to send out the object to be heated in the hopper 31, and the pump 33 is connected to the inflow port or the inflow port 17b of the heating unit 10 shown in FIG. Thus, the object to be heated in the hopper 31 is supplied into the heating unit 10 via the supply pipe 34. The hopper 31
Without using the pipe 34a shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG.
May be directly connected to the pump 33 to supply the object to be heated.

The object to be heated heated by the heating unit 10 shown in FIG. 1 flows out from the outflow port, that is, the outflow port 16b of the outflow side joint portion 16 of the heating unit 10, so that the object to be heated after the heating is completed. Product tank 3 for storing things
5 and the outflow port 16b, the product transfer pipe 36
Are connected.

The product transfer pipe 36 is provided with a three-way valve 37, and the joint part 38 of the product tank 35 is connected to the part of the three-way valve 37. The inside of the product tank 35 is sealed by a lid member 39. It is like this. In order to cool the object to be heated supplied into the product tank 35, a cooling jacket 40 is provided outside the product tank 35, and the cooling liquid supplied from the cooling liquid supply pipe 41a and flowing out from the cooling liquid discharge pipe 41b is supplied. Cooling jacket 4
It circulates in 0. Further, the product tank 35 is provided with a level sensor 42 for detecting whether or not a predetermined amount of the object to be heated is supplied therein, and a temperature sensor 43 for detecting the temperature of the object to be heated. Has been.

Between the gas pressure source 44 and the product tank 35, in order to make the pressure inside the product tank 35 higher than the atmospheric pressure,
A gas supply pipe 45 is connected, and the gas supply pipe 45 supplies an inert gas such as nitrogen gas from the gas pressure source 44 into the product tank 35.

In order to set the pressure in the product tank 35 to a predetermined pressure, the supply pipe 34 is provided with a pressure detector 46 for measuring the pressure of the object to be heated therein, and the pressure detector 46 detects the pressure. The value is displayed on the pressure control unit 47, and the operator can operate the pressure setting device provided on the pressure control unit 47 to set an arbitrary pressure. On the other hand, the gas supply pipe 45 has a pressure control valve 48a for increasing the pressure.
And a pressure control valve 48b for depressurizing are provided, and the pressure control valves 48a, 48b are operated by operating these control valves 48a, 48b by a control signal from the pressure control unit 47.
Is activated and the inside of the product tank 35 is controlled to an arbitrary pressure. Reference numeral 49 indicates a safety valve.

In FIG. 3, only one product tank 35 is shown, but still another product tank is the three-way valve 3.
When the product tank is connected with gas and one product tank is filled with the object to be heated, the three-way valve 37 is operated to operate the object to be heated in the other product tank. To supply. Thereby, the heating operation can be continuously performed, but the number of the product tanks 35 is not limited to two and can be set to an arbitrary number.

In the heating unit 10, a recovery tank 51 conveys a product through a three-way valve 52 in order to store and recover the object to be heated that has passed through the heating unit 10 until the energization heating of the object to be heated reaches a steady state. It is connected to the pipe 36. The recovery tank 51 has substantially the same structure as the product tank 35, and has a cooling jacket 53, and the cooling liquid supply pipe 5 is provided in the cooling jacket 53.
The cooling liquid supplied from 4a and discharged from the cooling liquid discharge pipe 54b is circulated.

Further, a gas pressure source 44 is provided in the recovery tank 51.
The pressurized gas from the above is supplied, the temperature of the object to be heated is detected by the temperature detector 55, and the amount of the object to be heated supplied inside is detected by the level detector 56. Reference numeral 57 indicates a safety valve.

A three-way valve 61 is provided at the joint portion 38 of the product tank 35, and when the product to be heated is filled to a predetermined level in the product tank 35, the three-way valve 61 is used for the next processing step. The object to be heated is discharged. Similarly, the joint portion 62 of the recovery tank 51 is provided with a three-way valve 63, and the object to be heated in the recovery tank 51 is discharged to the outside via the three-way valve 63.

A heating procedure for heating a fluid food or drink, which is an object to be heated, by the heating device having the heating unit 10 having the above-described structure is as follows.

First, an object to be heated is introduced into the hopper 31, and the introduced object to be heated is supplied into the heating unit body 10a by the pump 33 through the supply pipe 34.
At this time, the pressure of the object to be heated becomes equal to or higher than atmospheric pressure, and the pressure is detected by the pressure detector 46.

The object to be heated which has flowed into the heating unit main body 10a is heated by supplying Joule heat by supplying electric power between the electrodes 12. Heating unit 1
The object to be heated is heated to 100 ° C. or higher by keeping the pressure within 0 at the atmospheric pressure or higher. As shown, by providing a plurality of pairs of electrodes 12, it is possible to raise the temperature in a plurality of stages by each pair.

