CN120936564A - Cryogenic beverage delivery method and system - Google Patents

Abstract

Beverage cooling and delivery systems and methods are disclosed that allow consistent delivery of beverages at low desired temperatures. The beverage flows through the primary heat exchanger and a cooling fluid at a cooling temperature flows through the primary heat exchanger, wherein the flow of cooling fluid serves to reduce the temperature of the beverage so that the beverage can be dispensed from the dispensing unit at a desired temperature.

Description

Cryogenic beverage delivery method and system

Cross Reference to Related Applications

Is not suitable for

Statement regarding federally sponsored research/development

Is not suitable for

Technical Field

The present application relates to refrigerated beverage delivery systems. More particularly, the present application relates to an improved method of delivering beverages for consumption at a consistent low temperature.

Background

Over the years, beverage delivery systems have been developed for dispensing beverage from a reservoir into some form of cup or container with which a person may drink the beverage. In some examples, the beverage reservoir may be pressurized to allow dispensing of the beverage upon opening of an outlet or valve (such as a tap), wherein people may place their cups or containers to receive the dispensed beverage. An example of a beverage that is widely used in these types of systems is beer, where the beverage storage tank is a keg that can be connected to a tap from which a user can dispense a desired volume of beer.

In many applications, it is desirable to provide beverages at low temperatures, typically in the range of-5 degrees celsius to 10 degrees celsius. Humans have been adapted to favor colder beverages during the evolution process and it is known that applying cold stimuli to the mouth gives a pleasant response as this brings the body to a thirsty and refreshing sensation, thus obtaining a more pleasant and relaxed experience when drinking the beverage. In the example of beer, many agree that iced beer tastes better than warm beer, albeit a subjective preference.

Accordingly, cooling systems have been incorporated into beverage delivery systems to allow beverages to be rapidly dispensed at a desired low temperature. Nevertheless, the beverage delivery/cooling systems currently employed suffer from a number of drawbacks that make them less desirable for continued use. One exemplary system is known as a "cool distribution Box" in which the beverage flows through a long coil surrounded by ice. Such a system requires a long residence time to cool the beer in the coil (which may be in the range of 15 minutes) and only deliver the previous or two cups of beverage at the desired low temperature. The user must then either wait for more beer to cool before dispensing, or only marginally accept warmer beer without waiting. This particular system also requires the use of large amounts of ice or coolant throughout its use. Another system is known as a "Flash Cooler", in which the beverage tank itself is directly cooled via a refrigerant. A drawback associated with this system is that the refrigerant tends to use pure water, which forms an ice layer (which is intentional) around the lines carrying the beverage to cool and chill the beverage. However, after the beverage in the coil is spent and replaced with a warmer beverage, the system can only serve chilled beverage at a very slow rate, resulting in discontinuous delivery of beer. The user attempts to compensate for this by adjusting the temperature of the system, which is typically eventually below the freezing point of the beverage, which may cause the beverage in the line to freeze into a solid mass surrounded by solid ice cubes. This may take several hours to melt the block into a pourable beverage. In addition, the refrigerant flow may become blocked or pulsed due to unmonitored cooling, control system failure, etc. This is a fragile system that is very prone to uncontrolled cooling, making it unreliable and less desirable.

Glycol power packs (Glycol Power Pack) are also very common products on the market that attempt to provide cold beverages from a beverage storage tank. The beverage tank, and thus the beverage contained therein, directly cools the beverage to a desired cooling temperature via a refrigerant, in a manner similar to the "flash cooler" previously discussed. The bulk of the water/glycol mixture is also cooled via a refrigerant. The beverage flows through the beverage line to the outlet (faucet) through which the beverage is to be dispensed, and the beverage line flows along another line carrying the water/glycol mixture to ensure that the beverage maintains a desired cooling temperature as it is dispensed from the outlet. The problem with this system is that a large volume of water/glycol is required to obtain an effective heat exchange (some products use around 2 gallons, while others use up to 18 gallons of water/glycol). Refrigeration units use a large amount of energy and they require a large amount of time (15 minutes) to cool the bulk water/glycol mixture from room temperature to the required cooling temperature and even so the heat exchange between the water/glycol mixture and the beverage is quite small and inefficient (small volume water/glycol generating 1150 BTU/hour and large volume water/glycol generating 2900 BTU/hour). Even with accurate operation and monitoring, there is a risk that the beverage will rise above the desired cooling temperature before being dispensed from the outlet, and furthermore, the system may present challenges when scaling up because the distance that the beverage may travel before reaching the outlet may vary greatly, such that the temperature of the beverage along the path to the outlet may vary.

Accordingly, it is desirable to use improved cold beverage delivery systems and methods that allow for rapid dispensing of beverages at consistent low temperatures in a reliable system or method and that require relatively small supply volumes/amounts for operation of the systems and methods.

Disclosure of Invention

To address these and other problems, methods and systems for consistent delivery of a cryogenic beverage are disclosed and contemplated. In accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure, it can be seen that aspects of these beverage cooling and delivery methods and systems allow for dispensing small and large volumes of beverage when desired, wherein each dispensed beverage can be delivered at a consistent and low desired temperature. It can also be seen that the beverage cooling and delivery system and method provided by the present disclosure achieves efficient operation with little to no problems with respect to the operation and minimum resource supply required throughout use, distinguishing it from prior art beverage cooling and delivery systems and methods.

According to some embodiments, the beverage delivery method includes the steps of providing a primary heat exchanger defining a first inlet fluidly connected to a first outlet and a second inlet fluidly connected to a second outlet, flowing a beverage through the primary heat exchanger via the first inlet and the first outlet of the primary heat exchanger, flowing a cooling fluid at a cooling temperature through the primary heat exchanger via the second inlet and the second outlet of the primary heat exchanger, and dispensing the beverage at a desired temperature via a dispensing unit, wherein the step of flowing the cooling fluid at the cooling temperature through the primary heat exchanger serves to reduce the temperature of the beverage such that the beverage may be delivered by the dispensing unit at the desired temperature.

In some embodiments, the desired temperature may be in the range of-3 degrees celsius to 6 degrees celsius, -2 degrees celsius to 5 degrees celsius, or-1 degrees celsius to 4 degrees celsius. In some embodiments, the cooling temperature may be in a range of-3 degrees celsius to 6 degrees celsius, -2 degrees celsius to 5 degrees celsius, or-1 degrees celsius to 4 degrees celsius.

In some embodiments, the beverage may be an alcoholic beverage selected from malt liquor, cider, lager, bode, shitao, golden beer, brown beer, light beer, indian light beer, wheat beer, pearson beer, sour beer, or a combination thereof. Beverages may also include non-alcoholic beverages such as water, milk, carbonated beverages, fruit juices, botanical beverages, and the like. In certain embodiments, the cooling fluid may be selected from water, deionized water, air, ethylene glycol/water solution, dielectric fluid, silicone, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, brine, or combinations thereof. Additives may also be added to the cooling fluid to improve the properties of the cooling fluid, including surfactants that may be used to enhance heat transfer into and out of the cooling fluid, and metals that may be used to enhance the ability of the cooling fluid to retain and carry any heat absorbed.

