Apparatus and method for chilling soft solid materials and liquids

Abstract: Apparatus and method for chilling soft solid or liquid materials in which liquid cryogen is more effectively dispersed to chill the materials and cryogenic vapour generated by the liquid cryogen is used to remove residual liquid cryogen from the apparatus and for other useful purposes including freezing the foodstuffs. The method comprises the following steps: a) providing a quantity of soft or liquid material in a blender having a bottom such that the material forms a surface; b) providing a source of cryogen comprising liquid and vapour and separating said vapour from said liquid; c) injecting the separated liquid cryogen into the bottom of the blender at a level below the surface of any material therein; and d) mixing the soft solid or liquid material with the separated liquid cryogen.

Description: The present invention is directed to apparatus and method for reducing the temperature of soft solid and liquid materials while in a blender using high quality liquid cryogen in which at least a portion of the cryogenic vapour obtained from the liquid cryogen is removed and used to freeze materials at another location and/or used to remove residual liquid cryogen contained within the system. The present invention generally concerns the chilling of liquid and soft solid materials, such as foodstuffs, sludge, solutions and suspensions using a liquid cryogen such as liquid nitrogen as the cooling medium. In the processing of soft solid and liquid materials such as foodstuffs as, for example, meat, poultry, seafood, vegetable products, bakery products and the like, it is typically necessary to first chill the foodstuffs before commencing further processing (i.e. forming) operations. In order to chill foodstuffs it is common to employ blending devices in which the foodstuffs are mixed with the cooling medium to reduce the average temperature thereof to a desired level. Cryogenic carbon dioxide and nitrogen have been used as a cooling medium for reducing the temperature of foodstuffs. For example, Scott T. Madsen et al., US Patent No. 4,476,686 discloses the supply of liquid carbon dioxide to form carbon dioxide gas and snow in a blender at a location below the surface of the foodstuffs. This process is stated to provide improvements over systems that supply carbon dioxide to the top of the blender. In particular, injection of carbon dioxide into the top of the blender results in inefficient blending of the carbon dioxide gas with the foodstuffs and a loss of a portion of the solid carbon dioxide due to sublimation before mixing. It is also known in the art to inject liquid nitrogen into the top of a blender as described above for the injection of carbon dioxide. US Patent No. 4,094,164 discloses the chilling or freezing of a liquid by releasing liquid carbon dioxide beneath the surface of the liquid, the liquid carbon dioxide being pressurised to the extent that, on release into the liquid, it converts to a solid and a gas. US Patent No. 5,140,822 discloses the injection of liquid carbon dioxide into the bottom of a container holding a liquid, so that the liquid carbon dioxide vaporises and the vapour acts to agitate, carbonate and chill the liquid. Such methods adequately accomplish the task of chilling of the foodstuffs. However, there are disadvantages associated with such systems. For example, gaseous vapour present in the liquid cryogen feed and/or formed during the cooling process is typically vented to the atmosphere and its cooling capacity is thereby lost. In addition, the blenders typically employed for mixing the cryogen and the foodstuffs do not effectively disperse the liquid cryogen among the foodstuffs. Accordingly, prior art systems tend to result in the uneven chilling of the foodstuffs. Furthermore, prior art systems must be routinely shut down and cleaned to remove the buildup of food particles which adhere to the apparatus because of the presence of residual liquid cryogen. There is therefore a continuing need to improve the efficiency of systems for the cooling of soft solid and liquid materials, such as foodstuffs within a blending device and a further need to effectively employ the cold vapour resulting from the cooling process rather than merely venting the same to the atmosphere. The present invention is generally directed to a process of cooling soft solid and liquid materials, such as foodstuffs with a liquid cryogen and to employ cool vapour generated therefrom for freezing such materials and/or for cleaning the cooling apparatus to remove residual liquid cryogen remaining therein. As used herein the term "soft solid and liquid materials" which may be chilled in accordance with the present invention includes foodstuffs such as meat, poultry, seafood, vegetable products, bakery products and the like, and further includes solutions, suspensions, sludge and the like. The present invention is especially adapted to the chilling of foodstuffs which will be specifically referred to in the more detailed description of the invention which follows. In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of reducing the temperature of a soft solid or liquid material characterised by providing a quantity of soft solid or liquid material in a blender having a bottom such that the material forms a surface; providing a source of cryogen comprising liquid and vapour and separating said vapour from said liquid; transporting the separated liquid cryogen to the blender and injecting it in liquid form into the bottom of the blender at a level below the surface of any material therein; removing vaporised cryogen from the liquid cryogen prior to injection into the blender; and mixing the soft solid or liquid material with the cryogen in liquid form. In another aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus for reducing the temperature of a soft solid or liquid material characterised by a blender, having a bottom for receiving the material and in which the material forms a surface; a source of cryogen comprising liquid and vapour; separation means, for separating said liquid and vapour cryogen; means for transporting the separated liquid cryogen to means for injecting the cryogen in liquid form into the bottom of the blender at a level below the surface of any material therein; bypass means for removing cryogen vapour from the liquid cryogen prior to injection into the blender; and mixing means, for mixing the soft solid or liquid material with the cryogen in liquid form. In a still further aspect of the present invention, the cryogenic vapour obtained from tile top of a liquid cryogen storage vessel is passed through the apparatus to remove residual liquid cryogen so as to prevent clogging which arises when food particles adhere to the apparatus. The present invention also provides for a more effective means of dispersing the liquid cryogen within the blender to obtain more uniform cooling. This is accomplished by employing an injector or nozzle having at least one rectangular slot through which the liquid cryogen enters the blender. In a preferred aspect of the invention, a plurality of spaced-apart rectangular slots are used to inject the liquid cryogen into the blender. During the initial injection phase of the liquid cryogen, means are provided for removing the cryogenic vapour generated during the initial contact of the liquid cryogen with the warm piping system to decrease the cooling cycle and to provide a more consistent flow of the liquid cryogen through the injection nozzles. The present invention will now be more particularly described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic view of one embodiment of the invention in which cryogenic vapour is removed from the liquid cryogen feed and transported to a freezer and cryogenic vapour generated in a storage vessel containing liquid cryogen is used to clear the liquid cryogen supply lines; Figure 2 is a partial side view of a blender employing a slotted nozzle to supply liquid cryogen below the surface of the foodstuffs contained within the blender; and Figure 3 is a partial front view of the slotted nozzle employed in Figure 2. Referring to the drawings and particularly to Figure 1, there is disclosed an embodiment of the invention in which cryogenic vapour is removed from a liquid cryogen feed and circulated to be used as a medium for freezing materials such as foodstuffs 11. Specifically, the vapour obtained from a feed line is sent to a separate vessel to freeze soft solid or liquid materials such as foodstuffs 11 passing therethrough or used for some other useful purpose. Cryogenic vapour obtained by the vaporisation of liquid cryogen contained within a storage vessel 8 is passed through the system. The cryogenic vapour removes residual liquid cryogen contained therein to thereby prevent foodstuffs 11 and the like from adhering to the piping and thereby clogging the system. As shown in Figure 1, a cooling system 2 of the present invention includes a source of liquid cryogen contained within a liquid cryogen storage vessel 4. As used herein the term "liquid cryogen" shall mean any cryogenic substance used in its customary broad sense in liquid form and includes, for example, liquid nitrogen, argon, helium and the like. Liquid nitrogen is the preferred cryogenic substance because of its ready availability and relatively low cost. The cryogen contained in the storage vessel 4 is comprised of a major liquid portion 6 and a minor vapour portion 8. The liquid portion 6 serves as the principal cooling medium for the system 2. In particular, the liquid portion 6 is transported to a mixing blender 10 via a conduit 12, through a control valve 14 and a conduit 16. As a result of some loss of cooling duty in the conduit 12, some of the liquid cryogen will vaporise therein. The cryogenic vapour contained in the conduit 12 is passed through a conduit 26 into a vessel 28 which operates as a phase separator as described hereinafter. In accordance with the present invention and as described hereinafter the liquid cryogen from conduit 16 is passed into the mixing blender 10 through an injector or nozzle 20, preferably having at least one, most preferably a plurality of spaced-apart rectangular slots. Due to the greater cryogen to material contact area associated with such rectangular slots, this arrangement provides a more thorough and efficient mixing of the liquid cryogen and the foodstuffs 11 contained within the mixing blender 10 than customary round injection apertures. As shown in Figure 1 and as discussed in detail in connection with Figure 2, more than one nozzle 20 may be provided to the mixing blender 10, with each nozzle 20, preferably having a plurality of rectangular slots for injecting the liquid cryogen. The nozzles 16 are positioned towards the bottom 10a of the blender and act to inject cryogen into the foodstuffs 11 at a level below the surface 11a thereof. The blender 10 is provided with a conduit 60 and a bypass valve 62 for allowing cryogenic vapour generated in the conduit 16 to bypass the blender 10 and proceed to a freezer 36 or other such device to be used as a medium for freezing foodstuffs or other material. The cryogenic vapour which passes through the conduit 60 arises from the vaporisation of some of the liquid cryogen which passes through the conduit 16. In order to avoid having the cryogenic vapour pass into the blender 10, the vapour which precedes the liquid is passed into the conduit 60 and removed to the freezer 36 by opening valve 62. When the cryogenic vapour has been removed (thus leaving substantially only liquid cryogen), valve 62 is closed off and only liquid cryogen