JP6713695B1 - Combined freeze-drying equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid-type freeze-drying treatment equipment which can be made compact and lightweight, and can be effectively used by blowing out and collecting an antifreeze liquid adhering to an object to be frozen after freezing. SOLUTION: A composite freeze-drying treatment facility is configured by combining a liquid freezing unit 10 and an air blast antifreeze treatment unit 20, and the air blast antifreeze treatment unit 20 comprises an air blast device 22 and an antifreeze recovery device. 23, and the antifreeze liquid used in the liquid type freezing unit is collected by the antifreeze liquid collecting device 23 for effective use. [Selection diagram] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a composite freeze-drying facility configured by combining a liquid freezing unit and an air blast antifreeze treatment unit.

In the following patent documents, a frozen object is stored in a cargo, the cargo is immersed in a pre-cooled antifreeze solution, and a freezing tank for freezing the frozen object, and the frozen object to be frozen is pulled up from the antifreeze solution. There is described a frozen product manufacturing apparatus, which is provided with a unit cooler that blows a low-temperature gas onto the surface of the frozen object to dry it, and automatically transports the frozen object according to a route.

JP 2009-216329 A

However, the freeze-drying equipment proposed in the above-mentioned patent documents has a large-scale structure, and thus requires a large installation area. There is also a problem that the antifreeze liquid blown off by blowing a low temperature gas is not considered, and resources are not effectively used. The present invention aims to solve such problems.

The combined freeze-drying treatment equipment according to the present invention is a liquid freezing unit for immersing an object to be frozen in a pre-cooled antifreeze solution for rapid freezing, and a frozen object frozen by the liquid freezing unit is pulled up from the antifreeze solution to be frozen. It is configured by combining with an air blast type antifreeze treatment unit that blows low temperature air onto the surface of an object to dry it, and the air blast type antifreeze treatment unit is a heat exchanger and a blower through which the antifreeze liquid introduced from the liquid freeze unit is passed. An air blasting device that is a combination of the above, and low-temperature air is blown onto the surface of the object to be frozen, blown away from the object to be frozen, and an antifreeze liquid recovery device that recovers the liquid type freezing unit is provided. To do.

In the freeze-drying treatment facility according to the present invention, since the liquid quick freeze unit and the air blast type antifreeze treatment unit, which are the main components thereof, are both small, the installation area is small. Further, since the antifreeze liquid blown off from the object to be frozen is recovered by the antifreeze liquid recovery device and returned to the liquid quick freezing unit, loss of the antifreeze liquid can be suppressed and effective utilization can be achieved.

1 is a schematic diagram of a composite freeze-drying treatment facility as an example of an embodiment. It is a schematic diagram of the freezing factory in which the freeze-drying processing equipment was installed. It is a schematic diagram of compound type freeze-drying processing equipment which is other examples of an embodiment. It is a whole perspective view of the combined-type freeze-drying processing equipment which is another example of embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a composite freeze-drying facility as an example of an embodiment of the present invention.
The freeze-drying equipment 1 includes a liquid-type freezing unit 10 for immersing an object to be frozen M in a pre-cooled antifreeze solution B for rapid freezing, and a freezing object M that is still wet with the antifreeze solution B after freezing from the antifreeze solution B, The air-blast type antifreeze treatment unit 20 is configured to blow low temperature air onto the surface of the freezing target M to remove the antifreezing liquid adhering to the surface of the freezing target M.

The liquid quick freezing unit 10 includes a freezing tank 11 in which an antifreeze liquid B such as ethyl alcohol is stored, and a heat pump 12 for cooling the antifreeze liquid B.

The freezing tank 11 is a housing made of a metal such as stainless steel or a resin such as styrofoam and having excellent heat insulating properties, and has an open top surface. A lid 11a that can be opened and closed may be provided in the opening on the upper surface (see FIG. 4), but the size of the freezing tank 11 is not particularly limited, and may be about 1 to 20 cubic meters, for example.

