JPH01196251A - Apparatus for melting food raw material under pressure - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable sure and stable melt-treatment of a food raw material under pressure, by connecting a pressure vessel with a back-pressure vessel in a connectable and disconnectable manner, pressurizing a food raw material in the pressure vessel and transferring the material through a heater into the back-pressure vessel taking advantage of the pressure difference. CONSTITUTION:A pressure vessel 2 and a back-pressure vessel 4 are connected with each other via a piping system 26 in a connectable and disconnectable manner and the piping system 26 is provided with a heater 5 and a cooler 6 disposed in series. A food raw material such as fish meat is introduced through a hopper 7 into the pressure vessel 2, pressurized with a compression cylinder 1 and, at the same time, the back-pressure vessel 4 is pressurized with a compression cylinder 3 to the same pressure as the vessel 2. The valves 20, 21 are opened, the piston rod 1a of the compression cylinder 1 of the pressure vessel 2 is forwarded to increase the pressure in the vessel 2, and, at the same time, the piston rod 3a of the back-pressure vessel 4 is retreated under a back pressure. The food raw material in the pressure vessel 2 is transferred through the heater 5 and the cooler 6 under pressure and the obtained molten food raw material is recovered in a container 19.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an apparatus for melting food materials, particularly food materials whose main component is animal protein such as fish meat, under pressure.

(Prior Art) Traditionally, fish meat, etc., has been used as processed products such as kamaboko, chikuwa, etc., or as powdered heat-denatured fish meat, known as fish meal. They are mostly used for feed, etc., and the technology has been developed with a focus on temperature as a physical state variable used in the processing of these products. However, recently, food processing technology that utilizes protein denaturation under high pressure has been developed, and it has attracted attention as a new technology, and various applications are being attempted. For example, there is one type of two-shaft extruder in which a pair of screw shafts or blade shafts are rotatably arranged side by side in cylinders with bicylindrical cross-sections that communicate with each other.
As an example, in the case of the same device, the food material is denatured and fiberized by temperature and mechanical effects such as stirring, kneading, and shearing, and the pressure is not intentional. It is unstable and changes depending on the physical properties of the material, and cannot be subjected to high pressure such as 100100O/CTA.

On the other hand, the presence of pressure is effective in food processing, especially in the processing of food materials whose main component is animal protein, such as fish meat, as disclosed in JP-A-62-40255 and JP-A-62-40267. As disclosed in That is, for minced fish meat or heat-denatured fish meat, 100 to 200
30) cgf/cff
It is disclosed that a molten product can be obtained by applying one or more pressure treatments for 1 to 5 minutes, and it is noteworthy that effects that have not been seen before are especially brought out in the presence of pressure. This is a worthy point.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Among the above-mentioned conventional techniques, there is a method for obtaining a product in a molten state by heating and pressurizing a food material whose main component is animal protein, such as fish meat. , the present invention:
As a concrete device that realizes this on an industrial mass production scale, it is possible to stably melt under pressure, and the pressure conditions can be lowered to the conventional several tens of kg f/c.
Without stopping at the level of i, several 100100O/c+
It is an object of the present invention to provide a pressurized melting apparatus that can operate stably even when the temperature is raised to the fl level.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a food material (hereinafter simply referred to as the material to be processed) whose main component is animal protein, such as fish meat, is pressurized. A pressurized container and a back-pressure container, which are directly connected to a cylinder to enable pressure to be applied and extruded, are provided separately, and connected by a piping system equipped with an on-off valve that can cut off communication between the two containers. By intervening in series a heater for heating the material to be processed and a cooler for cooling the material to be processed, the forward movement of the pressure cylinder on the pressure container side and the pressure cylinder on the back pressure container side can be controlled. While the pressure in the piping system is maintained at the required pressure through the retracting action of The melting process is performed through a cooling process.

In addition, by providing a static mixer with a homogeneous stirring function for the material to be processed, a throttle and/or narrow gap area also with a shearing function, and a rotating rotor with the same (stirring and/or shearing function) in the heater, it is possible to This makes it possible to promote homogenization during thermal denaturation and reorganization of treated materials.

Furthermore, by dividing the heat source in the heater into a plurality of parts and providing a heating device whose temperature can be controlled individually, the material to be processed can be heated more effectively.