is injected into blender 10. When the cooling operation is completed, there may be some residual liquid cryogen remaining in the conduits 12, 16 and the valve 14, particularly in the vicinity of the nozzle 20. This residual liquid cryogen can cause food particles or other soft solid materials to stick to the piping and nozzles within the cooling system 2. As a result, the cooling system must be shut down and the associated piping cleaned. To address this problem in accordance with the present invention, the vapour portion 8 within the storage vessel 4 is maintained at a pressure sufficient to transport or push the residual liquid cryogen out of the conduits 12 and 16 so that it can readily be removed from the cooling system 2. In this regard, the flow of liquid cryogen through the conduit 16 is temporarily terminated by shutting the valve 14 so that liquid cryogen is prevented from passing to the nozzle 20. The vapour portion 8 of the cryogen contained in the vessel 4 is then passed through a conduit 22 via a control valve 24. The vapour passing through the conduit 22 is used to clean the associated piping and valves leading to the blender 10 including the nozzle 20. The phase separator 28 provides a source of cryogenic vapour 32 for the freezer 36 or other device. The cryogenic vapour 32 is provided by the vaporisation of liquid cryogen 30 contained within the separator 28 as well from the cryogenic vapour obtained from the vaporisation of the liquid cryogen passing from the vessel 4 through the conduits 12 and 26, respectively. Contained within the phase separator 28 is a device such as a float 64 for measuring the level of liquid cryogen therein. The float 64 is operatively connected via a line 66 to a control valve 68. As the amount of cryogenic vapour 32 rises in the phase separator 28, the float 64 drops and at a designated level sends a signal to open the control valve 68 allowing cryogenic vapour to flow through the conduit 34 into the freezer 36. As the amount of cryogenic vapour thereby decreases, cryogenic vapour flows through the conduits 12 and 26 thereby raising the amount of cryogenic vapour in the phase separator 28. Similarly, a signal is sent to close the valve 68 thereby terminating the flow of cryogenic vapour out of the phase separator 28 toward the freezer 36. Eventually, the amount of cryogenic vapour in the phase separator will increase owing to the vaporisation of the liquid cryogen within the phase separator 28 and the addition of cryogenic vapour passing through the conduit 26. The present invention therefore provides an efficient means of utilising the refrigeration capacity of the liquid cryogen to chill foodstuffs in a mixing blender. The present invention also employs the cooling vapour generated by the liquid cryogen feed during passage through the system for useful purposes including the freezing of foodstuffs. Still further, provision is made for the removal of residual liquid cryogen from the cooling apparatus to prevent clogging. In another aspect of the present invention, the cooling apparatus is provided with a more efficient means of dispersing the liquid cryogen within the mixing blender to insure more uniform cooling of the foodstuffs. This is accomplished by employing a nozzle or injector having at least one, preferably a plurality of rectangular spaced-apart slots to create separate narrow streams of the liquid cryogen into the mixing blender. Referring to Figures 2 and 3 there is shown a conventional mixing blender 10 having a pair of mixers 38a, 38b including a plurality of supports 40a, 40b rotatable about respective shafts 42a, 42b. As indicated by the arrows "A" and "B" the mixers 38a and 38b rotate in opposite directions. As specifically shown in Figure 2, the mixer 38a rotates clockwise and the mixer 38b rotates in a counter clockwise direction. The mixers 38a and 38b are contained with respective troughs 44a and 44b. Each of the troughs has at respective ends thereof deflectors 46a and 46b which channel cryogenic vapour from the mixers 38a and 38b in the direction of arrows "C" to an exhaust (not shown). A liquid cryogen such as liquid nitrogen enters the mixing blender 10 via a conduit 16 (see Figure 1) through respective nozzles 20a and 20b. It will be understood that the conduit 16 may be constructed to provide multiple flowpaths to accommodate any number of nozzles employed in the mixing blender as shown in Figure 2. As shown specifically in Figure 3, the nozzles 20a and 20b are provided with at least one rectangular slot 48 (two rectangular slots 48 are shown). The rectangular slots 48 enable the liquid cryogen to be more thoroughly dispersed through the foodstuffs than conventional round nozzles while being chilled within the mixing blender 10. The slots typically have a length of from about 2 to 10 cm and a width of from about 0.5 to 2.0 cm. EXAMPLE Beef patties at a temperature of 45°F (7.2°C) are to be chilled to a temperature of 29°F (-1.7°C). This requires the removal of 37 Btu/lb (82 kWh/kg) of beef. For each pound (0.454 kg) of liquid nitrogen injected into a blender of the type shown in Figure 2, 110 Btu's (110 kWh) of heat can be removed from the beef. A blender with a capacity of 1,000 lbs (454 kg) would therefore require the injection of about 336 lbs (152 kg) of liquid nitrogen. Since it is desirable to chill the beef in no more than two minutes, 168 lbs (76 kg) of liquid nitrogen would have to be injected per minute into the blender. A nozzle having rectangular slots of about 5 cm long and 1 cm wide of the type shown in Figure 3 is used to inject the liquid nitrogen. Each slot can deliver about 30 lbs/minute (13.6 kg/minute) of liquid nitrogen. Therefore the nozzle would require 6 slots to deliver a sufficient quantity of liquid nitrogen to chill 1,000 lbs (454 kg) of beef in less than about 2 minutes.