In particular embodiments, flowing the cooling fluid and beverage through the primary heat exchanger may be in a configuration selected from one of co-current, counter-current, cross-current, or cross/counter-current. The first heat exchanger may be a double pipe heat exchanger.

Such embodiments may further include that the cooling fluid may be cooled via a refrigerant to a refrigeration temperature, wherein the refrigeration temperature is to allow the cooling fluid to be at a cooling temperature prior to being introduced to the first heat exchanger. The refrigerant may be selected from chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), fluorocarbons (FCs), hydrocarbons (HCs), ammonia, carbon dioxide, propane, or combinations thereof. The refrigeration temperature may be 0.01 degrees celsius to 5 degrees celsius lower than the cooling temperature. In some configurations, the refrigerant may be recycled via a refrigeration unit selected from the group consisting of an evaporative cooling refrigerator, a mechanical compression refrigerator, an absorption refrigerator, and a thermoelectric refrigerator. The cooling fluid may be cooled to a refrigeration temperature by flowing the cooling fluid through a third inlet fluidly connected to a third outlet of a second heat exchanger and flowing the refrigerant through a fourth inlet fluidly connected to a fourth outlet of the second heat exchanger, wherein the refrigerant flows through the second heat exchanger for cooling the cooling fluid to the refrigeration temperature. Similar to the primary heat exchanger, the flow of cooling fluid through the secondary heat exchanger and the flow of refrigerant through the secondary heat exchanger may be selected from one of a co-current, counter-current, cross-current, or cross/counter-current configuration. In some embodiments, the secondary heat exchanger may be a coaxial heat exchanger. In some embodiments, the second outlet of the primary heat exchanger may be fluidly connected to the third inlet of the secondary heat exchanger to define a fluidly connected continuous loop of cooling fluid.

Such an embodiment may further comprise the additional step of flowing a cooling fluid through a beverage pitcher jacket (beverage reservoir wrap) defining a pitcher fluid inlet fluidly connected to a pitcher fluid outlet, the beverage pitcher jacket surrounding a beverage pitcher containing beverage prior to the beverage flowing through the primary heat exchanger, wherein the step of flowing the cooling fluid through the beverage pitcher jacket serves to cool the beverage contained in the beverage pitcher. This step may occur at any time, such as before or after the cooling fluid flows through the primary heat exchanger, to name a few. The tank fluid inlet and the tank fluid outlet may be fluidly connected to other units, allowing this step to be part of the path of the fluid connection of the cooling fluid, or (if present) a continuous loop of the fluid connection of the cooling fluid.

In certain embodiments, further steps of flowing the beverage through the cooling fluid bath may be provided, wherein the step of flowing the beverage through the cooling fluid bath is used to cool the beverage. This step may occur at any time (such as before or after the beverage passes through the primary heat exchanger, to name a few). In this type of embodiment, the inlets and outlets used by the beverage may be fluidly connected to other units, allowing this step to be part of the path of the fluid connection of the beverage.

In any of the embodiments, the flow of beverage, the flow of cooling fluid, and the flow of refrigerant (if present) occurs through a pipe or tube made of a first material including steel, galvanized steel, stainless steel, cast iron, spheroidal graphite cast iron, high silicon cast iron, nickel alloys, cobalt alloys, titanium, carbon, brass, copper, aluminum, polyvinylchloride (PVC), polypropylene, polyvinylchloride, crosslinked Polyethylene (PEX), borosilicate glass, polytetrafluoroethylene-based composite (including Teflon (TM)), or a combination thereof. The tubing may also have one or more additional layers that wrap around all or a portion of the tubing, wherein each layer is made of the same material as the original tubing or a different material including steel, galvanized steel, stainless steel, cast iron, ductile iron, high silicon cast iron, nickel alloy, cobalt alloy, titanium, carbon, brass, copper, aluminum, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, cross-linked Polyethylene (PEX), borosilicate glass, polytetrafluoroethylene-based composite (including Teflon (TM)), or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the tubing further comprises an antimicrobial component. In further embodiments, the tubing further comprises a hydrophilic component.

Alternatively, a controller may be provided that controls the flow of the cooling fluid and, if present, the flow of the refrigerant and the operation of the refrigeration unit so that the desired temperature may be selectively varied. Such a controller may receive information from one or more sensors that measure one or more of a temperature before/after/while the beverage is flowing through the primary heat exchanger, a temperature before/after/while the cooling fluid is flowing through the primary heat exchanger, a flow rate of the cooling fluid through the primary heat exchanger, a flow rate of the beverage through the primary heat exchanger, and, if present, a flow rate of the cooling fluid through the secondary heat exchanger, a flow rate of the refrigerant through the secondary heat exchanger, and a temperature before/after/while the refrigerant is flowing through the secondary heat exchanger. The controller may control the flow rates of the cooling fluid, the refrigerant, and the beverage via operation of the pump.

It is further contemplated that the above-mentioned method may be configured as a beverage cooling delivery system comprising a primary heat exchanger defining a first inlet fluidly connected to the first outlet and a second inlet fluidly connected to the second outlet, a beverage reservoir containing a beverage, a cooling fluid bath containing a cooling fluid, a refrigeration unit, and a distribution unit for receiving the beverage via the first inlet and also for receiving the cooling fluid at a cooling temperature via the second inlet, the primary heat exchanger further for allowing the cooling fluid to absorb heat from the beverage via the cooling fluid to cool the beverage, the distribution unit for receiving the beverage and also for delivering the beverage at a desired temperature, the refrigeration unit for supplying a refrigerant to cool the cooling fluid to a refrigeration temperature for providing the cooling fluid at the cooling temperature prior to receiving the cooling fluid from the second inlet of the primary heat exchanger.

All of these embodiments are contemplated as falling within the scope of the invention disclosed herein. These and other embodiments will become more readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments having reference to the attached figures, the invention not being limited to any particular preferred embodiment disclosed.

Drawings

These and other features and advantages of the various embodiments disclosed herein are better understood with respect to the following description and drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an exemplary embodiment of a beverage cooling and delivery method/system;

FIG. 2 is an exemplary embodiment of a more preferred beverage cooling and delivery method/system 20, and

Fig. 3 is an alternative embodiment and configuration of a cooling bath unit.

Detailed Description

Disclosed herein are methods and systems for delivering a beverage at a desired temperature. According to a preferred embodiment, the methods and systems allow consistent delivery of beverages at a selectively low temperature by flowing a beverage and a cooling fluid (wherein the cooling fluid is at a cooling temperature) through a primary heat exchanger and delivering the beverage from a dispensing unit, wherein the cooling fluid at the cooling temperature is flowing through the primary heat exchanger for cooling the beverage such that the beverage can be dispensed from the dispensing unit at a desired temperature.