In addition, by providing at least two pairs of pressurized containers and back pressure containers that are directly connected to pressurized cylinders,
In each set, pressurization and heat treatment of the material to be processed and removal of the processed material are performed alternately, making semi-continuous processing operation possible.

In addition, a feeder for charging the material to be processed and a hopper are connected to the pressurized container side, and the hopper is equipped with a vacuum exhaust device and/or a gas replacement device for degassing the material to be processed. By connecting a storage container for processed materials to the side, deterioration and contamination of the processed materials can be prevented and efficient handling is possible.

(Function) According to the above-mentioned technical means of the present invention, as illustrated in FIG. 2 and a back pressure container 4 which is directly connected to a pressurizing cylinder 3 which is also capable of applying pressure to and extruding the material to be processed, and a piping system that connects the back pressure container 4 so as to be able to communicate with and shut off by providing an on-off valve 20.21. By arranging a heater 5 for heating the material to be treated and a cooler 6 for cooling it in series in the same piping system 26, which are arranged as a pair by 26, when the on-off valves 20 and 21 are closed, With the piston rod 1a of the pressurizing cylinder 1 retracted, the material to be processed is supplied into one pressurized container 2 through a supply path 27 having a hopper 7, a feeder 8, and an on-off valve 9. When the container is full, the on-off valve 9 of the supply path 27 is closed, and the piston rod 1a of the pressure cylinder 1 is advanced to pressurize the material to be processed. The rod 3a is advanced to pressurize the inside of the container 4, and the readings of the pressure gauge 22 of the pressure container 2 and the pressure gauge 23 of the five heaters match, and the pressure of the back pressure container 4 is At the time when the indicated values of the total 25 and the pressure gauges 24 of the six coolers match, each on-off valve 20.2 in the piping system 26
1 is opened and the piston rod 1a of the pressurizing cylinder 1 in the pressurizing container 2 is pressurized and moved forward, and in the back-pressure container 4, the piston rod 3a of the pressurizing cylinder 3 is retreated under back pressure. The material to be processed in the container 2 is transferred to the back pressure container 4 under a predetermined pressure via the heater 5 and the cooler 6. During this transfer, the material to be processed is heated in the heater 5. Source 12.1
The molten material to be processed is accommodated in the back pressure container 4 by heat treatment at a predetermined temperature by 2' and cooling treatment by the cooling source 28 in the cooler 6. The processed material stored in this back pressure container 4 is collected into a storage container 19 or the like through a discharge path 29 equipped with an on-off valve 18.

Further, in the heater 5, as illustrated in FIG. 1, in addition to the heat sources 12 and 12', a static mixer 14 is installed so as to uniformly heat and stir the material to be processed, and as shown in FIG. As illustrated in FIG. 3, an area is formed by an aperture 15 that can apply a shearing action to the material to be processed, or a narrow gap 16 as illustrated in FIG. 3, and furthermore, as illustrated in FIG. By installing a rotary rotor 17 capable of stirring and/or shearing which can be driven and rotated from the outside, homogenization and reorganization of the material to be processed can be promoted or facilitated under pressure and heat. be.

In addition, in the heater 5, a plurality of heat sources 1 are used over the entire outer circumference of the heater 5 to heat the material to be processed passing under pressure.
By arranging the heating sources 12 and 12' in a row and making it possible to individually control the temperature of each heat source 12, 12', it is possible to perform heat treatment appropriate to the physical properties of the material to be treated.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 1, a pair of pressurized vessels 2 and backpressure vessels 4 each having pressurizing cylinders 1 and 3 is replaced with a pressurizing vessel having at least pressurizing cylinders 1° and 3', respectively. By providing two or more sets, such as a pair of 2' and a back pressure vessel 4'', the piping system 26 can be shared and the materials to be processed can be processed and taken out alternately in each set, as will be apparent in the embodiments described later. It is also possible to carry out the pressurized melting process semi-continuously and meet the demands of efficient industrial mass production.

Also, as similarly illustrated in FIG. 1, a feeder 8 for automatically charging the material to be processed into the pressurized container 1 side.
A hopper 7 is arranged so as to be able to be communicated with and shut off via a supply path 27 having an on-off valve 9, and a vacuum evacuation device 10 and/or a vacuum evacuation device 10 for degassing the material to be processed is provided on the hopper 7 side.
Alternatively, a gas replacement device 11 is attached, and a storage container 19 for recovering the processed material in a molten state is connected to the back pressure container 4 side via a discharge path 29 having an on-off valve 18. , the handling of the material to be processed is carried out safely and efficiently.

