Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D53/00—Separation of gases or vapours; Recovering vapours of volatile solvents from gases; Chemical or biological purification of waste gases, e.g. engine exhaust gases, smoke, fumes, flue gases, aerosols
  • B01D53/02—Separation of gases or vapours; Recovering vapours of volatile solvents from gases; Chemical or biological purification of waste gases, e.g. engine exhaust gases, smoke, fumes, flue gases, aerosols by adsorption, e.g. preparative gas chromatography
  • B01D53/04—Separation of gases or vapours; Recovering vapours of volatile solvents from gases; Chemical or biological purification of waste gases, e.g. engine exhaust gases, smoke, fumes, flue gases, aerosols by adsorption, e.g. preparative gas chromatography with stationary adsorbents
  • B01D53/0407—Constructional details of adsorbing systems
  • B01D53/0446—Means for feeding or distributing gases
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23B—PRESERVATION OF FOODS, FOODSTUFFS OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES; CHEMICAL RIPENING OF FRUIT OR VEGETABLES
  • A23B7/00—Preservation of fruit or vegetables; Chemical ripening of fruit or vegetables
  • A23B7/14—Preserving or ripening with chemicals not covered by group A23B7/08 or A23B7/10
  • A23B7/144—Preserving or ripening with chemicals not covered by group A23B7/08 or A23B7/10 in the form of gases, e.g. fumigation; Compositions or apparatus therefor
  • A23B7/148—Preserving or ripening with chemicals not covered by group A23B7/08 or A23B7/10 in the form of gases, e.g. fumigation; Compositions or apparatus therefor in a controlled atmosphere, e.g. partial vacuum, comprising only CO2, N2, O2 or H2O
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D53/00—Separation of gases or vapours; Recovering vapours of volatile solvents from gases; Chemical or biological purification of waste gases, e.g. engine exhaust gases, smoke, fumes, flue gases, aerosols
  • B01D53/02—Separation of gases or vapours; Recovering vapours of volatile solvents from gases; Chemical or biological purification of waste gases, e.g. engine exhaust gases, smoke, fumes, flue gases, aerosols by adsorption, e.g. preparative gas chromatography
  • B01D53/04—Separation of gases or vapours; Recovering vapours of volatile solvents from gases; Chemical or biological purification of waste gases, e.g. engine exhaust gases, smoke, fumes, flue gases, aerosols by adsorption, e.g. preparative gas chromatography with stationary adsorbents
  • B01D53/0407—Constructional details of adsorbing systems
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D53/00—Separation of gases or vapours; Recovering vapours of volatile solvents from gases; Chemical or biological purification of waste gases, e.g. engine exhaust gases, smoke, fumes, flue gases, aerosols
  • B01D53/02—Separation of gases or vapours; Recovering vapours of volatile solvents from gases; Chemical or biological purification of waste gases, e.g. engine exhaust gases, smoke, fumes, flue gases, aerosols by adsorption, e.g. preparative gas chromatography
  • B01D53/04—Separation of gases or vapours; Recovering vapours of volatile solvents from gases; Chemical or biological purification of waste gases, e.g. engine exhaust gases, smoke, fumes, flue gases, aerosols by adsorption, e.g. preparative gas chromatography with stationary adsorbents
  • B01D53/0454—Controlling adsorption
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D53/00—Separation of gases or vapours; Recovering vapours of volatile solvents from gases; Chemical or biological purification of waste gases, e.g. engine exhaust gases, smoke, fumes, flue gases, aerosols
  • B01D53/22—Separation of gases or vapours; Recovering vapours of volatile solvents from gases; Chemical or biological purification of waste gases, e.g. engine exhaust gases, smoke, fumes, flue gases, aerosols by diffusion
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23V—INDEXING SCHEME RELATING TO FOODS, FOODSTUFFS OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES AND LACTIC OR PROPIONIC ACID BACTERIA USED IN FOODSTUFFS OR FOOD PREPARATION
  • A23V2002/00—Food compositions, function of food ingredients or processes for food or foodstuffs
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D2253/00—Adsorbents used in seperation treatment of gases and vapours
  • B01D2253/20—Organic adsorbents
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D2257/00—Components to be removed
  • B01D2257/10—Single element gases other than halogens
  • B01D2257/104—Oxygen
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D2259/00—Type of treatment
  • B01D2259/40—Further details for adsorption processes and devices
  • B01D2259/40083—Regeneration of adsorbents in processes other than pressure or temperature swing adsorption
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D2259/00—Type of treatment
  • B01D2259/40—Further details for adsorption processes and devices
  • B01D2259/40083—Regeneration of adsorbents in processes other than pressure or temperature swing adsorption
  • B01D2259/40088—Regeneration of adsorbents in processes other than pressure or temperature swing adsorption by heating
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D2259/00—Type of treatment
  • B01D2259/45—Gas separation or purification devices adapted for specific applications
  • B01D2259/4525—Gas separation or purification devices adapted for specific applications for storage and dispensing systems
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B01—PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL
  • B01D—SEPARATION
  • B01D2259/00—Type of treatment
  • B01D2259/80—Employing electric, magnetic, electromagnetic or wave energy, or particle radiation
  • B01D2259/804—UV light

