Tucal’s Russian project

The project includes a series of vertical plate freezers Russian standard type(with horizontal dividers) with a capacity of 40 tons per day. The freezers have been supplied with the liquid, suction and hot gas valves already mounted in Tucal’s factory, thus simplifying, fastening and securing the installation onboard. Other components of the refrigeration installation have also been supplied, including particle separator, refrigerant pumps and automatic valves.

Another aspect of the project is an icy water plant with capacity to chill 150 tons of fish per day. This system combines water chilling and ice production. For the ice production, the system uses three exchangers placed inside a seawater tank, which are made of aluminium plates to prevent corrosion. The ice formed in contact with the surface of the plates is melted down and it accumulates at the top of the tank. The ice plant works throughout the day, accumulating a reserve of cooling capacity to help the RSW and refrigerate the fish faster. The exchangers are able to produce up to 15 tons of ice per day.

When there is a need to chill the fish, Tucal says there are two possibilities: the first one is to use the RSW unit and spend the usual time refrigerating. The second option is to transfer the accumulated ice (which is available for immediate use) to the fish tank, so that the time required to reduce the fish temperature is much lower than using the RSW. The system uses independent pumps to distribute chilled water and ice.

According to the company, the main advantages of this system are the high efficiency and cost savings: the icy water is also produced when there is no demand for it, and it is accumulated as an ‘energy reserve’ for when it is needed. Therefore, the RSW is calculated based on a much lower capacity requirement. This means a lower investment, lower production costs and also less space required, which is always an important advantage for an installation onboard a vessel.