STEAM TRAP, ASEPTIC DOUBLE SEATED VALVE, METHOD OF OPERATING THE STEAM TRAP, AND FILLING PLANT

Abstract

In a steam trap comprising a seat valve that is adapted to be switched over between an open position for a first discharge state with large throughput and a closed position for a second discharge state with small throughput, the closure element and the seat of the seat valve define, at the closed position, a two-part passage, said passage having a jet cross-section, which first decreases in size in the discharge direction and, subsequently, re-increases in size, and being delimited by the seating area, the sealing face and at least one, only local control groove in the sealing face and/or the seating area. In the aseptic double seated valve the steam trap serves to carry out a flushing cycle as well as a sterilization cycle in a filling plant.

Claims

1. A steam trap for aseptic double seated valves in beverage or food filling plants, which, on an intake side, is connected to at least one drain valve of a double seated valve and to an outlet, and which includes a seat valve comprising a closure element with a conical sealing face and a seat with a conical seating area, said seat valve being adapted to be switched at least between an open position for a first discharge state with large throughput and a closed position for a second discharge state with small throughput, wherein at the closed position, the closure element and the seat allow a flow through a jetlike passage, said jetlike passage having a cross-section, which, in a discharge direction, exhibits first a constriction and enlarges after said constriction, and being delimited by the seating area, the conical sealing face and at least one control groove in the sealing face and/or the seating area.

2. The steam trap according to claim 1, wherein the sealing face and the seating area have either identical cone top angles or wherein the sealing face has a cone top angle that is smaller by 1° to 10° than that of the seating area.

3. The steam trap according to claim 2, wherein in a case of differing cone top angles, the control groove exhibits the constriction after an initial portion which is directed in a direction opposite to the discharge direction, and wherein the initial portion extends from the intake side in the discharge direction at most over half a length of the sealing face and/or the seating area.

4. The steam trap according to claim 3, wherein the control groove has at least one approximately conical or cylindrical milled-out portion in the metallic sealing face and/or seating area.

5. The steam trap according to claim 2, wherein in a case of identical cone angles, the control groove extends, in the discharge direction, continuously over a length of the sealing face and/or seating area, narrows up to a control groove waist at the constriction, or extends cylindrically and re-enlarges from the control groove waist onwards.

6. The steam trap according to claim 5, wherein the control groove has at least one approximately conical or cylindrical milled-out portion in the metallic sealing face and/or seating area.

7. The steam trap according to claim 1, wherein the re-enlarging passage cross-section defines a flow-through path which is substantially larger than the constriction.

8. The steam trap according to claim 1, wherein in the discharge direction, the seat enlarges thus forming a valve chamber which leads to the outlet, and that the closure element is arranged on a linear actuator, which extends through the valve chamber and which is driven pneumatically, electrically or magnetically, and is adapted to be moved by said linear actuator to the open position from the seat into the valve chamber and to the closed position from the valve chamber into the seat.

9. The steam trap according to claim 8, wherein the linear actuator is a piston rod of a piston, which is adapted to be acted upon by pressurized fluid against a force of a spring, said piston rod being displaceable such that it is sealed off from the valve chamber, and where the spring force biases the piston towards the open position of the seat valve.

10. The steam trap according to claim 1, wherein a cone top angle of the seat is an angle of approximately 30° to 60°, including an angle of approximately 40°.

11. The steam trap according to claim 1, wherein the axial length of the sealing face and/or the seating area corresponds to approximately 50% of a smallest seat diameter.

12. The steam trap according to claim 1, wherein distributed in a circumferential direction, a plurality of control grooves are provided in the conical sealing face, which are expediently of a similar kind.

13. The steam trap according to claim 1, wherein approximately mirror-inverted control grooves arranged in the conical sealing face and in the seating area are oriented relative to one another in a circumferential direction, and wherein the closure element is protected against rotation relative to the seat.

14. An aseptic double seated valve in beverage or food filling plants, comprising a condensate bottle which is connected to a steam pipe and, via a check valve, to a housing of the double seated valve, and a drain valve connected to the housing and having connected thereto a steam trap that communicates with an outlet, wherein a flushing cycle is executable in the housing as a first discharge state and a sterilization cycle is executable with steam or steam condensate in the housing as a second discharge state, wherein the steam trap is configured according to claim 1 and wherein, during the flushing cycle, the seat valve is adjustable to an open position and, during the sterilization cycle, to a closed position defined by a passage through which a flow is allowed to pass.

15. The aseptic double seated valve according to claim 14, wherein in the housing and/or in the discharge path to the seat valve of the steam trap, at least one temperature detector is installed, and wherein the seat valve is also switched in a temperature-dependent manner between the open and closed positions.