The disclosed method and system allow for efficient cooling of beverages while additionally allowing for rapid delivery of beverages at desired low temperatures with little problem in operation, thus allowing small and large volumes of beverages to be delivered and subsequently drunk by people at the same consistent low temperatures. It can thus be seen that this provides an improvement over the prior art methods of cooling and delivering beverages currently employed.

In some aspects, the cooling temperature of the cooling fluid may be at or below a desired temperature at which the beverage is dispensed. It can be seen that the choice of the cooling temperature of the cooling fluid will affect the desired temperature of the beverage when it is delivered from the dispensing unit. Based on the different operating methods and systems, different cooling temperature ranges of the cooling fluid will be selected to obtain different desired temperature ranges of the beverage. Depending on the embodiment, the temperature range of the cooling temperature of the cooling fluid is ideally close to or equal to the temperature range of the desired temperature of the beverage. If ideally operated, the beverage would be slightly above or at the cooling fluid temperature as it leaves the primary heat exchanger. After leaving the primary heat exchanger, the beverage will not be cooled below the cooling fluid temperature and therefore, if the cooling temperature range is above the freezing temperature of the beverage, the beverage is not at risk of freezing (as is the case in the preferred embodiment). In this case, the beverage will not be frozen even if it is built into the heat exchanger used in the disclosed system and method or in any unit (which may be the case in a pulsating operation) for a long period of time. In a preferred embodiment, the cooling temperature of the cooling fluid may range from-3 degrees celsius to 6 degrees celsius. In a more preferred embodiment, the cooling temperature of the cooling fluid may range from-2 degrees celsius to 5 degrees celsius. In the most highly preferred embodiment, the cooling temperature of the cooling fluid may range from-1 degrees celsius to 4 degrees celsius. In a preferred embodiment, the desired temperature of the beverage may range from-3 degrees celsius to 6 degrees celsius. In a more preferred embodiment, the desired temperature of the beverage may range from-2 degrees celsius to 5 degrees celsius. In the most highly preferred embodiment, the desired temperature of the beverage may range from-1 degrees celsius to 4 degrees celsius.

The beverage to be delivered may be any beverage suitable for drinking. The beverage may include water, milk, carbonated beverage, fruit juice, vegetable beverage, alcoholic beverage, or a combination thereof. The disclosed methods and systems are particularly useful for dispensing alcoholic beverages at a desired temperature. Examples of types of alcoholic beverages include malt liquor, cider, lager, bauer, billow, golden beer, brown beer, light beer, indian light beer, wheat beer, pearson, sour beer, or combinations thereof. In a preferred embodiment, beer (such as malt liquor) is used as the beverage. It should be understood that the types of beverages that may be utilized in the disclosed systems and methods are virtually unlimited and may include beverages not explicitly stated in the disclosure.

The cooling fluid may be a fluid that transfers heat efficiently enough to allow the beverage to be dispensed at a desired temperature. Typical desirable characteristics of the cooling fluid to be used in the disclosed systems and methods include reduced viscosity at lower temperatures for ease of flow, high thermal conductivity and specific heat, low toxicity, relatively inexpensive cost, and other beneficial characteristics recognized in the art. The cooling fluid may include, but is not limited to, water, deionized water, air, glycol/water compositions, silicone, glycol-based fluids, propylene glycol, brine, or combinations thereof. In particular, ethylene glycol/water compositions have been found to be the most effective cooling fluid for the disclosed methods and systems. Ethylene glycol/water compositions consist of a solution of water and ethylene glycol (such as ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, propylene glycol, and combinations thereof, to name a few). Preferred embodiments have a glycol/water mixture of 10-50% glycol component and 50-90% water component. Depending on the system and cooling fluid selected, the cooling fluid may be recovered by cooling it back to the cooling temperature after passing through the primary heat exchanger and absorbing heat from the beverage, allowing the cooling fluid to be reused and reintroduced into the primary heat exchanger to cool more beverage. It can be seen that in some embodiments the cooling fluid itself may be replaced and recycled during use of the cooling system or method, but in other more preferred embodiments the cooling fluid may be circulated through the system several times via cooling it back to the cooling temperature as described before without replacing the cooling fluid. For example, the preferred cooling fluid for the water/glycol mixture allows for continuous use in the disclosed methods and systems for decades without recirculation or replacement. Additives may also be added to improve the properties of the cooling fluid. For example, a surfactant may be included in the cooling fluid, which may allow the cooling fluid to be closer to the surface of the pipe/tube/wall/structure (through which the cooling fluid will exchange heat) for enhanced transfer of heat into and out of the cooling fluid. Additionally, metal may be added to the cooling fluid to allow the cooling fluid to better retain and carry any heat absorbed.

In some embodiments, a beverage reservoir may be provided to contain the beverage prior to introducing the beverage into one of the units of the disclosed method and system, and may take the form of any conventional reservoir (such as a keg). The beverage reservoir may be any type of container or reservoir for storing beverage before it is introduced or flows through another unit, such as the inlet of a primary heat exchanger. The beverage reservoir may be fluidly connected to the primary heat exchanger to form a channel for beverage to travel from the beverage reservoir to the primary heat exchanger. The reservoir may be pressurized to allow the beverage to easily flow through the primary heat exchanger and out through the dispensing unit. In an operational embodiment, a CO ₂ powered Flojet diaphragm beer pump may be utilized, although almost any gas (including atmospheric air) may be used to power the pump. A pressure regulator may be connected to the CO ₂ tank to regulate the gas pressure and thus the flow of the dispensed beverage. In certain embodiments, these systems and methods may be designed to allow for the transport of beverage in a pressurized beverage tank by creating an opening through operation of the dispensing unit, such as opening a tap or outlet for dispensing and collecting beverage therefrom. In this example, once the desired amount has been dispensed, the outlet or tap may then be closed to stop dispensing beverage, and then the outlet may be later re-opened when more beverage is desired to be dispensed. In other embodiments, the beer pump may be operated by some switch or actuation mechanism found on the dispensing units that allows beverage to be pumped through the units and dispensed on command.

As discussed above, the beverage storage tank may be a keg in which an alcoholic beverage (such as beer) is stored. A benefit of the beverage pitcher employed in the disclosed systems and methods is that the beverage in the beverage pitcher does not require significant cooling prior to flowing through the system.

In this regard, the beverage may be at or wander near room temperature in the beverage tank, or at some ambient temperature where the beverage tank may be stored, but the beverage will still be dispensed at the desired temperature. This eliminates the need for high intensity and/or high energy consumption cooling means to directly cool the beverage in the beverage tank, which benefit allows the disclosed method and system to be flexible in application while maintaining the ability to consistently deliver beverage at a desired low temperature. In certain embodiments, the beverage tank itself may still be cooled, as will be discussed later in the disclosure herein.

