KR20190027739A - A Vacuum freeze drying apparatus and method using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a freeze-drying apparatus comprising: a frame; a first chamber installed in the frame to have a first space for storing an object to be dried; a second chamber installed in the frame to have a second space connected to the first space of the first chamber; a cooling means connected to each chamber, and first and second refrigerant circulation pipes to refrigerate the inside of the first and second chambers; a heating means connected to the first chamber to evaporate moisture contained in the object to be dried and connected to the second chamber to heat the second space of the second chamber; and a vacuum means connected to the first space of the first chamber and connected to the second space of the second chamber to evacuate each space. Accordingly, freeze-drying of the object to be dried is performed in one apparatus, thereby considerably reducing a drying time and extremely lowering the moisture content of the object to be dried.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a freeze-drying apparatus and a freeze-

The present invention relates to a freeze-drying apparatus and a freeze-drying method using the same, and more particularly, to a freeze-drying apparatus capable of minimizing the water content of a subject to be dried during freeze-drying of foods and medicines and a freeze- .

Generally, the freeze-drying device is a device for rapidly freezing a dried object to remove moisture from a dried object under a certain vacuum condition, and can be lightened and minimizes physical chemical changes and component destruction (for example, nutrient destruction) It is widely used in the production of foodstuffs for extreme environments such as military and space industries.

Particularly, in the case of a medicinal product in which the moisture content must be kept extremely low, the freeze-drying device has an important position indispensable. The moisture content of the object to be dried by the conventional vacuum freeze dryer is about 5% Technology is required.

Korean Registered Patent No. 10-0669257 (Publication Date: Jan. 16, 2007)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a freeze-drying apparatus and a freeze-drying method using the same, which can minimize the water content of a dried object.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a freeze-drying apparatus comprising: a frame; A first chamber provided inside the frame and having a first space for accommodating the object to be dried; A second chamber provided inside the frame and having a second space connected to the first space of the first chamber; Cooling means connected to each of the chambers and the first and second refrigerant circulation pipes to cool the first chamber and the second chamber, respectively; Heating means connected to the first chamber for vaporizing moisture contained in the object to be dried and connected to the second chamber to heat the second space of the second chamber; A vacuum means connected to the first space of the first chamber and the second space of the second chamber to evacuate the respective spaces; And the cooling means are operated to control the drying object of the first chamber to be frozen and then the heating means is operated to control the moisture content of the object to be dried in the first chamber and the vacuum means is controlled to flow moisture into the second space And a control unit for controlling the cooling means to control the condensation of the moisture introduced into the second space.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a first chamber includes a first housing having a first space formed therein, a first door installed at one side of the first housing and capable of opening and closing a first space, And a shelf in which at least one is stacked in the first space of the housing so that the object to be dried can be housed.

In the freeze-drying apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the second chamber may include a second housing formed with a second space, and a second door installed at one side of the second housing to open and close the second space have.

In the freeze-drying apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the second housing is formed by an outer tube for receiving an inner tube and an inner tube formed with a second space, and a heat insulating material is inserted between the inner tube and the outer tube.

In the freeze-drying apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention, the cooling means includes a compressor capable of compressing the refrigerant, a condenser capable of liquefying the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant compressed from the compressor, A first cooling pipe connected at one side to the expansion valve and the first refrigerant circulation pipe and at the other side to one side of the shelf of the first chamber so that the refrigerant can circulate; And a second cooling pipe connected to the circulation pipe and disposed in the second space of the second chamber to condense water.

In the freeze-drying apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the heating means includes a power source unit installed inside the frame, a heating unit connected to one side of the power source unit and the other side of the first chamber, A pad, and a heating coil having one side connected to the power source and the other side surrounding the outside of the second housing.

