JPH11568A - Method for washing cereals - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To execute good washing of cereals by providing a route for water transportation of the cereals with an air bubble generating mechanism and agitating the cereals under water transportation in a state where water and the cereals are mixed by the air bubbles generated in this route, thereby washing the cereals. SOLUTION: The cereals 1 are fed from a hopper 4 into the central cylinder 6 of a water storage tank 5 and is sucked together with the water 2 by a pump 8 connected to a piping 7 and is water transported through the circulating route. An injector 3 is connected to the position near the discharge port of this pump 8 and the air bubbles 9 generated from the injector 3 are water transported together with the cereals 1 to agitate and wash the cereals 1 in the state of mixing the same with the water 2. In a water separator 10, a mesh belt 14 passes only the sewage 2 to a water route section 16 where the cereals 1 and the sewage 2 are separated. Since the cloud water after the washing adheres to the surfaces of the cereals 1, the water is sprayed from a shower nozzle 17 onto the cereals 1 slipping down on the mesh belt 11. The washed cereals 1 is sent to the water transporting route and the sewage 2 is refluxed to the water storage tank 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for washing cereals such as rice, wheat, and red beans with water.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the brewing industry and the like, various washing apparatuses for washing grains such as rice, wheat, and red beans with water have been proposed. For example, (1) Japanese Patent Publication No. 51-20580 "Continuous rice cleaning equipment"
Is a rice-washing basket in which a rice-washing basket is reciprocatingly oscillated in a washing tank to wash the rice. Agitating rice by applying a gas stream or a liquid stream to the rice, (3) JP-A-6-3
20023 "Method and apparatus for washing and immersing cereal raw materials in water" has been proposed in which rice to be conveyed in water is stirred by a water jet stirrer. In addition, there are some commercially available devices that rotate and agitate rice with water by means of a propeller-like stirring blade (4), but water-conveying rice often requires only a water separator with showering. .

[0003]

Especially in sake brewing, washing rice is an important work for removing rice bran, and if it is insufficient, unnecessary stickiness may occur in rice and the liquor of the product may become unpleasant. is there. Considering each of the above devices from the viewpoint of removing this rice bran, (1) Japanese Patent Publication No. 51-20580 cannot expect sufficient rice washing just by rocking the rice washing basket in spite of the large device. In Kaihei 6-170251, although the degree of rice washing is improved, there is still a problem that the apparatus becomes large. (3) Although the apparatus of JP-A-6-320023 is reduced in size, the degree of rice washing may be insufficient, and (4) the above-mentioned commercially available apparatus is easy to increase in size as in (1), and the residence time is There was a long and uneven problem.

As is evident from the above, an increase in the size of the apparatus does not improve the degree of cleaning.
Therefore, the main objective was to achieve good cleaning by efficiently stirring the cereals in a state of being mixed with water, and repeated studies were conducted to make such a cleaning apparatus smaller and simpler.

[0005]

In cereal washing by water washing, the degree of washing is determined by how to stir the cereals in water. Therefore, as a result of the study, the newly developed cereal is equipped with an air bubble generation mechanism in the path that transports cereal water, and the cereal that is being stirred and washed in a state where the cereal being transported with water is mixed with water by bubbles generated in the path. Is a cleaning method.

The term "path" as used in the present invention encompasses all of the means used to transport cereals by water. For example, in addition to the transport path for transporting cereals by water to an immersion tank, the "path" may be different from the transport path. There are configured circulation paths and the like.

[0007] Bubbles are generated by a bubble generating mechanism, and move with the cereals by water transport. An air bubble generating device may be provided separately from the path as the air bubble generation mechanism, but air bubbles can be generated in the path even if a gas introduction portion is provided for the path. The introduction unit may be a device that draws air outside the route into the route as it is, or may be a device that forcibly injects compressed air. As a method of drawing air outside the path into the path, there is a method using negative pressure using a venturi tube, such as an ejector. The drawn air not only contributes to the agitation of the cereal and water as air bubbles, but also plays a role of facilitating the generation of bubbles due to the cavitation effect as a core.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a cleaning apparatus that cleans grains 1 as a pre-stage for transporting the grains 1 to an immersion tank, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view in which an ejector 3 (a Venturi tube provided with a gas introduction unit) is enlarged. FIG. In the cleaning device of this example, a circulation path is configured so that water 2 used for cleaning the grains 1 can be recycled.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cereals 1 are dropped from a hopper 4 into a central cylinder 6 of a water storage tank 5 and are sucked together with water 2 by a pump 8 connected to a pipe 7.
The water is transported along the circulation route composed of FIG.
In the middle and the middle, the moving path of the grain 1 is indicated by a thick arrow, and the moving path of the water (or sewage) 2 is indicated by a broken arrow. The ejector 3 is connected to a position near the discharge port of the pump 8, and the bubbles 9 generated from the ejector 3 are transported in the pipe 7 together with the grain 1, and are stirred in a state where the grain 1 is mixed with the water 2. And wash. The gas bubbles 9 grow while gradually integrating, and are poured into the water separator 10 together with the washed grain 1 and the washed sewage 2.