Definitions

• This invention relates to food preservation.
• the first technique involves creating a vacuum. In reality, only various degrees of a partial vacuum are created. As the vacuum level is increased (lower pressure), the amount of oxygen available to react with the food or wine is decreased and the life of the material is increased.
• the challenges associated with this approach are that vacuum systems are expensive, containers to sustain low pressures are expensive, and only a portion of the oxygen is removed providing limited benefits. Even with a high-level vacuum capable of reducing the pressure to 5 psi absolute (approximately one-third of atmospheric pressure), only two-thirds of the oxygen has been removed. In other words, one-third of the oxygen remains.
• the second technique and by far the most popular, is to replace air (21% oxygen) with an inert gas such as nitrogen or argon.
• a system for removing oxygen from a container includes a recirculation pump and an oxygen removal device.
• the recirculation pump includes an intake and a discharge, and the intake includes a first connector.
• the discharge is fluidically connected to an oxygen removal device.
• FIG 1 is an example food preservation system.
• FIG 2 is another example of a food preservation system.
• FIG 3 another example of a food preservation system
• FIG 1 illustrates a food preservation system 100 in accordance with some implementations of the present disclosure.
• the system 100 can generate a substantially inert gas environment.
• the system 100 can slow the deterioration of the consumables that is not only cost effective but an efficient solution for oxygen removal from food and wine containers.
• the system 100 can be applied to any items (clothes) adversely affected by the presence of oxygen.
• a reduced oxygen environment can reduce mold, and its associated smell, and can reduce or eliminate insects from attacking the garment.
• the illustrated system 100 can store ripened fruit and then reduce or remove the oxygen slowing or preventing further ripening and spoilage.
• the system 100 includes a circulating system 102 that extracts oxygen from air resulting in an inert gas or substantially inert gas in an atmospheric pressure environment.
• the circulating systems includes a circulating pump 104 that includes a canister 106 filled with oxygen reducing material (one time disposable or rechargeable multi use material) from which the oxygen reduced gas is pumped into the enclosed container 108 including, for example, food, bottled goods, clothes, or other items.
• the gas from the container 108 is then recirculated through the air pump 104 and the oxygen removal process is repeated for the specific container 108.
• the process can be repeated for other containers.
• the system 100 include an oxygen reducing material, other techniques not yet known could be developed in the future and subsequently applied to the proposed system 100. These might be vacuum based or electric field based as examples.
• the recirculation can provide multiple advantages.
• the oxygen removal in the container 108 will not be 100% efficient for any practical system. If only a portion of the oxygen is removed as it passes through the container 108, a lower limit of a final oxygen content in the containerl08 can be set. As an example, 60% oxygen removal can result in 8% oxygen (40% of the original 20% oxygen content in air) remaining in the container 108. Even if the oxygen removal was 90%, the gas in the container 108 can still have 2% oxygen. But recycling the oxygen deprived gas exiting the container 108 can result in a continually reduced oxygen content. Table 1 is an example that demonstrates the residual oxygen after each cycle. dumber of Cycles
• the oxygen content in the container can drop below 0.6% in, for example, 3 cycles and below 0.1% in, for example, 5 cycles.
• the system 100 can be closed to more efficiently use the oxygen absorbing material.
• less oxygen is typically removed with each cycle. No matter how many times the cycle is performed, the amount of oxygen removed is from the original 20% of the container 108. That said, the container 108 may have insignificant leaks that contribute additional oxygen to the system 100.
• the amount of oxygen removed can equal to about 25% of the original volume of air.
• the oxygen removal material can be rechargeable.
• the ORM can be treated with perhaps heat or UV so that the oxygen is released and then the ORM is reused to remove oxygen again. In these instances, the recharging can occur within the system 100.
• FIG 2 is another example food preservation system 200 for automating the preservation method.
• the system 200 includes locking snap connectors 202a-d on the input and output of the container 108.
• the recycling unit 102 can be quickly connected and disconnected to the container 108.
• the system 200 includes electronics 204 to control the operation (On/Off, timing, etc.) of the pump 104.
• One-way valves can be used in place of ON/OFF valves or the snap connectors 202 can be also be used.
• a one-way valve can be used to allow air into the system 200 as the oxygen is removed. The cost of these items is typically less than $1.
• the current system 200 includes a low pressure bleeder valve 206.
• Proper controls could be implemented in order to optimize performance of the system 200.
• the system 200 can be set to run for a given period of time. With different size containers, the operator can select a container size or simply allow the system 200 to run for extended periods of time (e.g., minutes, hours) to most or all the oxygen.
• FIG 3 illustrates a preservation system 300 in accordance with some implementations with the present disclosure.
• the system 300 includes an oxygen sensor, which then allows the controller to turn off the pump when the oxygen level falls below a certain level.
• An indirect and more cost-effective means of monitoring the oxygen level could be through the use of a pressure sensor 302. As the oxygen level is reduced, the pressure inside the closed system/container will be reduced. Monitoring this pressure reduction, as well as the rate change in pressure, allows for an accurate determination of the oxygen content. This technique would circumvent having to know the container volume or the efficiency of the oxygen absorbing material, which could change with usage. Table 2 is listed below and lists estimates for medium quantities, and based upon the assumption that the material used to extract oxygen from the air will be rechargeable (heat or light used to discharge the oxygen).
• the systems 100-300 has been described as standalone, it should be noted that this could be a subsystem included into other systems.
• today's refrigerators have enclosed storage containers to store vegetables, fruits, etc.
• the proposed systems 100-300 can be built into the refrigerator such that when the containers are opened and subsequently closed, the oxygen reduction recirculating system 102 would be activated either manually or by sensing the closure. As the refrigerator becomes more “intelligent”, this subsystem can be built directly into and monitored by the refrigerator.