(Example) A suitable example of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. As shown in FIG. 1, this embodiment includes a pair of pressurized containers 2 directly connected to the pressurized cylinder 1, a back pressure container 4 directly connected to the pressurized cylinder 3, and a pair of pressurized containers 4 directly connected to the pressurized cylinder 1'. It shows the use of two pairs of pressure vessels 2' and back pressure vessels 4' directly connected to pressurizing cylinders 3'. In FIG. 1, a pressurized container 2 directly connected to a pressurized cylinder 1 is located on the material supply side where a hopper 7 and a feeder 8 are arranged.
A pressurized container 2'' directly connected to the pressurized cylinder 1'' is arranged in parallel, and on the opposite side, that is, the other side where the storage container 19 is disposed, there is a back that is directly connected to the pressurized cylinder 3. A back pressure vessel 4 directly connected to the pressure vessel 4 and the pressurizing cylinder 3''
゛ are installed in parallel. Since each container 2 to 4' is intended for food materials, it is made of stainless steel and has a cylindrical shape, and an inlet and outlet for the material to be processed is provided at one end of each container 2 to 4''. , each pressurizing cylinder 1 to 3 at each other end.
' are directly connected, and each piston rod 1a to 3'a is inserted movably into each container 2 to 4''. Communication between the pressurized container 2.2'' and the back pressure device 4, 4° is cut off. A piping system 26 that can be connected has a heater 5 and a cooler 6 interposed in series, and one end is connected to branch paths 26a and 26b.
The two ends are connected to the pressurized container 2 and the pressurized container 2'' via on-off valves 20 and 20', respectively, and the other end is similarly divided into branch passages 26c and 26d, and connected to on-off valves 21 and 21, respectively.
It is connected to back pressure vessel 4 and back pressure vessel 4' via . Pressure gauges 22, 22', 25.
25' is attached, and the inlet piping system 2 of the heater 5 is attached.
6 and the outlet piping system 26 of the cooler 6 are provided with pressure gauges 23 and 24, respectively, so as to measure and display the pressure value applied to the material to be treated. Further, the supply path 27 from the hopper 7 and the feeder 8 is divided into branch paths 27a and 27b,
The hopper 7 is connected to the pressurized containers 2 and 2' through on-off valves 9 and 9', respectively, and the hopper 7 is provided with the following:
Since air coexisting with the material may have an adverse effect due to oxidation, in order to prevent this, a known vacuum exhaust bag W10 and/or a gas replacement device 11 using an inert gas such as argon gas are used as shown in the figure. By attaching it, it is possible to prevent deterioration and deterioration of the material to be processed.

In the embodiment, the heater 5 that heats the material to be treated has a heating source (heating device) 12.12°...
It consists of a cylindrical high-pressure vessel 13 or a high-pressure tube in which ... is installed, and the heating source 12, 12', old...
It is possible to control the temperature of the entire unit at once, or to control the temperature of each heating source independently for each heating source (12, 12', old), or as a heating source (heating device). Although electric heating using a band heater is generally used, a heating medium such as steam can also be used. Furthermore, as for the configuration of the high-pressure vessel 13, a single pressure vessel (high-pressure tube) as shown in the figure is easiest, but this is possible by installing multiple high-pressure tubes in parallel and using steam or other heat medium to heat the vessel. A heating method using a heat exchange method is also possible, and these can be appropriately selected and used depending on the heat transfer characteristics based on the physical properties of the target material to be processed, and further on the processing amount.

If the cooler 6 takes out the processed material that has passed through the front and rear heaters 5 as it is, the water naturally contained in the processed material will boil, making it undesirable as a material.
Alternatively, it is installed to avoid troubles such as difficulty in stable extraction, and the cooling source (cooling device) 28 used as its configuration is, for example, a single tube spirally wound through which the material to be processed passes. (Example shown in Figure 1), a method in which a refrigerant 31 such as water is passed through a casing 3° to exchange heat;
Alternatively, a system in which a plurality of high-pressure pipes are installed in parallel to exchange heat with a refrigerant can be freely selected, and an appropriate cooling structure can be used depending on the physical properties of the silicon material to be treated and the processing amount.

