Food Cooling Conduit Using Pressurized Fluid to Limit Medium Crossover
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing food processing systems face challenges in quickly and efficiently cooling cooked food products while minimizing the crossover of hot heat transfer mediums into cool mediums and reducing waste of heat transfer mediums during transfer between processing systems.
Innovation Solution
A cooler system with multiple compartments and conduits, utilizing pressurized fluid sources to propel cooling fluids through conduits with specific geometries and discharge configurations, effectively cooling food products as they are transferred between compartments and ultimately out of the system, while separating fluids for reuse.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If food product is quickly transferred from hot to cool heat transfer medium, then cooling efficiency is improved, but heat transfer medium crossover and waste increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the cooling process into multiple segments: a first cooling zone with first cool heat transfer medium, and a second cooling zone with second cool heat transfer medium. The food product is sequentially exposed to each zone through separate conduits, allowing efficient cooling while preventing medium crossover through physical separation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary transfer mechanism (conduit system with fluid discharges) that mediates the transfer of food product between hot and cool zones. This intermediary system allows rapid transfer while maintaining separation between heat transfer media, preventing direct contact and crossover.
2Speed
If pressurized fluid is used to propel food product through conduits, then transfer speed is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses periodic or intermittent pressurized fluid discharge rather than continuous pressurization. Fluid discharges are activated at specific zones to propel food product through conduits only when needed, reducing overall energy consumption while maintaining high transfer speed during critical transition phases.
Solution Approach 2:
The cool heat transfer medium serves dual functions: it cools the food product and simultaneously acts as the propelling fluid through pressurized discharge. This self-service approach eliminates the need for separate propulsion systems, reducing energy consumption while maintaining transfer speed.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system achieves rapid and efficient cooling of food products, minimizing heat transfer medium waste and crossover, and ensures effective temperature reduction from initial product temperatures to desired final temperatures, enhancing food preservation and processing efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a pressurized fluid source in communication with and for supplying fluid through the fluid discharge, the fluid being at a first fluid temperature less than the first product temperature, the pressurised fluid source being operable to propel the fluid through the fluid discharge to move the food product from the first end portion of the conduit toward the second end portion
Implementation Method 2
cooling mechanism for use with a food processing system... a cooler including a compartment, a conduit including a first end portion configured to be in communication with the compartment and a second end portion, food product at a first product temperature entering the first end portion... the fluid being at a first fluid temperature less than the first product temperature... to cool the food product to a temperature below the first product temperature
Data Source
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AI summary
A cooler including a compartment, a conduit including a first end portion configured to be in communication with the compartment and a second end portion, food product at a first product temperature entering the first end portion, a fluid discharge positioned substantially within the conduit between the first end portion and the second end portion, and a pressurized fluid source in communication with and for supplying fluid through the fluid discharge, the fluid being at a first fluid temperature less than the first product temperature, the pressurized fluid source being operable to propel the fluid through the fluid discharge to move the food product from the first end portion of the conduit toward the second end portion and to cool the food product to a temperature below the first product temperature.