Rotary Screw Blancher Wall and Auger Layout for Easier Cleaning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current rotary screw blanchers face challenges in cleaning due to the need to remove perforated skin panels from the drum frame, requiring high labor and machine downtime, while also causing food product damage and increased temperature gradients.
Innovation Solution
A rotary blancher design with a solid, imperforate inner wall and a perforated wall portion allows fluid flow between auger sections while preventing food product migration, using a manifold to inject fluid and maintain fluid balance, and features a tight clearance gap between the auger and tank to reduce damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a rotary screw blancher uses a drum with perforated skin panels, then cleaning access is improved, but device complexity and labor requirements increase due to the need to remove or reposition panels
Solution Approach 1:
The drum is designed with a perforated skin panel that allows cleaning fluid to pass through it, transforming the panel from a barrier requiring removal into a porous medium that facilitates cleaning. The perforations enable spray access to internal cavities and joints without disassembling the drum structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The cleaning system is designed to be self-sufficient by incorporating spray nozzles that automatically deliver cleaning fluid through the perforated panels and internal passages, eliminating the need for manual disassembly and reassembly of drum components for cleaning purposes.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a rotary screw blancher uses a tight clearance gap between the auger and tank wall, then food product damage is reduced, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The clearance gap between the auger flights and tank wall is precisely controlled within a specific range (0.03-0.25 inches) to optimize the balance between preventing food damage and accommodating manufacturing tolerances. This parameter optimization reduces harmful friction and mechanical damage while remaining feasible for standard manufacturing processes.
3Productivity
If a rotary screw blancher increases processing depth for higher capacity, then productivity increases, but temperature gradients and friction increase causing food product damage
Solution Approach 1:
Perforated skin panels and internal passages act as intermediaries that distribute heat more uniformly throughout the food product mass. The passages allow heat transfer medium to circulate through the core of the food product, reducing temperature gradients between the outer and inner regions.
Solution Approach 2:
The blanching chamber is segmented into multiple zones with different heat transfer characteristics. The perforated panels create additional heat transfer surfaces and pathways, effectively dividing the heat transfer process into multiple stages that reduce thermal stress and temperature gradients on the food product.
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 enhances cleaning efficiency, reduces labor and downtime, minimizes food product damage, and maintains fluid balance, allowing for higher processing capacity with reduced temperature variations.
Implementation Method 1
a manifold supported in the compartment above the axis of the auger, the manifold being positioned closer to one opposite side of the inner wall, the manifold being configured to inject fluid downwardly into the compartment
Implementation Method 2
food product is often heated by cooking or blanching the food product in a food processing apparatus having a tank holding a heat transfer medium into which the food product is immersed
Data Source
AI summary
A food processing apparatus including a tank having an inlet end for receiving food product and an outlet end for discharging food product, the tank having an inner wall defining a compartment and including a solid, imperforate wall portion, fluid being contained in the compartment, and a rotatable auger mounted in the compartment, the auger for advancing food product within the compartment from the inlet end toward the outlet end, the auger including flights having a flight wall with a radial edge, a clearance space being defined between the radial edge of the flights and the solid, imperforate wall portion of the inner wall. Flow of fluid through the clearance space may be inhibited. One of the inner wall and the flight wall may include a perforated wall portion. Flow of fluid between the first auger section and the second auger section may be provided through the perforated wall portion.