Method of operating and cleaning an apparatus for heat treating a liquid product

• US 4,738,302 A
• Filed: 09/25/1985
• Issued: 04/19/1988
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/1983
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Stork Amsterdam BV
• Original Assignee: Stork Amsterdam BV
• Inventors: Abma, Freerk
• Primary Examiner(s): Davis, Jr., Albert W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ford, John K.
• Application Number:
  US06/779,966
• Time in Patent Office: 937 Days
• Field of Search: 426/521, 426/522, 165/65, 165/66, 165/34, 165/39, 165/143, 165/95, 165/2, 99/470, 99/453, 99/455, 422/108, 422/109, 422/307, 422/308
• US Class Current: 165/288
• CPC Class Codes: A23C 3/033 and progressively transported through the apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: A23C 7/02 Chemical cleaning of dairy apparatus; Use of sterilisation methods therefor
• CPC Class Codes: A23L 3/22 with transport through tubes
• CPC Class Codes: F28F 9/26 Arrangements for connecting different sections of heat-exchange elements, e.g. of radiators connecting different sections in water heaters F24H9/14 , connecting headers with inlet or outlet fittings F28F9/0246

Abstract

Apparatus for heating-treating a liquid product comprising series-connected multi-tube heat-exchangers such as heating-up heat-exchangers 6, 12, and high temperature heat-exchanger 14 and cooling-down heat-exchangers 17, 18, 19, the heating-up heat-exchangers and cooling-down heat-exchangers being interconnected by means of a pipe system 25, 26; 34 for regenerative heat-exchange. The heat-exchangers being connected by means of connection members 13 having separate passages which connect the tubes of one heat-exchanger to those of the next heat-exchanger. The pipe system for regenerative heat-exchange being designed so that the quantity of heat to be transferred can be adjusted in order to adapt said apparatus to varying capacities.

Claims

1. A method for heat-treating a liquid product in which the product is temporarily subjected to a high temperature by pumping of the product through separate flow, product dividing, plural multi-tube heat exchangers each of which is connected to the other in series, comprising the steps of:

(A) initially passing the liquid product through a first heating-up heat exchanger

(B) thereafter exposing the heated-up product of phase (A) to high temperature heat-treating by means of a heat-exchanger having external heat supply

(C) finally exposing the highly heated product of phase (B) to a cooling down heat-exchanger;

wherein the source of heat for the first heating-up phase (A) being regenerative heat, derived from heat which has been removed from the product in the cooling-down phase (C), and further wherein the product being passing through series-connected multi-tube tube-insulating connectors, disposed at least between respective heat exchangers of phases (B) and (C), is maintained substantially continuously in separate flows and thus divided by individual tubes throughout the liquid product treatment

(D) measuring the temperature (T_n) in each of the respective passages of the connector at the transition from the high-temperature heat-exchanger to the cooling-down heat-exchanger, and determining thereby the average temperature (T_g) of these temperatures wherein the deviation of this average temperature from a required or set temperature (T_i) is a measurement of the supply of heat-carrying fluid to the high-temperature heating heat-exchanger, and the deviation of each separately measured product temperature (T_n) from the set temperature (T_i) is determined;

(E) switching over to the cleaning operation if this last named deviation shall exceed certain tolerance limits.