KR20080082856A - Equipment for drying and washing red pepper - Google Patents

Abstract

Red pepper washing/drying equipment is provided to prevent the generation of wastewater and enable low-temperature drying by washing red pepper with ethanol and then vacuum-drying. Red pepper washing/drying equipment comprises: a washing part(10) which sprinkles ethanol on red pepper to wash off foreign substances and agrichemicals and sterilize microorganisms; a dehydrator(12) which removes the ethanol that remains on the washed red pepper; and a vacuum-dryer(16) which vacuum-dries the dehydrated red pepper. The equipment further comprises: a gas condenser(14) which condenses and liquefies the ethanol gas evaporated from the washing part and the dehydrator; a filter part(20) which filters an ethanol solution contaminated in the washing process and discharges a contaminated ethanol solution and a refined ethanol solution separately; a solvent regenerator(22) which distills the contaminated ethanol solution discharged from the filter part and the ethanol solution discharged from the vacuum-dryer to obtain a regenerated ethanol solution and then discharges sludge; an ethanol storage tank(24); and a solvent circulating device(26) which supplies the ethanol solution from the ethanol storage tank to the washing part and resupplies the liquefied ethanol, the refined ethanol solution, and the regenerated ethanol solution to the washing part.

Description

Pepper Wash Drying Equipment {EQUIPMENT FOR DRYING AND WASHING RED PEPPER}

1 is a structural diagram of a red pepper washing device according to an embodiment of the present invention

2 is a detailed structural diagram of the vacuum chamber 17 and the vacuum system 18 of FIG.

       * Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

10: washing unit 12: dehydrator

14: gas condenser 16: vacuum dryer

17: vacuum chamber 18: vacuum system

20: filter 22: solvent regenerator

24: ethanol tank 26: solvent circulator

The present invention relates to a red pepper washing drying apparatus, and more particularly, to a red pepper washing drying apparatus for washing red pepper after washing with washing water.

In general, dried red pepper, which is used as a raw material such as red pepper powder and red pepper flakes, is produced by cultivation farms or unit combinations on a small scale in day sun-dried (sun-dried) or by hot air drying.

However, dried peppers dried by the above method are hygienic, and most of them are manufactured without a washing process, and thus, foreign substances remaining on the surface and some residual pesticides are not completely removed, and most of them are left in dry land and dried. Therefore, it is seriously exposed to contamination by pathogenic microorganisms suspended in the air, and since it does not go through the sterilization process for microorganisms, a large amount of microorganisms survive in the outer shell and the inside, which is very hygienic and very unsafe. Therefore, the red pepper powder processed from such dried red pepper is also very unstable in terms of hygiene, and when the food using the red pepper powder is ingested, a disease such as food poisoning occurs.

Thus, various sanitary dried pepper production methods have been developed to provide sanitary and safer pepper powder.

For example, it is a method of sterilizing by irradiating gamma rays on the pepper surface. However, gamma irradiation has an excellent effect on reducing the number of microorganisms, but it is not effective for other contaminants other than microorganisms. Rather, it has a problem of deteriorating the quality of the final red pepper powder by bringing deterioration of color and flavor in dried red pepper. .

In addition, there is a method of washing hot pepper and hot air drying with a high pressure washer. However, this drying method is also not a hygienic method in a strict sense. This is because the pepper contains up to 1,000 times more microorganisms in the inner flesh than the shell.

Therefore, a method has been developed to provide sanitary pepper powder by removing not only contamination of pepper surface but also microorganisms present inside pepper.

For example, Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-18175 includes a pretreatment step such as selection of raw pepper and removal of stalks; A washing step for removing foreign substances and residual pesticides from the surface of red pepper and sterilizing the surface; Cutting and main sterilizing the washed red pepper; Primary drying and rapid freezing of the chopped and sterilized pepper; And a second drying of the first dried and rapidly frozen peppers, and crushing and packing the dried peppers.

In addition, Korean Utility Model Publication No. 1990-4421 discloses a method of drying various kinds of foreign substances, such as metals or impurities in red pepper, by washing with washing water, followed by sterilization by infrared heating.