The electric power is supplied to the electrode 12 while the heating unit 10 is filled with the object to be heated, and the object to be heated rises to a predetermined temperature at the initial stage of starting the heating device. do not do. Therefore, the object to be heated in the initial stage of startup is guided into the recovery tank 51. After the steady state, the three-way valve 52 is operated to guide the object to be heated, which has passed through the heating unit 10 and has been heated to a predetermined temperature, into the product tank 35.

The pressure in the product tank 35 increases as the object to be heated flows into the product tank 35. However, even if the object to be heated flows in, the pressure in the product tank 35 is maintained at the set pressure. Then, the gas in the product tank 35 is discharged to the outside from the pressure control valve 48b for pressure reduction.

When the level sensor 42 detects that the object to be heated flows into the product tank 35 to a predetermined level, the three-way valve 37 is operated to guide the object to be heated to another product tank (not shown). To do so. Product tank 3
The object to be heated in 5 can be discharged to the outside by operating the three-way valve 61. However, when only one product tank 35 is provided, the heating by the heating unit main body 10a is stopped, the object to be heated in the product tank 35 is discharged to the outside, and then the heating operation is performed again. The objects to be heated discharged from the product tank 35 may be continuously packed in a predetermined amount, or may be supplied to another large product tank.

Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say.

For example, the heating unit shown in the figure is installed in a substantially vertical direction, but it may be installed in an inclined manner. In that case, even if the food or drink to be heated contains a solid substance, the solid substance is sufficiently mixed in the heated substance supplied from the lower side to the upper side of the heating unit. It can be in a state in which it is opened.

In the heating apparatus shown in FIG. 3, one set of heating units shown in FIG. 1 is provided, but a plurality of sets may be provided. Further, a preheating device may be provided between the pump 33 and the heating unit 10 to preheat the object to be heated supplied to the heating unit 10 to a temperature of 100 ° C. or lower, for example, about 80 ° C.

Further, in the illustrated case, the product tank 3
5 and the recovery tank 51 each have a cooling jacket 4
0, 53 are provided, but the heating unit 10
A cooling device may be provided on the downstream side of, and the object to be heated may be supplied to the product tank 35 and the recovery tank 51 after cooling there.

[0047]

The effects obtained by the typical ones of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be briefly described as follows.
It is as follows.

(1). Since the object to be heated is heated by the Joule heat while being stirred in the Joule heating unit, the object to be heated is heated under uniform conditions, and a high-quality heated product is obtained. .

(2) In the heating device having the Joule heating unit, since the heating unit, the product tank, and the product transport pipe connecting them are kept at a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure, the object to be heated is heated to 100%. By rapidly heating to a high temperature of ℃ or more and cooling, it is possible to heat food and drink with high quality without impairing the texture and flavor.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A is a partially cutaway front view showing a heating unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1B is a partially enlarged sectional view of FIG. 1A, and FIG. C- in FIG.
It is sectional drawing which follows the C line.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing an energization control circuit in the heating unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a heating device having the heating unit shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Heating Unit 10a Heating Unit Main Body 11 Cylindrical Body 12 Electrode 13 Pipe Lines 14, 15 Spacer 16 Outflow Side Joint Part 17 Inflow Side Joint Part 21 Motor 22 Stirring Shaft 23 Stirring Member 31 Hopper 33 Pump 35 Product Tank 36 Product Transport Pipe 40 Cooling Jacket 44 Gas pressure source 45 Gas supply pipe 46 Pressure detector 47 Pressure controller 48a, 48b Pressure control valve 51 Recovery tank

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A Joule heating unit that continuously guides fluid food or drink as an object to be heated into a pipe line and heats it by Joule heat in the pipe line, the unit having an insulating guide surface. A heating unit main body having a conduit for guiding an object to be heated therein is formed by a cylindrical body and a plurality of annular electrodes having current-carrying surfaces corresponding to the guide surfaces, and the object to be heated in the conduit is agitated. A Joule heating unit, characterized in that an agitation shaft provided with an agitation member is provided in the conduit. 2. The Joule heating unit according to claim 1, a pump for supplying an object to be heated to an inflow portion of the Joule heating unit, and an outflow portion of the Joule heating unit, which is heated by the Joule heating unit. A product tank for containing an object to be heated and a pressurized gas are supplied into the product tank to set the pressure in the product tank to a pressure equal to or higher than the atmospheric pressure in accordance with the pressure of the pipeline in the Joule heating unit. A heating device comprising a gas pressure supply means and continuously heating a fluid object to be heated.