Further, on the side of the back pressure vessels 4 and 4', a discharge passage 29 that opens into the storage vessel 19 is provided in order to take out the melted material to be processed, and branch passages 29a and 29 of the discharge passage 29 are provided.
b are connected to the back pressure vessels 4 and 4 through on-off valves 18 and 18', respectively.
Although the discharge passage 29 is connected to the branch passages 26c and 26d at 4' and the treated material is collected into the container 19, the discharge passage 29 may be connected to the next process side.

Further, when heating the material to be processed under pressure in the heater 5, a static mixer 14 can be installed in order to obtain homogeneous stirring and heating of the material to be processed, as illustrated in FIG. . This is the same mixer 14
Alternatively, a throttle 15 and/or a narrow gap 16 as illustrated in FIG.
By fitting a block 15c in which a series of small-diameter aperture holes 15b are formed in the center of the container 13, a shearing action can be applied to the material flowing in the container 13 by forcing it to pass through the aperture 15. It has been made possible.

The narrow gap 16 is achieved by arranging a plurality of concave circumferential grooves 165 in the axial direction on the outer circumferential surface of the block 16a fitted inside the high pressure vessel 13, as illustrated in FIG. A narrow gap 16 is formed between the concave circumferential groove 16b and the inner surface of the container, and the material to be processed flowing under pressure inside the high-pressure container 13 is forced to pass therethrough, thereby applying a shearing action. It is. Also, instead of these,
As illustrated in FIG. 4, a rotary rotor 17 capable of stirring and/or shearing, which is held by an external drive member 17a on a rotary shaft 17b, is installed in a casing 17c, and one end of the casing 17c is connected to the other end of the casing 17c. Piping system 2 across the end
It is also possible to apply stirring and/or shearing by forcing the material to pass through 6, and by providing or adding such a structure, it is possible to homogenize the material to be processed by pressurizing and heating. This results in good reorganization.

Adjustment of the pressurizing force for each pressurized container 2.2" and back pressure containers 4, 4' can be easily adjusted by controlling the supply side pressure (hydraulic pressure) in each pressurized cylinder 1, 1" and 3, 3'. In addition, the back pressure in the back pressure containers 4, 4' can be adjusted by controlling the pressure (hydraulic pressure) on the return side of the pressure cylinders 3, 3', and the transfer of the material to be processed can be carried out. The speed can be easily controlled by controlling the fluid volume on the supply or return side in the pressurized cylinders 1 and 3.The hydraulic unit 32 illustrated in FIG.
shows an example in which pressurizing cylinders 1.3 in a pair of pressurizing container 2 and backpressure container 4 are commonly controlled, but these pressurizing cylinders 1 to 3 are controlled individually. It is also possible.

In the embodiment having the above configuration, the material to be processed is pressurized and melted semi-continuously by the following procedure. That is, the air is degassed in the hopper 7, or the hopper 7
The material to be processed, which has undergone gas exchange between the feeder 8 and the feeder 8, is supplied into the pressurized container 2 by the feeder 8 via the supply path 27 and the on-off valve 9. At this time, in the same container 2, the piston rod 1a of the pressurizing cylinder 1 is in the retracted position. In this way, the pressurized container 2 is filled with the material to be processed, the on-off valve 9 is closed, the piston rod 1a of the pressurizing cylinder 1 is advanced, and the material to be processed is pressurized, while the back pressure container 4 is also filled with the material to be processed. The piston rod 3a of the pressurizing cylinder 3 is advanced to pressurize the inside of the pressurizing container 2. At this time, the on-off valves 20 and 21 in the piping system 26 are both closed. In this way, the indicated values of the pressure vessel pressure gauge 22 and the heater pressure gauge 23 match, and the back pressure vessel pressure gauge 25
When the indicated values of the pressure gauge and the cooler pressure gauge 24 match, the pressurized container 2' and the back pressure container 4, which are bare pairs, are
The pressurized melting process of the material to be processed is completed using
The on-off valves 20' and 21' for the same pair are closed, and the on-off valves 20 of the pressurized container 2 and the four back pressure containers are closed.
. The material to be processed in 2 passes through a heater 5 and a cooler 6 under a predetermined pressure.

