Heat-Treated Liquid Food Cooling With Tapered Condenser Openings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for cooling heat-treated liquid food in the dairy industry face issues with condenser fouling due to the accumulation of proteins and solid materials, leading to inefficient operation and significant downtime for cleaning.
Innovation Solution
A system with a condenser and flash vessel, featuring a distribution plate with tapered and/or expanding distribution openings to optimize steam flow, reducing fouling and minimizing downtime.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional distribution openings are used in the condenser, then steam can be distributed across the condenser surface, but proteins and solid materials accumulate on the distribution plate causing fouling and requiring periodic cleaning
Solution Approach 1:
The distribution openings are designed with variable cross-sectional area along their length, creating a tapered geometry that changes the flow parameters of steam passing through. This parameter change optimizes flow velocity and pressure distribution, reducing the tendency for proteins and solid materials to accumulate on the distribution plate while maintaining effective steam distribution across the condenser surface
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the distribution openings have different cross-sectional areas, creating local variations in flow characteristics. The tapered design provides specific flow conditions at different locations within each opening, optimizing steam distribution while minimizing fouling in critical areas without compromising overall system performance
2Reliability
If the condenser is cleaned periodically to remove accumulated proteins and solid materials, then fouling is reduced, but production downtime increases
Solution Approach 1:
By modifying the geometric parameters of the distribution openings (tapered cross-section), the system achieves reduced fouling accumulation rates, extending the time between cleaning cycles and maintaining condenser efficiency without requiring frequent production stoppages
3Object-generated harmful factors
If the distribution plate is cleaned frequently, then fouling is minimized, but system productivity decreases due to repeated shutdowns
Solution Approach 1:
The optimized distribution opening geometry with variable cross-sectional area creates flow conditions that minimize protein and solid material accumulation, thereby reducing the frequency of cleaning operations and maintaining higher system productivity while still controlling fouling levels
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 optimized distribution plate design significantly reduces fouling, ensuring efficient steam distribution and condensation, thereby minimizing cleaning requirements and maintaining system productivity.
Implementation Method 1
The flash vessel is configured to receive, and flash evaporate the heat-treated liquid food to form a gaseous flow of steam and a liquid stream of the liquid food product
Implementation Method 2
The condenser is configured to receive the gaseous flow of steam from the flash vessel, and to condensate a major portion of the gaseous flow of steam to form a condensate
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4d
AI summary
A system (100) for cooling heat-treated liquid food (S1), comprising: a flash vessel (104) configured to receive, and flash evaporate the heat-treated liquid food (S1) to form a gaseous flow of steam (G1) and a liquid stream (L1) of the liquid food product, and a condenser (106) arranged downstream the flash vessel (104) to receive and to condensate a major portion of the gaseous flow of steam to form a condensate (C1). An inlet (107a) of the condenser is provided with a distribution plate (200). The distribution plate comprises distribution openings (210) extending between an inlet surface (202) and an outlet surface (204) of the distribution plate. A majority of the distribution openings (210) has a respective inlet section (212, 212a) which tapers as seen from the inlet surface towards the outlet surface. A method (300) of cooling heat-treated liquid food (S1) is also provided.