In addition, the red pepper washing device was developed to improve the stability and commerciality by washing red pepper with 50 ℃ hot water. Developed by the Rural Development Institute of Agricultural Engineering, the device is first rubbed with red pepper and washed with water at around 20 ℃ to remove foreign substances, and then washed with hot water at around 50 ℃ to remove mold, insects, etc. It is a method of forming a thin coating film to increase storage. As a result of the field application study, the quality maintenance period was 28 days, which is twice that of the existing air washing method, and the required cost was reduced by 56% to 30 won per kg. In particular, the performance of the conventional air cleaner washes 2,300 units per hour, while the hydrothermal cleaner is 3,600 units, which is 1.5 times higher.

As such, the conventional drying method is washing the red pepper with water, a large amount of waste water is generated, hot air drying, there is a change in color or flavor, nutrients are destroyed, washing and drying takes a lot of time.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a pepper sterilization drying apparatus that does not generate waste water and does not change the color or flavor of pepper when washing and drying pepper to solve the above problems.

Another object of the present invention to provide a pepper sterilization drying apparatus that can improve productivity by reducing the washing and drying time without nutrients are destroyed.

The present invention for achieving the above object, by spraying the ethanol to the pepper to wash the foreign substances and pesticides in the pepper while washing the sterilization microorganisms remaining in the pepper, and the ethanol remaining in the pepper washed in the washing unit Dehydrator for dehydration, and a vacuum dryer for vacuum drying the dehydrated pepper from the dehydrator.

A gas condenser for condensing and liquefying the ethanol gas vaporized from the washing unit and the dehydrator, and the ethanol solution containing contaminants by filtering contaminants by receiving contaminated ethanol solution when washing red pepper in the washing unit. Receiving the filter unit for discharging the ethanol, and the ethanol solution contaminated with contaminants from the filter unit and the ethanol solution discharged from the vacuum dryer to purify and recycle the ethanol solution by distillation and to discharge the sludge for the distillation residue A solvent regenerator, an ethanol storage tank storing an ethanol solution, an ethanol solution from the ethanol storage tank, supplied to the washing unit, ethanol liquefied from the gas condenser, and an ethanol solution purified from the filter unit and the solvent regenerator Reclaimed ethanol solution from the feeder and resupply It is preferable that further comprising a solvent circulator.

The dehydrator is characterized in that the dehydrated by spraying air by receiving the washed red pepper.

The vacuum dryer is preferably composed of a vacuum chamber for vacuum drying the dehydrated red pepper from the dehydrator, and a vacuum system for depressurizing the inner space of the vacuum chamber to form a vacuum.

The vacuum chamber is provided with a temperature control device and a vacuum pressure gauge and a vacuum valve,

The vacuum system includes a solvent condenser connected to a vacuum connecting tube from a vacuum valve of the vacuum chamber, and a vacuum pump connected to the solvent condenser to pump air in the vacuum chamber.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

1 is a structural diagram of a red pepper washing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Washing unit (10) to sterilize the microorganisms remaining in the pepper while washing ethanol in pepper to wash foreign substances and pesticides in the pepper,

Dehydrator 16 for spraying air to the red pepper washed in the washing unit 10 and dehydration,

A gas condenser 14 for condensing and liquefying ethanol gas vaporized from the washing unit 10 and the dehydrator 16,

A vacuum dryer 16 for vacuum drying the red pepper dehydrated from the dehydrator 12;

Filter unit 20 for receiving contaminated ethanol solution from the washing unit 10 to filter contaminants to discharge the ethanol solution and purified ethanol containing contaminants, respectively;

A solvent regenerator 22 which receives the ethanol solution contaminated with contaminants from the filter unit 20 and the ethanol solution discharged from the vacuum dryer 16, purifies and regenerates the ethanol solution by distillation, and discharges sludge for the distillation residue. )Wow,

An ethanol storage tank 24 storing an ethanol solution,

The ethanol solution is received from the ethanol storage tank 24 and supplied to the washing unit 10, and the ethanol solution liquefied from the gas condenser 14 and the ethanol solution purified from the filter unit 20 and the solvent regenerator 22. It is composed of a solvent circulator 26 for receiving the regenerated ethanol solution from the re) supply to the washing unit (10).

