JPH0575442B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a pressurized freeze concentration method for producing various beverage liquids, medicinal liquids, or other concentrated liquids.

[Prior Art] The so-called pressurized freeze concentration method, in which a concentrated solution is produced by once freezing a solution and applying pressure to the frozen solid ice crystals, separates the solute-rich portion from the ice crystals. The freezing point (freezing point) of ice crystals depends on the concentration of the solution, but it also changes depending on the pressure applied to the solution.In other words, the higher the applied pressure, the lower the freezing point, and the more solute-rich parts of the ice crystals are This technology was developed with a focus on melting from areas of high concentration due to pressure.

However, the state of formation of ice crystals differs depending on the type and concentration of the raw material liquid, and generally, a raw material liquid with a high concentration has a low freezing point and requires a large pressing force.

Therefore, it is necessary to control the cooling temperature and the pressurizing force depending on the concentration of the raw material liquid, but this control is not easy.

[Objective of the present invention] The present invention provides a pressurized freeze-concentration method that does not require much control of cooling temperature or pressurizing force and can easily separate solutes from ice crystals that have frozen a solution. I made it.

[Means of the present invention] The pressurized freeze-concentration method according to the present invention involves freezing a mother liquor as a raw material liquid by cooling to form ice crystals, and lowering the freezing point of the solute in the ice crystals by pressurizing the ice crystals. The pressurized freeze concentration method, which at least separates solutes from ice crystals, is characterized by the use of a mother liquor mixed with numerous fibrous materials.

[Example] An example of the present invention will be described with reference to a specific example shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall view of the apparatus used in the method of the present invention, in which a vertical cylinder 2, which is a cooling part, has a mother liquor container 1 at its upper part, and a pressurizing cylinder 3, which is a pressurizing part, and has a tapered inner surface at the bottom. The cylinder 2 and the pressurizing cylinder 3 are connected with a heat insulating material 6 interposed between the flanges 4 and 5 of both.

Further, a tank 7 having a drain valve V at the bottom is provided at the bottom of the pressurizing cylinder 3, and a tensile wire 8 such as a chain, which is endlessly fed, is passed from a hole at the bottom of the mother liquor container 1 to the cylinder 2, It passes through the pressurized cylinder 3 and enters the collection tank 7, and is reversed and raised by the wheel 9 inside.
It is driven by a drive wheel 10 and sent from a supply wheel 13 via intermediate guide wheels 11 and 12 to the mother liquor container 1 and cylinder 2 as described above.

The cylinder 2 is provided with jackets 14 and 15, which are two upper and lower cooling parts, as shown in FIG. 2, and 16a and 17a are inlets for each cooling medium;
16b and 17b indicate the same exits.

A jacket 18 is also provided on the pressurizing cylinder 3, which is a pressurizing body, through which a fluid for appropriately melting the surface of ice crystals, which will be described later, is allowed to flow. Each inlet and outlet for fluids is shown.

A concave pocket 21 for storing liquid is provided on the upper surface of the pressurizing cylinder 3, that is, around the entrance of the tapered hole, and an outflow hole 2 formed in a part of this pocket is provided.
2 is connected to a liquid recovery container (not shown) via a drain pipe 20.

Although a concentrated liquid can be produced using the above-mentioned apparatus, the present invention uses a raw material liquid mixed with the fibrous material 23.

[Function] In the above device, the solution in the cylinder 2 from the mother liquor container 1 is frozen by the cooling medium flowing through the jacket of the cylinder, becoming ice crystals 24, and forming the tensile wire 8.
join to.

The tensile wire 8 is driven to descend within the cylinder 2, thereby causing the ice crystals to also descend.

The ice crystals that have passed through the cylinder together with the tensile wire enter the next pressurizing tube 3, where they are squeezed and pressurized by the inner surface of the tapered hole of the pressurizing tube.

This pressurization lowers the freezing point of the ice crystal, the solute-rich parts of the ice crystal melt from the high concentration part, and the melted concentrated liquid flows from the part with high pressure applied to the ice crystal to the part with low pressure, i.e. The concentrated liquid moves from the lower side of the tapered hole to the upper inlet side and accumulates in the inlet pocket 21, and the concentrated liquid in the pocket 21 is collected from the drain pipe 20 into the collection container.

The raw material liquid is not just a raw material liquid, but also a fibrous material23
Since the ice crystals are pressurized in the pressure cylinder, the highly concentrated solutes separated from the ice crystals move through the fibrous material,
The ability to recover concentrated liquid is improved.

Note that by flowing a fluid with a temperature slightly higher than the freezing point of the mother liquor into the jacket 18 of the pressurizing cylinder 3,
This promotes the separation phenomenon involving melting and recrystallization between minute dense parts and dilute parts of ice crystals inside the pressurizing cylinder, and controls the smooth movement of the ice crystals inside the pressurizing cylinder.

[Effects] According to the present invention, the raw material liquid is not just a raw material liquid, but is mixed with a large number of fibrous materials. It functions as a conductor, which promotes the flow of concentrated liquid and improves the recovery and processing capacity of concentrated liquid.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an example of an apparatus used in the method of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged longitudinal sectional view. In the figure, 1... Mother liquid container, 2... Cooling cylinder, 3... Pressurizing cylinder, 4, 5... Flange, 6...
Insulating material, 7... Tank, 8... Tensile wire, 9 to 13...
... Wheel, 14, 15 ... Jacket serving as a cooling part, 18 ... Jacket of pressurizing cylinder, 20 ... Drain pipe, 21 ... Pocket, 22 ... Outflow hole,
23...Fibrous material, 24...Ice crystal.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 In a pressurized freeze concentration method in which the mother liquor, which is a raw material liquid, is frozen by cooling to form ice crystals, and the ice crystals are pressurized to lower the freezing point of the solutes in the ice crystals, thereby separating the solutes from the ice crystals. , a pressurized freeze concentration method characterized by using a mother liquor mixed with numerous fibrous materials.