Ice woes....... Ice is not as simple as just freezing water and scraping it off into a hopper. There are many different types. All with their own characteristics. But, for the sake of not posting a five mile long post which will bore the shit out of people I will stick with trying to explain why some of you boys are having issues. Scale ice, which is commonly but mistakenly called flake ice, is the most difficult ice To keep if you do not have the correct set up. In order to make large pieces of scale ice, salt is added to the fresh water in order to lower the freezing point. As you all know water freezes at 0 degrees Celcius, but by introducing the salt this drops to approximately -15 degrees Celcius which is required to make the ice hard enough to form the scales as it is scraped off. The delivery method of this ice into your hold makes little difference as even the dust particles that are produced by blowing are still at -15 or there abouts. The problem arises on the condition of the ice storage. Unless the ice is stored at well below freezing point the outside layers of ice melt. This runs thru the inner ice and re-freezes as the stuff inside is still at -15 deg C. And because the iced melt water is salt laden it freezes into a solid useless ice cube. The answer...... It MUST be stored well below 0 degrees C in your hold. Which brings about a whole Different set of issues........ The ice plant is doing what it is designed to do. In my opinion its the wrong ice for your application. The merchants love it, but then, they can store it In freezers. Hope this helps, but if anyone wants a chat, you know where I am. Cheers.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 10:36:35 +0000
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