Method of controlling temperature zones in food processing vat

1. A method of processing a liquid or semi-liquid food product in a vat, comprising:

determining (i) a target size of a batch of a food product to be processed in a vat, wherein the vat defines an enclosure with multiple interconnected walls that include a pair of opposite side walls, and (ii) a target temperature for processing the batch of the food product within an inside space of the vat;

delivering a heat transfer fluid to a zoned heat transfer system of the vat for transmitting heat to or removing heat from the batch of the food product, wherein the zoned heat transfer system defines multiple heat transfer zones at multiple corresponding heights along the vat that are configured to be controlled separately with respect to each other for controlling heat transfer characteristics relative to the inside space of the vat, wherein the multiple heat transfer zones include at least one lower heat transfer zone arranged at a bottom wall of the vat and multiple upper heat transfer zones including at least one pair of upper heat transfer zones arranged at the pair of opposite side walls of the vat with a first upper heat transfer zone of the at least one pair of upper heat transfer zones arranged at a first side wall of the pair of opposite side walls and a second upper heat transfer zone of the at least one pair of upper heat transfer zones arranged at a second side wall of the pair of opposite side walls; and

controlling a diverter system arranged with respect to the multiple heat transfer zones for directing the heat transfer fluid through selective ones of the lower heat transfer zone and the at least one pair of upper heat transfer zones at the pair of opposite side walls to separately control heating characteristics at the multiple heights along the vat to correspondingly control heating characteristics of the inside space of the vat based on at least one of the target size and target temperature of the batch of the food product, wherein the diverter system includes a first diverter arranged between the at least one lower heat transfer zone and the first upper heat transfer zone at the first side wall and a second diverter arranged between the at least one lower heat transfer zone and the second upper heat transfer zone at the second side wall, and wherein controlling the diverter system includes,

controlling the first diverter to establish a first fluid flow path relative to the first side wall by selectively directing the heat transfer fluid through selective ones of the at least one lower heat transfer zone and the first upper heat transfer zone at the first side wall; and

controlling the second diverter to establish a second fluid flow path relative to the second side wall by selectively directing the heat transfer fluid through selective ones of the at least one lower heat transfer zone and the second upper heat transfer zone at the second side wall.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

establishing a temperature differential between two of the multiple heat transfer zones of the heat transfer system by controlling which of the multiple heat transfer zones receives the heat transfer fluid.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein a temperature of one of the two heat transfer zones is heated or cooled to a temperature that defines a first component of the temperature differential and that substantially corresponds to the target temperature for processing the batch of the food product.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein controlling the diverters includes establishing a flow path of the heat transfer fluid through fewer than all of the multiple heat transfer zones.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein (i) the heat transfer fluid is directed through the lower and upper heat transfer zones while processing the batch of the food product with a relatively large target size, and (ii) the heat transfer fluid is directed through the lower heat transfer zone and diverted away from the upper heat transfer zones while processing a batch of the food product with a relatively small target size.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the heat transfer fluid can be directed through fewer than all of the multiple upper heat transfer zones.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising simultaneously diverting flow of the heat transfer fluid away from (i) the first upper heat transfer zone arranged at the first side wall of the vat enclosure, and (ii) the second upper heat transfer zone arranged at the second side wall of the vat enclosure.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising simultaneously directing flow of the heat transfer fluid through the at least one pair of upper heat transfer zones as mirror images of each other as reflected about a longitudinally extending centerline of the vat.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a position of a splash zone that corresponds to a segment of the vat enclosure that receives splashed portions of the food product during processing, wherein the splashed portions of the food product run down the splash zone as a splashed layer of food product to collect within the remainder of the food product;

evaluating whether the splash zone is in at least one of the first and second upper heat transfer zones at the first and second side walls;

determining whether the target temperature is warm enough to burn the splashed layer of food product in the splash zone; and

when the splash zone is within at least one of the first and second upper heat transfer zones at the first and second side walls and the target temperature is warm enough to hum the splashed layer of food product in the splash zone, controlling the diverter system to reduce temperature of the at least one of the first and second upper heat transfer zones.

10. The method of claim 9 , the method further comprising,

controlling the first diverter to provide a first temperature differential between the at least one lower heat transfer zone and the first upper heat transfer zone at the first side wall to transmit more heat to the food product from the at least one lower heat transfer zone than from the first upper heat transfer zone; and

controlling the second diverter to provide a second temperature differential between the at least one lower heat transfer zone and the second upper heat transfer zone at the second side wall to transmit more heat to the food product from the at least one lower heat transfer zone than from the second upper heat transfer zone.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein controlling the first and second diverters includes preventing flow of the heat transfer fluid through the first and second upper heat transfer zones.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the multiple heat transfer zones include a first intermediate heat transfer zone arranged between the at least one lower heat transfer zone and the first upper heat transfer zone at the first side wall and a second intermediate heat transfer zone arranged between the at least one lower heat transfer zone and the second upper heat transfer zone at the second side wall and the method further comprises,

controlling the first diverter to prevent flow of the heat transfer fluid through the first upper heat transfer zone while permitting flow of the heat transfer fluid through the at least one lower heat transfer zone and the first intermediate heat transfer zone; and

controlling the second diverter to prevent flow of the heat transfer fluid through the second upper heat transfer zone while permitting flow of the heat transfer fluid through the at least one lower heat transfer zone and the second intermediate heat transfer zone.