Claims: A method of reducing the temperature of a soft solid or liquid material characterised by : a) providing a quantity of soft solid or liquid material in a blender having a bottom such that the material forms a surface; b) providing a source of cryogen comprising liquid and vapour and separating said vapour from said liquid; c) transporting the separated liquid cryogen to the blender and injecting it in liquid form into the bottom of the blender at a level below the surface of any material therein; d) removing vaporised cryogen from the liquid cryogen prior to injection into the blender; and e) mixing the soft solid or liquid material with the cryogen in liquid form. A method as claimed in claim 1 characterised by injecting the cryogen through at least one rectangular slot into the blender. A method as claimed in claim 2 characterised by injecting the cryogen through a plurality of spaced-apart rectangular slots into the blender. A method as claimed in claim 1 characterised by : a) transporting a cryogen in a liquid form from a first vessel to the blender in a first conduit; b) removing cryogenic vapour in a first location of the first conduit and transporting the cryogenic vapour to a second vessel containing the cryogen in liquid form; and c) transporting cryogenic vapour from said second vessel to a freezer. A method as claimed in claim 4 characterised by combining the cryogenic vapour from the second vessel and the cryogenic vapour removed from the second location of the first conduit and transporting the combined cryogenic vapour to the freezer. A method as claimed in claim 3 characterised by terminating the flow of liquid cryogen through the first conduit and passing the cryogenic vapour from the first cryogen contained in the first conduit. A method as claimed in claim 4 comprising terminating the flow of cryogen in liquid form through the first conduit and passing the cryogenic vapour from the first vessel through the first conduit to remove any residual cryogen in liquid form contained in the first conduit. An apparatus for reducing the temperature of a soft solid or liquid material characterised by : a) a blender, having a bottom for receiving the material and in which the material forms a surface; b) a source of cryogen comprising liquid and vapour; c) separation means, for separating said liquid and vapour cryogen; d) means for transporting the separated liquid cryogen to means for injecting the cryogen in liquid form into the bottom of the blender at a level below the surface of any material therein; e) bypass means for removing cryogen vapour from the liquid cryogen prior to injection into the blender; and f) mixing means, for mixing the soft solid or liquid material with the cryogen in liquid form. An apparatus as claimed in claim 8 characterised in that the injection means comprises a nozzle having at least one rectangular slot. An apparatus as claimed in claim 8 or claim 9 characterised by a first vessel containing a supply of cryogen in liquid form, first liquid cryogen transporting means for transporting the cryogen in liquid form from the first vessel to the blender, first means for removing cryogenic vapour from the first liquid cryogen transporting means and for transporting the cryogenic vapour to a second vessel containing cryogen in liquid form and second means for removing cryogenic vapour from said first liquid cryogen transporting means. An apparatus as claimed in claim 10 characterised in that the second means for removing cryogenic vapour comprises means for combining the cryogenic vapour obtained from the second vessel and transporting said combined cryogenic vapour to the freezer.

Inventors: APPOLONIA JOHN J, APPOLONIA, JOHN J.
Applicants: BOC GROUP INC, THE BOC GROUP, INC.
Application year: 1995
Main classification: A23L3
IPC codes: A23L3, F25D29