The vacuum dryer 16 is a vacuum chamber 17 for vacuum drying the dehydrated pepper from the dehydrator 12 and,

The internal space of the vacuum chamber 17 is composed of a vacuum system 18 for reducing the pressure so that a vacuum is formed.

FIG. 2 is a detailed structural diagram of the vacuum chamber 17 and the vacuum system 18 of FIG.

A vacuum chamber 17 having a temperature controller (not shown), a vacuum pressure gauge 2 and a vacuum valve 3, and a vacuum connecting tube 4 from the vacuum valve 3 of the vacuum chamber 17; The connected solvent condenser 5 and the vacuum condenser 5 are connected to the solvent condenser 5 to pump air in the vacuum chamber 17.

The vacuum pump pressure gauge 7 is provided on the upper portion of the vacuum pump 6. 1 to 2 will be described in more detail the process of washing and drying pepper according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention discloses a more effective and economical cleaning method for producing clean pepper products. Pepper produced in the field uses a lot of pesticides to prevent pests and dust during the production process, residual pesticides and fungi bacteria and bacteria remain in the pepper. Usually, after harvesting red pepper, it is dried by sun drying method and washed again with water or by using air to remove foreign substances and dried again to produce red pepper powder products. If you wash again after drying, you must re-dry. In the present invention, when the dried red pepper is washed again, it can be seen that it is reduced to the original moisture content. Therefore, it is subjected to sufficient drying process and pulverized to produce a red pepper powder product. To produce clean red pepper powder, it must be washed. Explain the operation of washing and drying peppers.

Ethanol (Ethanol) is stored in the ethanol storage tank 24. Entanol stored in the ethanol storage tank 24 is supplied to the solvent circulator 26. The solvent circulator 26 supplies ethanol supplied from the ethanol storage tank 24 to the washing unit 10. At this time, the amount of ethanol supplied from the ethanol storage tank 24 to the solvent circulator 26 is about 5 to 8 m ³ per hour. When ethanol is supplied to the washing unit 10, the ethanol is washed for a predetermined time (for example, 5 seconds) through a tube through which ethanol is injected. Ethanol is a colorless liquid with a characteristic odor and taste. Melting point -114.3 ℃, boiling point 78.4 ℃, specific gravity 0.818, refractive index 1.3623, surface tension 22.3dyn / cm (20 ℃ air), heat of evaporation 229cal / g (0 ℃), explosion limit 3.3 ~ 19vol%. Ethanol becomes acetic acid through acetaldehyde when it is oxidized, and has a property to coagulate protein, so it sterilizes. The sterilizing power is 70% aqueous solution and the disinfection and sterilizing power is less than 60% and 80% or more. Pepper is sterilized at the same time the foreign matter is washed by ethanol in the washing section (10). In the dehydrator 12, the ethanol solution is dehydrated by spraying air to the red pepper washed and transported from the washing unit 10. At this time, the ethanol gas vaporized during the air injection from the dehydrator 12 is supplied to the gas condenser (14). The ethanol solution dehydrated by the air spray from the dehydrator 12 is supplied to the filter unit 20. Pepper, from which the ethanol solution is removed from the dehydrator 12, is introduced into the vacuum chamber 17. When the pepper injection into the vacuum chamber 17 is completed, the vacuum system 18 operates. The vacuum chamber 17 is provided with a temperature controller (not shown) and a pressure gauge (3). The solvent condenser 5 is provided between the vacuum chamber 17 and the vacuum pump 6 as an apparatus for condensing the evaporated solvent and the effective decompression of the vacuum pump 6.

When the vacuum pump 6 is pumped, the vacuum chamber 17 is depressurized, and the chilies introduced into the vacuum chamber 17 are vacuum dried. The red pepper vacuum dried from the vacuum chamber 17 is transferred to a grinding production line to process the red pepper powder. The ethanol gas vaporized during the vacuum drying from the vacuum chamber 17 is condensed and liquefied, and then supplied to the solvent regenerator 22.

