Electroheating Rapid Cooling |
The Rapid Cooler is the ideal cooling method for heat sensitive products. It combines the advantages of flash and conventional heat-exchange coolers, while avoiding the problems associated with both. The method is very energy efficient, fast, and helps retain the product's original flavor, aroma, and nutritional value.
How Does It Work? The Rapid cooler is made of two sets of coiled tubes in a vacuum chamber. The product to be cooled flows through the lower coil, and the incoming product runs through the top coil. The lower coil is submerged in intermediate liquid. Rapid cooling works by taking advantage of the high rate of heat exchange during vaporization and condensation of a fluid in absence of non condensible gas. By passing a hot product through a tube that is exposed to a fluid under vacuum, the fluid is quickly boiled by extracting heat from the product. At the same time, a cold product passed through the coiled tube in the space above the boiled liquid will extract heat from the vapors and cause them to condense and fall back onto the hot tube below. Flash cooling is perhaps the fastest way to cool a product. However, the exposure to low pressure leads to loss of aroma, foam formation and concentration of the product. This Rapid Indirect Vacuum Cooling method gives cooling rates near that of flash cooling of a product without the loss of water and volatile components from the product. This cooling process can act as a heat regeneration system if the cooling medium used for condensation is the cold product that needs to be heated. A series of multiple coolers can be used to regenerate up to 80% of the heat added to a product. In principle the Rapid Vacuum Cooler acts in a co-current mode. Rapid chilling is achieved when the condensing coil is fed by a cold fluid at a higher flow rate than that of the product. Detailed Technical Information For further information, refer to the following publiction: top of page |