16. The aseptic double seated valve according to claim 14, wherein the double seated valve comprises in the housing a leakage chamber, which has connected thereto the check valve and the drain valve for the purpose of flushing and sterilizing.

17. The aseptic double seated valve according to claim 14, wherein the check valve, the drain valve and the seat valve of the steam trap are, at least substantially, identical in construction or comprise at least actuating units that are identical in construction.

18. The aseptic double seated valve according to claim 14, wherein the steam trap is installed such that a seat valve axis extends substantially horizontally or vertically.

19. A method of operating a steam trap according to claim 1, comprising: by means of a temperature measurement unit in an inlet of the steam trap, measuring a sterilization temperature, and if the sterilization temperature drops below a given value, transferring the steam trap , for a short period of time, to a first discharge state for large throughput of condensate.

20. A filling plant for beverages or liquid food, wherein a steam trap according to claim 1 is installed on at least one aseptic double seated valve used in said filling plant.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0025] Embodiments of the subject matter of the present disclosure are explained making reference to the drawings, in which:

[0026] FIG. 1 shows a side view of an aseptic double seated valve provided with a steam trap, said steam trap occupying a specific installation position.

[0027] FIG. 2 shows a view similar to that of FIG. 1 with a different installation position of the steam trap.

[0028] FIG. 3 shows an axial section of the steam trap according to a FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, at a closed position.

[0029] FIG. 4 shows an enlarged detail according to FIG. 3.

[0030] FIG. 5 shows a perspective detail view related to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4.

[0031] FIG. 6 shows a view similar to that according to FIG. 4, said view representing, however, a detail variant.

[0032] FIG. 7 shows the steam trap according to FIG. 3 to FIG. 5, at an open position.

[0033] FIG. 8 shows an axial section of a further embodiment of the steam trap, at the closed position.

[0034] FIG. 9 shows an enlarged detail section related to FIG. 8.

[0035] FIG. 10 shows a perspective view related to the detail according to FIG. 9.

[0036] FIG. 11 shows an enlarged detail view, similar to that according to FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, of an embodiment variant.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] FIGS. 1 and 2 show, as a non-limiting example, the use of a steam trap A at a so-called product node K, e.g. a filling plant N for beverages or liquid food in the food and beverage industry.

[0038] The product node K comprises an aseptic double seated valve 1, which establishes a connection between product lines 2, 3, or which separates the product lines from one another. The double seated valve 1 comprises a housing 4, and an actuating device 5. The housing 4, in which a leakage chamber 9 is provided between valve disks and seats that are not shown, has connected thereto a steam pipe 6 via a condensate bottle 7 and a check valve 8, so as to clean at least the leakage chamber 9 from product residues by means of condensate from the condensate bottle 7, and sterilize it subsequently by means of steam.

[0039] The housing 4 has additionally connected thereto a drain valve 10 from which a connection line 12 leads to the steam trap A, which, via a line 13 having the function of an outlet, may be connected to an impact absorber 15. The steam trap A has attached thereto an actuating unit 14, which is here e.g. a pneumatic actuating unit, as a linear actuator, as is also the case with the check valve 8 and the drain valve 10 in a similar way. As shown, the housing 4 has installed thereon a temperature detector 11, which detects the temperature e.g. in the leakage chamber 9, or a further temperature detector (not shown) is provided in the flow path to the steam trap A or within the steam trap A.

[0040] The product nodes K according to FIGS. 1 and 2 differ from one another with respect to different installation positions of the steam trap A, e.g. with regard to the installation space available. In FIG. 1, the steam trap is installed such that it is oriented vertically in a filling plant N, whereas in FIG. 2 it is oriented substantially horizontally.

[0041] When the product lines 2, 3 are separated from one another and when the check valve 8 is open and the drain valve 10 closed, the steam trap A is at an open position for a first discharge state with a large throughput of condensate, e.g. from the condensate bottle 7, and of product residues in the discharge direction R, or at a closed position for a second discharge state with a small throughput, for example, of condensate. These discharge states correspond to a flushing cycle and a sterilization cycle, here e.g. of the leakage chamber 9. Both discharge states make use of the same path.

[0042] FIGS. 3 to 5 show an embodiment of the steam trap A, which is at the closed position in FIGS. 3 and 4.

