APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING NON-SPLATTER COOKING OIL

Abstract

Provided is a non-splatter cooking oil even when water is mixed during heating. A magnetic field having a frequency higher than 200 kHz is applied to an edible oil.

Claims

1.-7. (canceled)

8. A producing apparatus for a non-splatter cooking oil comprising: a circulation flow path configured to have an upstream end and a downstream end connected to a storage unit that stores an edible oil; a pump configured to cause the edible oil in the circulation flow path to flow in one direction; a magnetic field generation device including an electromagnet disposed outside a pipe of the circulation flow path, in which the electromagnet extends in a radial direction with respect to a central axis of the circulation flow path such that an end portion of the electromagnet faces the circulation flow path, and a magnetic field having a frequency higher than 200 kHz is applied to the edible oil flowing through the circulation flow path using the electromagnet as a generation source of the magnetic field.

9. The producing apparatus for a non-splatter cooking oil according to claim 8, wherein the frequency of the magnetic field is lower than 350 kHz.

10. The producing apparatus for a non-splatter cooking oil according to claim 8, wherein a plurality of the electromagnets is disposed at predetermined rotation intervals with respect to a central axis of the circulation flow path, and end portions facing the circulation flow path are controlled to have the same polarity.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0012] FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a producing apparatus for a non-splatter cooking oil.

[0013] FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a magnetic field generation device.

[0014] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a plurality of magnetic field generation devices are installed.

[0015] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a plurality of magnetic field generation devices are rotated.

[0016] FIG. 5 is a comparative image showing a state in which water is added dropwise to salad oil (an edible oil) heated to 180° C.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0017] FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a producing apparatus for a non-splatter cooking oil according to the present embodiment. A producing apparatus 1 for an edible oil includes a storage unit 2, a circulation flow path 3, a pump 4, and a magnetic field generation device 5. The storage unit 2 stores the edible oil to be treated. The producing apparatus 1 widely treats edible oils in general, such as salad oil, olive oil, sesame oil, camellia oil, rice oil, soybean oil, perilla oil, sesame oil, canola oil, linseed oil, grape seed oil, sunflower oil, coconut oil, MCT oil, green nut oil, safflower oil, avocado oil, peanut oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, tea seed oil, and almond oil. Moreover, the edible oil is supplied and recovered via the storage unit 2. An upstream end and a downstream end of the circulation flow path 3 are connected to different positions of the storage unit 2, whereby a circulation path for circulating the edible oil in the storage unit 2 is formed. The pump 4 causes the edible oil in the circulation flow path 3 to flow in one direction. The magnetic field generation device 5 is disposed in the vicinity of the circulation flow path 3, and applies a magnetic field in which the magnetic field periodically changes to the edible oil flowing through the circulation flow path 3.

[0018] A lower limit of frequency of the magnetic field applied to the edible oil, in other words, of the magnetic field generated by the magnetic field generation device 5 needs to be higher than 200 kHz. At a frequency equal to or lower than that, the effect of preventing a phenomenon that the heated edible oil splashes cannot be sufficiently obtained, or the obtained effect is not good enough. Furthermore, an upper limit of the frequency does not particularly exist, but is desirably lower than 350 kHz. This is because, at higher frequencies, there is no noticeable difference in the effect of preventing the splashing of the edible oil, and it rather causes a waste of power for driving the magnetic field generation device 5.

[0019] Furthermore, the magnetic field applied to the edible oil may be an alternating magnetic field in which magnitude of the magnetic field continuously changes, or may be a pulsatile magnetic field in which the magnitude of the magnetic field changes stepwise.

[0020] As a procedure for producing the non-splatter cooking oil, the edible oil is supplied to the storage unit 2 first. Next, the pump 4 is driven to circulate the edible oil in the circulation flow path 3, and the application of the magnetic field to the edible oil is repeated by the magnetic field generation device 5. Then, after a predetermined time has elapsed, the edible oil is recovered from the storage unit 2, and the non-splatter cooking oil is obtained.

