Rotating Strainer Cylindrical Screen Whey Separation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing submerged rotating strainer devices for cheese-making processes face issues such as shear stress damage to fragile curd particles, limited capacity, and inconsistent flow characteristics, leading to reduced yield and clogging problems during whey separation.
Innovation Solution
A submerged rotating strainer device with a cylindrical screen surface mounted in a cheese vat, featuring openings configured to allow liquid passage while preventing particles, and rotated at sufficient speed to generate centrifugal force or turbulence, preventing clogging and minimizing particle loss, with a self-cleaning mechanism to maintain efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a rotating strainer disc is used to drain whey while stirring curd and whey, then clogging is prevented and flow capacity is maintained, but shear stress damages fragile curd particles and reduces yield
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the flat strainer disc with a cylindrical strainer surface that protrudes from the vat wall. This curved geometry allows the strainer to rotate without creating the same shear stress patterns as a flat disc, thereby preventing curd particle damage while maintaining flow capacity through the openings in the cylindrical surface.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a two-dimensional flat disc to a three-dimensional cylindrical surface protruding from the wall. This dimensional change increases the effective straining area and allows liquid to pass through the cylindrical surface from multiple directions, maintaining high flow capacity while reducing harmful shear stress on curd particles.
2Productivity
If the strainer disc size is increased to improve capacity, then more liquid can be processed, but the device becomes more complex and harder to operate
Solution Approach 1:
By utilizing the third dimension with a cylindrical surface protruding from the wall, the patent achieves increased straining capacity without proportionally increasing device complexity. The cylindrical geometry provides additional surface area for straining while maintaining a compact form factor that is easier to operate than a larger flat disc.
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 device ensures gentler treatment of curd, increased production yield, improved flow capacity, and consistent flow characteristics, maintaining high strainer flow capacity during rotation and minimizing clogging, with a significant reduction in particle concentration in the extracted liquid.
Implementation Method 1
a motor configured to rotate the strainer surface at a speed sufficient to generate a centrifugal force or turbulence at the openings sufficient to prevent the particles from clogging the openings
Implementation Method 2
a motor configured to rotate the strainer surface at a speed sufficient to generate a centrifugal force or turbulence at the openings sufficient to prevent the particles from clogging the openings
Implementation Method 3
the openings configured to allow an extracted liquid included in the bulk liquid to pass through the strainer surface while preventing particles from passing through the strainer surface
Data Source
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AI summary
Processing of a bulk liquid including particles, including use of a rotating strainer surface with openings disposed on a circumference thereof, the openings allowing an extracted liquid in the bulk liquid to pass through the strainer surface while preventing particles from passing through the strainer surface, such that a concentration of particles in the extracted liquid is less than in the bulk liquid; an extracted liquid outflow port which outputs the extracted liquid from an interior region of the rotating strainer surface; and a motor configured to rotate the strainer surface at a speed sufficient to generate a centrifugal force or turbulence at the openings sufficient to prevent the particles from clogging the openings, wherein the strainer surface is rotated and the extracted liquid is output through the extracted liquid outflow port when the strainer surface is fully submerged in the bulk liquid.