Stacked Continuous Vacuum Pan System and Method
AssigneeSugar Technology International
InventorMark Quenton Fanning
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A stacked continuous vacuum pan (SCVP) system and method may be provided wherein the SCVP includes at least three modules mounted on separate floors in a stacked formation. Each module includes a horizontal shell and a vertical calandria mounted along the horizontal shell. The calandria may be a honeycomb or swarm calandria. The SCVP system may operate as a single unit while allowing an individual module to be taken offline without disrupting use of the SCVP system.
Claims20
A stacked continuous vacuum pan system comprising:
- at least three horizontal modules, each module having a horizontal shell and a vertical calandria mounted along the horizontal shell,
- wherein each of the at least three horizontal modules is mounted on a separate floor of the system in a stacked configuration and the system operates as a single unit such that syrup, molasses and product massecuite flow continuously down through the at least three horizontal modules.
A stacked continuous vacuum pan method comprising:
- receiving a seed in a first horizontal module;
- processing massecuite in the first horizontal module;
- flowing massecuite from the first horizontal module to a second horizontal module;
- processing massecuite in the second horizontal module;
- and
- flowing massecuite from the second horizontal module to a third horizontal module,
- wherein each of the first horizontal module, the second horizontal module and the third horizontal module has a horizontal shell and a vertical calandria mounted along the horizontal shell, and
- wherein the first horizontal module, the second horizontal module and the third horizontal module are formed in a stacked configuration with each module mounted on a separate floor to allow massecuite to flow continuously down through the modules.
A stacked continuous vacuum pan system comprising:
- at least three horizontal modules, each module having a horizontal shell and a honeycomb-shaped calandria mounted along the horizontal shell,
- wherein each of the at least three horizontal modules is mounted on a separate floor of the system in a stacked configuration such that massecuite flows down through the stacked configuration, and
- wherein each of the at least three horizontal modules is separately by-passable such that the system is capable of being continuously used at a reduced rate through the remaining horizontal modules.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.