Foods and beverages: apparatus – Subjecting food to an enclosed modified atmosphere – With separate support for fume-producing material
Patent
1993-02-18
1994-10-18
Simone, Timothy F.
Foods and beverages: apparatus
Subjecting food to an enclosed modified atmosphere
With separate support for fume-producing material
99467, 110102, 110118, 126 595, F23B 132, F23K 300
Patent
active
053557824
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a machine to generate smoke from wood or similar organic matter. The smoke produced is intended for supply to food smoking kilns. The smoke generator could also be used to generate smoke from a variety of combustible materials for other conceivable practical purposes or for research purposes.
This invention provides the capacity to produce smoke with control over the major parameters of smoke generation. The smoke would be produced from organic matter such as wood particles, and would be used for supply to food smoking kilns or for other purposes, either practical or scientific. With this machine, the effects that the parameters of smoke generation have on the properties of the smoke with respect to its use for food smoking could be studied in a scientific manner. Smoke generation parameters could be selected and controlled so that the smoke generator would supply smoke that has been produced under conditions optimizing the desirable components and qualities and minimizing the undesirable constituents in the smoke for food curing. The smoke generation parameters and smoke qualities could be held consistent for any desired period of operation. The smoke generator also has the capacity to selectively vary the different generation parameters independently.
Smoke can be generated in a concentrated form with little or no dilution by air or other added gases with this design of smoke generator, while in typical smoke generation practice, the combustion reactions that begin during smoke formation must be quenched by cooling the smoke gases by dilution with ambient air or some other cool gas, resulting in the production of diluted smoke.
The generator has the capacity to rapidly vary the rate of smoke production. Since the smoke generation parameters can be automatically monitored and controlled by computer, the generator could quickly control the smoke supply in response to the requirements of the downstream food smoking process. With this smoke generator, both the rate of smoke generation and the parameters of smoke generation can be monitored and controlled by a process controller and computer.
This smoke generator design has research as well as commercial applications.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Traditionally and still in common practice, smoke for food curing has been generated from smouldering sawdust fires. Other techniques for smoke generation have been devised and employed either for research or commercial applications. A description of the smouldering process will be given here followed by a discussion of some of the previous alternate techniques devised for smoke generation. To date, it appears that none of these previous methods for smoke production can provide the level of control over smoke generation parameters such as can be achieved by the smoke generator design described herein.
Combustion of a fuel source refers to the process of oxidation with the evolution of heat and light, while smouldering refers to incomplete combustion that produces smoke but no visible flame. Typically, the combustion of wood takes place in two stages. Initially heat input to the wood is required to thermally degrade the wood components. This releases gaseous hydrocarbons that combust exothermally at some distance from the wood surface producing a visible flame. As the solid wood is pyrolysed, char remains. The char may support a "glowing combustion" within the solid wood. Too little or too much air may limit these combustion processes. Excess air supply to the zone where combustion of the gases occurs may dissipate so much heat that the initial endothermic pyrolytic reactions are inhibited.
Smoke is produced in large quantities under conditions of inefficient combustion that exist during smouldering. The initial stage of smoke formation begins with the thermal breakdown of the chemical bonds in the macromolecules and polymers of wood. The gases released by these pyrolytic reactions in the wood are exposed to atmospheric oxygen in an ox
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Armstrong R. Craig
Blanchard John P.
Simone Timothy F.
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