In some embodiments, the cooling fluid may be stored in a cooling fluid bath that acts as a reservoir or some other suitable container for holding the cooling fluid before it is introduced into the heat exchanger. The cooling fluid bath may be configured in different shapes, sizes, and volumes, the benefits of which will be discussed later in this disclosure. The cooling fluid bath may be fluidly connected to the heat exchanger to form a channel for the cooling fluid to travel from the cooling fluid bath to the heat exchanger. For example, the cooling fluid may be introduced into the heat exchanger via operation of the circulation pump. Commercial pumps that may be used include those manufactured by YOUNTREE, flojet and Aquatec. As will be described later in this disclosure, the cooling fluid bath may be used as a vessel to cool the cooling fluid to a cooling temperature or a chilled temperature lower than the cooling temperature, such that the cooling fluid is ready for cooling the beverage when introduced into the heat exchanger. The cooling fluid bath may be fluidly connected to the inlet of the primary heat exchanger such that cooling fluid may flow easily and efficiently from the cooling fluid bath to the primary heat exchanger. In some embodiments, it may be desirable to cool the cooling fluid in the cooling fluid bath to a cooling temperature, as it may then be introduced into the heat exchanger immediately or shortly thereafter. In other embodiments, it may be necessary to cool the cooling fluid in the cooling fluid bath to a chilled temperature, as the cooling fluid may flow through a series of pipes or through other units (as will be described in detail later in this disclosure), which may cause the cooling fluid to warm up before being introduced into the heat exchanger. It may be necessary to cool the cooling fluid to a refrigerated temperature (or as will be described elsewhere herein later) that is lower than the cooling temperature in the cooling fluid bath, so that when the cooling fluid reaches the heat exchanger, the heat absorbed by the cooling fluid will bring it to the appropriate cooling temperature. The refrigeration temperature will depend directly on the refrigeration temperature and will be in the range of 0.01 degrees celsius to 5 degrees celsius below the cooling temperature.

The primary heat exchanger has an inlet and an outlet to allow the cooling fluid and beverage to exchange heat with each other via thermal contact. The cooling fluid and the beverage are thus not in direct contact with each other and thus do not mix together, they are only in contact with each other by the tubes, walls or other structures of the heat exchanger, so that heat can be transferred between the cooling fluid and the beverage. The inlet of the heat exchanger may be fluidly connected to a beverage reservoir and a cooling fluid bath as described previously, if those units are included. The primary heat exchanger through which the cooling fluid and beverage flow and the piping therein may be made of a variety of materials including, but not limited to, steel, galvanized steel, stainless steel, cast iron, ductile iron, high silicon cast iron, nickel alloys, cobalt alloys, titanium, carbon, brass, copper, aluminum, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, cross-linked Polyethylene (PEX), borosilicate glass, polytetrafluoroethylene-based composites (including Teflon (TM)), or combinations thereof. It should be understood that this may also include other materials not explicitly disclosed that may be suitable for the disclosed methods and systems, and that this includes materials that have not yet been discovered that will support the function of the heat exchanger. The tubing may also have one or more additional layers that wrap around all or part of the tubing, wherein each layer is made of the same material as the original tubing or of a different material. One example used in a preferred embodiment is a PEX-AL-PEX tube having inner and outer layers made of PEX and an intermediate layer made of aluminum sandwiched therebetween. In this embodiment, the purpose of the intermediate aluminum layer is to help maintain the shape of the tube when rolled up. Depending on the operation of the heat exchanger and the pump operating the flow of cooling fluid and beverage, the cooling fluid and beverage may each flow continuously through the primary heat exchanger, pulsed through the system, or a combination thereof.

The primary heat exchanger contemplated herein allows cooling fluid and beverage to flow through the primary heat exchanger in several configurations, including co-current, counter-current, cross-current, or cross/counter-current. In a preferred embodiment, the sleeve heat exchanger is used as the primary heat exchanger, while in other preferred embodiments, a flat plate heat exchanger and an in-line heat exchanger have been used as the primary heat exchanger. It has been found that the double pipe heat exchanger allows for the highest degree of heat transfer between the cooling fluid and the beverage as it flows through the primary heat exchanger, thereby allowing embodiments to be employed in which the beverage and cooling fluid have higher flow rates and require fewer piping within the primary heat exchanger. The preferred embodiment of the heat exchanger comprises a double pipe heat exchanger having an inner pipe made of SS316 (stainless steel grade 316) carrying the beverage and an outer pipe made of PEX-a pipe (PEX type a) carrying the cooling fluid.

The residence time of the cooling fluid and beverage in the heat exchanger and the flow configuration used will determine how much heat will be transferred between the cooling fluid and beverage and thus what temperature the cooling fluid and beverage are at when they leave the heat exchanger. As such, it can be seen that different heat exchangers of different sizes, different flow rates of beverage and cooling fluid, and different beverage and cooling fluid selections will require the selection of cooling fluids of different cooling temperatures in order to dispense a beverage at a desired temperature. Nevertheless, this system has proven to be extremely effective in cooling the beverage by flowing it through the heat exchanger, allowing the beverage to be effectively dispensed at the desired temperature.

The dispensing unit may be any suitable outlet from which the beverage is delivered at a desired temperature. The dispensing unit may be, but is not limited to, a liquid outlet or a tap. The dispensing unit may be fluidly connected to the outlet of the heat exchanger corresponding to the beverage to allow quick and convenient delivery of the beverage immediately after being cooled to the desired temperature. The beverage may be delivered to a cup, glass, or some other small container through which the person drinks directly, or to a larger container, barrel, or reservoir.

In one embodiment, the cooling fluid may be cooled to its cooling or refrigeration temperature by a refrigerant. The refrigerant may be any suitable or commercially available refrigerant and may comprise a chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), a Hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC), a Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC), a Fluorocarbon (FC), a Hydrocarbon (HC), ammonia, carbon dioxide, propane, or a combination thereof. It should be understood that the types of refrigerants to be used in these systems and methods are not limited to those specifically disclosed herein, and thus may include refrigerants that are not listed or otherwise have not been found suitable for use in the disclosed methods and systems. In the working embodiment, refrigerant R134a is used, but in several preferred embodiments, it is contemplated that either R290 or R744 may be used as the refrigerant.

In another embodiment, the refrigerant may be taken to a refrigeration unit to restore the refrigerant so that it may be used again to cool the cooling fluid to a cooling temperature or a refrigeration temperature. The refrigeration unit may include, but is not limited to, any of the typically used refrigeration systems of the type evaporative cooling refrigerators, mechanical compression refrigerators, absorption refrigerators, and thermoelectric refrigerators. In a preferred embodiment, the refrigerant is introduced into the compressor after absorbing heat from the cooling fluid, wherein the refrigerant is recompressed to restore its ability to absorb heat from the cooling fluid. An example of operation has been developed that uses a1 ⁄ horsepower emerson R134a compressor and condenser that can be connected to standard household electrical circuits.

In another embodiment, the refrigerant may cool the cooling fluid to a cooling temperature or a refrigeration temperature by directly cooling the cooling fluid bath (which holds the cooling fluid) as described previously.

