Frozen Beverage Dispenser Torque Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional frozen beverage machines struggle to produce diet or low-calorie frozen beverages with a Brix value of less than 10, as they tend to freeze into blocks of ice due to the lack of freezing point depressants, making it difficult to achieve the consistency of full-calorie frozen beverages.
Innovation Solution
A frozen product dispenser with a control unit that monitors temperature and torque to regulate the refrigeration system, using a hot gas bypass and an intermediary heat transfer fluid to control the freezing rate, ensuring the product remains in a slush-like state by managing the torque applied by the scrapper blade and maintaining optimal temperature conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If conventional frozen beverage machines use standard freezing processes, then full-calorie beverages with high Brix values freeze into dispensable slush, but diet beverages with low Brix values freeze into blocks of ice
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically changes the freezing parameters by controlling the refrigeration system's operation based on torque measurements. The control unit adjusts the refrigeration cycle parameters (such as compressor runtime, expansion valve positioning) to modulate the freezing rate, allowing low Brix diet beverages to freeze into dispensable slush rather than hard blocks of ice.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs feedback control by continuously monitoring the torque applied to the scrapper blade and using this information to adjust the refrigeration system's operation. The control unit receives torque signals and modifies cooling parameters in real-time, creating a closed-loop control system that maintains optimal freezing conditions for diet beverages.
2Productivity
If the refrigeration system operates at high cooling rates, then freezing efficiency is improved, but diet beverages freeze too quickly into undispersable ice blocks
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from static to dynamic control of the freezing process. The control unit continuously adjusts the refrigeration system's cooling capacity based on real-time torque measurements, creating a dynamic freezing rate that adapts to the beverage's freezing progress. This prevents the beverage from freezing too quickly into hard blocks while maintaining efficient production.
Solution Approach 2:
The refrigeration system operates in periodic cycles rather than continuous operation. The control unit modulates the compressor and other refrigeration components on and off based on torque feedback, creating periodic cooling action that allows controlled freezing without excessive ice crystal formation, maintaining slush-like consistency.
3Temperature
If freezing point suppressants are added to diet beverages, then the freezing point is depressed, but the beverages contain unwanted calories or additives
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces chemical freezing point suppressants with a mechanical control approach. Instead of adding erythritol, sodium chloride, or other freezing point depression agents to the diet beverage, the system uses mechanical torque measurement and controlled refrigeration to manage the freezing process, avoiding any additional caloric or chemical additives.
Solution Approach 2:
The torque measurement serves as an intermediary parameter that indirectly controls the freezing point behavior. Rather than directly adding chemical suppressants to lower the freezing point, the system uses torque feedback from the scrapper blade as a mediator to infer freezing progress and adjust cooling parameters accordingly, achieving the desired freezing behavior without chemical additives.
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 effectively limits the rate of freezing, preventing the formation of large ice blocks in low Brix beverages, allowing for the dispensing of diet or low-calorie frozen beverages with the desired consistency, similar to full-calorie products.
Implementation Method 1
a refrigeration system coupled to the product barrel and configured to cool the product solution within the product barrel
Implementation Method 2
A heat transfer chamber is coupled to the heat transfer surface and comprises a heat transfer medium
Data Source
AI summary
A frozen product dispenser provides a controller to control the rate of freezing and the temperature range of a frozen product. The controller monitors the temperature of the product as well as the torque applied to a scrapper blade. For example, the torque may be measured based on monitoring a current draw of a scrapper motor. The torque may be tracked over time to determine a rate of change in the torque. The rate of freezing may be controlled by setting a maximum rate of increase in the torque. Upon determining that the rate of increase in the monitored torque exceeds the maximum rate, a compressor for the frozen product dispenser may be turned off for a predetermined period of time and/or a hot gas bypass may be opened. A heat transfer medium may decouple thermal contact between an evaporator and the product to control the rate of freezing.