WO2010109112A1

WO2010109112A1 - Device for rapidly refrigerating drinks

Info

Publication number: WO2010109112A1
Application number: PCT/FR2010/050444
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bruno Guillemat; Boris Foucault
Original assignee: Pernod Ricard
Priority date: 2009-03-25
Filing date: 2010-03-15
Publication date: 2010-09-30
Also published as: FR2943771B1; EP2411747A1; FR2943771A1; KR20120004397A; AU2010227392A1; CN102308162A; JP2012521536A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for cooling a container (3) by means of a refrigerating gas, including the steps of: placing the container inside an unsealed chamber (2); and injecting an amount of liquefied refrigerant gas into the chamber at a total flow rate of less than 200 ml per minute. The invention also relates to a device enabling the implementation of said method.

Description

Fast cooling device for drinks

The present invention relates to a refrigerating device for beverage. There are numerous devices for refrigerating beverages at their ideal temperature of consumption, especially for sparkling wines, Champagne, whose optimum temperature of consumption is around 8 to 12 ° C, or strong alcohols such as vodka, cognac , etc., whose preferred consumption temperature may be negative (about -5 ° C to -10 ° C).

First there are refrigerators or freezers. However, one of the major drawbacks of these devices is that the time required for cooling a bottle can reach several hours. This implies that the drink is stored in the refrigerator or freezer long enough before consumption. This is not always possible, especially for restaurants and bars, for example, especially because of the storage space required for several drinks, different optimal temperatures depending on the drinks, etc.

On the other hand, if these drinks are permanently stored in a refrigerator or freezer so that fresh bottles are always available, this results in significant and unnecessary power consumption.

It should also be noted that sparkling wine bottles and

Champagne are generally relatively thick glass bottles whose thickness is not constant over the entire bottle, which does not facilitate heat exchange and may lead to a non-uniform temperature of beverage.

In addition, the use of a refrigerator or freezer requires an electrical supply source, and therefore are not transportable cooling means. In such a case, it would be advisable to use an isothermal bag system comprising blocks of ice or refrigerated gel that have been previously cooled or frozen.

There is therefore a need for a device for rapidly cooling such drinks as homogeneously as possible, this device preferably being able to be transportable. In general, a cooling device comprises an enclosure inside which the bottle to be cooled is arranged.

A cooling means is then introduced into the chamber.

Various studies have tried to use a chemical route consisting of reacting one or more reagents together endothermically, for example with a mixture of water and urea or using ammonium nitrate.

It is understood that such a method requires the separate storage and handling of at least two reagents. This poses security and usability problems for the user.

Moreover, in order to improve the heat exchange, the reaction should take place on contact with the bottle. Reactive products are likely to remain on the bottle which poses health and safety problems for the end user. Industrialists then turned to a gas path. Such devices include a gas cartridge under pressure in the liquid state. The gas is then injected into the enclosure where it relaxes and evaporates, then taking heat from the surrounding environment (enthalpy of vaporization) and in particular the liquid contained in the bottle which cools it. Vents allow evacuation of the gas.

The pressurized gas can be injected and circulate through a coil surrounding the enclosure or directly into the enclosure, thus being brought into direct contact with the bottle which improves heat transfer and increases the cooling rate. Such devices are described in particular in the US documents

2,805,556, FR 580,216, US 4,640,101, US 5,115,940, US 4,054,037 and FR 2,807,503.

However, such devices hardly meet clear objectives of efficiency, reproducibility and quality. First, these devices use a liquefied refrigerant gas tank. The amount of such gases used (CFC and other types) should generally be as low as possible for both economic and ecological reasons. To do this, it is necessary to maximize the heat exchange between the bottle and the liquefied gas so that the amount of gas to be evaporated is closer to the amount of heat that it is desired to remove the bottle to lower the temperature. Moreover, it is necessary to optimize these heat exchanges as much as possible so that the lowering of the temperature is the fastest and the most homogeneous possible.

For a 75cl Champagne bottle, it will be considered for example that a cooling time of 15 minutes to lower the temperature of the bottle from 22 ⁰ C to 12 ⁰ C is extremely fast.

In order to overcome the difficulties mentioned above, the present invention relates to a method of cooling a container with a refrigerant gas comprising the steps of: placing the container inside a non-leakproof enclosure

injecting a quantity of liquefied refrigerant gas into the enclosure at a total flow rate of less than 200 ml per minute.

Advantageously, the gas flow rate is less than 90 m! per minute. Advantageously, the gas flow rate is less than 60 ml per minute.

Preferably, the gas flow rate is substantially equal to 45 - 50 mi per minute.