[0043] The steam trap A in FIG. 3 comprises a housing 16 delimiting a valve chamber 17 and comprising a seat 19 with a conical seating area 21 for a conical sealing face 20 of a closure element 18, i.e. a seat valve V with a valve axis X. The seat 19 increases in width in the discharge direction R towards the valve chamber 17, which is connected to the outlet 13. At the closed position shown, the closure element 18 extends substantially fully into the seat 19 from below, so that the sealing face 20 and the seating area 21 as a seat valve would sealingly shut off the passage through the seat 19. However, the closure element 18 and the seat 19 define with at least one control groove S a two-part passage D at the closed position. In the present embodiment, the sealing face 20 has formed therein at least one local control groove S, e.g. in the form of a milled-out portion 22, which, even at the closed position, keeps open a throttled passage through the seat 19. The cross-section of the passage D changes in the discharge direction R, insofar as it exhibits, after an initial inlet, a constriction E and subsequently increases in width in the discharge direction R.

[0044] The closure element 18 is arranged, so to speak as a head, on a linear actuator 23, and may be formed integrally with said linear actuator 23, which is a piston rod of a piston 25 that is displaceable within the actuating unit 14. The piston 25 is adapted to be acted upon by a pressure fluid in a chamber 27, so as to adjust the closed position shown, and in the opposite direction it is acted upon by the spring force of a spring 26, which adjusts the open position of the seat valve V (FIG. 7). The actuator 23 is sealed off from the valve chamber 17 by means of a seal 24.

[0045] In the enlarged representation according to FIG. 4, it can be seen that the milled-out portion 22 or control groove S in the sealing face 20 extends, in the discharge direction R, first cylindrically in an initial portion 22a approximately up to a control groove end 22b at the constriction E and subsequently increases in width in an end portion 22c.

[0046] FIG. 5 illustrates the portions 22a, 22b, 22c of the milled-out portion 22, which define the control groove S in the sealing face 20 of the closure element 18 and which form together with the seating area 21 the two-part passage D. The cylindrical milled-out portion 22 has a cylinder axis which encloses an acute angle with the conical seating area 21 or the conical sealing face 20, so that the milled-out portion 22 in the sealing face 20 or the seating area 21 is conical in shape.

[0047] According to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the seating area 21 and the sealing face 20 have the same cone top angle β, which may be an angle between 30° and 60°, and in at least one example, an angle of approximately 40°.

[0048] In the embodiments shown, only one local control groove S is provided. It is possible to provide more than one control groove S distributed over the circumference of e.g. the sealing face 20. The control groove end 22b is represented by a line at the constriction, but it may also be rounded between the portions 22a, 22c. The respective control groove may be V-shaped or, alternatively, it may be a rectangular groove.

[0049] As outlined in FIG. 6, the control groove S′ may, alternatively, only be provided in the seating area 21. The sealing face 20 would then not comprise any control groove S. As an additional alternative it is, however, outlined in FIG. 6 that both the seating area 21 and the sealing face 20 have provided therein a respective control groove S, S′, which, at the closed position, jointly define the constriction E approximately at the center of the length of the passage D. In this case, the two approximately mirror-inverted control grooves S, S′ are oriented relative to one another in the circumferential direction. Rotation prevention means are provided for the closure element 18, by way of example.

[0050] FIG. 7 shows the steam trap A according to FIGS. 3 to 5 at the open position, adjusted e.g. by the spring 26, which fully displaced the piston 25 to a stop and retracted the closure element 18 from the seat 19 into the chamber 17, so that between the seat 19 and the outlet 13 a large cross-section is opened, e.g. corresponding to the cross-section of the drain valve 10 in FIGS. 1 and 2.

[0051] The closed position according to FIG. 3 corresponds to the second discharge state for a small throughput, whereas the open position in FIG. 7 corresponds to a first discharge state for a large throughput (flushing cycle and sterilization cycle).

[0052] At the open position in FIG. 7, a strong flow develops, which expands into the valve chamber 17 and to the outlet 13, said strong flow flushing away possible contaminations on the closure element 18, on the seating area 21 or in the control groove S.

[0053] FIGS. 8 and 9 show a different embodiment of the steam trap A at the closed position, said embodiment differing from the embodiment according to FIGS. 3 to 6 insofar as the seating area 21 and the sealing face 20 have different cone top angles. The cone top angle of the conical sealing face 20 is smaller than the cone top angle β of the seating area 21 by an angular difference α. At the closed position shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the closure element 18 would produce a sealing effect with a narrow area of the sealing face 20 substantially at the smallest diameter of the seat 19. However, the at least one control groove S, e.g. the milled-out portion 22, is provided e.g. in the sealing face 20, so that the cross-section, which allows a flow to pass, is delimited by the seating area 21, the sealing face 20 and the control groove S and varies in the discharge direction R.

