Planetary Mixer Chocolate Tempering Apparatus
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing chocolate tempering apparatuses suffer from inadequate mixing and shear value distribution, leading to uneven heat transfer, slow crystallization, and heterogeneous mass quality, particularly at the central areas, which results in substandard chocolate production.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus features a central drive shaft with a sun gear wheel and planet gear wheels that rotate in a circular path, ensuring consistent mixing and shear values across the chamber surfaces, utilizing star-shaped mixing elements and axially extending rods to create balanced shear areas for effective mixing and crystallization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If propellers or discs with plate-shaped blades are used for mixing, then the mixing capability at peripheral areas is improved, but the mixing and shear capabilities at central areas deteriorate due to low radial velocity near the hub
Solution Approach 1:
The mixing system is segmented into multiple planet mixers distributed around the chamber, each independently creating mixing zones. This segmentation ensures that all areas of the chamber, including the central region, receive adequate mixing action, eliminating the heterogeneity caused by single central propeller or disc configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
The planet mixers are designed to rotate on their own axes while simultaneously orbiting around the central axis, creating dynamic mixing patterns. This dual motion ensures consistent shear values and homogeneous mixing throughout the entire chamber volume, addressing the stagnation problem in central areas.
2Manufacturing precision
If high shear values are applied to improve crystallization, then the crystallization speed is improved, but the mass heterogeneity increases due to insufficient mixing in low-shear central areas
Solution Approach 1:
Each planet mixer creates localized high-shear zones in its immediate vicinity, ensuring proper crystallization in those areas. Meanwhile, the distributed arrangement of multiple planet mixers ensures that high-shear conditions are applied uniformly throughout the entire chamber, preventing mass heterogeneity.
3Manufacturing precision
If the apparatus size is increased to improve mixing coverage, then the mixing effectiveness is improved, but the apparatus weight and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The planet mixers combine multiple functions into a single mechanism: they create shear for crystallization, provide mixing action through their rotation, and distribute mixing coverage through their orbital motion. This merging of functions achieves comprehensive mixing effectiveness without requiring a larger apparatus.
Solution Approach 2:
The planet mixer design serves multiple purposes simultaneously: it acts as a mixing element, a shear-generating device, and a heat transfer enhancement mechanism. This multi-functionality allows the apparatus to maintain compact size while achieving superior mixing effectiveness.
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
This design achieves homogeneous chocolate tempering, significantly increasing production capacity by 3-4 times, reducing apparatus size and weight, and ensuring consistent crystallization quality, with improved handling and reduced auxiliary equipment size.
Implementation Method 1
The shear-value is calculated as the velocity of the mixing blade divided by the size of the gap at that particular point. The shear-values for a blade or sheave is in the range between 250 s-1 and 7000 s-1.
Implementation Method 2
The crystallization in the mass and the mixing up of the created crystals in the mass volume is simply too slow at the centre and not being throughout the mass, as desired.
Implementation Method 3
The heat transfer between the water chamber and the chocolate mass is not effective enough in such areas. The temperature through the mass volume is not even.
Implementation Method 4
a sun gear wheel (14), an internal ring gear (16) and at least one intermediary planet gear wheel (18), which meshes with the sun gear wheel (14) and with the internal ring gear (16)
Data Source
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AI summary
Apparatus for continuous tempering of chocolate mass comprising a column of elements (3) each having a mass chambers (4) and an intermediary water chamber (5). A central drive shaft (6) is in engagement with mixing elements (7, 23, 24) arranged in the mass chamber (4). A sun gear wheel (14) is arranged in the mass chamber with its hub (15) engaged on the shaft (6). An internal ring gear (16) is arranged extending along the inside (17) of the peripheral wall (11) of the mass chamber (4). The mixing elements (7, 23, 24) comprise intermediary planet wheels (18), which mesh with the sun gear wheel (14) and with the internal ring gear (16). The planet wheels (18) carry mixing elements (7) in the form of lower and upper mixers (23, 24), which provide planetary movements through the mass chambers. The mixing, scraping and shear is effective and even in all parts of the mass chambers. The tempering apparatus is then made smaller than the prior art apparatus.