Advantageously, the gas flow is greater than 30 - 35 m! per minute. Surprisingly, it has been found that it is not enough to simply inject a specific quantity of gas but that its injection rate is also an important parameter for obtaining a more homogeneous and more efficient cooling.

Without wishing to be bound by any theory, it seems that by controlling the flow of refrigerant gas, it allows it to relax gradually throughout the injection, which promotes heat exchange and therefore a more efficient cooling compared to the injection of a sudden and significant amount of gas. Of course, the gas flow rate will depend on the characteristics of the refrigerant gas used and the targets set in terms of cooling time and the desired amount of cooling.

It has been found that a flow rate of about 50 ml per minute makes it possible to lower the temperature of a champagne bottle from 22 ° C. to about 12 ° C. in less than 15 minutes. Advantageously, the gas is injected with a substantially constant flow over at least the majority of the gas injection time. The present invention also relates to a device for cooling at least one container, comprising an enclosure designed to receive said container and provided with at least one venting vent, said enclosure being furthermore equipped with minus means for admitting a liquefied refrigerant gas, characterized in that the intake means is configured so as to ensure an injection of the gas according to the method that is the subject of the present invention.

Preferably, the container contains a volume of beverage and in particular an alcoholic beverage. Preferentially, the container is a bottle of wine, especially a sparkling white wine or Champagne.

Advantageously, the enclosure is an isothermal enclosure, thermally insulated from the outside.

Advantageously, the enclosure housing the container has a residual free air volume of less than 60 cm ³ .

Advantageously, at least a portion of the gas inlet means in the enclosure opens substantially to two-thirds from the bottom of the container, and in particular near a neck in the case of a bottle. Indeed, it has been found that an injection substantially at this level of a bottle ensures the best homogeneity of the cooling.

Alternatively or in a complementary manner, the device comprises at least two injection points of the gas in the enclosure.

Advantageously, the device comprises at least one high gas injection point, and at least one low gas injection point.

Advantageously, the device comprises at least two injection points located at the same level and distributed on the periphery of the enclosure.

Preferably, each gas intake path from a gas supply source has a substantially equal total pressure drop. In this manner, each gas outlet port in the enclosure will deliver substantially the same amount and flow rate of refrigerant gas.

The present invention will be better understood in the light of the following detailed description with reference to the appended drawing in which: - Figure 1 is a side view in longitudinal section of a device according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view in longitudinal section of the device of FIG. 1. A refrigerant device 1 according to the invention, as shown in section in FIGS. 1 and 2, comprises an enclosure 2 designed to receive a bottle 3 of Champagne bottle type, and comprising a substantially cylindrical side wall 4, a bottom 5 and a removable cover 6, the chamber 2 being mainly made from isothermal materials. The chamber 2 is equipped with a vent vent 7, said vent being formed in the side wall 4 and passing therethrough.

The enclosure 2 is mounted on a base 8 and the cover 6 is associated with locking means 9 and a handle 10.

These elements are not at the heart of the invention, they will not be described further and the skilled person can resort to any known locking solution.

The same goes for the isothermal enclosure. However, according to a preferred aspect of the invention, the volume of residual air in the enclosure 2, after placing the bottle 3 and closing the lid 6 is as small as possible.

In order to cool the bottle 3, the device also comprises a cartridge 1 1 of liquefied refrigerant gas. The cartridge 1 1 is disposed inside a dedicated housing 12.

The cartridge 11 is connected to a gas injection circuit of the cartridge 1 1 inside the chamber 2 comprising a tube 1 3 in fluid communication with the interior of the chamber 2 and passing through to do this. side wall 6.

According to a preferred aspect of the invention, the tube 13 opens substantially to two thirds of the height of the bottle 3, a little below the neck of the latter.

The set of cooling means, including in particular the cartridge 11 and the tube 13 through which the refrigerant gas is circulated, is designed to allow the injection of the refrigerant gas according to controlled flow characteristics in accordance with the invention. 'invention. These means may include one or more flow control valves. In the present case, the example presented uses about 400 ml of liquefied R134A refrigerant gas contained in an aerosol can cartridge 11 comprising a tip having a 0.25 mm orifice without PGA.

Such a cartridge 11 provides a gas flow of about 45 m! per minute for 8 to 10 minutes.

Of course, the type of gas and the volume to be injected depend on the desired cooling. However, the parameters of the invention make it possible to optimize the use of the gas by reducing overconsumption and approaching the amount of theoretical gas to be used to remove the desired amount of heat from the container.