In another embodiment, a secondary heat exchanger similar in operation and configuration to the previously described primary heat exchanger may be provided, wherein the refrigerant and cooling fluid flow through the secondary heat exchanger such that the refrigerant is used to cool the cooling fluid to a cooling or refrigeration temperature. In some embodiments including a cooling fluid bath, the cooling fluid bath may be found before the secondary heat exchanger (where the cooling fluid flows from the cooling bath, then through the secondary heat exchanger, and finally through the primary heat exchanger), or the cooling fluid bath may be provided after the secondary heat exchanger (where the cooling fluid first flows through the secondary heat exchanger, then is introduced into the cooling fluid bath, then flows through the primary heat exchanger), as is the case in the preferred embodiment. Like the primary heat exchanger, the secondary heat exchanger may operate in co-current, counter-current, cross-current or cross/counter-current. In the preferred embodiment, the secondary heat exchanger is a flat plate heat exchanger, although other types of heat exchangers (such as coaxial and double pipe heat exchangers) have been shown to be effective as well. The residence time of the refrigerant and cooling fluid in the secondary heat exchanger and the flow configuration used will determine how much heat will be transferred between the cooling fluid and the coolant and what temperature the cooling fluid and coolant are at as they leave the secondary heat exchanger. As can be seen, different sizes of heat exchangers, different flow rates, and different cooling fluid and refrigerant selections will ultimately result in different desired temperatures of the beverage to be delivered. Thus, careful selection of these parameters will be required to dispense the beverage at the desired temperature.

In other embodiments, the cooling fluid exiting from the second outlet of the primary heat exchanger may be fluidly connected to an inlet of a cooling fluid bath or an inlet of a secondary heat exchanger to allow for continuous circulation of the cooling fluid through the disclosed systems and methods. In order for the disclosed system and method to continue delivering beverage at the desired temperature, the cooling fluid will need to be cooled back to the cooling temperature before flowing through the original heat exchanger again. This may be accomplished via techniques previously discussed, such as direct cooling of the cooling fluid bath with a refrigerant, or in a preferred embodiment, passing the refrigerant and cooling fluid through a secondary heat exchanger. The fluidly connected continuous circuit may allow a cooling fluid to flow continuously and constantly through the circuit, which may obtain a number of great benefits. The volume of cooling fluid contained in the circuit can be relatively low compared to existing methods and, in addition, allows the cooling fluid to exchange heat quickly and efficiently in both heat exchangers.

In another embodiment, the cooling fluid may flow around the beverage reservoir such that the cooling fluid may absorb some heat from the beverage reservoir before the beverage flows out of the beverage reservoir via thermal contact between the cooling fluid and the beverage. In one embodiment, this may be accomplished by a beverage tank jacket (such as a 5 gallon barrel made of North Slope Chiller volumes in salt lake city, utah) surrounding the beverage tank. This serves as a practical and efficient way of bringing the beverage to the desired temperature, since the primary heat exchanger and the beverage storage tank can be located very close to each other, allowing the cooling fluid to be wrapped around the beverage storage tank in this way after leaving from the primary heat exchanger. This also reduces the work and energy requirements of the compressor and allows for higher flows of beverage and cooling fluid through the disclosed method and system, as there is now a lower temperature difference between the cooling temperature of the cooling fluid and the now cooler beverage entering the first heat exchanger. Here, the beverage will not be cooled to a temperature below the cooling fluid, which is at or above the cooling temperature at this stage. Thus, if the cooling temperatures and/or flow rates of the beverage and cooling fluid are carefully selected, the problem of freezing the beverage tank as discussed in the prior art "Flash Cooler" can be avoided. In a preferred embodiment, the cooling temperature range will be located above the freezing point of the beverage, which will prevent any risk of the beverage being frozen in the beverage reservoir, thereby allowing the cooling fluid and beverage to flow and pulse through the disclosed system and method at any rate without any risk of the beverage freezing in the beverage reservoir. Additional beverage reservoirs holding more beverage may be provided beside the original beverage reservoir to allow the cooling fluid to be wrapped over both beverage reservoirs in a daisy chain (DAISY CHAIN) configuration. This allows the secondary "spare" beverage reservoir to be cooled and be better prepared to replace the original beverage reservoir when the beverage is spent. The beverage tank jacket may also serve as an insulating jacket for the beverage tank for keeping the beverage cool. A bypass route may be added to provide another path for the cooling fluid to travel through to avoid this step of passing through the beverage tank jacket. In this embodiment, a bypass valve may be added to alter the route through which the cooling fluid will flow. This will allow one to reroute the cooling fluid and keep it contained when one beverage tank is replaced by another beverage tank.

In another embodiment, the beverage may flow through or around the cooling fluid bath such that the cooling fluid and the beverage may exchange heat between each other via thermal contact. This may be achieved by a cooling fluid bath sleeve similar to the sleeve and manner described above, by directing the lines of the beverage through the cooling fluid in the cooling fluid bath, by directing the lines of the beverage along the walls of the cooling fluid bath or along the tubing of the cooling fluid, or by another manner as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art. The size, shape, volume, and configuration of the tubing of the beverage and the cooling fluid bath and/or cooling fluid tubing may be modified, such as to form multiple locations where the cooling fluid and the beverage may exchange heat with each other (such as flowing the tubing of the cooling fluid along the tubing of the beverage and then wrapping the tubing of the cooling fluid back onto the tubing of the beverage). As such, the cooling fluid bath may not be the shape or form of a typical bath or barrel unit, as is the case in the preferred embodiment. In this regard, the cooling fluid may take the form of, for example, one or more sections of tubing carrying the cooling fluid. The beverage may in this way flow through or around the cooling fluid bath before the beverage flows through the primary heat exchanger or in a preferred embodiment after the beverage flows through the primary heat exchanger but before being delivered via the dispensing unit. Similar to the above, this may reduce the amount of work that the compressor needs to do and allow the beverage to flow through the system faster without compromising the desired temperature at the time of dispensing. In this type of embodiment, it may be necessary to cool the cooling fluid to a refrigeration temperature, so that any heat absorbed by the cooling fluid during this step will allow the cooling fluid to be at an appropriate cooling temperature when introduced into the first heat exchanger. If a cooling fluid bath jacket is used, it may also be used as an insulating jacket for the cooling fluid bath for keeping the cooling fluid cool.

In certain embodiments, a controller may be implemented to control a desired temperature of the beverage as it is delivered. The controller may be used to configure the flow of cooling fluid, the flow of beverage and (if present) the flow of refrigerant and the operation of the refrigeration unit. The function of the controller may allow the beverage to reach a desired temperature, where the desired temperature may be configured, set, or changed by a person operating the controller. The controller may be connected to sensors that can track beverage temperature, beverage flow rate, cooling fluid temperature, cooling fluid flow rate, and (if present) refrigerant flow, refrigerant temperature, and compressor energy input, where the flow and temperature sensors are used to be placed anywhere in the system or method (such as within the unit or any tubing connecting them). Multiple temperature and flow sensors tracking the same variable may be placed at different points in the disclosed systems and methods (e.g., measuring the temperature of the cooling fluid before entering the primary heat exchanger and after exiting the primary heat exchanger). The sensor may also track other variables such as spillage, leakage, volume level of the beverage tank, volume of beverage dispensed, need for maintenance or cleaning, and the like. The controller may be linked to a device (such as a telephone or computer) to allow one to operate the controller in response to this information. The controller may be any suitable controller known in the art, such as a PID controller (proportional integral derivative controller as known in the art).

