METHOD FOR REFINING RECTIFIED ALCOHOL AND APPARATUS FOR IMPLEMENTING SAME

Abstract

The present invention relates to the field of food industry and to pharmacology and medicine, and it is intended for refining water-alcohol mixtures by the way of de-rectifying and homogenizing those mixtures, and also it will find a wide application in manufacturing and processing beverages or liquid medicaments based on rectified spirit. The objective of the invention is to create such a method for refining rectified alcohol, which would ensure maximum improvement of a beverage by small changes in its structure while maintaining the original taste of the initial product, as well as creating a device for refining rectified alcohol that would ensure the high efficiency of the processes for de-rectifying and homogenizing of the beverage evenly throughout the rectifying column with minimal production costs.

Claims

1. A method for refining rectified alcohol by passing the alcohol through a rectifying column of a device and separating a rectified alcohol condensate in the form of a phlegma, wherein the rectified alcohol is fed into a head portion of the rectifying column, with a temperature gradient being maintained inside thereof, and a finished product is collected in the form of a phlegma at an outlet of the rectifying column, which is characterized by that (wherein) the temperature gradient is created across the width of the rectifying column, and the rectified alcohol is directed horizontally along a length of the rectifying column and perpendicularly to the temperature gradient.

2. An apparatus for implementing the method according to claim 1 comprising: a rectifying column including a packing and having end openings for feeding an initial product and discharging a finished product in the form of a phlegma; and a heating element; and a cooling element; wherein the rectifying column is horizontally arranged, and the heating and cooling elements are located on the opposite sides of the rectifying column along the entire length thereof.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the rectifying column has a form of a horizontal hollow plate, with the heating element being arranged on a lower end of the horizontal hollow plate throughout all the area thereof, and with the cooling element being arranged on an upper end of the horizontal hollow plate throughout all the area thereof.

4. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the rectifying column has a form of a tube twisted into a flat horizontal spiral shape with the heating element being arranged under the tube and with the cooling element being arranged above the tube.

5. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the rectifying column has a form of a tube spirally twisted around the vertical heating element, and the cooling element is a fan.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0038] The inventive method of refining rectified alcohol and the apparatus for its implementation are explained by the drawings, which are schematically depicted in:

[0039] FIG. 1. shows a schematic diagram of the inventive apparatus;

[0040] FIG. 2. shows a cross-section view of a horizontal plate-type rectifying column with bottom heating and top cooling;

[0041] FIG. 3. shows a cross-section of a horizontal cylindrical rectifying column with side heating and side cooling;

[0042] FIG. 4. shows an apparatus for refining alcoholic beverages according to the claimed method;

[0043] FIG. 5. shows an embodiment of the apparatus; and.

[0044] FIG. 6 shows the effects of processing rectified alcohol after the prototype and the claimed method on precipitation of pg red blood cells.

[0045] In this case, the symbols indicated in the figures show as follows:

[0046] FIG. 1. Schematic diagram of the inventive apparatus: [0047] 1. Rectifying column. [0048] 2. Heating element. [0049] 3. Cooling element. [0050] (8) Output rectified alcohol output solution. [0051] (P) Finished product (refined alcohol phlegma).

[0052] FIG. 2. The cross-section of the horizontal plate-type column with bottom heating and top cooling. [0053] 1. Rectifying column. [0054] 2. Heating element. [0055] 3. Cooling element.

[0056] FIG. 3. Cross-section of the horizontal cylindrical column with lateral heating and cooling. [0057] 1. Rectifying column. [0058] 2. Heating element. [0059] 3. Cooling element.

[0060] FIG. 4. Apparatus for refining the alcoholic beverages according to the claimed method: [0061] 1. Rectifying column. [0062] 2. Heating element of the rectifying column. [0063] 3. Cooling element of the rectifying column. [0064] 4. Reservoir for the initial product. [0065] 5. Reservoir for the finished product. [0066] 6. Pump for controlled feed of the initial product. [0067] 7. Cooling element for the finished product. [0068] 8. Rectifying column packing.

[0069] FIG. 5. The apparatus embodiment [0070] 1. Rectifying column. [0071] 2. Heating element of rectifying column. [0072] 3. Cooling element for the rectifying column. [0073] 4. Reservoir for the initial product. [0074] 5. Reservoir for the finished product. [0075] 6. Pump for controlled feed of the initial product. [0076] 7. Cooling element for the finished product. [0077] 8. Thermorelay for heating element. [0078] 9. Cooling fan.

