UA35432A - Process of thermal processing of products in glass containers and a device for realization thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to food industry, in particular to process of thermal processing of products in glass containers and a device for realization thereof. The device comprises a conveyor, a sterilizer body, a stream spreader mounted on the conveyor and heating element made as tubular screen arranged at the top part of the sterilizer, and conveyor is made as aggregate one. At the top part of the stabilizer body air channel are mounted.

Description

The invention relates to the food industry, in particular to a method of heat treatment of products in a glass container (canned foods, homogenized vegetables, fruits, juices, etc.) and a device for its implementation.

The classical method of heat treatment of products in a glass container is known from the scientific literature, which was developed by the Odesa branch of VNDHI (see Teoreticheskie osnov'i sterilizatii konservov (B.P.

Fleumenbaum, Kyiv University Publishing House. 1960, p. 172-176).

In accordance with this method, the water in the autoclave is first heated to a temperature that exceeds the temperature of the cans with the product by 10-16"C. After that, the nets with the cans are loaded into the autoclave. The autoclave is closed and a mixture of steam and air is fed into it, or only compressed air In this way, back pressure is created so that the lids do not tear off the necks of the glass jars. After the back pressure is established, the air supply is stopped and only steam is supplied until the sterilization temperature is reached. During the sterilization itself, the autoclave is purged every 15-20 minutes. After completion, the glass jars with the product is cooled by feeding cold water into the autoclave from above, while constantly maintaining back pressure. After cooling, the pressure is reduced, the lid of the autoclave is opened and the glass jars with the sterilized product are unloaded. This method was chosen as the prototype.

The prototype coincides with the invention in that it contains joint operations: - processing of products sealed in a glass container with a heat source (hot water and steam according to the prototype); - processing is carried out in a thermal chamber (according to the prototype, it is an autoclave).

But the method according to the prototype is very complicated, its productivity is low. This is explained by the following reasons. 1. The process occurs periodically: a container with the product is loaded into the autoclave, the necessary operations are carried out, cooled, unloaded, and then a new batch 1 is loaded again, and so on. 2. The need to create counter-pressure and conduct all operations in counter-pressure mode.

Q. Use of two heat sources! steam and hot water. By the way, it is necessary to spend a lot of energy on obtaining steam and heating water in the autoclave.

The closest of the devices known to the applicant is the French single-chamber sterilizer "Hydrolak".

The device contains several conveyors, a sterilizer housing, in the middle of which is a hydraulic valve. The upper and lower parts of the sterilizer housing are divided by a heat-insulating plate. A final cooling pool is located under the sterilizer housing.

The known device works as follows. Cans are fed to the sterilizer conveyor using the feeding conveyor. Passing through the rotor with the blades of the hydraulic shutter, the canned food enters the upper part of the sterilizer body, which is filled with a steam-air mixture. With continuous rotation, the canned food first passes through the upper section, where it is sterilized, and then through the lower section filled with water, which is intended for preliminary cooling of canned food. After leaving the pre-cooling section, the cans again pass through the hydraulic gate and enter the third conveyor, which shuffles them through the final cooling pool. After the final cooling pool, the canned food enters the fourth removal conveyor, which moves it to further technological processing (see V.P. Babaryn et al. Handbook of canned food sterilization. M., 80 "Agropromiadat", 1987, pp. 200, 201. Copy corresponding pages are attached).

This solution is chosen by the device prototype, the Prototype coincides with the claimed invention in Vol. containing common features: -conveyor; sterilizer housing.

But the prototype device has a number of disadvantages.

First, it is very complex. This is explained by that its composition includes 4 conveyors (feeder, conveyor that passes into the sterilizer housing, conveyor of the final cooling pool and outlet conveyor). In addition, the device and its operation are complicated by a hydraulic valve with a rotor and blades.

Secondly, the prototype device has low performance. This is explained by the fact that the performance of the prototype device is strictly related to its geometric dimensions. The design does not allow you to change the number of rows on sections of the conveyor without changing the number of rows on the previous conveyor.

The invention is based on the task of creating a method of heat treatment of products, in which by processing products that have a given high temperature, as well as using another heat source, to ensure its simplification | productivity improvement.

The task is solved in the method of heat treatment of products in a glass container, which provides for the treatment of blocked products with a heat source in a thermal chamber, by processing products with a temperature of 94-967C, followed by keeping them in a thermal chamber, as a heat source, the condensate of heating steam is used, which is passed through a tubular screen. Hold for 110-120 seconds.

What is new in the claimed method is that. that, first of all, sealed products are submitted for heat treatment 1 and processed hot (at 94-967C). Secondly, the condensate of the heating steam is used as a heat source, and thirdly, the condensate of the heating steam is passed through a tubular screen.

The length of time the product is kept in the thermal chamber is also new, but this feature is not essential and mandatory.

The invention is also based on the task of creating a device for heat treatment of products in glass containers. in which by introducing a flow separator and a heating element, as well as placing them in certain places of the sterilizer body, to ensure simplification and increase the productivity of the device.

