BEVERAGE DISPENSING SYSTEM WITH TEMPERATURE CONTROL

SYSTEME DISTRIBUTEUR DE BOISSON AVEC COMMANDE DE TEMPERATURE

English Abstract

A system is provided for delivering a beverage from a cold storage area to a
dispensing tap at a desired temperature. At least one beverage line runs from
a
bulk beverage container in the cold storage area, to an inlet of a heat
exchanger
located in the vicinity of said dispensing tap. At least one beverage line
extends
from an outlet of the heat exchanger to the dispensing tap. A chiller is
provided
for chilling a cooling liquid connected via a coolant outflow line to a
coolant inlet
on the heat exchanger, and via a coolant inflow line to an outlet on the heat
exchanger. A thermostat for the chiller has a switch on the chiller, and a
temperature sensor in proximity to the heat exchanger.

Claims

Claims
1. A system for delivering a beverage from a cold storage area to a
dispensing tap at a desired temperature comprising:
a) at least one beverage line from a bulk beverage container in
said cold storage area, to an inlet of a heat exchanger located in the
vicinity
of said dispensing tap;
b) at least one beverage line from an outlet of said heat
exchanger to a said dispensing tap;
c) a chiller for chilling a cooling liquid connected via a coolant
outflow line to a coolant inlet on said heat exchanger, and via a coolant
inflow line to an outlet on said heat exchanger; and
d) a thermostat having a switch on said chiller, and a
temperature sensor in proximity to said heat exchanger.
2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said heat exchanger is a
plate heat exchanger.
3. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said heat exchanger is a
multiple pass, plate heat exchanger.
4. A system as claimed in claim 2 or 3 wherein said temperature
sensor is located on or in the coolant inlet of said heat exchanger.
5. A system as claimed in claim 2 or 3 wherein said temperature
sensor is located on or in said coolant outflow line adjacent said coolant
inlet of
said heat exchanger.
6. A system as claimed in any one of claims 1-5, wherein said heat
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exchanger is located a sufficient distance from said cold storage area that
beverage in said beverage line will tend to increase in temperature between
said
bulk beverage container and said heat exchanger.
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Description