In the freeze-drying apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the vacuum means includes a vacuum pump installed inside the frame, a first exhaust line connecting the first space and the second space, and a second exhaust line connecting the second space and the vacuum pump The second exhaust line.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a freeze-drying method comprising: controlling a cooling means to move and freeze a drying object in a first chamber; Activating the heating means to vaporize moisture from the object to be dried in the first chamber; Moving the vacuum means in a controlled manner to introduce moisture into the second space; And controlling the cooling means so as to condense the moisture introduced into the second space.

The freeze-drying method according to an aspect of the present invention may further include heating the second space of the second chamber by controlling the heating means.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for freeze-drying a liquid in a second chamber,

As described above, according to the freeze-drying apparatus and the freeze-drying method using the same according to the present invention, the freeze-drying of the object to be dried can be carried out in a single apparatus to drastically shorten the drying time and the water content of the object to be dried There is an advantage to be able to do.

1 is a perspective view showing a freeze-drying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a perspective view showing the rear part of FIG. 1. FIG.
3 is a side cross-sectional view showing the interior of the first chamber of Fig.
Fig. 4 is a plan view of Fig. 3. Fig.
5 is a sectional view showing the inside of the second chamber of Fig.
6 is an opening view showing the operation of the freeze-drying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a view illustrating a change in temperature and degree of vacuum according to an operation of the freeze-drying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Prior to this, terms and words used in the present specification and claims should not be construed as limited to ordinary or dictionary terms, and the inventor should appropriately interpret the concepts of the terms appropriately It should be interpreted in accordance with the meaning and concept consistent with the technical idea of the present invention based on the principle that it can be defined.

Therefore, the embodiments described in the present specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are only the most preferred embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the technical ideas of the present invention are described. Therefore, It should be understood that various equivalents and modifications may be present.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a freeze-drying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the rear part of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing the inside of the first chamber of FIG. Fig. 4 is a plan view of Fig. 3, and Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing the inside of the second chamber of Fig.

1 and 2, the freeze-drying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a frame 110; A first chamber 120; A second chamber 130; Cooling means (140); Heating means 150; A vacuum means 160; And a control unit 170.

The frame 110 forms a frame of a certain size and accommodates all major components therein, and a power supply unit may be provided on one side to supply power to operate the main components. In FIGS. 1 and 2, some side surfaces and respective covers provided on the upper side are not shown and are shown so as to confirm the internal structure. A display device (not shown) for checking the internal environment (temperature, vacuum pressure) of the first chamber 120 and the second chamber 130 may be provided on the other side of the frame 110.

The first chamber 120 may be provided with a first space 120a in which a drying object is accommodated and is supported in the frame 110. [ 3, the first chamber 120 includes a first housing 121 having a first space 120a formed therein, a first space 120a provided at one side of the first housing 121, And a shelf 123 in which at least one material is stacked in the first space 120a and in which the object to be dried can be stored.

The first housing 121 may have a substantially cylindrical shape to facilitate circulation of heat therein, and the outer shape of the first housing 121 is not limited to a cylindrical shape, and may be variously modified. A first temperature sensor 121-1 for sensing an internal temperature and a first vacuum sensor 121-2 for measuring an internal vacuum pressure may be installed in the first housing 121. [

The first door 122 is hinged to one side of the first door 122 and rotatably coupled to the first housing 121, and can open / close the first space 120a by known fastening means. The shelf 123 is fixed horizontally in the first housing 121 so that the object to be dried can be placed thereon and is stacked at a predetermined interval so that a plurality of objects to be dried can be freeze-dried. .

The second chamber 130 may be formed in the frame 110 to form a second space 130a connected to the first space 120a of the first chamber 120. [ The second chamber 130 includes a second housing 131 (see FIG. 5) having a second space 130a formed thereon and a second housing 131 installed at one side of the second housing 131 to open and close the second space 130a. 2 door 132, as shown in FIG.

