Rapid and effective way of chilling
Designed to produce slurry ice on board fishing boats and fishing vessels.
Slurry ice machines produce slush from seawater and are used to cool down the catch after it has been gutted.
The slush is pumped evenly into chilled tanks as they are loaded, whether it is with fish, lobster, shellfish or other sea catch.
Key Benefits
• Produces slush from the sea which is used to cool down the catch after it has been gutted.
• Rapid chilling and exact temperature control.
• Increased Shelf Life.
• Slurry covers the entire surface of the catch.
• Slows down the growth of bacteria.
• Reduces the activity of enzymes.
• Available with or without a pre-cooler.
Control Function
The slurry ice machine is made from a stainless-steel frame with a compressor, ice generator, condenser, control valves, and flow valves. The control panel can be positioned on the machine itself or almost anywhere on the ship. The machine is controlled with a touch screen, using a single button to activate it.
Monitoring software is included, along with a sea pump and sea filters. The only thing not included for installation is a piping system for slush and sea.
The machine works as follows:
• Water is pumped in, and the quantity is determined by electrically controlled valves.
• On the touch screen, select how much sea passes through the valve, and the operating system maintains a proper flow.
• The flow through the machine is the key factor in maintaining the correct and constant thickness of the slush.
• From the valves, the sea is pumped into the ice generator where the slurry ice is being made.
Briefly, the ice generator is built with two tubes, where the smaller tube is located inside the bigger one. The space in between the tubes holds the refrigerant, which is maintained at
-23° C. The sea passes through the ice generator to freeze and produce ice crystals on the inside of the tube. The ice crystals are scraped away with the machine’s scraping mechanism as soon as they form. Within the cooling system, the ice slush churn gets filled with ice which is pressed out of the machine.
The density of the ice is controlled by the amount of sea that is pumped into the machine. The less sea that goes through the churn, the higher the density of the ice. It can come close to 43% density.
As the sea temperature can vary between seasons and areas, computer- controlled sensors and specialized software optimizes the slurry ice machines’ performance. With the procedure, it is possible to control the density of the slurry ice and maximize its performance.
Slurry Ice & Tanks
Slurry ice can be used in many ways. In smaller vessels, fishing for 1-3 days at a time, the slurry ice is put into a tank with a built-in safety valve; the ice goes into the tank along with the catch. For that purpose, the density of the ice is about 30%, and the temperature at -2.8° C.
The catch is dropped straight into the slurry ice and cooled rapidly and effectively. Within a few minutes the catch is cooled down to 0°C surrounded by slurry ice.
In larger ships the slurry ice is often collected into an ice tank. The tank has a stirring mechanism to prevent the ice from separating itself from the seawater. The height control, within the tank, monitors and administers the slurry ice, stopping when the tank is full and is activated automatically when the tank is around 80% capacity. From the slurry ice tank, the ice is pumped over the catch. The slurry can be thick or thin, depending on what it is being used for.
Slurry Ice compared to Flake Ice
Great development steps have been made in cooling techniques for the food industry, especially in fisheries.
Over the past few years, slurry ice has been proven as a highly effective cooling method. There is a great difference between cooling fish with slurry ice versus conventional flake ice.
Regular flake ice is only in touch with a small part of the fish surface and does not cool the catch as fast and evenly as the slurry ice. When using slurry ice, the whole surface of the fish is in touch with -2.8° C liquid, cooling it faster and in a more efficient manner. With the slurry, the core temperature of the catch is cooled down in a short amount of time, and highest quality is maintained.
At a Glance
• Rapid and effective way of chilling.
• Controlled with a touch pad.
• Maximized performance.
• Customized for clients.
• Maintenance and support services.
• Energy saving.
• Time saving.
• Easy to use.
Whether you have a small boat or a large trawler, we have first-grade cooling solutions. You can choose from ready-made solutions or have one custom-made.
Main structure
Slurry Ice Machines are built on a stainless steel frame and with selected components that can stand the strain and quality demands for equipment from Kæling ehf. A Slurry Ice Machine consists of a compressor, ice generator, pipes, electrically controlled valves, and condenser all controlled by a modern control unit from Kæling.
Using Slurry Ice on board
There are several ways of using Slurry Ice in an effective way to maximize the quality of the catch.
On board smaller fishing vessels that are usually out for 1 to 3 days, the slurry ice is stored in an open plastic container. For those circumstances, the ice is made to be 30% condensed at -2,8°. The catch is slipped into the slurry ice for rapid cooling. Within a few minutes, the catch has reached 0° temperature floating in the slurry ice.
For bigger fishing vessels, the slurry ice is usually stored in special slurry ice tanks to be ready for use when large catches are boarded. The condensing of the ice can be controlled depending on different stages of the process. When connected to a slurry ice tank, the slurry ice machine can be set on and off automatically according to the level in the slurry ice tank.
Real progress in preserving food
There has been a great development in cooling techniques and methods over the years, not least in the fishing industry. In recent years, cooling with slurry ice has proven itself to be a very effective method, especially for cooling catch from the sea but also for other food products.
There is a big difference between cooling fish with slurry ice and flake ice. With slurry ice, the entire surface of the fish is in contact with -2.8°C cold liquid ice, and cooling can, therefore, be rapid and even. Traditional flake ice only touches a small part of the surface of the fish, and cooling can, therefore, not be as fast and even for each fish. With slurry ice, the core temperature of the catch is reduced in a short time, and the maximum quality of the catch is maintained.
Benefits of using Slurry Ice:
- Rapid cooling
- Even cooling for each fish and the whole catch
- Less and easier labor
- Low electricity consumtion
- Easy to pump the Slurry Ice through pipes to the place of use
- Increase in catch and product value
- Extended lifetime of the products