[0079] The operation of the claimed device and the process for its application.

[0080] The essence of the proposed method for refining rectified alcohol consists in the fact that in order to obtain a high-quality water-alcohol mixture of a drink, there is used a process inverse to the process of rectification of ethyl alcohol.

[0081] It is known that the undoubted condition for effective separating alcohol from water in a rectifying column is a provision of a process wherein a water-alcohol product is fed vertically and along the temperature gradient, whereas, in the inventive method, to combine the alcohol with water, the water-alcohol mixture is directed along the horizontal column in the direction perpendicular to the temperature gradient.

[0082] At the same time, in the course of the phase transitions of the solution ingredients, at the level of molecules, there is achieved a destruction of ethanol clusters and a formation of ethanol crystalline hydrates, as well as it is provided a uniform distribution of the mixture particles over the finished product volume.

[0083] The present method and the device for its implementation propose to pass the rectified alcohol through a horizontal rectifying column, the opposite sides of which are heated and, accordingly, cooled along the entire length of the rectifying column to create a transverse temperature gradient over the entire length of the column. This inventive feature provides for the continuous movement of the liquid and gas phases of the drink in the horizontal direction and perpendicularly to the direction of the upward movement of the solution vapors and the downward movement of the phlegma, with the finished product being collected at the outlet of the column in the form of phlegma. Due to the increased temperature in the rectifying column, the kinetic energy of the molecular oscillations increases, which fact contributes to the disintegration of the agglomerates of the water-alcohol mixture ingredients. In the gas phase, there is occurred a constant separation of the rectified ethanol clusters into individual molecules, which are solvated by the water molecules in the course of condensing the vapors into the phlegma. This results in effectively combining the alcohol with water at the molecular level. Such a method and a design of the apparatus for its implementation provide a constant temperature of the liquid and gas phases along the entire length of the column, which fact increases the efficiency of using the entire volume of the column. A large number of phase transitions of a water-ethanol solution provide for the effective formation of the ethanol crystalline hydrates, which are characteristic for the ethanol of the natural fermentation process, and their uniform distribution over the volume of the finished product.

[0084] The essence of the apparatus for refining the rectified alcohol with the use of the method being claimed is as follows:

[0085] The apparatus for refining rectified alcohol (see FIGS. 1, 2) consists of horizontal rectifying column 1, at the bottom potion of which and along the entire side thereof, there is arranged a heating element, for example, a steam, oil, electric, or induction, and so on, element 2 of above said rectifying column 1. At the top portion and along the entire side of the column, there is arranged cooling element 3 of column 1, for example, with water, oil or another cooling agent. Heating element 2 and cooling element 3 of the rectifying column 1 can also be arranged on the sides of column 1 (see FIG. 3) in the horizontal plane. At the inlet of rectifying column 1, there is located reservoir 4 for storing the water-alcohol mixture, and at the outlet of rectifying column 1, there is placed reservoir 5 for the finished product. At the same time, the cavity of reservoir 4 is connected to the cavity of column 1 owing to the availability of pump 6, which is designed to control feeding of the initial solution to the head of the rectifying column, and at the outlet of the column, to provide the procedure of conclusively cooling the finished product transferred into the phlegma, the cavity of the rectifying column may be associated with the cavity of reservoir 5 for the finished product through cooling element 7 for the finished product. To increase the intensity of the phlegma formation, rectifying column 1 can be provided with packing 8 (see FIG. 4), which increases the surface area for boiling the solution and condensing the phlegma. In addition, (see FIG. 5) a thermo regulator or thermorelay 9 can be installed on the column to automatically control the heating and cooling temperatures, and fan 10 can be arranged above cooling element 7 to cool the finished product. In this case, rectifying column 1 can be made in the form of a horizontally arranged hollow plate with inlet and outlet branch pipes, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, or in the form of a horizontally arranged tube, as shown in FIG. 3, or a spiral shaped tube, the coils of which are located in a horizontal plane or close to the horizontal 15 plane, as shown in FIG. 5.

[0086] When processing the finished refined alcohol with the use of the claimed method, the unit schematically shown in FIG. 4 operates as follows.