The second housing 131 is formed of an inner cylinder 131-1 formed with a second space 130a and an outer cylinder 131-2 accommodating the inner cylinder 131-1, And the heat insulating material 131-3 is inserted between the heat insulating material 131-2 and the heat loss. In addition, the second housing 131 may have a substantially cylindrical shape to facilitate circulation of cool air, and the outer shape of the second housing 131 is not limited to the cylindrical shape, and may be variously modified. A second temperature sensor 133-1 for sensing the internal temperature and a second vacuum sensor 133-2 for measuring the internal vacuum pressure may be installed in the second space 130a of the second housing 131 .

The second door 132 is hinged to one side of the second door 132 so as to be rotatably coupled to the second housing 131, and can open / close the second space 130a by a known fastening means.

The cooling means 140 is connected to the first and second chambers 120 and 130 and the first and second refrigerant circulation pipes 140-1 and 140-2 so as to be connected to the first and second refrigerant circulation pipes 140-1 and 140-2, It is possible to cool the space 120a and the second space 130a of the second chamber 130, respectively. 4 to 6, the cooling means 140 includes a compressor 141 capable of compressing refrigerant, a condenser 142 capable of liquefying the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant compressed from the compressor 142, A first refrigerant circulation pipe 140-1 and a second refrigerant circulation pipe 140-1 which are connected to each other through the expansion valve 143 and the first refrigerant circulation pipe 140-1, A first cooling pipe 144 installed at one side of the shelf 123 and capable of circulating the refrigerant and a second cooling pipe 144 having one side connected to the expansion valve 143 and the second refrigerant circulation pipe 140-2, And a second cooling pipe 145 disposed in the second space 130a of the first cooling pipe 130 to condense water.

At this time, for example, freon gas (R404A) may be used as the refrigerant, and the first cooling pipe 144 and the second cooling pipe 145 correspond to the evaporator.

4, the first cooling pipe 144 has a symmetrical shape extending in the longitudinal direction of the shelf 123 in the shelf 123 and repeated at regular intervals, And can be installed to be evenly distributed. 5, the second cooling pipe 145 is installed so as to surround the outer surface of the inner cylinder 131-1 of the second housing 131, 130a.

The heating means 150 may be installed inside the first chamber 120 to vaporize the moisture contained in the object to be dried and may be connected to the second chamber 130 to form the second space 130 of the second chamber 130. [ (130a). The heating unit 150 is connected to the power supply unit 151 and the power supply unit 151 installed inside the frame 110 and the other is installed on the other side of the shelf 123 of the first chamber 120 A heating pad 152 for heating the object to be dried and a heating coil 153 having one side connected to the power source unit 151 and the other side surrounding the second housing 131.

4, the heating pad 152 may be embedded in a plate shape inside each shelf 123, and may be installed so that the heating pad 152 can be uniformly transferred to the entire shelf 123 in a thermally conductive manner. 5, the heating coil 153 is installed so as to surround the inner cylinder 131-1 of the second housing 131 and can transmit radiant heat to the second space 130a of the second housing 131 have.

6, the vacuum unit 160 is connected to the first space 120a of the first chamber 120 and the second space 130a of the second chamber 130, ) 130a to be evacuated. The vacuum unit 160 includes a vacuum pump 161 installed inside the frame 110, a first exhaust line 162 connecting the first space 120a and the second space 130a, And a second exhaust line 163 connecting the space 130a and the vacuum pump 161. [

The vacuum pump 161 may be provided with a pressure gauge connected to the first vacuum sensor 121-2 and the second vacuum sensor 131-2 so as to check the internal pressures of the chambers 120 and 130 . At this time, it is preferable that the vacuum pump 161 is operated so that the internal pressures of the chambers 120 and 130 are maintained within 1 to 6 bar.

The second exhaust line 163 is provided with a solenoid valve for electrically controlling on / off of the vacuum exhaust for the first space 120a of the first chamber 120 and the second space 130a of the second chamber 130, (161-1) may be installed.