The raw material is then transferred into the back pressure container 4 and heated under pressure in a heater, so that the material becomes molten and stored in the back pressure container 4. During this time, new material to be processed is supplied from the hopper 7 to the pressurized container 2' and back-pressure container 4'' side, which have already been melted under pressure, into the empty pressurized container 2'. At the same time, the molten material contained in the back pressure container 4' is collected into the storage container 19 from the discharge path 29 by the forward extrusion of the piston rod 3''a in the pressurizing cylinder 3'. By repeating the above operations alternately in each pressure container 2, 4 sets of back pressure containers, and 2 sets of pressure containers and 4 sets of back pressure containers, the process is carried out semi-continuously. The work of melting the material will proceed under pressure.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the apparatus of the present invention, a solid-liquid mixed phase food material mainly composed of animal protein such as fish meat can be melted under pressure according to the prior art, JP-A No. 62-40255. Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication 1986-40
Without stopping at the pressure conditions disclosed in No. 267, the equation 1
Even within the high pressure range exceeding 00100O/cffl,
It has excellent features and advantages in that it can be carried out extremely stably and on an industrial mass production scale. That is, in the apparatus of the present invention, a pressure container and a back pressure container, each of which is directly connected to a pressure cylinder, are connected via a piping system so as to be able to communicate with each other, and the material to be processed pressurized in the pressure container is transferred to the back pressure container. Since the material is transferred via a piping system under back pressure in a pressure vessel, the pressure applied to the material to be processed can be maintained extremely stably without any fear of fluctuation or attenuation. A homogeneous molten state can be obtained extremely reliably, and a highly stable processing effect can be obtained without fear of being influenced by the physical properties of the food material.
This will make it possible to develop a new field of processed foods for food materials with animal protein as the main component, such as fish meat, and will further develop the ability to explore unknown processed food products under pressure. It is useful as a device.

It goes without saying that the apparatus of the present invention can also be applied to other food materials such as vegetable proteins.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention, and FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 are sectional views of each embodiment of a structure for homogeneous stirring and shearing equipped with the same heater. 1.3... Pressurized cylinder, 2... Pressurized container, 4...
・Back pressure vessel, 5...heater, 6...cooler, 7...
・Hotsunoku, 8... Feeder, 10... Vacuum exhaust device, 11... Gas replacement device, 12.12"... Heat source, 13... High pressure container, 14... Static mixer, 15 ...Aperture, 16...Narrow gap, 17...
Rotating rotor, 9.1B, 20.21... Opening/closing valve, 1
9... Storage container, 26... Piping system, 27... Supply path, 28... Cooling source, 29... Discharge path, 32...
hydraulic unit. Patent applicant Kobe Steel Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Yasu 1) Toshio “j-ko”

Claims (9)

[Claims] (1) A pressurized container that is directly connected to a pressurized cylinder so that pressure can be applied to and extruded the supplied material to be processed, and communication can be cut off by a piping system equipped with the pressurized container and an on-off valve. a back-pressure container that is connected to the pressurizing cylinder and also directly connected to the pressurizing cylinder to receive the material to be processed extruded from the pressurized container under back pressure, and to be able to apply pressure and extrude the material; and the piping system. 1. An apparatus for melting food materials under pressure, comprising a heater that heats and cools the material passing through the piping system under a predetermined pressure. (2) The apparatus for melting food materials under pressure according to claim 1, wherein a static mixer having a homogeneous stirring function is provided in the heater. (3) The apparatus for melting food materials under pressure according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the heater receives a region of a constriction having a shearing function and/or a narrow gap. (4) An apparatus for melting food materials under pressure according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the heater is provided with a rotating rotor having a stirring and/or shearing function. (5) The apparatus for melting food materials under pressure according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the heating source in the heater is divided into a plurality of heating devices and the temperature can be controlled individually. (6) At least two or more pairs of pressurized containers and back pressure containers are provided, each of which is directly connected to a pressurized cylinder, and each pair alternately processes and takes out the material to be processed, semi-continuously. 6. The apparatus for melting food materials under pressure according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is capable of melting under pressure. (7) The apparatus for melting food materials under pressure according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a feeder and a hopper for charging the material to be processed are connected to the pressurized container. (8) The apparatus for melting food materials under pressure according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the hopper is connected to a vacuum evacuation device and/or a gas replacement device. (9) The apparatus for melting food materials under pressure according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein a storage container for the processed material is connected to the back pressure container.