RU2037750C1 - Cold accumulating device - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: refrigerating engineering. SUBSTANCE: device is provided with sensor for continuous and accurate measurement of thickness of ice being frozen. Sensor consists of tube made of heat-conducting material and filled with water. Tube is mounted at inclination relative to cooling element in plane passing through axis of its symmetry. One end of tube is provided with detachable blank and other end is connected with level sensor. Tube may be wound around cooling element forming truncated cone, thus enhancing accuracy of measurement of ice thickness. EFFECT: enhanced accuracy of measurement. 3 dwg

Description

 The invention relates to refrigeration and can be used in various industries, especially in industries that require periodic consumption of cold in the form of water, mainly in the dairy industry.

 Known devices for accumulating cold, containing a tank with nozzles for supplying and discharging water, installed in it cooling elements.

 The disadvantage of these devices is the lack of control over the process of freezing ice.

 Also known are devices for accumulating cold, containing a tank with nozzles for supplying and discharging water, an agitator installed therein, cooling elements and a sensor for controlling frozen ice.

 The disadvantages of these devices include the fact that the periodic movement of the probes on the surface of frozen ice distorts the surface of the ice, because probes scrape ice from the surface, create additional fluid circulation in the place of measuring the thickness of the ice and do not give the value of the true thickness of the frozen ice. There is no continuous monitoring of the process of freezing ice. In addition, the reliability of the device is low due to the complex kinematic scheme.

 To increase the efficiency of the device for accumulating cold, namely, to achieve continuous and accurate measurement of the thickness of freezing ice, the device contains a tank with nozzles for supplying and discharging water, mixers and cooling elements installed in it, and a sensor for controlling frozen ice; the latter is a tube made of a heat-conducting material, filled with water and installed with an inclination relative to the cooling element in a plane passing through its axis of symmetry; one end of the tube has a removable plug, and the other end is connected to a level sensor, and the tube can be made straight or wound around a cooling element.

 The tube of the freezing ice control sensor is made of heat-conducting material so that during the defrost process, with the stirrers working, ice reduction (ice melting) occurs simultaneously both on the surface of the cooling elements and in the tube. A prerequisite for the functionality of the sensor for monitoring freezing ice is to fill the tube with water, so it has a plug at one end and the other end connected to a level sensor. To achieve continuity of control over the thickness of frozen ice, the tube should be installed with an inclination relative to the cooling element and should be located in a plane passing through the axis of symmetry of the cooling element, since a slight increase in ice on it should be detected by a change in the amount of water in the tube by a level sensor. In addition, to increase the accuracy of measuring the thickness of freezing ice, the tube can be wound around the cooling element, forming a truncated cone. This allows you to use in the measurement process a large surface of the tube, which, when frozen in ice, increases the sensitivity of the sensor and allows you to get a more accurate measurement result.

 Figure 1 presents a General view of a device for accumulating cold; in FIG. 2 sensor control freezing ice, made in the form of a straight tube; in FIG. 3 sensor control freezing ice, made in the form of a tube wound around a cooling element.

 The device for accumulating cold contains a tank 1 with nozzles for supplying and discharging water (not shown), agitators (not shown) installed in it, cooling elements 2 and a sensor for controlling frozen ice in the form of a tube 3 connected to a level sensor 4. In the tank 1 several sensors for monitoring freezing ice can be installed, and they can be placed on the cooling elements 2 along the entire height of the tank 1, if necessary. The tube 3 is mounted near the cooling element 2 in a plane passing through the axis of symmetry of the cooling element, with an inclination to the latter, and the tube 3 is made of heat-conducting material and filled with water. The tube 3 can be wound around the cooling element 2 with a uniform step and with successive removal of the vertices of the turns from the axis of the cooling element 2 from turn to turn so that the surface formed by it is a truncated cone (figure 3).

 The end of the tube 3, directly in contact with the cooling element 2, has a removable plug 5, due to which there are no air bubbles in the process of filling the tube 3 with water. The free end of the tube 3 is connected to a level sensor 4. The level sensor can be of any type: float, hydrostatic, etc. connected through the primary converter to the control panel of the refrigeration unit (not shown).

 A device for accumulating cold works as follows.

 During hours of minimal cold consumption, ice is frozen on the cooling elements 2, for which the tank 1 is filled with water and the refrigeration unit is turned on.

 During the operation of the refrigeration unit on the cooling elements 2, ice begins to freeze, the tube 3 begins to freeze into ice, and therefore, the water in the tube 3 will also freeze. Part of the water in the tube 3 goes into a solid state of aggregation (ice) with an increase in its volume. As a result, the water level detected by the level 4 sensor will rise.

 When the thickness of the frozen ice is reached the optimum value, the level sensor 4 gives a signal to the control panel of the refrigeration unit.

 The water level with the same ice thickness on the cooling element in the tube 3, wound on the cooling element, will change more than in the case of a straight tube, because more water freezes.

 The use of accumulated ice is made by passing water through the tank with the stirrers working. Water is cooled by melting ice and sent for technological use. In the process of water leakage, the surface of the cooling elements 2 is freed from ice. The ice also melts in the tube 3, lowering the level detected by the level sensor 4. As soon as the surface of the cooling elements 2 is free of ice, and therefore, the ice also melts in the tube 3 due to good thermal conductivity, the water level in it will return to its original position. The level sensor will signal to turn on the refrigeration unit. On the cooling elements 2, ice begins to build up. The process is repeated.

 Due to the possibility of continuous monitoring of the thickness of frozen ice, it is possible to select the necessary operating mode of the device for accumulating cold, i.e., the beginning of a defrost and the inclusion of a refrigeration unit in the mode of ice freezing.

 The use of the proposed device for accumulating cold provides, in comparison with the known device, an increase in the accuracy of measuring the thickness of freezing ice, which significantly improves operational characteristics, increases efficiency and improves the quality of products for the consumer.

Claims (1)

 COLD ACCUMULATION DEVICE, comprising a tank with nozzles for supplying and discharging water, agitators installed therein, cooling elements and an ice-cold control sensor, characterized in that the control sensor is a tube made of heat-conducting material, filled with water and installed with an inclination relative to cooling element in a plane passing through its axis of symmetry, one end of the tube has a removable plug, and the other is connected to a level sensor, and the tube can be made straight or wound around a cooling element.

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