JPH10152199A - Manufacture of cold water, and its device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform the stable mass-production of cold water close to 0 deg.C at a low price. SOLUTION: Ice grain 5 is fed from an ice grain feeding device 14 and the water to be cooled is fed from a feed water nozzle 9 to a container 1. A stirring device 6 in the container 1 is driven by a motor 8 to manufacture cold water making use of the melting of the ice grain 15 while forming a turning flow 17a in the condition where the ice grain 15 and the water to be cooled is mixed in the container 1. The balance of the quantity of the water to be cooled, the quantity of the ice grain, and the quantity of cold water to be extracted from a cold water extraction port 3 of the container 1 is kept, and the ice grain of apparently constant quantity is left in the container 1. Thus, water and ice are co-existent, and a large volume of cold water having a temperature close to 0 deg. can be continuously obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for producing cold water at about 0.degree. C. by mixing ice and water to melt the ice.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There are various methods for producing cold water at about 0 ° C. for air conditioning and cooling food as follows. (1) A method of bringing cold water into contact with a cooling body to obtain cold water.
This method uses a refrigerant for a refrigeration cycle such as Freon,
This is a method in which brine cooled to a temperature of not more than ° C and water to be cooled come into contact via a heat exchange wall. (2) A method of obtaining cold water by coexisting water to be cooled and ice. This method has the following four types.

[0003] Refrigerant such as chlorofluorocarbon in the water to be cooled in the water tank,
Alternatively, a coil for flowing brine cooled to 0 ° C. or lower into a tube is inserted, ice is generated around the coil, and surrounding water is extracted (ice-on-coil type, external melting type ice heat storage system). After ice is generated around the coil by the same device as described above, the fluid in the tube is used as a cold extraction medium (ice-on-coil type, internal melting type ice heat storage method).

A refrigerant such as chlorofluorocarbon or 0 ° C.
The cooled brine is poured into the inside of a tube to generate ice on the inner wall surface of the tube, then water is poured into the tube, and the ice is melted from the inside to produce cold water. A method of putting ice particles produced by other means into water in a water tank (dynamic ice heat storage method). In this method, means for producing ice particles is required, and the following method is used.

(A) An ice block is crushed by an ice crusher or the like to produce ice particles. (B) Supercooling water is blown out and hits a baffle plate to partially freeze it (sherbet method). (C) Water is applied to the surface of the metal plate cooled to 0 ° C. or less to form an ice film, which is mechanically scraped to obtain ice particles (flake ice method).

(D) Ice is applied to the surface of the metal plate cooled to 0 ° C. or less to generate a large number of independent ice grains, and then the ice making surface is reduced to 0 ° C. by means such as reversing the refrigeration cycle. Heat to release ice. (E) Ejecting the refrigerant liquid directly into the water to evaporate it, or adding a liquid medium such as oil that is insoluble in water cooled to 0 ° C. or lower to directly generate fine ice particles in the water (a sherbet method) ).

[0007]

However, according to the conventional apparatus for producing cold water, in the above method (1), the temperature of the obtained cold water is practically 4 to 4 due to the problem of freezing of water on the heat exchange wall surface. The lower limit is 5 ° C., and it is difficult to obtain a large amount of cold water near 0 ° C. by simple means. Further, in the method (2), although the ice heat storage device using the nighttime electric power is widely used at present, since the contact area of ice and water per unit volume is limited, the cold water near 0 ° C. In order to obtain a large amount of, a large-sized device is necessary, and the installation space is also large, so that an increase in cost is inevitable.

Further, in the method (2), since the transmission of cold heat is performed by conduction through stationary water, a large-sized apparatus is required to obtain a large amount of cold water. Further, the method (2) is suitable for obtaining cold water near 0 ° C., but it is difficult to control freezing to the center of the pipe in order to secure a flow path of the water, and it is difficult to control the ice. Since the contact area between water and water cannot be increased, the size of the apparatus must be increased. Further, the methods (a) to (e) of the above (2) are as follows:
(i) In any case, there is a high risk that ice in the water will gather upward due to buoyancy and fuse and solidify. (ii) It is difficult to melt the ice uniformly. (Iii) I is difficult to obtain cold water close to 0 ° C.
There is a problem that a large water tank is required because the PF is small. Further, the method (e) of the above (2) has a disadvantage that impurities are mixed in the cold water and cannot be used in a process of directly contacting food.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for producing cold water capable of stably obtaining a large amount of cold water close to 0 ° C. at a low cost.