In certain embodiments, the beverage, cooling fluid and refrigerant may flow through the above-mentioned methods and systems and units therein through tubing or piping that is used to allow heat transfer between the fluids via thermal contact when necessary, while preventing the fluids from directly contacting each other and mixing together. The tubing may be made of any suitable material including, but not limited to, steel, galvanized steel, stainless steel, cast iron, ductile iron, high silicon cast iron, nickel alloys, cobalt alloys, titanium, carbon, brass, copper, aluminum, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, cross-linked Polyethylene (PEX), borosilicate glass, polytetrafluoroethylene-based composites (including Teflon (TM)), or combinations thereof. It should be understood that the materials of the tubing of the disclosed methods and systems are not limited to the disclosed materials, and thus may include other materials not explicitly disclosed herein that would be suitable for use in the disclosed systems and methods, including undiscovered materials that may prove useful in the tubing disclosed herein. The tubing may also have one or more additional layers that wrap around all or part of the tubing, wherein each layer is made of the same material as the original tubing or of a different material. Preferred embodiments may include PVC flexible tubing surrounded by stainless steel. The tubing or piping may have antimicrobial properties via, for example, an antimicrobial component or coating that may help, for example, keep the beverage line clean and prevent bacterial accumulation. The tubing or piping may also be provided with hydrophilic properties via, for example, hydrophilic components or coatings. This may help pull the water toward the inner surface of the tubing, which has been shown to enhance heat transfer and help remove bacterial deposits that may accumulate on the inner surface of the tubing. When flowing through these types of pipes, water has a tendency to approach, but not completely contact, the inner surfaces of the pipe at a microscopic level, and the hydrophilic coating on the pipe can be used to pull the water toward these surfaces in order to enhance the heat transfer effect and removal of foreign matter mentioned above.

The systems and methods described herein are scalable and thus may be used in several applications. For example, a relatively small beverage tank with a small beverage volume may be used with a small heat exchanger, compressor, etc., which may define a small, portable system suitable for smaller scale events (such as a backyard party), while a larger beverage tank with a large volume of beverage would require a larger kit, which may define a system suitable for large scale venues (such as bars serving a large population). The system may be configured to be portable and tubing connecting the disclosed units may be manually attached to and detached from each other as desired, which may allow for relatively easy changing and replacement of the units while also allowing one to change the fluid interconnections of the units so that the order of the units through which the cooling fluid and beverage will flow may be changed. The heat exchanger may also be configured with multiple beverage inlets and outlets to allow multiple beverage reservoirs to be fluidly connected to a single heat exchanger. In an embodiment, multiple dispensing units may be used to correspond to different beverages dispensed from a particular dispensing unit (such as in the case of a beer tap in a bar).

The systems and methods described herein also allow for cleaning and maintenance when necessary. Beverage, cooling fluid and refrigerant may be vented from the system and the fluid interconnections between the units removed to allow components to be replaced or secured or to allow cleaning solution to be flushed through the units and piping. Alternatively, the cleaning solution may use the same tubing or piping as the beverage, cooling fluid and refrigerant and be pumped through these units for cleaning.

The described method and system are best understood from the accompanying drawings. The drawings are intended to illustrate certain embodiments of the above-mentioned methods and systems and to better illustrate certain aspects of the above-detailed description, and as such, they are not intended to limit the scope of the methods and systems.

Referring now to the drawings and initially to FIG. 1, an exemplary embodiment of a beverage cooling and delivery method/system 10 is shown. The beverage 102 stored in the beverage tank 100 is fluidly connected to the heat exchanger 112 via the outlet 104 of the beverage tank 100 (which is fluidly connected to the first inlet 108 of the heat exchanger 112). A cooling fluid bath 150 storing cooling fluid 122 is also provided. The cooling fluid bath 150 is fluidly connected to the heat exchanger 112 via a first outlet 138 of the cooling fluid bath 150, the first outlet 138 of the cooling fluid bath 150 being fluidly connected to the second inlet 118 of the heat exchanger 112. In operation, beverage 102 flows through outlet 104 of beverage tank 100 in flow direction 106 and into first inlet 108 of heat exchanger 112, and cooling fluid 122 flows from first outlet 138 of cooling fluid bath 150 in flow direction 116 into second inlet 118 of heat exchanger 112. In this embodiment, the flow direction of the beverage 106 is opposite to the flow direction of the cooling fluid 116, but in other embodiments, the flow direction may be the same direction, a vertical direction, or any other orientation/configuration for allowing the cooling fluid 122 to cool the beverage 102 via the heat exchange 152.

After the beverage 102 flows through the heat exchanger 112, it exits through a first outlet 110 that is fluidly connected to both the first inlet 108 of the heat exchanger 112 and the dispensing unit 114, wherein the beverage 102 may be dispensed at a desired temperature. After the cooling fluid 122 flows through the heat exchanger 112, it exits through the second outlet 120 of the heat exchanger 112, the second outlet 120 of the heat exchanger 112 being in fluid connection with both the second inlet 118 of the heat exchanger 112 and the first inlet 140 of the cooling fluid bath 150.

The cooling fluid 122 reintroduced into the cooling fluid bath 150 via the first inlet 140 of the cooling fluid bath 150 may then be recirculated and again flow through the circulation. To reuse the cooling fluid 122 in certain embodiments, the refrigeration unit 130 is provided with a refrigerant 132. The refrigerant 132 exits through the outlet 134 of the refrigeration unit 130 and enters the second inlet 126 of the cooling fluid bath 150, wherein the outlet 134 of the refrigeration unit 130 and the second inlet 126 of the cooling fluid bath 150 are fluidly connected to each other. The refrigerant 132 flows into the cooling fluid bath in the flow direction 124. In this embodiment, tubing with refrigerant 132 is present in cooling fluid bath 150 containing cooling fluid 122 such that refrigerant 132 and cooling fluid 122 are in thermal contact with each other, allowing cooling fluid 122 to reach a cooling temperature or chilled temperature for cooling beverage 102 so that it may be dispensed at a desired temperature.

After flowing through the cooling fluid bath 150, the refrigerant 132 flows out of the cooling fluid bath 150 and into the refrigeration unit 130 via the second outlet 128 of the cooling fluid bath 150, the second outlet 128 of the cooling fluid bath 150 being fluidly connected to both the second inlet 126 of the cooling fluid bath 150 and the inlet 136 of the refrigeration unit 130. The refrigeration unit 130 may then recover the refrigerant 132 before it is reintroduced into the cooling fluid bath 150 so that the refrigerant 132 is used to cool the cooling fluid 124 back to the necessary cooling or refrigeration temperature.