CA 02594193 2007-07-23
BEVERAGE DISPENSING SYSTEM WITH TEMPERATURE CONTROL
The present invention relates to the field of beverage dispensing. In
particular,
the present invention provides a novel system for draft beer dispensing that
permits
the draft beer to be dispensed at a consistent temperature, but is compatible
with
most aspects of current state of the art beverage dispensing systems.
A traditional arrangement in a bar or pub is to store draft beer, which is
contained in barrels or kegs, in a cold room, at or at slightly below the
temperature
at which one may wish to dispense it. The beer is carried in metal or plastic
lines
from the cold room to the bar, where it is dispensed from draft taps. In order
to
prevent the beer in the line from the cold room to the tower from heating up
to an
unacceptable temperature, a plurality of beer lines are typically bundled in
an
insulated trunk line that also includes a refrigerant line, usually glycol
chilled water
that flows from a chiller through the trunk line, and back to the chiller. Due
to
variation in the routing of the trunk line, quality of insulating materials,
quality of
installation, ambient temperature and other environmental factors specific to
each
bar, a recognized drawback of such a system is that the final temperature of
the
delivered product may not be consistent. While the trunk line serves to
prevent the
beer from warming to an unacceptable temperature, heat exchange between the
refrigerant lines and the beer lines is inefficient. Consequently, cooling of
the beer
is limited and inadequate to maintain temperatures below that of the beer cold
room
in conditions of even moderate rates of beer dispense.
Furthermore, the set-up of bars and restaurants varies widely from place to
place, and often a trunk line will have to be routed 100 to 200 feet through
fairly warm
areas, like kitchens, or near warm air heating ducts.
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CA 02594193 2007-07-23
Systems have been developed to dispense beer and other beverages at very
low temperatures, such as those shown in Canadian Patent Application No.
2,516,150; Canadian PatentApplication No. 2,516,148; Canadian
PatentApplication
No. 2,504,120; Canadian Patent Application No. 2,496,156; Canadian Patent
Application No. 2;486,630; Canadian Patent Application No. 2,482,264; U.S.
Patent
No. 6,598,417; and U.S. Patent No. 5,564,602. These systems involve the
addition,
to the system discussed above, of a chiller and heat exchanger located as near
as
practical to the point of delivery of the beverage. Accordingly, even if the
beer in the
trunk line has heated up significantly from the cold room to the bar, if the
heat
exchanger is located just below the bar, the beer can be cooled immediately
prior to
dispensing resulting in an acceptably cool product.
The improved systems involve a chiller, and a heat exchanger. It is important
to locate the heat exchanger close to the point of dispense to ensure
consistent
delivery of beer at the desired temperature. The chiller may be located either
near
tot he bar or more remotely dependent on the space constraints encountered in
each
bar. The present applicant has significantly improved the existing
chiller/heat
exchanger arrangement by dividing the temperature control into two components
and
moving the temperature sensor to the heat exchanger, while the controller
remains
at the chiller. This arrangement ensures flexibility of location of the
chiller while
assuring consistent control of the refrigerant temperature at the point of
heat
exchange. This provides for consistent beer dispense temperatures regardless
of
the variations and environmental conditions noted earlier. Coolant lines
extend from
the chiller to and from the heat exchanger located at the bar. The coolant
lines must,
therefore, be routed from the chiller to the heat exchanger. Accordingly, the
coolant
lines are often routed through areas of unpredictable temperature, such as
ceilings,
walls, and past exits.
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CA 02594193 2007-07-23
All previous chiller/heat exchangers known to the applicant are
thermostatically controlled by providing a thermostat having a temperature
sensor in
the reservoir of the chiller. If the person dispensing the beer or other
beverage
perceives that it is not cold enough, they adjust the thermostat at the
chiller, until the
beer is the desired temperature. Unfortunately, conditions change from day to
day,
or even hour to hour, and a great deal of beer is served at temperatures other
than
those deemed desirable.
The present applicant has significantly improved the existing chiller/heat
exchanger arrangement, and taken virtually all the guesswork out of
temperature
selection by dividing the thermostat into two components, and moving the
temperature. sensor to the heat exchanger. In this way, the chiller will still
cycle on
and off in response to the thermostat, but will do so in a way that maintains
the
temperature at the heat exchanger, which is very near to the point of
dispensing, at
a uniform temperature.
In a broad aspect, the present invention relates to a system for delivering a
beverage from a cold storage area to a dispensing tap at a desired temperature
comprising: at least one beverage line from a bulk beverage container in said
cold
storage area, to an inlet of a heat exchanger located in the vicinity of said
dispensing
tap; at least one beverage line from an outlet of said heat exchanger to a
said
dispensing tap; a chiller for chilling a cooling liquid connected via a
coolant outflow
line to a coolant inlet on said heat exchanger, and via a coolant inflow line
to an
outlet on said heat exchanger; and a thermostat having a switch on said
chiller, and
a temperature sensor in proximity to said heat exchanger.
In drawings that illustrate the present invention by way of example:
Figure 1 is a schematic of a beer dispensing system according to the present
invention;
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CA 02594193 2007-07-23
Figure 2 is an exploded view of a preferred heat exchanger with fluid flow
paths shown.
Referring now to Figure 1, in the beer (or other beverage) dispensing system
according to the present invention, kegs 1 of draft beer are held in a cold
room 2.
Cold room 2 is provided with a refrigeration device 3.
Beer from each of the kegs travels via beer lines 4. A number of lines 4 are
bundled together in a trunk line 5 that extends from the cold room 2 to the
vicinity of
beer dispending area which may be a bar that is provided with one or more
draft
towers 7. Each tower is provided with one or more draft taps 8. There is one
tap for
each beer line 4.
Also bundled in trunk line 5 is a coolant line 9 that circulates coolant
liquid,
such as chilled water or glycol from first chiller 10 located in or near the
cold room.
The trunk line 5 terminates at a heat exchanger 11, which is provided with one
or more inlet 12 for beer - one inlet for each beer line 4. Each inlet is
connected to
an independent flow path in the heat exchanger in a conventional manner.
Appropriate heat exchangers are available from GEA FlatPlate Inc.
A second chiller 13, with an integral pump is provided to circulate cooling
liquid
via line 14 to inlet 15 (there may be more than one line and inlet) of the
heat
exchanger 11. The cooling liquid flows through the heat exchanger preferably
in a
multiple pass, countercurrent flow pattern relative to the beer flowing though
the heat
exchanger, and exits via outlet 16 (there may be more than one outlet) and
returns
via return line 17 to the second chiller 13.
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CA 02594193 2007-07-23
Referring now to Figure 2, the construction of an appropriate plate heat
exchanger 11 is illustrated. The heat exchanger 11 comprises a series of
plates 111
stacked side by side, with a flow channel being formed in the space between
adjacent plates. Each plate has appropriate inlets and outlets formed therein,
some
of which direct fluid past the space between the plates, as shown by a flow
path 112
or 113 and some of which direct flow into the space between plates. Since a
flow
path in only one direction can be provided between each pair of plates, the
more
plates that are provided, the more parallel adjacent flow paths can be
created, with
each alternate path between a pair of plates being used to accommodate cooling
fluid 112, and the remaining paths between the pairs of plates accommodating
beverage flow. In this way, the residence time of the beverage in the heat
exchanger
can be maximized, which will result in the temperature of the beverage and the
cooling fluid being very close to equal at the outlet 16 of the cooling fluid
and the
outlet 114 of the beverage.
It has been found that maximizing the length of the flow paths in the heat
exchanger, thereby also maximizing the contact time between the cooling fluid
and
the beverage, will permit one to use relatively warmer cooling fluid which
minimize
the chance that the beverage flow path will freeze in the heat exchanger. That
is, if
residence time in the heat exchanger is short, then to achieve cool enough
beverage,
colder cooling liquid must be used, which can result in a freeze up in the
heat
exchanger.
Beer exits via delivery lines 18 to towers 7, with one line 18 leading to each
tap 8.
In order to maintain consistency in the temperature of beer being dispensed,
a temperature sensor 19 is provided in connection with the heat exchanger.
Preferably the temperature sensor will be installed in the coolant line at the
inlet to
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CA 02594193 2007-07-23
the heat exchanger. This is considered close enough to the point of dispensing
that
there will be insignificant warming of the beer from the heat exchanger to the
tap.
The temperature sensor 19 outputs a signal to a thermostat located at the
chiller 13. The thermostat will control the on/off cycling of the chiller in
response to
the temperature signal from the sensor. The result is a very precisely
controlled
dispensing temperature for beer and other beverages, with no guess work or
variation depending on ambient temperatures.
It has been disclosed by the present applicant that beer about 2 C, or 3.6 F
cooler than previously thought practical can be delivered through
implementation of
the present invention.
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Representative Drawing