The water separator 10 is a hollow casing in which a water-permeable mesh belt 14 is interposed between a cereal path section 15 and a water path section 16. The sewage 2 is passed through the water path 16 by the mesh belt 14, and the cereal 1 is separated from the sewage 2. Since the turbid water after washing adheres to the cereal surface, the cereal sliding down on the mesh belt 14 is showered with water from the shower nozzle 17. The washed cereals 1 are sent to a separately constructed water transport path (not shown), and the sewage 2 is returned to a water storage tank 5. As described above, in the cleaning apparatus of this example, the water 2 used for cleaning can be repeatedly used, and the operation cost of the cleaning apparatus that requires a large amount of water is reduced.

The ejector 3 used in this embodiment has a sectional structure as shown in FIG. An air introduction path 12 communicating with the outside is provided for the narrowest portion 11 of the Venturi tube constituting the path, and the air 13
(Indicated by the white arrow in the figure) is drawn into the water 2 moving in the pipe. The drawn air 13 becomes bubbles 9 and contributes to the stirring of the cereal 1. In addition, it is considered that bubbles due to the cavitation effect are also generated from the narrowest part of the Venturi tube, and these bubbles also contribute to the stirring of the grains.

[0012]

EXAMPLE In order to confirm the effect of the present invention due to the presence of air bubbles by using the above-described washing apparatus, the degree of washing of sake rice by the presence or absence of air bubbles was compared by opening and closing the air introduction path provided in the ejector. . As a comparison method, each sake rice 10
The method of measuring the turbidity of the water when 0 g was put in 500 g of separately prepared water and stirred was used. As a result, the turbidity of the water of the sake rice washed with the ejector was about 65% of the turbidity of the water of the sake rice washed without the ejector, and the good washing effect by the bubbles generated from the ejector was confirmed. .

In order to confirm the effect of the washing method of the present invention, sake rice washed by the washing method of the present invention (Example) and unwashed sake rice (Comparative Example) were respectively poured into a dipping tank. A transport comparative test was performed. In both Examples and Comparative Examples, 100 kg of sake rice was transported by water at a rate of 1000 kg / h such that the ratio of sake rice: water = 1: 5 (weight ratio). When the turbidity of the water separated after transporting the water to the immersion tank was compared, the turbidity of the example was 1/10 or less as compared with the comparative example. With such turbidity, it has been proved that recycling is easy and inexpensive, and that an economic effect in which the amount of water used for water transportation is suppressed can be expected.

[0014]

The present invention realizes fine grain agitation that cannot be realized by a conventional washing apparatus by stirring the grains in a state of being mixed with water during the water conveyance due to countless air bubbles. Achieve good cleaning. Also,
The configuration of the cleaning device using the cleaning method of the present invention is small and simple, and the bubble generation mechanism can be easily configured by providing a venturi tube and an air introduction portion in a pipe that is a path, and thus the manufacturing as a cleaning device is achieved. It has the advantage of low cost and operating cost.

As is clear from the comparative test in the above-mentioned embodiment, since the cleaning effect of the cleaning method of the present invention is high, when a cleaning device is provided separately from the path for transporting water to the immersion tank, The dirt of water used in the process is greatly reduced to the extent that it can be recycled, and economic effects such as water saving can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a cleaning apparatus having a path configured to recycle water used for cleaning.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cutaway perspective view of an ejector.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Grain 2 Water 3 Ejector 4 Hopper 5 Water storage tank 6 Center cylinder 7 Piping 8 Pump 9 Bubbles 10 Water separator 11 Narrowest part 12 Air introduction path 13 Air 14 Mesh belt 15 Cereal path part 16 Water path part 17 Shower nozzle

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cereal grain, characterized in that a bubble generating mechanism is provided in a path for conveying cereals with water, and the cereals being conveyed in water are mixed with water and agitated and washed by bubbles generated in the path. Cleaning method. 2. The method for cleaning cereals according to claim 1, wherein the bubble generating mechanism is a path provided with a gas introduction portion. 3. The method for cleaning cereals according to claim 1, wherein the bubble generating mechanism for introducing gas into the passage is of an ejector type.