The heat pump 12 includes an evaporator 12a arranged in the freezing tank 11, an aggregator 12b arranged outside the tank, and a pipe line 12c for circulating a refrigerant between them, and the pipe line 12c is provided with the pipe line 12c. Is provided with a compressor 12d, a receiver tank (dryer filter) 12e, an expansion valve 12f, and the like.
The evaporator 12a is composed of, for example, a copper tube arranged along the wall surface of the freezing tank 11. The aggregator 12b is composed of a copper tube arranged in a meandering shape and metal fins fixed to the copper tube, and a blower 12g for passing air is provided between the fins.
As the refrigerant, for example, R-404A or R-410A is used.

On the other hand, the air blast type antifreezing liquid treatment unit 20 includes a box-shaped drying chamber 21, an air blasting device 22 arranged inside the drying chamber 21, and an antifreezing liquid collecting device 23 arranged on the floor surface inside the chamber. I have it.
The drying chamber 21 is a housing made of a metal such as stainless steel and a resin such as styrofoam and having excellent heat insulating properties, and has an open top surface. An openable/closable lid 21a may be provided in the opening on the upper surface (see FIG. 4). The size of the drying chamber 21 may be about the same as that of the freezing tank 11.

The air blast device 22 is provided with a pipe line 22b for circulating the antifreeze liquid B between the freezing tank 11 and the heat exchanger 22a, and a pump 22c is provided in the pipe line 22b. The heat exchanger 22a includes a copper tube arranged in a meandering shape and metal fins fixed to the copper tube, and a blower 22d for passing air is provided between the fins.

The antifreeze liquid recovery device 23 includes an antifreeze liquid pan 23a arranged on the floor of the drying chamber 21, a pipe line 23b for returning the antifreeze liquid B accumulated in the antifreeze liquid pan 23a to the freezing tank 11, and a pump provided in the pipe line 23b. 23c. The antifreeze pan 23 a may be integrated with the floor surface of the drying chamber 21. Alternatively, a liquid sensor 23d may be provided at an appropriate position of the antifreeze liquid pan 23a, and the pump 23c may be automatically operated when the sensor 23d detects the antifreeze liquid B.

The freeze-drying facility 1 may further include a lifting-type transfer device 3 that lifts and transfers the basket 2 containing the object M to be frozen between the freezing unit 10 and the air blast type antifreeze treatment unit 20. That is, the frozen object M is placed on the mesh tray 2a, and the basket 2 accommodates the tray 2a on which the frozen object M is placed. The basket 2 may include casters 2b.

The frozen object M is not particularly limited. The frozen object M may or may not be vacuum-packed in advance. For example, it is desirable that meat and fish fillets be vacuum packed. On the other hand, semi-cooked foods such as fried foods and crustaceans such as shrimp and crabs are not suitable for vacuum packing, but the freeze-drying equipment 1 of this example can cope with either of the frozen objects M without any problem. That is, if the frozen object M is not suitable for vacuum packing, it may be frozen and dried as it is without being vacuum packed.

Further, in this example, the freeze-drying equipment 1 requires a small installation area because the freeze-drying unit 10 and the air-blast type antifreeze treatment unit 20 are small-sized ones whose dimensions are determined by the size of the freezing tank 11 or the drying chamber 21, respectively. There is an advantage that. Further, the frozen object M can be easily transported by the transport device 3. Further, since the antifreeze liquid B blown off from the freezing object M in the air blast type antifreeze liquid processing unit 20 is recovered by the antifreeze liquid recovery device 23 and returned to the freezing unit 10, the loss of the antifreeze liquid B is suppressed.

Next, a basic procedure for using the freeze-drying treatment facility will be described.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a freezing factory in which freeze-drying processing equipment is installed. A plurality of freeze-drying treatment facilities 1 are installed in the factory 6, a transfer device 3 is laid above them, and a truck port is prepared.