The control unit 170 includes a first temperature sensor 121-1, a first vacuum sensor 121-2, a second temperature sensor 133-1, a second vacuum sensor 133-2, a cooling unit 140, The heating means 150, the heating means 150 and the vacuum means 160 so as to be electrically controlled. For this, the control unit 170 may further include an operation panel (not shown) installed on the front surface of the frame 110 to control operation of the main configuration.

Hereinafter, the operation of the freeze-drying apparatus of the present invention described above with reference to the drawings will be described. FIG. 6 is a view illustrating an operation of the freeze-drying apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a graph illustrating changes in temperature and degree of vacuum according to operation of the freeze- Fig.

First, the user opens the first door 122 of the first chamber 120 to stack the objects to be dried on the shelves 123 stacked in the first space 120a of the first housing 121, 1 door 122 is closed to seal the first space 120a of the first housing 121 from the outside.

6, when the cooling unit 140 is operated for a predetermined time according to the signal of the controller 170, the refrigerant is circulated through the first refrigerant circulation pipe 140-1 to the first cooling pipe 144 The refrigerant is circulated and supplied. Accordingly, the inside of the first chamber 120 becomes an environment of minus 10 degrees to minus 50 degrees, which leads to freezing of the object to be dried stored in the first space 120a of the first housing 121. [

The controller 170 controls the power source unit 151 to heat the heating pad 152 so that the inside of the first chamber 120 is heated to a temperature of about 20 degrees to about 70 degrees The environment is created. As a result, moisture is vaporized from the object to be dried in the first chamber 120, and the object to be dried is thawed.

At the same time, the control unit 170 controls the vacuum pump 161 to exhaust the first chamber 120 through the exhaust lines 162 and 163 and controls the cooling unit 140 to operate in the second chamber 130 to cool the second space 130a. The moisture generated from the drying object is moved to the second chamber 130 side through the first exhaust line 162 and the moisture moved to the second chamber 130 is transferred to the second chamber 130, 2 cooling pipe 145 and quickly frozen.

And the vacuum exhausted through the second exhaust line 163 in the second chamber 130 is discharged to the outside via the vacuum pump 161. [ At this time, since the vacuum discharged from the vacuum pump 161 may include minute water, it is preferable to provide an oil mist trap for removing moisture on the discharge line (not shown) side of the vacuum pump 161.

The controller 170 controls the power source unit 151 to generate heat to the heating coil 153 so that the second housing 130 of the second chamber 130, The radiant heat generated by heating the inner cylinder 131-1 of the first housing 131 is transferred to the second space 130a of the second housing 131 so that the frozen ice can be separated from the second cooling pipe 145, The second door 132 is opened and the dropped ice is taken out to the outside.

7, the controller 170 during operation of the freeze-drying apparatus includes a first temperature sensor 121-1, a first vacuum sensor 121-2, and a second temperature sensor 133-1. The first and second chambers 120 and 130 detects the internal environment of the first chamber 120 and the second chamber 130 in real time and starts the display on the display device and generates a warning sound so that the user can operate the device normally Can be determined. If the temperature and the vacuum pressure of the first chamber 120 and the second chamber 130 are not proper, the operation of the freeze-drying apparatus can be stopped and maintenance can be performed.

Hereinafter, an experimental example of an object to be dried using the freeze-drying apparatus of the present invention will be described.

First, a dry powdery material was mixed with distilled water at a ratio of 1: 1 and stirred to form a nano slurry so that the water content was about 50%. Next, a total of 24 kg of the nanoslurry containing moisture was divided into six times, and the cooling temperature was changed from -32 ° C to 60 ° C as shown in Table 1, and the vibration was set to 2.0 * 10hPa.

As shown in Table 2 and Table 3, the water content of the dried object was less than 1%, and the difference in the results indicates the error according to the test environment (unit: kg).