[0021] FIG. 2 is the configuration diagram of the magnetic field generation device 5. The magnetic field generation device 5 includes a main body 5a and a plurality of electromagnets 5b to 5d. The main body 5a has a disk-like shape and is made of a synthetic resin, a glass, a metal, and the like. A through hole having an inner diameter corresponding to the outer diameter of the pipe of the circulation flow path 3 is formed at the center of the main body 5a, and the pipe of the circulation flow path 3 is inserted into the through hole. Furthermore, the plurality of electromagnets 5b to 5e in which a coil is wound around an iron core are attached to one surface of the main body 5a. These electromagnets 5b to 5e extend in a radial direction with respect to a central axis of the circulation flow path 3 such that end portions thereof face the circulation flow path 3 side, and are disposed point-symmetrically at constant rotation intervals (for example, at equal intervals of 90 degrees). In addition, although at least one electromagnet is sufficient, a plurality of electromagnets are more advantageous from viewpoint of applying the magnetic field to the edible oil in the circulation flow path 3 more strongly (however, the number thereof is arbitrary).

[0022] Advantages of using electromagnets instead of permanent magnets as a generation source of the magnetic field applied to the edible oil are as follows. When the circulation flow path 3 is made of a material such as copper, aluminum, or stainless steel other than a steel pipe (iron), both the permanent magnets and the present apparatus can subdivide the edible oil in the circulation flow path 3 through a magnetic force. However, in the case of permanent magnets, since there is no temporal change (in the frequency), the edible oil tends to immediately return to its original state with time. On the other hand, in the case of electromagnets, an alternating magnetic field is generated inside the circulation flow path 3 to subdivide the edible oil, such that the subdivided state is maintained for a long time.

[0023] The plurality of electromagnets 5b to 5e are controlled such that the end portions facing the circulation flow path 3 always have the same polarity. In other words, when the opposite end of a certain electromagnet 5b is an N pole, the opposite ends of the other electromagnets 5c to 5d are also the N pole, and when the opposite end of the electromagnet 5b is an S pole, the opposite end portions of the other electromagnets 5c to 5d are also the S pole. The direction of the magnetic field generated by the electromagnets 5b to 5e is an important factor in obtaining the effect of preventing the splashing of the edible oil, and the best effect can be obtained when the electromagnets 5b to 5e are disposed such that the end portions (poles) of the electromagnets 5b to 5e face the circulation flow path 3, that is, the electromagnets 5b to 5d extend in the radial direction with respect to the circulation flow path 3, as in the present embodiment.

[0024] The magnetic field generation device 5 may be provided only at one position in the circulation flow path 3, but as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of magnetic field generation devices 5A to 5C may be provided at a plurality of different positions in the circulation flow path 3. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, it is preferable to arrange the respective magnetic field generation devices 5A to 5C to be shifted in a rotation direction. In the example of FIG. 4, the three magnetic field generation devices 5A to 5C are offset by 30 degrees. Accordingly, the magnetic field can be more uniformly applied to the edible oil in the circulation flow path 3.

[0025] As described above, according to the present embodiment, by applying a magnetic field having a frequency higher than 200 kHz to the edible oil, it is possible to obtain the non-splatter cooking oil even when water is mixed due to putting in an ingredient or the like during heating. FIG. 5 is a comparative image showing a state in which a predetermined amount of water is dropped with a dropper into 1 to 1.5 liters of salad oil (edible oil) heated to 180° C. On right part of FIG. 5, a state of an example in which a magnetic field having a frequency of 216 kHz is applied to salad oil is shown, while on left part of FIG. 5, a state of the same amount of salad oil (comparative example) without such processing is shown. The processing conditions of the example are as follows: application time of the magnetic field is about 40 minutes, 12 magnetic field generation devices each having an inductance of about 220 pH are used, a negative high-voltage circuit (input: 12 V, 0.3 A, output: −12,000 V) is used as a voltage supply source to the coil, and an AC adapter consumes a total of DC 12 V and 1.3 A. In the comparative example, it can be seen that the salad oil is splashing vigorously, whereas in the example, such splash does not occur at all. Furthermore, as a general indication of the processing time for the edible oil when the amount of the edible oil is between 10 and 50 liters, the edible oil may be circulated at normal temperature for about 30 to 60 minutes.

[0026] Moreover, according to the present embodiment, by repeating the application of the magnetic field to the edible oil circulating in the circulation flow path 3, it is possible to efficiently apply the magnetic field without causing an increase in size of the producing apparatus 1.

[0027] In addition, in the present description, the “non-splashing” edible oil is used in the sense that splash does not occur at all or the splash is greatly reduced as compared with the edible oil before the processing.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

[0028] 1 Producing apparatus for an edible oil [0029] 2 Storage unit [0030] 3 Circulation flow path [0031] 4 Pump [0032] 5,5A to 5C Magnetic field generation device