As a preparation for using the freeze-drying treatment facility 1, the liquid rapid freezing unit 10 and the air blast type antifreeze treatment unit 20 are activated as follows.
That is, in the freezing unit 10, when the heat pump 12 is operated with the antifreeze liquid B stored in the freezing tank 11, the gaseous refrigerant compressed by the compressor 12d is agglomerated by the aggregator 12b, and the liquid refrigerant is evaporated. The cycle of evaporating in 12a is repeated, and the antifreeze liquid B is cooled by heat exchange between the refrigerant and the antifreeze liquid B via the evaporator 12a. At this time, if the settings of the compressor 12d, the expansion valve 12f, etc. are appropriate, the temperature of the antifreeze liquid B reaches -40 degrees Celsius or less.
On the other hand, in the air blast type antifreeze removing unit 20, when the air blasting device 22 is operated while the antifreeze liquid B is already cooled, the air is cooled by the heat exchange between the antifreeze liquid B and the air via the heat exchanger 22a. , Blow out the cooled air as air blast. The temperature of this air blast is about -40 degrees Celsius.

After the freezing unit 10 and the air blast type antifreeze treatment unit 20 are brought into the operating state as described above, as a usage procedure, first, the frozen object M is placed on the tray 2a and the tray 2a is stored in the basket 2 (1 ).
When the basket 2 is attached to the freezing tank 11, the frozen object M is rapidly frozen, but the time required for this freezing is about 10 to 30 minutes, and deterioration of the quality of the frozen object M is minimized. (2).
After that, the basket 2 is pulled up from the freezing tank 11 and transferred to the drying chamber 21 as it is, that is, in a state of being wet with the antifreeze liquid B. A low-temperature air blast is blown onto the basket 2 transferred to the drying chamber 21, whereby the frozen object M is dried at a low temperature. The time required for this drying is about 5 to 10 minutes (3).
At this time, the antifreeze liquid B adhering to the freezing object M is blown off by the air blast and dropped into the antifreeze liquid pan 23a, and then returned to the freezing tank 11 by the antifreeze liquid collecting device 23.
After that, the basket 2 is pulled up from the drying chamber 21, loaded on the freezing type truck 5, transported to a place (not shown), and appropriately frozen and stored (4).
In this way, the freezing and drying of the frozen object M is continuously processed.

Since the time required for freezing the anti-freezing object in the freezing unit 10 is sufficiently longer than the time required for drying the freezing object M in the air blast type antifreezing liquid processing unit 20, the time required for a plurality of freezing units is It is possible to configure the freeze-drying treatment facility 1 by combining a single air blast type antifreeze treatment unit. With such a configuration, it is possible to efficiently freeze and dry a large amount of frozen objects M. Become.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a composite freeze-drying facility as a reference example of the present invention. In this example, the configuration of the air blast device 22 is different from that of the above-described embodiment. Therefore, the elements common to the example shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted, and the air blast device 22 will be mainly described.

Here, the air blasting device 22 is configured to adiabatically expand the high pressure air supplied from the high pressure air supply source 22f. The high-pressure air supply source 22f may be a high-pressure cylinder of air, carbon dioxide, nitrogen or the like, or may use a compressor (not shown). The air blast outlet is composed of a plurality of nozzles 22g. Since the temperature of the air blast blown out here is lowered by adiabatic expansion, it can be freely controlled by appropriately adjusting the pressure of the high-pressure air supply source 22f. Depending on the object M to be frozen, it may be desired to set the air blast to a specific temperature. Therefore, in such a case, the configuration using the high pressure air supply source 22f is suitable.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a composite freeze-drying treatment facility which is another example of the embodiment.
This example is characterized in that the freezing unit 10 and the air blast type antifreeze treatment unit 20 are integrated. Since other configurations are common to the example shown in FIG. 1, the common elements are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

The freezing unit 10 has an open upper surface, and an electric lid 11a is provided in the opening. In the boundary area between the freezing tank 11 and the drying chamber 21, an antifreeze liquid returning slope 30 that is inclined toward the freezing tank 11 is provided.

On the other hand, the upper surface of the air blast type antifreeze treatment unit 20 is also open, and an electric lid 21a is provided in the opening. Further, the side surface of the air blast type antifreeze treatment unit 20 is also open, and an electric door 20b is provided in this opening. If the opening 20d is attached to the opening, it is easy to load and unload the basket 2 provided with the casters 2b from the side. Further, the air blast type antifreeze treatment unit 20 is provided with rails 20c for accommodating and holding the tray 2a on both side surfaces of the drying chamber 21.