[0087] From reservoir 4 for the initial product, the water-alcohol mixture of the rectified alcohol is supplied by pump 6 into the head portion of horizontally arranged rectifying column 1. Using heating element 2, the water-alcohol mixture is evenly boiled along the entire length of column 1 on its bottom side, and with the help of cooling element 3, there is provided a uniform condensation of vapors and formation of the phlegma along the entire length of rectifying column 1 on its upper side. The phlegma flows down the side walls of the column, and packing 8 is constantly enriched with oncoming vapor of alcohol and water. In this case, the reflux number of the apparatus tends to infinity. At the same time, under the operation of pump 6, both phases, that is, liquid and gaseous ones, simultaneously move horizontally from the head portion of rectifying column 1 to the outlet thereof. The residual vapors of the water-alcohol mixture are condensed on the cooling element for finished product 7 and mixed with the phlegma. At the outlet of rectifying column 1, the finished refined alcohol is collected in the form of the cooled phlegma into reservoir 5 for the finished product. The efficiency of refining the rectified alcohol at this apparatus depends on the length of column 1, the feed rate of the initial product supplied by controlled pump 6 and the controlled temperature of heating element 2 of rectifying column.

EXAMPLE

[0088] The test was conducted using as a rectified alcohol, namely, the 40% vodka of (President Standard) produced by the 3 (Zhytomyr LVP), Ukraine. To process the vodka with the use of the present inventive method, there was applied the apparatus shown in FIG. 4. For processing the vodka according to the method of the prototype, there was used the apparatus with a vertical arrangement of the rectifying column described as a prototype [Patent of Ukraine No. 104536, IPC: CCC12G 3/04, B01F 13/02, B01D 3/26. Publ.10.01.01.2014]. In both cases, there were used rectifying columns of the same geometric parameters and with the same packing. There was conducted a comparative analysis of the effect of the vodka processed by the method of the prototype and according to the present inventive method on the precipitation of a pig red blood cells. The test tube with pig blood, treated with 3.2% sodium citrate as an anticoagulant, was filled with the physiological dose of the vodka in concentration of 3.0 ppm, it was characteristic for a state of extreme intoxication for a human. The results were recorded using a microscope.

[0089] The photographs shown in FIG. 6 show that only a blood sample with rectified alcohol processed by the prototype method (picture on the left) contains a conglomerate of red blood cells.

[0090] This fact proves that processing of the rectified alcohol by the present method causes considerably lower precipitation of pig erythrocytes than when it is processed according to the prototype method.

[0091] It is known that the use of large doses of rectified alcohol by a human lead to a rapid intoxication. Physiologically, this is manifested in loss of coordination, delayed reaction, redness of the eyes, face skin, especially in the nose and cheeks, numbness of the extremities, etc. To a large extent, these symptoms are caused by the precipitation (clumping) of erythrocytes under the influence of ethanol, which leads to clogging of micro vessels and capillaries, and, accordingly, to reduced oxygen access to the brain and other vital organs. Since the body of a pig in its structure is considered to be quite close to the human body, it can be assumed that the rectified alcohol processed by the claimed method would cause less harm to the human body. This means the occurrence of a significant improvement in the quality of the alcoholic beverage. In addition, when processing the rectified alcohol by the present method, the drink does not lose the original taste of the initial product.

[0092] Based on the above, this example proves that the claimed method for refining the rectified alcohol provides maximum improvement in the quality of the drink by reducing its harmful effects on the human body while maintaining the original taste of the initial product.

[0093] Thus, the apparatus for refining the rectified alcohol with the use of the claimed method, that is, by the method of de-rectification, provides a multistage process for combining alcohol with water, wherein the de-rectified phlegma is formed in the process of heat and mass transfer between alcohol and water during their numerous phase transitions along the entire length of the rectifying column. The apparatus can be used for producing sorting of alcoholic beverages, as well as for producing or processing any alcoholic beverages or liquid medicines prepared on the basis of rectified spirit.

[0094] The proposed method and the apparatus for its implementation allow reach as follows:

[0095] The maximum improvement of the drink by reducing its harmful influence on the human body, while maintaining the original taste of the initial product;

[0096] The creation of such a design of the device for refining the rectified alcohol, which ensures the high efficiency of the processes of de-rectifying and homogenizing the drink evenly over the entire volume of the rectifying column.

[0097] It is clear that the above-mentioned embodiments of the design implementation of the inventive concept and the examples of the technological capabilities thereof don't cover all the concrete designs and all possible aspects of the industrial application of the unit in accordance with the invention, and in no event, they don't limit the rights of the inventor.