[0010]

As is clear from the above,
According to the present invention, in the method for producing cold water, in which ice particles and water to be cooled are mixed and the water to be cooled is cooled by melting the ice particles, the inside of a container having a predetermined size is cooled. A mixed liquid is prepared by adding water and ice particles, and the mixed liquid is swirled in the container to balance the amount of the water to be cooled, the amount of the ice particles, and the amount of cold water extracted from the container. And the level of the mixture is kept constant, and an apparently constant amount of ice particles is left in the container to extract cold water from the lower part of the container.

According to this method, the relative speed of the ice particles and the water to be cooled can be increased by mixing and turning the ice particles and the water to be cooled in the container, and the ice can be melted with high efficiency. . By balancing the amount of water to be cooled, the amount of ice particles, and the amount of cold water extracted from the container, water and ice can always coexist, and a large amount of cold water near 0 ° C. is continuously produced. Can be obtained.

The swirling flow of the mixed liquid can be generated by mechanical stirring means or by means for jetting water to be cooled at a lower portion of the vessel in a direction along a wall surface. According to this method, a rotating paraboloid is formed in the container by forming a swirling flow, and when an ice particle is dropped on the rotating paraboloid, the inertial force, centrifugal force, and buoyancy due to the acceleration of the swirling water flow are generated. As a result, the melted ice particles are mixed with the water to be cooled, so that cold water can be obtained efficiently. In particular, by injecting the water to be cooled from the lower part of the container, a swirling water flow can be generated without providing a stirrer, and the configuration can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.

When the ice particles are dropped from above the swirling flow or when the ice particles are transported by air, air mixed with the ice particles is ejected in the same direction as the swirling flow along the inner wall surface of the container. Supply. According to this method, when dropped into a swirling flow, the ice particles move from the center to the outside and further upward due to centrifugal force and buoyancy, in the process, a part of the ice particles is melted, and the water to be cooled is cooled. Is done. Also, if the ice particles are ejected from the lower part of the container along the swirling water flow, the energy imparts a rotational force to the swirling flow, and in some cases, other means for forming the swirling flow may be unnecessary. .

The object of the present invention is to supply ice particles and water to be cooled to a container by an air transport system, to form a swirling flow in the container to mix the ice particles and the water to be cooled, In a cold water production device that produces cold water using the melting of grains,
A separating device that is provided at an upper portion of the container that extracts cold water from a lower portion and that separates ice particle transport air and ice particles; and a device that separates the ice particle transport air and the cooling water separated by the separating device. This is also achieved by a manufacturing apparatus provided with a heat exchanger that performs heat exchange with the heat exchanger.

According to this structure, the carrier air exchanges heat with the water to be cooled when passing through the heat exchanger when the ice particles are conveyed to the container and then discharged to the outside, thereby pre-cooling the water to be cooled. I do.
Therefore, cold water can be efficiently produced, and a large amount of cold water near 0 ° C. can be obtained continuously.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing a first embodiment of a cold water producing apparatus according to the present invention. The cylindrical container 1 has an opening at the top, and a mesh filter 2 and a cold water extraction port 3 for preventing the outlet from being blocked by ice particles on the bottom surface. , And is supplied to a load (not shown) (an air conditioner, a food manufacturing apparatus, etc.) via the valve 5. A propeller-like stirring device 6 is installed inside the container 1, a shaft 7 is connected to the center of rotation, and a rotation shaft of a motor (M) 8 serving as a driving source is connected to an upper end thereof. A water supply nozzle 9 is provided at an upper portion in the container 1 and is connected to a cooling water supply valve 11 by a pipe 10. In addition, a bypass pipe 13 having a valve 12 in the middle of the pump 4 and the valve 5 is connected to the water supply nozzle 9. Further, a chute 16 that guides the ice particles 15 discharged from the ice particle supply device 14 into the container 1 is connected to an upper portion in the container 1.