[0054] The axial length h of the sealing face 20 and of the seating area 21, respectively, corresponds e.g. approximately to half the smallest seat diameter d. The differential angle α between the cone top angles may have a value from approximately 1° to 10°. The control groove S extends only over a short initial area of the length h and decreases in width and depth in the discharge direction R until it finally merges with the sealing face 20 in the area of the constriction E, where, due to the differential angle α, the seating area 21 already receded from the sealing face 20.

[0055] FIG. 10 shows in a perspective schematic representation of the closure element 18 the approximately cylindrical milled-out portion 22 in the metallic sealing face 20. The control groove S may alternatively also be formed exclusively in the seating area 21 (not shown).

[0056] FIG. 11 shows, as a further alternative, that the two-part passage D is defined by approximately mirror-inverted milled-out portions 22a′ and 22′, i.e. by two control grooves S, S′, which are oriented relative to one another in the circumferential direction and provided in the seating area 21 and in the sealing face 20, and narrows initially, whereupon it enlarges again subsequent to the constriction E. In the embodiment according to FIG. 11, it will be expedient to provide the closure element 18 with rotation prevention means, so that the control grooves S, S′ will always be oriented relative to one another in the circumferential direction. Also in the case of the embodiment according to FIGS. 7 to 10, more than one control groove may be provided, distributed in the circumferential direction.

[0057] The function of the second embodiment corresponds to that of the first embodiment, i.e. said second embodiment is a steam trap A whose seat valve V has a jet function at the closed position and opens a large cross-section at the open position, the same flow path to the outlet being used for both discharge states (flushing cycle, sterilization cycle).

[0058] The steam trap A consists of a small number of components. The seal 24 is not acted upon by any high pressures, it is cost-efficient and requires little maintenance, since the seat valve V is self-cleaning. If, however, the passage D should clog during the sterilization cycle due to product residues or other contaminations, a circumstance which would lead e.g. to a temperature drop in the leakage chamber 9, the seat valve V can temporarily be controlled such that it assumes its open position via a superordinate control by means of the status signal of the temperature detector 11 of the temperature measurement unit, so that the passage D can be flushed intensively and will be cleaned.

[0059] The use of the above described steam trap allows e.g. to dispense with the use of a switchover valve and its piping in the product node K, this kind of switchover valves being used in such product nodes for directly discharging the large throughput during the flushing cycle, and for separating the steam trap A as well as for conducting condensate via the steam trap only during the flushing cycle.

[0060] The steam trap A can easily be incorporated into existing processes or processing systems, since it has to be acted in the same way as the hitherto used switchover valve, viz. by the actuating unit 14.

[0061] For reducing the costs and simplifying the stocking of spare parts, the check valve 8, the drain valve 10 and the seat valve V with its actuating unit 14 may have an at least substantially identical structural design (carry over part philosophy).

[0062] Further, a method for operating a steam trap including any one or combination of the features discussed above may comprise, by means of a temperature measurement unit in an inlet of the steam trap, measuring a sterilization temperature, and if the sterilization temperature drops below a given value, transferring the steam trap, for a short period of time, to a first discharge state to enable a large throughput of condensate.

[0063] Further, FIGS. 1-11 show the relative positioning of various components of the receiver assembly. If shown directly contacting each other, or directly coupled, then such components may be referred to as directly contacting or directly coupled, respectively, at least in one example. Similarly, components shown contiguous or adjacent to one another may be contiguous or adjacent to each other, respectively, at least in one example. As an example, components lying in face-sharing contact with each other may be referred to as in face-sharing contact or physically contacting one another. As another example, elements positioned apart from each other with only a space there-between and no other components may be referred to as such, in at least one example.

[0064] As yet another example, elements shown above/below one another, at opposite sides to one another, or to the left/right of one another may be referred to as such, relative to one another. Further, as shown in the figures, a topmost element or point of element may be referred to as a “top” of the component and a bottommost element or point of the element may be referred to as a “bottom” of the component, in at least one example. As used herein, top/bottom, upper/lower, above/below, may be relative to a vertical axis of the figures and used to describe positioning of elements of the figures relative to one another. Furthermore, reference to positioning of an object that is horizontal may refer to positioning where a length of an object is substantially parallel to a plane formed by the ground. Similarly, reference to positioning of an object that is vertical may refer to positioning where a length of an object is substantially perpendicular to a plane that is formed by the ground. Additionally, elements shown above other elements are positioned vertically above the other elements, in one example. As yet another example, shapes of the elements depicted within the figures may be referred to as having those shapes (e.g., such as being circular, straight, planar, curved, rounded, chamfered, angled, or the like). Further, elements shown intersecting one another may be referred to as intersecting elements or intersecting one another, in at least one example. Further still, an element shown within another element or shown outside of another element may be referred as such, in one example.