Fig. 2 is an exemplary embodiment of an alternative beverage cooling and delivery method/system 20. The beverage tank 200 containing the beverage 202 is provided with a beverage tank jacket 206. In addition, a first heat exchanger 210, a second heat exchanger 224, a refrigeration unit 244, and a cooling fluid bath 250 are provided. In this embodiment, the first outlet 204 of the beverage storage tank 202, the first inlet 212 of the first heat exchanger 210, the second inlet 214 of the first heat exchanger 210, the second inlet 260 of the cooling fluid bath 250, the second outlet 262 of the cooling fluid bath 250, and the dispensing unit 216 are all fluidly connected in this order, providing a path through which the beverage 202 travels. In this particular embodiment, for the cooling fluid 252, a path is provided via the first outlet 254 of the cooling fluid bath 250, the second inlet 226 of the first heat exchanger 210, the second outlet 228 of the first heat exchanger 210, the inlet 272 of the beverage storage tank jacket 206, the second outlet 274 of the beverage storage tank jacket 206, the first inlet 230 of the second heat exchanger 224, the first outlet 232 of the second heat exchanger 224, and the first inlet 256 of the cooling fluid bath 250 being fluidly connected to one another in that order. Instead of flowing through the beverage tank jacket 206 via the inlet 272 and the outlet 274, the cooling fluid may flow through the bypass path 280. The path through which the cooling fluid flows may be changed from one path to another by operation of the bypass valve 282. This may be used to remove the beverage tank 200 and replace it with another without leakage of the cooling fluid 252 from the continuous fluid connected circuit. In this particular embodiment, a final path of refrigerant 246 is provided via the outlet 240 of the refrigeration unit 244, the second inlet 236 of the second heat exchanger 224, the second outlet 238 of the second heat exchanger 224, and the inlet 242 of the refrigeration unit 244 being fluidly connected to one another in that order.

In this embodiment, the beverage 202 flows into and out of the first heat exchanger 210 in the flow direction 208 via the beverage path mentioned above. The cooling fluid 252 flows through the first heat exchanger 210 in the flow direction 220 via the cooling fluid path mentioned above. Allowing the beverage 202 and the cooling fluid 252 to exchange heat 272 between each other while flowing through the first heat exchanger 210. In this embodiment, the flow direction of the beverage 208 and the flow direction of the cooling fluid 220 are opposite directions, but these flow directions may be modified in a similar manner as described in the discussion of fig. 1. Thereafter, the cooling fluid 252 flows through the beverage reservoir jacket 206 such that the cooling fluid 252 and the beverage 202 are in thermal contact with each other via tubing 248. In a practical embodiment, the tubing 248 would wrap over the beverage tank 200, but for simplicity of the drawing, the tubing 248 is depicted as shown to highlight the heat transfer between the beverage 202 and the cooling fluid 252 that occurs through the tubing 248. In a similar manner, the beverage 202 flows around the cooling fluid bath 250 after exiting from the first heat exchanger 210 such that the beverage 202 and the cooling fluid 252 are in thermal contact with each other via the tubing 258 before the beverage is dispensed from the dispensing unit 216 and into the container 218.

In this embodiment, these units and their operation allow the beverage 202 to be cooled so that it can be dispensed from the dispensing unit 216 at a desired temperature via the temperature of the beverage 202 being cooled by the cooling fluid 252 in the beverage reservoir 200, in the first heat exchanger 210 and in the cooling fluid bath 250. After exiting from the beverage tank 202, the cooling fluid 252 is introduced into the second heat exchanger 224 in the flow direction 222. The cooling fluid 252 is then introduced into the cooling fluid bath 250 and then reintroduced into the first heat exchanger 210, allowing for a continuous loop for the cooling fluid 252 to travel through in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the cooling fluid 252 may need to be reduced to a chilled temperature as it flows through the second heat exchanger 224 because the beverage 202 flowing through the cooling fluid bath 250 will cause the cooling fluid 252 to absorb some heat, and thus, it may be necessary to set the chilled temperature so that the cooling fluid 252 will warm to an appropriate cooling temperature as it enters the first heat exchanger 210.

The refrigerant 246 flows from the refrigeration unit 244 into the second heat exchanger 224 and back to the refrigeration unit 244 via the above-mentioned path and the operation of the refrigeration unit 244 will serve to cool the cooling fluid 252 to the cooling or refrigeration temperature required to dispense the beverage 202 at the desired temperature. The refrigerant 246 flows in a flow direction 234 opposite to the flow direction of the cooling fluid 222, but these flow directions may also be modified in a number of different configurations as discussed in fig. 1.

Fig. 3 illustrates an alternative embodiment and configuration of a cooling bath unit 30 that may be implemented in the disclosed systems and methods. This may be used in place of, for example, the cooling bath 250 of fig. 2. In this embodiment, the cooling fluid bath 300 is shaped and configured to form two locations of heat transfer 306 and 308 between the cooling fluid 302 and the beverage 304. It can be seen that the cooling fluid bath 30 is not shaped like a conventional bath or barrel unit, and thus, the cooling fluid bath can be shaped and configured in several different shapes, volumes and sizes. The cooling fluid 302 and beverage 304 have a first location where they exchange heat 308 between the tube sections 320 and 322. Beverage 304 flows in flow direction 314 and cooling fluid 302 flows in flow direction 316, which in this embodiment is of a co-current configuration. The cooling fluid 302 and beverage 304 then have a second location where they exchange heat 306 between the tube sections 318 and 322. The beverage 304 flows in a flow direction 312 and the cooling fluid 302 flows in a flow direction 310, which in this embodiment belongs to a counter-flow configuration. Ideally, both locations of heat transfer 306 and 308 will be used to cool the beverage 302 so that it can ultimately be dispensed from the dispensing unit at the desired temperature. The spacing between the tubes in this figure serves to better illustrate heat transfer and the direction of flow of the beverage and cooling fluid, and in practical embodiments the tubes may desirably be closer together so that they are in contact, which will promote a higher degree of heat transfer. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that more than two locations of the heat exchanger may be envisaged via the tubing 322 configured with beverage and the tubing 318 and 320 for cooling fluid.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the embodiments shown in fig. 1, 2 and 3 may be modified and rearranged into several different embodiments by varying the order of the units through which the cooling fluid and beverage flow. For example, the cooling fluid may flow from the cooling fluid bath to the beverage reservoir, then to the second heat exchanger, and then to the first heat exchanger, or the cooling fluid may flow into the beverage reservoir multiple times via separate inlets and outlets provided by the beverage reservoir, such as into the beverage reservoir after exiting from the first heat exchanger, and again into the beverage reservoir after exiting from the second heat exchanger. As such, it can be seen that the disclosed systems and methods achieve several configurations beyond those explicitly stated in the disclosure herein. As previously discussed, the fluidic interconnections of these systems may be configured to allow them to be moved and reconnected into different units, allowing the user to easily and efficiently change the order and configuration of the units.