The procedure for producing cold water in the above configuration will be described. First, a predetermined amount of water to be cooled is injected into the container 1 from the water supply nozzle 9 by opening the valve 11. When a predetermined amount is reached, the cooling water supply valve 11 is closed, the valve 12 is opened, the pump 4 is started, the motor 8 is started while circulating the cooling water, the stirring device 6 is rotated, and To form a swirling flow 17a. Next, the ice particle supply device 14 is started, and a predetermined amount of the ice particles 15 is shot 1
6 is dropped into the container 1 by sliding.

When the temperature of the chilled water flowing out of the chilled water extraction port 3 reaches a set value, the supply of ice particles and the water to be cooled is restarted, and the valve 5 is opened to send the chilled water to the load side. The supply amount of the water to be cooled and the ice particles and the extraction amount of the chilled water are controlled so that the temperature of the chilled water keeps a set value and the level of the mixed liquid of the water and the ice particles in the container becomes constant. Ikg / h ice particles are mixed with the water to be cooled at a temperature of t _s ° C, and cooled at a temperature of t ₀ ° C (t _s >
t ₀ ), these temperatures and the cold water extraction port 3
The following expression holds between the output of the chilled water Wkg / h and the output amount Wkg / h.

W = I _x {a / (t _s −t ₀ ) + b} (where a and b are positive constants) As is apparent from the above equation, the lower the temperature t _{s of the} cooling water, the more the same. More cold water can be produced from the amount of ice. The mixed liquid of water and ice particles in the container 1 forms an axial flow 17b in addition to the swirling flow 17a, and the two flows become three-dimensional and complicated high-speed flows. As a result, ice particles in the mixed solution receive buoyancy and inertial force in addition to centrifugal force accompanying the three-dimensional movement of the liquid, and the relative movement speed with surrounding water increases,
The heat transfer coefficient on the surface of the ice grain increases. As a result, the melting rate is increased, and it is possible to produce cold water with high efficiency.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the apparatus for producing cold water according to the present invention.
It is a front sectional view showing an embodiment. In FIG. 2, the same reference numerals are used for the same members as used in FIG. In FIG.
In contrast to the configuration of FIG. 1, a water jet nozzle 18 that is opened in the tangential direction of the inner wall surface is installed at the lower part of the container 1 and connected to the cooling water supply valve 11 with a pipe 19 so that the cooling water can be jetted at a high speed. And a configuration in which the stirring device 6, the shaft 7, and the motor 8 are omitted. The purpose of such a configuration is to utilize the pressure and velocity energy of the water to be cooled for swirling a mixture of ice particles and water to simplify the apparatus.

The operation of the configuration shown in FIG. 2 will be described. First, the cooling water supply valve 11 is opened to supply the cooling water to the container 1.
And the valve 12 is opened after the swirling flow is generated.
The pump 4 is operated, and the cold water taken out from the bottom of the container 1 is jetted from the water supply nozzle 9 from the top of the container 1 to form a circulation system. Further, the ice particle supply device 14 is operated, and the ice particles 15 are supplied from the ice particle supply device 14 to the container 1 through the chute 16. When a predetermined amount of ice particles 15 have been supplied, the supply of the ice particles 15 is temporarily stopped, and after the circulating water passing through the bypass pipe 13 is cooled to a set temperature, the ice particles 15 are cooled.
Resume supply. At the same time, the valve 5 is opened to start supplying cold water to the load. Thereafter, the supply amount of the ice particles 1 and the water to be cooled and the supply amount of the chilled water are balanced based on the output temperature of the chilled water, and the level of the mixed liquid of the water and the ice particles in the container 1 is controlled to be constant. Cold water supply becomes possible.