On the other hand, since the ethanol for washing the pepper in the washing unit 10 is contaminated by foreign substances generated during washing of the pepper, the ethanol solution contaminated to the lower end of the washing unit 10 is applied to the filter unit 20. The filter unit 20 receives the ethanol solution applied from the washing unit 10 and the ethanol solution applied from the dehydrator 12 and filters the contaminants to send the ethanol solution containing the contaminants to the solvent regenerator 22. The purified ethanol is discharged to the solvent circulator 26. The solvent regenerator 22 receives the filtered and contaminated ethanol solution from the filter unit 20 and the ethanol solution discharged from the vacuum dryer 16 and purified through a distillation apparatus to purify and regenerate the ethanol solution, distilled residue To discharge the sludge. The ethanol solution regenerated from the solvent regenerator 22 is applied to the solvent circulator 26. The solvent circulator 26 receives the ethanol solution from the ethanol storage tank 24 and supplies the ethanol solution to the washing unit 10, and the ethanol solution liquefied from the gas condenser 14 and the ethanol solution purified from the filter unit 20. And ethanol solution regenerated from the solvent regenerator 22 and supplied to the washing unit 10 again. By repeating the operation as described above to wash and vacuum drying the pepper injected into the washing unit (10).

Recently, the vacuum drying method is widely applied to food packaging chemicals, etc., where the product is concerned about heat damage, the solvent containing it needs to be dried at a high temperature, and the product may be easily rotted or affected by bacteria. Apply. The solvents can be quickly removed by drying at a relatively low temperature by drying under reduced pressure. In addition, a lot of freeze vacuum drying method that can prevent the loss of pepper flavor is also used a lot, and in the present invention, simply using a reduced pressure drying method, the high pressure boiling point (boiling point) in the original petrochemical high separation of the difficult to distill at normal pressure It is a technology used to apply to many industries. In the present invention, in order to supplement the shortcomings of the vacuum oven drying method to the maximum, while maintaining a low vacuum of about 2 ~ 100mmHg, considering the very simple vacuum equipment that uses a heat source of 40 ~ 70 ℃ easy installation cost and easy operation It was made.

When the ethanol according to the present invention is applied as washing water, the drying efficiency is reduced by 30 minutes or more (100% increase in efficiency), and the effect is very excellent as the amount of red pepper to be dried increases when compared to the existing water washing water. Experimental results were found by the following Tables 1-4.

Table 1 shows the change state after washing red pepper for 5 seconds in 100% of water, Table 2 shows the drying time and weight change by the reduced pressure drying method after washing with water.

Table 3 shows the change state after washing red pepper in 100% of water for 5 seconds, Table 4 shows the drying time and weight change by the reduced pressure drying method after washing with water.

After washing peppers using ethanol, the test result shows the tendency of the effect according to the concentration of ethanol. In the case of microorganisms, the ethanol content increased from 100% to 40% and the water content increased proportionally. In the case of washing with ethanol, ethanol is more expensive than other compounds, so a facility for recovering and recycling is needed. However, since the generation of wastewater is relatively minimized, economic efficiency is superior when comparing wastewater treatment installation and treatment expenses.

Overall drying efficiency was found to be over 100%. That is, it means that it is dried more than the moisture content of red pepper used as the first sample. Ethanol has a boiling temperature of 78.4 ℃ at atmospheric pressure but a boiling temperature of 48.4 ℃ at 200mmHg pressure, 34.9 ℃ at 100mmHg pressure and 19.0 ℃ at 40mmHg pressure. The lower the pressure, the lower the boiling point, and the lower the pressure, the faster the drying rate of ethanol. The change in drying efficiency according to the amount of red pepper is maintained at more than 95% in 30 minutes of drying time. The higher the ethanol content, the higher the efficiency. In the case of water washing water, the drying time is longer as the amount of red pepper is increased, whereas in ethanol, the drying time is almost constant with no increase in proportion to the amount of red pepper. In addition, the residual amount of the washing water was not constant, but the drying time is not proportional to it, and the drying time is almost the same. Ethanol washing has many advantages in washing and drying compared to water washing water. According to the test results, as shown in Table 5, the ethanol wash water content may be seen to be 70 to 85%. In case of disinfection, 70% ethanol solution is known to be the best.