The air blast type antifreeze treatment unit 20 can also be used alone as a so-called shock freezer that rapidly freezes an object to be frozen at room temperature by air blast, or as a blast chiller that takes rough heat of heated food or the like. When the air blast type antifreeze treatment unit 20 is used as a shock freezer or a blast chiller, it is convenient to open the door 20b and put the tray 2a on which the frozen object M is placed in and out.

In this example, since the freezing unit 10 and the air blast type antifreeze treatment unit 20 are integrated, the installation area of the freeze-drying equipment 1 can be made small. In addition, since the moving distance when the basket 2 containing the frozen object M is pulled up from the freezing tank 11 and conveyed to the drying chamber 21 is short and the moving time is also short, there is also an advantage that the dew condensation on the basket 2 is small. is there. Further, since the antifreeze liquid B dripping from the moving basket 2 naturally flows to the freezing tank 11 along the antifreeze liquid return slope 30, the loss of the antifreeze liquid B can be suppressed.

1 Freeze Drying Equipment M Freeze Target B Antifreeze 10 Freezing Unit 20 Airblast Antifreeze Removal Unit 22 Air Blast Device 22a Heat Exchanger 22d Blower 22f High Pressure Air Supply Source 23 Antifreeze Recovery Device 23a Antifreeze Pan 23b Pipeline 23c Pump

Claims (5)

A liquid quick freezing unit for immersing an object to be frozen in a cooled antifreeze solution to rapidly freeze the frozen object,
A combined liquid rapid freezing facility configured by pulling up the frozen object to be frozen from the antifreeze liquid, blowing low temperature air on the surface of the frozen object, and combining with an air blast antifreeze treatment unit to blow and remove the antifreeze liquid. And
The air blast antifreeze treatment unit,
An air blasting device which is a combination of a heat exchanger and a blower for letting an antifreeze liquid introduced from the liquid quick freezing unit pass through,
An antifreeze liquid recovery device for recovering the antifreeze liquid blown off by the low-temperature air from the surface of the frozen object immersed in the antifreeze liquid and returning it to the liquid quick freezing unit. The antifreeze recovery device is
An antifreeze pan placed on the floor of the airblast antifreeze treatment unit,
The combined freeze-drying facility according to claim 1, further comprising: a pipe line for returning the antifreeze liquid accumulated in the antifreeze liquid pan to the liquid type freezing unit, and a pump interposed in the pipe line. Both the liquid type freezing unit and the air blast antifreezing liquid treatment unit are provided with an opening for inserting and removing the frozen object on the upper surface of each of them.
It has a basket which accommodates the above-mentioned frozen object, and further has a transportation device which suspends and moves this basket between the above-mentioned liquid type freezing unit and the above-mentioned air blast antifreeze processing unit. The composite freeze-drying facility according to 1 or 2 . The combined freeze-drying facility according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the liquid freezing unit and the air blast antifreeze treatment unit are integrated. Combining a liquid type freezing unit that rapidly freezes an object to be frozen by immersing it in a pre-cooled antifreeze solution, and an air blast antifreeze processing unit that blows low temperature air to the object to be frozen that has been wet with the antifreeze solution to dry it A composite freeze-drying facility configured,
The air blast antifreeze removing unit,
An air blast device that adiabatically expands and discharges high pressure air supplied from a high pressure air supply source, and an antifreeze liquid recovery device that recovers antifreeze liquid blown off by the low temperature air from the object to be frozen and returns it to the liquid freezing unit. Equipped with
Both the liquid type freezing unit and the air blast antifreezing liquid treatment unit are provided with an opening for inserting and removing the frozen object on the upper surface of each of them.
A composite type having a basket for accommodating the object to be frozen, further comprising a transportation device for suspending and moving the basket between the liquid type freezing unit and the air blast antifreeze treatment unit. Freeze-drying equipment.

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