In February 2018, a Danish logistics company for fish approached us with the challenge of designing a plant that would meet their specific needs while at the same time fulfilling the highly demanding hygiene standards. This essentially involved a flake ice production of 100 tons of ice per day and an ice storage with a capacity of 90 tons. Furthermore, the ice has to be conveyed into the hall over a distance of 36 meters.

The flake ice plant was too large to be accommodated in the factory. Therefore, we installed the machines in standard shipping containers. This approach made it possible to place the ice machine, which can produce 100 tons per day, and the associated 90-ton ice storage system with our proven ice rake system next to the outer wall of the factory. At the same time, we planned to convey ice over a distance of almost 40 meters from the ice production unit to four ice batching units. Each ice feeder can only hold about 150 kg of ice at a time, and each meter of distance reduces the flexibility of supply. We realized this with an optimized control of the ice discharge system. Another challenge was the design of the machines themselves, as the ice must be hygienically spotless at all times. This meant leaving as few hard-to-clean corners and gaps as possible. The antibacterial properties of stainless steel and its high resistance to cleaning agents virtually rule out contamination of the ice while also making it easier to clean the components. As a refrigerant for ice production, we have used ammonia (NH3), which is ecologically unproblematic and is basically available in unlimited quantities. In combination with a so-called economizer and a water pre-cooler, we increased the energy efficiency by approx. 10% compared to similar plants. The plant has already been commissioned in Q3 2018 and fine tuning and interfaces to the fish processing plant have been established.