Baffle system for a vessel

The disclosed embodiments relate generally to a baffle system for a vessel, and, more particularly, the disclosed embodiments show a baffle system with improved ability to resist cracking from thermal fatigue.

Vessels are commonly used to mix various media in batch operations. When agitation is required in connection with the batch operation, baffles are commonly used in the vessel to promote the mixing of the media in the vessel. Generally, the baffles are arranged around an inner diameter of the vessel and baffle supports mount the baffle to a vertical wall of the vessel. The baffles generally run the full height of the vessel and the baffle supports position each baffle to be close to the vertical wall but with a gap therebetween to allow the vessel media to flow around the baffle.

Often batch operations require alternate heating and/or cooling of the vessel and the vessel media. To facilitate such heating or cooling steps, the vessel frequently includes a heat transfer jacket surrounding the vertical sidewalls and sometimes on the vessel bottom head. Hot or cold fluids flowing through this jacket then add or remove heat from the vessel and its contents.

Empty vessels used in food, beverage, cosmetic or pharmaceutical manufacturing are frequently sanitized or sterilized using steam. The vessel must then be cooled down before manufacturing operations may commence. During this cooldown period, coolant flowing through the jacket brings the vessel wall down in temperature much faster than the baffles. This difference occurs because the vessel wall directly contacts the cold fluid flowing through the jacket, while the baffle is cooled indirectly through the baffle supports and air in the vessel. As a result, the baffle supports experience high stresses caused by differential thermal expansion of the vessel wall compared to the baffles. The baffle supports are rigidly attached to both vessel wall and baffle, and so must bend in response to differential thermal expansion. Baffle supports on larger and taller vessels must handle a greater change in length between baffle and vessel wall, and therefore frequently experience problems with cracked baffle supports.

In addition to the loss of mechanical integrity of the baffle support, cracked baffle supports create cleaning problems for the vessel. Many applications in the food, beverage, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries require the inner shell of the vessel to be cleaned at the beginning of the batch. Cracks in the baffle supports often cannot be adequately cleaned using the vessel\'s clean-in-place (CIP) apparatus. This may place the vessel media at risk for contamination, and possibly scrap.

The disclosure describes a baffle system that reduces the likelihood of cracking in baffle supports. One disclosed embodiment is a vessel with a generally cylindrical upstanding wall and a bottom spanning the wall. The wall and bottom define an inner shell adapted to hold a vessel media. A baffle system is disposed in an interior of the inner shell. The baffle system comprises a plurality of baffle portions, each being generally elongate planar members with a length edge and a width edge, and a tab projecting from the length edge. The preferred location for the tab is near the midpoint of the length edge. The plurality of baffle portions are secured to the upstanding wall by their respective tabs with the first baffle portion positioned above the second baffle portion with a space therebetween.

Another disclosed embodiment is a vessel with a cylindrical upstanding wall and a bottom spanning the wall to form an interior adapted to hold a vessel media. The vessel has a first baffle portion being a generally elongate planar member with a length edge and a width edge, and a first tab projecting from the length edge. The first tab secures the first baffle portion to the upstanding wall with the baffle portion length edge aligned generally parallel to and spaced from the upstanding wall. The vessel also has a second baffle portion being a generally elongate planar member with a length edge and a width edge, and a second tab projecting from the length edge. The second tab secures the second baffle portion to the upstanding wall with the length edge aligned generally parallel to and spaced from the upstanding wall. The second baffle portion is arranged below the first baffle portion with a space between the width edges of the first and second baffle portions.

Further features and advantages of the disclosed embodiments, as well as the structure and operation of various embodiments, are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.