Traditionally Buus Refrigeration has always made flake ice machines, but now the company is able to offer its customers a combined slurry and flake ice maker.
“The construction is quite simple,” Buus’ Peter Mortensen tells WF&A. “The cold drum is rotating and water will freeze on the outside. After one rotation, the ice is scraped off the drum. When the rotation speed, the water temperature and the temperature of the drum are right, you will get flake ice that is 1-2mm in thickness and is dry and sub cooled.
“Our solution for making slurry ice is very simple and rugged. Since the ice is formed on the outside of a rotating cylinder, in contrast to the other slurry ice machines on the market, Buus slurry ice makers will work with only a small amount of salt in the water.”
As the drum forms the ice on the outside, there is no need for a surveillance system to ensure that the water has the right salt content. This has enabled Buus to create a slurry ice maker that only requires saltwater ice with a salt content from 1%.
As the system is not sensitive to the variations in water salinity, even brackish water and water from river outlets can be used.
“Making slurry ice only requires the ice crystals and saltwater,” said Mr Mortensen. “Therefore, you can let the drum rotate much faster. Higher rotation speed gives more ice.”
A flake ice machine that can produce, for example, 2,500kg ice per 24 hours can also produce 9,700l/7,200kg, 35% slurry ice.
On fishing vessels, fishermen will most often chill the catch very fast using slurry ice. When the temperature of the catch is down to approximately 0°C they will switch to flake ice production and give the catch a layer of flake ice to maintain the temperature.
“Switching from slurry ice to flake ice and vice versa is very simple,” said Mr Mortensen. “You pull out the chute that feeds the slurry mixer. Doing that will change the production from soft seawater ice to sub cooled flake ice without changing anything else on the machine. When you pull out the chute you can even start a conveyor that will place the flake ice where you need it.”
BUUS slurry and flake ice machines are available for all conditions - tropical or arctic.
