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US 7,972,445 B2Granted
Vertical continuous vacuum pan
AssigneeSpray Engineering Devices Limited
InventorsJai Parkash Singh, Vipin Kumar Gupta, Saroj Kumar Singh
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention consists of an improved vertical continuous vacuum pan apparatus consisting of eight chambers (2) (instead of four or five) and a storage or buffer tank (27) at the top, within the existing conventional height, characterized in that each chamber has a bottom mounted mechanical circulator housed in an insulated pocket (28) in the vapour space segment (29) of each chamber and not in additional space above the chamber.
Claims29
A continuous pan crystallization apparatus comprising:
- a cylindrical housing having a vertical axis in which plurality of vacuum chambers are stacked one above the other on a common axis;
- each said chamber substantially having a W-shaped bottom with space below being surrounded by the passive steam of the chamber below;
- each said chamber having associated therewith a fixed set point control for condition of massecuite and discharge volume per hour and that the per hour discharge volume of a given operation chamber is greater than the per hour discharge volume of the immediately preceding operation chamber;
- a heat supply means comprising vertical tube fixed annular calandria supplied by active heating steam from a common supply external to the cylindrical housing;
- a central downtake in which an axial flow impeller or a mechanical circulator is located;
- at least one mechanism operable to control
- a) heating steam pressure,
- b) vapour pressure,
- c) massecuite condition,
- d) feed syrup supply proportion and flow rate,
- e) ratio of feed syrup to seed supply,
- f) massecuite level, and
- g) transfer of massecuite from the upper to the lower pan using transferring means which include gravity discharge means;
- a massecuite discharge pipe in the bottom of every chamber equipped with a control valve regulated by a level sensor of the same chamber and connected to the massecuite supply pipe of the next lower chamber;
- an inlet for introduction of feed syrup in each chamber connected to a common syrup feed header through a control valve regulated by a brix sensor;
- a means for continuously introducing seed crystals into the first operation chamber;
- an outlet for continuously withdrawing sugar syrup and product crystals from the last operation vacuum chamber;
- means for exhausting vapour and non-condensables through a common vapour line connected to a condenser/vapour recompressor and also equipped with means for entrainment separation;
- means for removal of condensate;
- means for bypassing a particular operation chamber by arrangement of appropriate pipes;
- means for cleaning comprising valve-controlled steam supply line, hot and cold water supply lines with a wash out drain line connected to the massecuite discharge duct in the floor of the chamber and regulated by a control valve, outflowing into a common wash out drain pipe;
- each chamber having, a bottom mounted mechanical circulator, all but the lowermost of said mechanical circulators being housed in an insulated pocket in a vapour space segment of a succeeding chamber therebelow.
19 more elements
A continuous pan crystallization apparatus, said apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of heated chambers stacked one above the other;
- said plurality of heated chambers including a first chamber and a second chamber;
- said first chamber being an upper chamber,
- said second chamber being a lower chamber;
- said first chamber having an inflow and an outflow;
- said second chamber having an inflow and an outflow;
- said outflow of said first chamber being operatively connected to feed said inflow of said second chamber;
- said first chamber having an circulator mounted therein;
- said apparatus including an circulator drive connected to said circulator;
- and
- said circulator drive being mounted amidst said second chamber.
8 more elements
A continuous pan crystallization apparatus, said apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of heated chambers stacked one above the other;
- said plurality of heated chambers including a first chamber and a second chamber;
- said second chamber being lower than said first chamber;
- said first chamber having an inflow and an outflow;
- said second chamber having an inflow and an outflow;
- said outflow of said first chamber being operatively connected to feed said inflow of said second chamber;
- said first chamber having an circulator mounted therein;
- said apparatus including an circulator drive connected to said circulator;
- and said circulator drive being located between said first and second chambers.
6 more elements
A continuous pan crystallization apparatus, said apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of heated chambers stacked one above the other;
- said plurality of heated chambers including a first chamber and a second chamber;
- said second chamber being lower than said first chamber;
- said first chamber having an inflow and an outflow;
- said second chamber having an inflow and an outflow;
- said outflow of said first chamber being operatively connected to feed said inflow of said second chamber;
- said first chamber having a floor defining a bottom of a pan for syrup;
- said bottom having a W-shaped cross-section
- said first chamber having an circulator mounted therein;
- said apparatus including an circulator drive connected to said circulator;
- and
- said circulator drive being mounted beneath said floor nested within said W-shaped section.
9 more elements
A continuous pan crystallization apparatus, said apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of heated chambers stacked one above the other;
- said plurality of heated chambers including a first chamber, a second chamber, and a third chamber;
- said second chamber being lower than said first chamber;
- said third chamber being lower than said second chamber;
- said first chamber having an inflow and an outflow;
- said second chamber having an inflow and an outflow;
- said third chamber having an inflow and an outflow;
- said outflow of said first chamber being operatively connected to feed said inflow of said second chamber;
- said outflow of said second chamber being operatively connected to feed said inflow of said third chamber;
- said first chamber having a first circulator mounted therein;
- said second chamber having a second circulator mounted therein;
- said third chamber having a third circulator mounted therein;
- said apparatus including a first circulator drive connected to said first circulator,
- said first circulator drive being mounted below said first chamber;
- said apparatus including a second circulator drive connected to said second circulator,
- said second circulator drive being mounted below said second chamber;
- said apparatus including a third circulator drive connected to said third circulator;
- and
- said first, second, and third circulator drives being independent of each other whereby said first, second, and third circulators may each be driven at an independent speed.
16 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.