FIG. 3 shows a third embodiment of the apparatus for producing cold water according to the present invention.
It is a front sectional view showing an embodiment. In FIG. 3, the same reference numerals are used for the same members as those used in FIG. In the configuration of FIG. 3, a pneumatic ice particle transport device 20 and a transport pipe 21 are provided in place of the ice particle supply device 14 and the chute 16 in the configuration of FIG.
In the lower part of the container 1, it is connected to an ice particle jet nozzle 22 provided in the tangential direction of the inner wall surface of the container in the same direction as the swirling flow generated by the stirring device 6, and the ice particles are jetted together with the transport air into the swirling flow It has a configuration. In this case, the ice particles remain in the swirling flow, and the carrier air is discharged from above the container 1.
The purpose of such a configuration is to convert the kinetic and pressure energy of the carrier air and ice particles into the energy of the swirling flow, and to reduce the power of the motor 8 of the stirring device 6. However, when the energy of the carrier air containing the ice particles can be sufficiently increased, the configuration without using the stirring device 6 can be adopted, and the device can be simplified.

The operation of the configuration shown in FIG. 3 will be described. First, the container 1 is filled with a predetermined amount of water, a swirling flow is generated by the stirring device 6, and the cold water extraction port 3 →
Water is circulated through the path from the valve 12 to the bypass pipe 13 to the water supply nozzle 9, the pneumatic ice grain transport device 20 is operated, and a predetermined amount of ice grains is supplied from the ice grain jet nozzle 22. When a predetermined amount is supplied, the supply of the ice particles is temporarily stopped. Then, when the temperature of the water reaches the set value, the valve 5 is opened, the supply of cold water is started, and the supply of the water to be cooled and ice particles is resumed. Thereafter, as in the case of FIG. Is controlled so that the supply amount of the water to be cooled and ice particles and the cold water extraction amount are maintained so that the level of the mixed liquid in the container 1 becomes constant.

FIG. 4 shows a fourth embodiment of the apparatus for producing cold water according to the present invention.
It is a front sectional view showing an embodiment. In FIG. 4, the same reference numerals are used for the same members as those used in FIGS. 1 to 3, and thus redundant description will be omitted. In the configuration of FIG. 1, the stirring device 6, a member for forming a swirling flow composed of the shaft 7 and the motor 8, and the ice particle supply device 14 and the chute 16 for supplying ice particles from above the container 1 are provided.
Instead of this, in FIG. 4, the water ejection nozzle 18 and the ice particle ejection nozzle 22 shown in FIGS.
And the swirling flow is generated by the kinetic and pressure energies of the water to be cooled, the ice particles, and the carrier air. The operation in the configuration of FIG. 4 is the same as that described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, and a description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 5 shows a fifth embodiment of the cold water producing apparatus according to the present invention.
It is a front sectional view showing an embodiment. In FIG. 5, the same reference numerals are used for the same members as those used in FIGS. 1 to 4, and thus redundant description will be omitted. In FIG. 5, a pneumatic ice grain transport device 20 and a transport pipe 21 are provided instead of the ice grains 15 and the chute 16 in the configuration of FIG. Furthermore, a cyclone type ice particle / transport air separation device 23, an outlet air duct 24 for transport air,
A controlled heat exchanger 25 for precooling the water to be cooled is added to this.

The purpose of this configuration is to use the cold heat of the ice-particle transport air for pre-cooling the water to be cooled, and to increase the amount of cold water that can be produced with a predetermined amount of stored ice particles.
The operation of the configuration of FIG. 5 is the same as that of FIG.
Is the same as Therefore, description of the entire operation is omitted here. In this configuration, since the separated carrier air is cooled by ice particles, the cooling air is guided to the cooling water pre-cooling heat exchanger 25, and if the cooling water supplied to the container 1 is pre-cooled, it is stored. Ice particles can be more effectively utilized for cold water production. Further, the finally discharged carrier air can be used for cooling a building or the like.

In the structure shown in FIG. 5, the ice particle / transport air separation device 23 is not provided, and the supply of ice particles is jetted into a swirling flow as shown in FIG. May also be removed and, as shown in FIG. 4, may be ejected together with the water to be cooled.

