Control system for cryogenic processor for liquid feed preparation of free-flowing frozen product

A system for controlling the operation of a cryogenic processor for liquid feed preparation of a free-flowing frozen product comprising:

• at least one sensor associated with a feed tray of the cryogenic processor for determining a depth of liquid composition in the feed tray;
• at least one valve associated with a liquid composition delivery line, the valve being configured to control the rate at which liquid composition is delivered from a delivery source to the feed tray;
• and
• control means responsive to the at least one sensor for controlling a position of the valve, and therefore the rate at which liquid composition is delivered from the delivery source to the feed tray.

A cryogenic processor for liquid feed preparation of a free-flowing frozen product comprising:

• a freezing chamber having a substantially conical shape;
• a plurality of feed trays overlying the freezing chamber arranged and adapted to receive liquid composition from a plurality of delivery sources, each tray having a plurality of orifices for the discharge of uniformly sized droplets of the composition from the trays, whereby the droplets are delivered by gravity into the freezing chamber there-below;
• a sensor associated with each feed tray for determining a depth of liquid composition in each feed tray;
• a valve associated with each of a plurality of liquid composition delivery lines, wherein a distinct delivery line is configured to deliver liquid composition from each delivery source to each feed tray, each valve being configured to control the rate at which liquid composition is delivered from each delivery source to each feed tray;
• and
• control means responsive to each sensor for controlling a position of each valve, and therefore the rate at which liquid composition is delivered from each delivery source to each feed tray.

A method of feeding liquid composition to a freezing chamber containing a refrigerant to form beads of frozen product, comprising the steps of:

• monitoring a level of liquid composition in each section of a multi-partition feed tray;
• closely controlling the delivery a liquid feed composition from a source to each section of the feed tray;
• discharging the liquid feed composition from each section of the feed tray through orifices in the form of droplets, via gravity, into a freezing chamber disposed below the orifices;
• monitoring a level of liquid refrigerant in a freezing chamber;
• and
• closely controlling the delivery of liquid refrigerant to the freezing chamber, in response to the step of monitoring the level of liquid refrigerant.