Foods and beverages: apparatus – Mechanical – fluid or heat treatment of dairy food – With temperature or atmosphere modification
Patent
1997-05-19
1998-03-17
Simone, Timothy F.
Foods and beverages: apparatus
Mechanical, fluid or heat treatment of dairy food
With temperature or atmosphere modification
99452, 99472, 99516, 99483, A23C 112, A23L 334
Patent
active
057274525
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention relates to a plant for continuously sterilising fluids, such as milk and cream, said plant comprising a sterilising device, in which the fluid is sterilised while steam is fed thereto, and a vacuum chamber for removing the water from the fluid and from which the fluid is extracted by means of a pump.
BACKGROUND ART
Inter alia AU-PS No. 610,233 discloses a plant for sterilising milk. Such a plant is known as a direct UHT-plant (Direct ultra high Temperature Plant). In these plants steam is sprayed into the milk fed to the sterilising device in such a manner that the milk is heated to a temperature of approximately 140.degree. C. Subsequently, the milk is fed to a so-called holding chamber in which the milk is kept for a predetermined period (approximately 2 to 15 sec) in the heated state. Then the milk is carried to a vacuum chamber through an overflow. In this vacuum chamber the water deriving from the steam is removed again in such a manner that the solid content of the milk is the same when the milk leaves said vacuum chamber as before the feeding of steam. After the processing in the vacuum chamber, the milk is usually carried to a homogenizer and then subjected to a cooling and packing.
Plants are also known in which the sterilising is performed by way of a direct spraying of steam into the milk by means of a steam injector.
Such plants are relatively expensive to manufacture inter alia because the components must be aseptic after the heat treatment in the sterilising device. Precautionary measures must be taken everywhere in order to meet this requirement. It is inter alia a question of expensive gaskets with steam locks both in the vacuum chamber and in the remaining components following the sterilising device, such as the pump and the homogenizer.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to provide a plant which is less expensive to manufacture than hitherto known.
The plant according to the invention is characterised in that the vacuum chamber is accommodated before the sterilising device when seen in the flow direction of the fluid, said vacuum chamber being connected to said sterilising device through a first heat exchanger for heating the fluid before said fluid enters the sterilising device.
In this manner a significant reduction of the number of components following the sterilising is obtained. In the vacuum chamber the water is removed from the fluid in question in such a manner that said fluid is further concentrated, and in the sterilising device this amount of water is readded through the steam. Like in the known plant, the temperatures and the removal and adding of water is controlled in such a manner that the concentration of solid matter in the fluid in question is the same at the outlet of the plant as at the inlet of said plant. As the vacuum chamber and the associated components are arranged before the sterilising device, no requirements concerning aseptic measures are presented to this section of the plant with the result that the entire plant is less expensive to manufacture than hitherto known.
According to the invention a homogenizer may be coupled between the pump at the outlet of the vacuum chamber and the first heat exchanger with the result that the plant is particularly suited for treating milk. The arranging of the homogenizer before the sterilising device implies furthermore that the requirement to said homogenizer being aseptic no longer applies. Therefore, the homogenizer can also be manufactured relatively inexpensive.
According to the invention the first heat exchanger may advantageously be adapted to heat the fluid to a temperature from approximately 115.degree. C. to approximately 120.degree. C. before said fluid is carried to the sterilising device with the result that said sterilising device operates optimally. Correspondingly, in order to ensure that a corresponding concentration of the fluid is carried out in the vacuum chamber, a second heat exchanger may according to the invention advantageously be a
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APV Pasilac A/S
Simone Timothy F.
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