Multi-Tower Curd Drainage Layout for Consistent Whey Balance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cheese production equipment, such as vertical towers, face challenges in achieving consistent curd quality, require longer production times, and occupy excessive space, necessitating improvements for enhanced efficiency and compactness.
Innovation Solution
A curd draining and forming apparatus comprising multiple vertically arranged towers connected by a common drainage section and whey circulation unit, with controlled pressure and distribution mechanisms to balance whey-to-curd ratios and facilitate efficient whey drainage, utilizing a base unit for curd molding and a cleaning-in-place system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple towers drain curd and whey mixture in isolation, then each tower operates independently, but curd quality consistency deteriorates due to deviations in whey-to-curd ratios
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple independent drainage towers into a single integrated drainage system with a common drainage channel. The drainage section forms a continuous space that extends horizontally over all towers, allowing whey to drain from multiple towers simultaneously into the same channel. This merging enables whey-to-curd ratio deviations in different towers to balance each other out, achieving consistent curd quality while maintaining a unified rather than multiple separate drainage systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The common drainage section serves multiple functions: it collects whey from all towers, allows whey circulation back over the drainage section, and provides a unified drainage pathway for the entire curd and whey mixture processing system. This multi-functional design improves curd quality consistency without requiring proportionally more complex separate drainage systems for each tower.
2Productivity
If traditional vertical towers are used for draining and forming, then equipment occupies sufficient space, but production time increases and space efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple towers into a single integrated structure with a common drainage section that extends horizontally over all towers. This consolidation allows multiple processing functions to occur simultaneously within a compact footprint, reducing the overall space required while maintaining or improving production throughput through parallel processing of curd and whey mixture across multiple towers.
Solution Approach 2:
The drainage section forms a continuous horizontal space that extends over multiple vertically arranged towers, utilizing the horizontal dimension to consolidate what would otherwise require separate vertical structures. This dimensional reorganization reduces the equipment footprint while maintaining the capacity to process multiple streams of curd and whey mixture simultaneously, improving space efficiency without sacrificing productivity.
3Reliability
If whey circulation is not implemented, then drainage section remains simple, but small curd particles cannot be effectively flushed away
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a whey circulation system where whey is circulated continuously over the drainage section. This continuous circulation creates a flushing action that effectively removes small curd particles from the drainage section, ensuring complete curd drainage. The circulation maintains constant motion of whey over the drainage area, preventing particle accumulation and maintaining reliable drainage performance.
Solution Approach 2:
The circulated whey acts as an intermediary medium that performs the function of flushing away small curd particles. Rather than requiring a separate mechanical cleaning system, the whey itself is used as the flushing agent through continuous circulation, achieving effective particle removal while avoiding additional complex mechanical components in the drainage section.
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 apparatus achieves consistent curd quality, reduces production time, and minimizes equipment size by uniformly distributing and draining whey, allowing for more efficient cheese production with reduced space requirements.
Implementation Method 1
a whey circulation unit connected to the drainage section and arranged to circulate whey over the drainage section, to increase the flow of whey and thereby release drained curd in the drainage section
Implementation Method 2
each of the multiple towers having openings into the space formed by the drainage section for allowing whey to pass from the multiple towers and into the drainage section
Data Source
Figure 1a
Figure 1b
Figure 2
AI summary
An apparatus (100) for draining and forming curd is presented. The apparatus comprises multiple, vertically arranged towers (108a-c), a common curd distribution arrangement (132) for distributing a curd and whey mixture (104) into the multiple towers (108a-c) and a drainage section (112a) for draining whey (102) from the curd and whey mixture (104). The drainage section (112a) forms a continuous space (113a) that extends horizontally over each of the multiple towers (108a-c), each of the multiple towers (108a-c) having openings (128) into the space (113a-c) formed by the drainage section (112a-c) for allowing whey (102) to pass from the multiple towers (108a-c) and into the drainage section (112a-c). A base unit (114) beneath the multiple towers (108a-c) receives drained curd (116) from the multiple towers (108a-c) and place the drained curd (114) in moulds (118).