Brine solution cleaning systems, apparatuses, and methods
AssigneeNational Beef Packing Company, LLC
InventorDonald Joseph Determann
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems, apparatuses, and methods for cleaning brine solution are provided. In particular, one or more embodiments comprise a brine cleaning system that includes a brine cooker, a brine filter, and a brine storage unit. The brine cooker heats a dirty brine solution to separate the dirty brine solution into a liquid portion and a solids portion. The brine filter is coupled to the brine cooker to receive the liquid portion and the solids portion from the brine cooker and then substantially remove the solids portion. The brine storage unit is coupled to the brine filter to accumulate the liquid portion once the solids portion have been substantially removed by the brine filter. This allows for more efficient and environmentally friendly use of brine solution in the curing of animal.
Claims19
A brine cleaning system comprising:
- a brine cooker that heats a dirty brine solution to separate the dirty brine solution into a liquid portion and a solids portion;
- a brine filter that removes the solids portion, the brine filter coupled to the brine cooker to receive the liquid portion and the solids portion from the brine cooker;
- and
- a brine storage unit that accumulates the liquid portion, the brine storage unit coupled to the brine filter to receive the liquid portion from the brine filter.
A brine cleaning system comprising:
- a brine cooker that heats a dirty brine solution to separate the dirty brine solution into a liquid portion and a solids portion, the brine cooker comprising:
- a brine container that holds the dirty brine solution;
- and
- a heating element that heats the dirty brine solution within the brine container;
- a brine filter that cleans the dirty brine solution, the brine filter coupled to the brine cooker to receive the liquid portion and the solids portion from the brine cooker, the brine filter comprising:
- a first filter;
- a second filter after the first filter;
- and
- a third filter that further cleans the liquid portion after the second filter;
- and
- a brine storage unit that accumulates a filtered liquid portion, the brine storage unit coupled to the brine filter to receive the filtered liquid portion.
A method of cleaning brine, the method comprising:
- separating solids within a dirty brine solution by heating the dirty brine solution to cause solids to overflow a top of a brine cooker and fall into a cavity of the brine cooker, wherein the cavity is separate from an interior of the brine cooker that contains the dirty brine solution;
- removing additional solids from the dirty brine solution to create a cleaned brine solution;
- and
- accumulating the cleaned brine solution.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.