For environmental reasons, the R134A gas, halogenated hydrocarbon of formula C2H ₂ F ₄ , is removed and will have to be replaced by other refrigerant gases. It will then be necessary to adapt the quantities described here to meet the cooling objectives set. Various comparative tests to cool a bottle of

Champagne at an initial temperature of 22 and 35 ° C in about 15 minutes up to a temperature of 12 ° C maximum were made.

The quantity of gas injected was 500 m! from an aerosol-type cartridge with a 0.25 mm diameter slit valve.

The injection was made at a single injection point in a lateral position about 6 cm from the bottom of the bottle.

The prototype was designed to have a residual air volume of 56 cm ³ . The temperature of the wine is recorded using a sensor inserted into the bottle. After 15 minutes of cooling the wine is poured into five 15cl glasses and the temperature was measured in each glass.

The results obtained are shown in the table below.

Table 1 The results show the effectiveness of a gas flow rate of about 45 mi per minute to quickly reach the desired temperatures.

Other tests were carried out on a prototype allowing a double injection of gas, respectively in the upper part and in the lower part of the bottle.

The tests were conducted to cool a bottle of sparkling wine having an initial temperature of 22 ° C using 400 ml of refrigerant gas.

10

Table 2 As can be seen, good performance is already obtained by limiting the gas injection at a flow rate of less than about 200 ml per minute (series 1: 160 ml per minute).

Even better performance is obtained with a flow rate of less than 80 ml per minute (series 2: 66 ml per minute).

An optimum is achieved for Series 3 with a flow rate of about 50 ml per minute, while a flow rate of less than 35 ml per minute (Series 4: 31 ml per minute) is less satisfactory.

The tests mentioned above were carried out on bottles of 75 cc of beverage.

However, tests were also carried out on containers with a capacity of 4 cl of beverage and it was found that the optimum flow rate for the most efficient cooling was also achieved for a flow rate of about 45-50 ml of refrigerant gas. per minute, thus allowing cooling of such a quantity of beverage in 2 minutes using about 100 ml of refrigerant gas.

The table below shows the results of a cooling of four tubes each containing 4 cl of vodka at an initial temperature of 22 ° C. The amount of refrigerant gas used is 100 ml of refrigerant gas. The temperature is measured after 2 minutes.

Table 3 It is found that the best cooling performance is achieved with the 0.25mm valve allowing gas flow of about 50 mi per minute.

Although the invention has been described with a particular embodiment, it is obvious that it is in no way limited and that it includes all the technical equivalents of the means described and their combinations if they enter into the scope of the invention. An example of another usable gas is in particular HFO1234Ze.

Claims

1. A method of cooling a container (3) with a refrigerant gas comprising the steps of:

- arrange the container inside a chamber (2) not sealed

injecting a quantity of liquefied refrigerant gas into the chamber at a total flow rate of less than 200 ml per minute.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the gas flow rate is less than 90 ml per minute.

3. Method according to claim 2, characterized in that the gas flow rate is less than 60 ml per minute.

4. Method according to claim 3, characterized in that the gas flow rate is substantially equal to 45 - 50 ml per minute.

5. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the gas flow rate is greater than 30 - 35 mi per minute.

6. Method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the gas is injected with a substantially constant flow over at least the majority of the gas injection time.

7. Device (1) for cooling at least one container (3), comprising an enclosure (2) designed to receive said container and provided with at least one venting port (7), said enclosure being furthermore equipped with at least one means for admitting a liquefied refrigerant gas, characterized in that the intake means is configured so as to be able to inject the gas according to the method that is the subject of any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. Device (1) according to claim 7, characterized in that the container (3) contains a volume of drink and in particular an alcoholic beverage.

9. Device (1) according to claim 8, characterized in that the container (3) is a bottle of wine, especially a sparkling white wine or Champagne.

10. Device (1) according to any one of claims 7 to 9, characterized in that the enclosure (2) is an isothermal enclosure, thermally insulated from the outside.

11. Device (1) according to any one of claims 7 to 10, characterized in that the enclosure (2) housing the container (3) has a residual free air volume of less than 60 cm3.

12. Device (1) according to any one of claims 7 to 11, characterized in that at least a portion of the gas inlet means in the enclosure (2) open substantially to two thirds from the bottom of the container, and in particular near a neck in the case of a bottle (3).

13. Device (1) according to any one of claims 7 to 12, characterized in that it comprises at least two gas injection points in the enclosure (2).

14. Device (1) according to claim 13, characterized in that it comprises at least one high gas injection point, and at least one low gas injection point.

15. Device (1) according to any one of claims 13 or

14, characterized in that it comprises at least two injection points located at the same level and distributed over the periphery of the enclosure.

16. Device (2) according to any one of claims 13 to

15, characterized in that each gas intake path from a gas supply source has a substantially equal total pressure drop.