Spiral Pump for Gentle Fish Transport and Parasite Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
The salmon farming industry faces challenges in managing sea lice, and the food industry struggles with eliminating bacteria like Listeria and Salmonella, while existing methods often require harsh conditions that compromise the quality and freshness of products.
Innovation Solution
A spiral pump system with an ejector mechanism and alternating tubing diameter is used to treat and transport living or slaughtered animals or food items, employing temperature and salt differences to detach sea lice and bacteria, while minimizing water usage and maintaining product quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional vacuum devices are used for in-feeding, then feeding speed is improved, but gentleness of treatment deteriorates causing harm to live fish
Solution Approach 1:
The loading structure is divided into multiple chambers (first chamber, second chamber, third chamber) that work in sequence. The ejector device is positioned in the second chamber to create localized suction zones, allowing gentle feeding without harming fish while maintaining productivity through the multi-chamber sequential processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The ejector device acts as an intermediary mechanism between the vacuum source and the fish. It creates controlled suction zones that guide fish gently into the pump without the harsh effects of direct vacuum application, mediating the interaction between the feeding system and live fish.
2Productivity
If large diameter tubing is used to treat large amounts of food items, then treatment volume is improved, but device size and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of increasing tubing diameter to handle larger volumes, the patent uses a multi-chamber vertical arrangement (first, second, third chambers) that processes items through sequential stages. This dimensional approach to capacity expansion avoids the need for large-diameter tubing while maintaining high treatment volume capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The spiral pump tubing is arranged to pass through the center spaces of windings in a compact configuration. The multi-chamber loading structure nests multiple processing zones within a confined vertical space, achieving large treatment volume without proportionally increasing overall device size.
3Reliability
If freezing is used to eliminate Listeria bacteria, then bacterial elimination is improved, but product freshness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the treatment parameter from extreme cold (freezing) to moderate thermal treatment (heating to 60°C for 15 seconds). This parameter change effectively eliminates Listeria bacteria while preserving product freshness, as the moderate heat treatment is sufficient for bacterial elimination without the quality degradation caused by freezing.
Solution Approach 2:
The heating treatment is applied rapidly for only 15 seconds during the spiral pump transit. This brief, intensive thermal treatment skips the prolonged exposure time that would be needed for lower temperature treatments, effectively eliminating bacteria while minimizing impact on product quality and freshness.
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 reduces or eliminates sea lice and bacteria, ensures gentle handling, and maintains product quality by using temperature and salt differences, and recirculating liquids for efficient treatment without harming the fish or reducing the quality of slaughtered animals.
Implementation Method 1
an ejector device arranged prior to the in-feed end of the spiral pump tubing to provide suction of liquid and food items into the first winding of the spiral pump tubing
Implementation Method 2
Spiral pumps have been used to transport items delicately through a closed environment in a low-pressure system according to the principle of Archimedes
Implementation Method 3
employing temperature and salt differences to detach sea lice
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a method and a device for treating and/or transporting food items. The apparatus and method are designed to facilitate treating animals or food items in liquid. The device of the present invention is designed as a spiral pump with a tubing that is wound together with a rotating structure around a horizontal axis. The apparatus of the present invention and the use thereof provides a method to treat living or slaughtered animals or food items in a spiral pump.