[0028]

FIG. 6 shows the ice melting characteristics of the present invention and the conventional (dynamic type). As is clear from FIG. 6, according to the present invention, the temperature of the water to be cooled is reduced in a short time. Thus, according to the present invention, the cooling efficiency can be improved. FIG. 7 shows the temperature characteristics of the chilled water output from the chilled water extraction port 3 in the chilled water production device of the present invention. As is clear from FIG. 7, according to the present invention, almost no temperature change occurs after the temperature reaches around 0 ° C., and cold water around 0 ° C. can be obtained stably.

[0029]

As is clear from the above, according to the production method of the present invention, the water to be cooled and the ice particles are put into the container to form a mixed liquid by a swirling flow, and the amount of the water to be cooled and the amount of the ice particles are reduced. The balance between the amount and the amount of cold water extracted from the container was maintained, and an apparently constant amount of ice particles was left in the container to extract cold water from the lower part of the container. A state in which grains coexist can be formed, and a large amount of cold water near 0 ° C. can be continuously and stably obtained.

According to the apparatus for producing cold water of the present invention,
When supplying ice particles by the air transfer method, it is possible to increase the amount of chilled water output per unit storage amount of ice particles by collecting the cold heat of the carrier air, which is waste heat, and using it for pre-cooling of the water to be cooled. As a result, the size of the device can be reduced and the output of chilled water can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing a first embodiment of a cold water producing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front sectional view showing a second embodiment of the cold water producing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front sectional view showing a third embodiment of the apparatus for producing cold water according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front sectional view showing a fourth embodiment of the apparatus for producing cold water according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front sectional view showing a fifth embodiment of the apparatus for producing cold water according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a characteristic diagram showing ice melting characteristics of the present invention and a conventional (dynamic method).

FIG. 7 is a temperature characteristic diagram of chilled water output from a chilled water extraction port in the chilled water production device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Container 2 Mesh filter 3 Cold water extraction port 4 Pump 5, 12 Valve 6 Stirrer 8 Motor 9 Water supply nozzle 11 Cooled water supply valve 13 Bypass pipe 14 Ice particle supply device 16 Chute 17a Swirling flow 18 Water ejection nozzle 20 Air type Ice particle transport device 21 Transport tube 22 Ice particle ejection nozzle 23 Ice particle / transport air separation device 24 Air duct 25 Heat exchanger for precooling of water to be cooled

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Toshio Yoshida 2-1, Nakayama 7-chome, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture Tohoku Electric Power Company R & D Center (72) Inventor Aritaka Tatsumi Kida Yomachi, Tsuchiura City, Ibaraki Prefecture 3550 Hitachi Cable Co., Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A method for producing cold water, comprising mixing ice particles and water to be cooled and cooling the water to be cooled by melting the ice particles to obtain cold water, wherein the water to be cooled is contained in a container having a predetermined size. And the ice particles are added to form a mixed solution, and the mixed solution is swirled in the container. The balance of the amount of the water to be cooled, the amount of the ice particles, and the amount of the cold water extracted from the container is adjusted. A method for producing cold water, comprising: maintaining the level of the mixed solution at a constant level while retaining a seemingly constant amount of ice particles in the container to extract cold water from a lower portion of the container. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the swirling flow of the mixed liquid is generated by mechanical stirring means. 3. The method for producing cold water according to claim 1, wherein the swirling flow of the mixed liquid is generated by means for jetting the unrequired water in a direction along a lower wall surface of the container. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the ice particles are supplied by being dropped from above the swirling flow. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the ice particles are supplied along the inner wall surface of the container by air conveyance in the same direction as the swirling flow. 6. An ice particle and water to be cooled are supplied to a container by an air conveying method, a swirling flow is formed in the container to mix the ice particle and the water to be cooled, and use the melting of the ice particle. A cold water producing apparatus for producing cold water, comprising: a separating device provided at an upper portion of the container for extracting cold water from a lower portion, for separating ice particle transport air and ice particles; and the ice separated by the separating device. An apparatus for producing cold water, comprising: a heat exchanger for exchanging heat between the air for conveying particles and the water to be cooled.