And the test analysis of the dried pepper samples after washing with ethanol solution is shown in Table 6 below.

In the case of washing with ethanol, the residual degree of ethanol and the residual of methanol, which is prohibited in food, were found in dried peppers. This shows that the ethanol used as the washing water in the drying under reduced pressure was sufficiently dried.

Common analyzes include microorganisms and water content. The investigation is shown in Table 7 below.

In Table 7, the detected number of bacteria and the content of water were proportional to the ethanol content. In other words. As the amount of water was increased (0% → 60%) with respect to ethanol, the water content increased from 10.89% to 18.56%, and the results of microbial culture showed almost the same results. Only 60% of ethanol was detected. Thus, the ethanol wash water obtained the expected results. It is expected that better results can be obtained by conducting several application tests in the future. Compared to washing with ethanol wash water and water only, it was found that 10 ¹ less was detected. On the contrary, the use of oxidant was expected to detect microorganisms more than water, but vice versa.

The red pepper includes both raw pepper or dried pepper, and may be vacuum dried after washing the raw pepper with ethanol, or may be vacuum dried after washing the dried pepper with ethanol.

For reference, the test report commissioned by the Chungbu University Industry-Academic Cooperation of Tenderloin Food Co., Ltd. shows the results of residual amounts of ethanol and methanol after washing and drying red pepper using ethanol.

As described above, the present invention washes red pepper using ethanol and then performs vacuum drying under reduced pressure to produce sanitary red pepper with excellent cleaning effect and excellent sterilization effect compared to water or other washing water. Since the red pepper is washed, there is no waste water generation, which can reduce the cost of installing the waste water treatment device, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost.

In addition, it can be dried at low temperature by washing with ethanol and vacuum-dried to reduce drying time, thereby improving productivity. Also, it can prevent the change of color or flavor of red pepper and prevent breakdown of nutrients by low temperature drying. There is an advantage to that.

Claims (5)

Washing unit to sterilize the microorganisms remaining in the pepper while spraying ethanol in the pepper to wash foreign substances and pesticides on the pepper, A dehydrator for dehydrating ethanol remaining in the red pepper washed in the washing unit; Pepper sterilization drying apparatus comprising a vacuum dryer for vacuum drying the dehydrated pepper from the dehydrator. The method of claim 1, A gas condenser for condensing and liquefying the vaporized ethanol gas from the washing unit and the dehydrator; When washing the red pepper in the washing unit receives a contaminated ethanol solution to filter the contaminants to filter and discharge the ethanol solution containing contaminants and purified ethanol, respectively; A solvent regenerator which receives the ethanol solution contaminated with contaminants from the filter unit and the ethanol solution discharged from the vacuum dryer, purifies and regenerates the ethanol solution by distillation, and discharges the sludge for the distillation residue; An ethanol storage tank storing ethanol solution, Receiving the ethanol solution from the ethanol storage tank and supplying it to the washing unit, the ethanol solution liquefied from the gas condenser and the ethanol solution purified from the filter unit and the ethanol solution regenerated from the solvent regenerator receives the re-supply to the washing unit Pepper sterilization drying apparatus characterized in that it further comprises a circulator. The method of claim 2, The dehydrator is a red pepper sterilization drying apparatus characterized in that the dehydrated by spraying the air supplied to the washed pepper. The method of claim 3, wherein the vacuum dryer, A vacuum chamber for vacuum drying the red pepper dehydrated from the dehydrator; Red pepper sterilization drying apparatus, characterized in that the vacuum chamber for reducing the pressure to form a vacuum inside the vacuum chamber. The method of claim 4, wherein The vacuum chamber is provided with a temperature control device and a vacuum pressure gauge and a vacuum valve, And the vacuum system comprises a solvent condenser connected to a vacuum connecting tube from the vacuum valve of the vacuum chamber, and a vacuum pump connected to the solvent condenser to pump air in the vacuum chamber.

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