Lighthouse Caledonia is investing in Slurry Ice’s latest ice
generation system, the first of its kind anywhere in the world to
use an eco-friendly flooded ammonia process to produce smooth
slurry capable of reducing core temperatures very quickly without
freezing.
The key benefits for fish and meat producers lie in the
semi-liquid state of the ice which allows it to flow easily and
chill products from both inside and out and so maintain quality.
The end temperature can be pre-set and then reached and held by
adjusting the slurry’s consistency.
Slurry Ice managing director James Duthie began designing and
delivering slurry-based chilling systems to the fishing industry,
working in partnership with Slurry Ice Systems in Iceland after
many years skippering his own vessel out of Peterhead.
He said: “What we’re doing is unique because nobody else can bring
together the same combination of years of hands-on experience at
sea and detailed technical understanding of the ice generation
business.
“Our products were initially developed to meet the specific needs
of both the pelagic and white fish industries, but we are now
expanding our reach into other sectors.”
The S32 system delivered to Lighthouse Caledonia’s Lochinver
harvesting plant comprises a containerised unit accommodating two
S16 flooded ammonia slurry ice generators. These can be run
together or independently, depending on demand, and are capable of
producing a per hour total of 144kW of cooling and around 160
tonnes of seawater-based slurry at 25% mix.
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James Duthie, Managing Director of Slurry Ice Systems |
Lighthouse Caledonia is using the system to generate slurry for
transporting fish from their harvesting station to their
processing plants.
Mr Duthie added: “As well as bringing clear benefits through
maintaining product quality, a process such as ours that runs on
ammonia meets all new EU guidelines on refrigeration gases, and
offers increased efficiency.
“We are the first to harness this technology in this way, anywhere
in the world.”
Peterhead-based Slurry Ice systems are already installed on a
number of vessels — among them Scottish, Danish, Dutch and
Icelandic trawlers — where they are used before processing, and
for storage. In other sectors trials are under way with Danish
poultry and meat producers, as well as with a Norwegian energy
storage company.
All Slurry Ice systems are designed in-house and manufactured in
Europe. They are the only CE-PED (Pressure Equipment Directive)
certified slurry ice generators currently on the market |
