Pressure processing a pumpable substance with a flexible membrane
AssigneeFlow International Corporation
InventorsMohamed A. Hashish, Chidambaram Raghavan, Olivier L. Tremoulet, Jr., Bruce M. Schuman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus and method for pressure processing a pumpable substance, such as a pumpable food product or slurry. In one embodiment, the apparatus includes a pressure vessel having an inlet valve toward one end and outlet valve toward the other end. A flexible bladder is coupled between the inlet and outlet valves for receiving the pumpable substance. The pressure vessel can further include a high-pressure inlet port for receiving high-pressure fluid that biases the membrane inwardly to pressure process the pumpable substance. The pumpable substance is then removed from the vessel through the outlet valve.
Claims31
An apparatus for pressure processing a pumpable substance, comprising:
- a generally rigid high-pressure vessel having a first opening toward a first end, a second opening toward a second end and an internal vessel wall between the first and second ends;
- a flexible membrane disposed within the vessel and coupled to a first valve, the membrane having a first membrane opening in fluid communication with the first opening of the vessel, the membrane further having a second membrane opening in fluid communication with the second opening of the vessel, at least a portion of the membrane being spaced apart from the vessel wall for pressurizing a portion of the pumpable substance adjacent to the membrane;
- the first valve being in fluid communication with the first membrane opening for regulating a flow of the pumpable substance through the first membrane opening, the first valve including a valve body having a passage therein, the passage including a first portion having a first opening and a second portion having a second opening and a piston sealably positioned in the passage and axially movable within the passage between a closed position with the piston blocking fluid communication between the first opening of the first portion of the passage and the second opening, of the second portion of the passage, and an open position with the first opening of the first portion of the passage in fluid communication with the second opening of the second portion of the passage;
- and
- a second valve in fluid communication with the second membrane opening for regulating the flow of the pumpable substance through the second membrane opening, wherein the first and the second valves respectively close the first and the second membrane openings to the flow of the pumpable substance when the portion of the pumpable substance is pressurized.
An apparatus for pressure professing a pumpable substance, comprising:
- a generally rigid high-pressure vessel having a vessel wall between an interior region of the vessel and an exterior region of the vessel;
- a flexible membrane in the interior region of the vessel, the membrane having a first membrane opening in the interior region of the vessel coupled to a source of the pumpable substance to be treated, the membrane further having a second membrane opening spaced apart from the first membrane opening, the membrane having a first surface facing a second surface facing opposite the first surface at least a portion of the first surface facing and spaced apart from the vessel wall to define a fist region, the second surface facing a second region with the membrane between the first and second regions, the membrane being movable toward and away from the vessel wall for pressurizing a portion of the pumpable substance within the vessel;
- an outlet valve selectively operable between an open position providing fluid communication via the second membrane opening and a closed position at least substantially restricting fluid communication via the second membrane opening;
- and
- an inlet valve selectively operable between an open position providing fluid communication between the source of the pumpable substance to be treated aid the interior region of the vessel via the first membrane opening and a closed position at least substantially restricting fluid communication via the first membrane opening, wherein the inlet and the outlet valves are in the respective closed positions when the membrane is spaced relatively away from the vessel wall.
An apparatus for pressure processing a pumpable substance, comprising:
- a generally rigid high-pressure vessel having a vessel wall With first and second openings;
- a first valve coupled to the first opening and a second valve coupled to the second opening;
- a liner adjacent to the vessel wall;
- a flexible membrane disposed within the vessel and coupled to the first valve, the membrane having a first membrane opening in fluid communication with the first valve and a second membrane opening in fluid communication with the second valve, at least a portion of the membrane being spaced apart from the vessel wall to pressurize a portion of the pumpable substance adjacent to the membrane;
- a source of pumpable substance coupled to the first valve;
- and
- a source of pressurizing fluid coupled to lie vessel to move the membrane toward and away from the vessel wall, wherein the second valve is only open when the membrane is moved relatively toward the vessel wall.
A device for pressure processing a pumpable substance in a high-pressure vessel, the high-pressure vessel having first and second openings, the device comprising a flexible membrane having a first membrane opening and a second membrane opening spaced apart from the first opening, the flexible membrane being sized to fit at least partially within the pressure vessel with the first membrane opening in fluid communication with the first opening of the high-pressure vessel and the second membrane opening in fluid communication with the second opening of the high-pressure vessel, the flexible membrane being coupled to an inlet valve positioned in the first opening of the pressure vessel, the inlet valve being in fluid communication with the first membrane opening to regulate a flow of pumpable substance from a source of pumpable substance through the first membrane opening and an outlet valve in fluid communication with the second membrane opening to regulate a flow of the pumpable substance to a collection of treated pumpable substance through the second membrane opening, wherein the outlet valve is closed to prevent flow of the pumpable substance to the collection of treated pumpable substance while the flexible membrane is subjected to a high pressure.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.