For purposes of illustration, an exemplary working embodiment of an embodiment similar to the embodiment disclosed in fig. 2 is described herein. The double pipe heat exchanger was used as a primary heat exchanger with 3/8 "SS 316 (stainless steel grade 316) tubing with 0.035" wall thickness for carrying the beverage and 3/4 "PEX-a material as the outer pipe, a 60 foot coil used in the double pipe heat exchanger. The cooling fluid pump applies a pressure of 50 psi to the cooling fluid to cause the cooling fluid to flow through the circulation path at a flow rate of 100 gallons per hour. 1/2 gallon of water/glycol was flowed through the continuous loop in the system and the water/glycol mixture was allowed to cool to a cool temperature in 30 seconds. This causes the dispensing unit to deliver beer in a desired temperature range of-1 degrees celsius to 4 degrees celsius.

The above description is given by way of example and not limitation. Given the above disclosure, one skilled in the art can devise variations that are within the scope and spirit of the invention disclosed herein. Furthermore, the various features of the embodiments disclosed herein may be used alone or in different combinations with one another and are not intended to be limited to the specific combinations disclosed herein. Thus, the scope of the claims will not be limited by the illustrated embodiments. Additional modifications and improvements of the present invention may also be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Accordingly, the particular combination of parts and steps described and illustrated herein is intended to represent only certain embodiments of the present invention and is not intended to serve as limitations of alternative systems and methods within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (20)

1.A method of delivering a beverage at a desired temperature, the method comprising the steps of:

a) Providing a primary heat exchanger defining a first inlet fluidly connected to the first outlet and a second inlet fluidly connected to the second outlet;

b) The beverage is caused to flow through the primary heat exchanger via the first inlet and the first outlet of the primary heat exchanger, while,

C) Flowing a cooling fluid at a cooling temperature through the primary heat exchanger via the second inlet and the second outlet of the primary heat exchanger, and

Delivering the beverage at the desired temperature via a dispensing unit;

d) Wherein during step c) the cooling fluid at the cooling temperature is caused to flow through the primary heat exchanger for reducing the temperature of the beverage such that the beverage can be delivered at the desired temperature in step d).

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the desired temperature is in a range of-3 degrees celsius to 6 degrees celsius.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the cooling temperature is in a range of-3 degrees celsius to 6 degrees celsius.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the beverage is an alcoholic beverage selected from malt liquor, cider, lager, bauer, schin, golden beer, brown beer, light beer, indian light beer, wheat beer, pearson beer, sour beer, or a combination thereof.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the cooling fluid is selected from the group consisting of water, deionized water, air, glycol/water solution, dielectric fluid, silicone, glycol, propylene glycol, brine, or a combination thereof.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the primary heat exchanger is a double pipe heat exchanger.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of cooling the cooling fluid to a refrigeration temperature via a refrigerant selected from the group consisting of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HFCFs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), fluorohydrocarbons (FCs), hydrocarbons (HC), ammonia, carbon dioxide, propane, or combinations thereof.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the refrigeration temperature is 0.01 degrees celsius to 5 degrees celsius lower than the cooling temperature.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the refrigerant is recyclable and reusable in the step of cooling the cooling fluid to the refrigeration temperature via a refrigeration unit selected from the group consisting of an evaporative cooling refrigerator, a mechanical compression refrigerator, an absorption refrigerator, and a thermoelectric refrigerator.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the refrigerant cools the cooling fluid to the refrigeration temperature by flowing the cooling fluid through a third inlet fluidly connected to a third outlet of a secondary heat exchanger and flowing the refrigerant through a fourth inlet fluidly connected to a fourth outlet of the secondary heat exchanger, wherein the refrigerant flows through the secondary heat exchanger for cooling the cooling fluid to the refrigeration temperature.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the secondary heat exchanger is a coaxial heat exchanger.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the second outlet of the primary heat exchanger is fluidly connected to the third inlet of the secondary heat exchanger to define a fluidly connected continuous loop of the cooling fluid.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of flowing the cooling fluid through a beverage pitcher jacket defining a pitcher fluid inlet fluidly connected to a pitcher fluid outlet, the beverage pitcher jacket surrounding a beverage pitcher containing the beverage prior to flowing the beverage through the primary heat exchanger, wherein the step of flowing the cooling fluid through the beverage pitcher jacket serves to cool the beverage contained in the beverage pitcher.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of flowing the beverage through a cooling fluid bath containing the cooling fluid, wherein the step of flowing the beverage through the cooling fluid bath is used to cool the beverage.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the flowing of the beverage and the flowing of the cooling fluid occur through a pipe made of a first material comprising steel, galvanized steel, stainless steel, cast iron, spheroidal graphite cast iron, high silicon cast iron, nickel alloy, cobalt alloy, titanium, carbon, brass, copper, aluminum, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, cross-linked Polyethylene (PEX), borosilicate glass, polytetrafluoroethylene-based composite, or a combination thereof.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein at least a portion of the pipe is encased in one or more additional layers of material comprising steel, galvanized steel, stainless steel, cast iron, ductile iron, high silicon cast iron, nickel alloy, cobalt alloy, titanium, carbon, brass, copper, aluminum, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, crosslinked Polyethylene (PEX), borosilicate glass, or combinations thereof.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the tubing further comprises an antimicrobial material.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein a controller is provided that controls the flow of the cooling fluid such that the desired temperature can be selectively varied.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the controller receives information from one or more sensors that measure one or more of a temperature of the beverage prior to flowing through the primary heat exchanger, a temperature of the beverage after flowing through the primary heat exchanger, a temperature of the beverage when flowing through the primary heat exchanger, a temperature of the cooling fluid prior to flowing through the primary heat exchanger, a temperature of the cooling fluid after flowing through the primary heat exchanger, a temperature of the cooling fluid when flowing through the primary heat exchanger, a flow rate of the cooling fluid through the primary heat exchanger.

20. A system for delivering a beverage at a desired temperature, the system comprising a primary heat exchanger defining a first inlet fluidly connected to a first outlet and a second inlet fluidly connected to a second outlet, a beverage storage tank containing a beverage, a cooling fluid bath containing a cooling fluid, a refrigeration unit, and a distribution unit, the primary heat exchanger for receiving the beverage via the first inlet and also for receiving a cooling fluid at a cooling temperature via the second inlet, the primary heat exchanger further for allowing the cooling fluid to absorb heat from the beverage via the cooling fluid to cool the beverage, the distribution unit for receiving the beverage and also for delivering the beverage at the desired temperature, the refrigeration unit for supplying a refrigerant to cool the cooling fluid to a chilled temperature to provide the cooling fluid at the cooling temperature prior to receiving the cooling fluid from the second inlet of the primary heat exchanger.