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Oil, Petroleum & Natural Gas (AREA)
• Analytical Chemistry (AREA)
• Polymers & Plastics (AREA)
• Food Science & Technology (AREA)
• Zoology (AREA)
• Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
• Food Preservation Except Freezing, Refrigeration, And Drying (AREA)
• Cold Air Circulating Systems And Constructional Details In Refrigerators (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)
• Vacuum Packaging (AREA)
• Storage Of Fruits Or Vegetables (AREA)
• Gas Separation By Absorption (AREA)

Priority Applications (6)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=75337511

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

Cited By (1)

Citations (5)

Family Cites Families (28)

• 2020
  • 2020-09-30 BR BR112022006121A patent/BR112022006121A2/pt unknown
  • 2020-09-30 JP JP2022520326A patent/JP7760498B2/ja active Active
  • 2020-09-30 EP EP20872629.9A patent/EP4037498B1/en active Active
  • 2020-09-30 US US17/764,761 patent/US20220347623A1/en active Pending
  • 2020-09-30 CN CN202080073961.9A patent/CN114945283A/zh active Pending
  • 2020-09-30 WO PCT/US2020/053592 patent/WO2021067470A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2020-09-30 KR KR1020227014304A patent/KR20220140480A/ko active Pending

Patent Citations (5)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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