The task is solved in a device for heat treatment of products in a glass container containing a conveyor and a sterilizer housing in that it additionally contains a flow separator installed on the conveyor before entering the sterilizer housing and a heating element made in the form of a tubular screen located in the upper part body; sterilizer, and the conveyor is connected, while before the flow separator, the conveyor is single-loop, and after - two-loop. In addition, ventilation channels are installed in the upper part of the sterilizer housing, but this feature is not mandatory.

What is new in the claimed device is the presence of the following features: 1. The device additionally contains: a) flow separator; b) heating element; 2. The flow divider is installed: a) on the conveyor b) before entering the sterilizer housing; 3. The heating element is made in the form of a tubular screen; 4. The heating element is installed in the upper part of the sterilizer housing; 5. The conveyor to the flow separator is made single-chain, and after the separator - double-chain.

The cause-and-effect relationship between the claimed set of signs and the achieved technical result can be explained as follows.

In the method and device according to the prototype, the heat source is fed directly into the thermal chamber. In this case, contact heating of the product, which is subject to heat treatment, is carried out. This is necessary because otherwise the lethal effect of heat treatment will not be ensured. But with this introduction of the coolant, it is impossible to avoid its significant losses (10-1595). As a result, the energy efficiency is insignificant.

In the proposed invention, as a result of the fact that a product with a high temperature (94-9672) is submitted for heat treatment, it became possible not to supply the coolant inside the thermal chamber (sterilizer housing) for contact heat exchange, but to supply it to the tubular screen. In this case, there is no loss of coolant, thermostatically controlled conditions are established inside the housing. The product practically does not cool (the temperature drop does not exceed 0.57).

The flow divider allows you to increase the productivity of the device, because with the unchanged length of both the conveyor and the sterilizer body, it becomes possible to place a larger number of containers with the product in the sterilizer body. In this case, there is no need to install an additional drive, and you can use a two-link (two-row) conveyor.

In addition, the presence of a separator simplifies the operation of the device as a whole, because the movable "flag" independently regulates the direction of movement of the container with the product along the conveyor branches.

Automatic adjustment of the loading of the conveyor belt based on the presence of a flow separator allows to increase the value of the device's operation coefficient, because the working area of the conveyor is filled more completely. The container with the product is installed on the parallel branches of the conveyor in a staggered order and, as a result, the number of units of the container with the product increases by 1.44 times.

In this way, the flow separator allows you to increase the productivity of the device by 2.88 times (1.44x2), it allows you to reduce the geometric characteristics of the device without disturbing the productivity of the line as a whole.

Fig. shows a device for heat treatment of a container with a product; fig. 1 - side view; fig. 2 - top view.

The device includes a sterilizer housing 1 through which a conveyor 2 passes.

A flow separator 3 is located on the conveyor 2 before the entrance (not shown in the figure) to the sterilizer housing 1. The inlet and outlet of the sterilizer housing 1 are equipped with curtains 4. In the middle of the sterilizer housing 1, in its upper part, there is a heating element 5, which is made in the form of a tubular screen

The heating element 5 has a manometer b. Ventilation ducts 7 are installed in the upper part of the sterilizer 1 housing. The drawing shows, in particular, the container 8 on the conveyor 2. Conveyor 2 to the flow separator C is single-chain, and after the flow separator C is double-chain.

The device works as follows.

After filling the glass container with a homogeneous product of a certain temperature and sealing it with lids, it enters the sterilizer housing 1 via conveyor 2. Before entering the sterilizer housing 1, the container from the single-line conveyor is slowly distributed in a checkerboard pattern on both lines of the conveyor 2 thanks to the flow separator C. Steam condensate (which used in other devices of the technological line) passing through the heating element 5, heats the air inside the sterilizer housing 1.

The increased relative to the ambient air temperature inside the device does not allow for a significant decrease in the temperature of the product in the container while it is in the sterilizer body 1. For example, the temperature of packing fruit juices in a container with a capacity of 1000 ml. is 96:21"C. Such a container with fruit juice stays inside the sterilization case 1 for only 120 seconds, which is equal to the time it takes to fill the container with the product.

After leaving the sterilization case, 1 container with products is cooled in one of the known ways, it is labeled, 1 is packaged in a suitable container.

The claimed device was installed at the "VISMA" company (Odesa). Operation of the device confirmed its operability and efficiency.

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Fig. 2

Claims (2)

1. The method of heat treatment of products in a glass container, involving the treatment of blocked products with a heat source in a thermal chamber, which differs in that. that products with a temperature of 94-967C are subjected to processing, followed by keeping them in a thermal chamber, and hot steam condensate is used as a heat source, which is passed through a tubular screen. 2. The method according to claim 1, which differs in that the products are kept in a thermal chamber for 110-120 seconds. C. A device for heat treatment of products in a glass container having a conveyor 1 sterilizer body, which is distinguished by the fact that it additionally has a flow separator installed on the conveyor before entering the sterilizer body and a heating element made in the form of a tubular screen located at the top part of the sterilizer housing, and the conveyor is connected, while before the flow separator the conveyor is single-loop, and after it - two-loop.