It can be seen from these experimental results that when the object to be dried is dried using the freeze-drying apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to obtain a powder in which the water content is drastically reduced in a relatively short time as compared with the conventional freeze-drying apparatus.

According to the freeze-drying apparatus of the present invention and the freeze-drying method using the same, the freeze-drying of the object to be dried can be carried out in one apparatus to drastically shorten the drying time and to make the moisture content of the object to be dried extremely low There are advantages to be able to.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. It is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

110: frame
120: first chamber
130: Second chamber
140: cooling means
150: Heating means
160: Vacuum means
170:

Claims (10)

frame;
A first chamber provided inside the frame and having a first space for accommodating a drying object;
A second chamber provided inside the frame and having a second space connected to the first space of the first chamber;
Cooling means connected to each of the chambers and the first and second refrigerant circulation pipes to cool the first chamber and the second chamber, respectively;
Heating means connected to the first chamber to vaporize moisture contained in the object to be dried and to be connected to the second chamber to heat the second space of the second chamber;
A vacuum means connected to the first space of the first chamber and the second space of the second chamber to evacuate the respective spaces; And
Wherein the cooling means is actuated to freeze the object to be dried in the first chamber, and then the heating means is operated and controlled to vaporize water from the object to be dried in the first chamber, Wherein the control unit controls the cooling unit after the moisture is introduced into the second space to condense the moisture introduced into the second space.
Wherein the freeze-drying apparatus further comprises: The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first chamber comprises:
A first door provided at one side of the first housing and capable of opening and closing the first space; at least one of the first door and the second door being stacked in the first space of the first housing, And a shelf on which the object can be housed. 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the second chamber comprises:
A second housing formed with the second space, and a second door installed at one side of the second housing and capable of opening and closing the second space. The connector according to claim 3, wherein the second housing comprises:
An inner passage formed with the second space and an outer tube accommodating the inner tube, and a heat insulating material is inserted between the inner passage and the outer tube. The cooling apparatus according to claim 3,
A condenser capable of compressing the high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant compressed from the compressor, an expansion valve capable of adiabatically expanding the refrigerant liquefied from the condenser, and an expansion valve A first refrigerant pipe connected to the first refrigerant circulation pipe and having one side connected to one side of the shelf of the first chamber so that the refrigerant can be circulated and a second refrigerant pipe having one side connected to the expansion valve and the second refrigerant circulation pipe, And a second cooling pipe disposed in the second space of the second chamber and capable of condensing moisture. 4. The apparatus according to claim 3,
A heating pad connected at one end to the power supply unit and the other at the other side of the rack of the first chamber to heat the object to be dried; And a heating coil surrounding the outside of the second housing. The vacuum cleaner according to claim 1,
A vacuum pump installed inside the frame, a first exhaust line connecting the first space and the second space, and a second exhaust line connecting the second space and the vacuum pump. . frame; A first chamber provided inside the frame and having a first space for accommodating a drying object; A second chamber provided inside the frame and having a second space connected to the first space of the first chamber; Cooling means connected to each of the chambers and the first and second refrigerant circulation pipes to cool the first chamber and the second chamber, respectively; Heating means connected to the first chamber to vaporize moisture contained in the object to be dried and to be connected to the second chamber to heat the second space of the second chamber; And a vacuum means connected to the first space of the first chamber and the second space of the second chamber to evacuate the respective spaces,
Controlling the cooling means so as to freeze the object to be dried in the first chamber;
Vaporizing moisture from the object to be dried in the first chamber by controlling the heating means in a controlled manner;
Moving the vacuum means in a controlled manner to introduce the moisture into the second space; And
Controlling the cooling means to condense the moisture introduced into the second space;
And drying the freeze-dried composition. 9. The method of claim 8,
Heating the second space of the second chamber by controlling the heating means;
Further comprising the step of: 10. The method of claim 9,
Removing the ice in the second space of the second chamber to the outside;
Further comprising the step of:

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