Fish/Seafood Icing

Fresh caught, processed fish and shellfish products require preservation with ice.

Ice is used at all points in the chain of handling fish and seafood – on board vessels during the catch, dock side to preserve the fish during transport to the market or processing area, central processing areas, and transporting of fish and seafood after processing to market, and at market. It requires continuous temperature control to maintain the best quality and extend the shelf life. The use of ice reduces bacteria or enzyme activity in seafood products, slows decay, and yields a higher quality grade. Ice provides a sanitary means for this preservation.

Applications include:

  • Boat icing to extend fishing time without scarifying quality of the catch
  • Truck icing during transport of product
  • Shrimp and catfish farms Icing during processing
  • Post processing icing

The objective is to maintain the cold temperature during all phases – from the ocean to the final destination in the in the restaurant or consumer’s home. VOGT can supply your complete ice making, ice storage and distribution system.

Advantages include:

  • Single source responsibility for the system.
  • Proven experience in solving customer problems with reliable solutions.

To fully retard or inhibit bacterial growth after catching, the ice used for seafood must be clean. Using potable water in the production of the ice and sanitary handling of the ice after production is the only way to assure ice cleanliness. Ice made in a ice plant is conveyed either mechanically or pneumatically on to the fishing vessels or other points of use. The amount of ice needed is dictated by the cooling rate required by the fish product being caught. Different species require varying cooling times to maintain quality. Chilled water is sometimes used to clean the product during processing.

VOGT® has a complete line of icemakers, ice storage systems, delivery systems, and chillers to meet each individual customer’s needs.

Use our Capacity Calculator or Ice Machine/Model Selector to help Guide you. Need more help? Contact us at: (NEED INFO)

Recommended Ice Equipment for Seafood Applications:

Ice makers

Vogt Ice products – Tube Ice ® P series and VT ice makers; Turbo® Modular (C-Line, MHG) ice makers provide a sanitary way to manufacturer the type of ice required for each customer need. The distinct advantages are important to vessel crews wishing to maximize the amount of ice given the limited amount of fish hold space. Additional ice means longer trips and more product delivered to the market – higher return on each trip. More fragmented ice can be put in transport containers as well increase the effectiveness of this means of storage. Icemakers have been used in fishing operations for over 40 years.

Features:

Turbo ® Modular fragmented ice benefits:

  • Capacities in 13 (C-Line) or 26 (MHG) US tons per day per module.
  • Densest product made- more ice in the same volume. Critical in ship icing.
  • Large amount of surface area for quick cooling of product.
  • Sanitary equipment construction.
  • Variable ice thickness control for desired ice type.
  • Storage and delivery systems to integrate in to any plant process.
  • Variable delivery rates and control options.

Vogt Tube Ice ® P series and VT ice benefits:

  • VT capacities from 3-5 US tons per day in self-contained packages-perfect for inland processing.
  • P series capacities from 5 to 125 tons per day.
  • Large amount of surface area for quick cooling of product.
  • Sanitary equipment construction. Variable ice thickness control for desired ice type – VT models
  • Storage and delivery systems to integrate in to any plant process.
  • Variable delivery rates control options.

Most icemakers are available as low sides only or self-contained with the low side evaporator and high side on a common skid for capacities up to 50 tons for HFC refrigerants and ammonia. Multiple icemakers can be installed to provide up 1,000 tons or more ice capacity.

Ice Storage and Delivery Systems

Ice rake systems:

  • Vogt TURBO ice rake systems are designed for storage of tube, or fragmented ice produced by the VOGT line of icemakers. Capacities up to 87 tons can be obtained.
  • CB Rakes are available in three rake assembly sizes and 4 different capacities. Complete automatic loading and unloading of the ice through the use of a programmable logic controller that monitors all aspects of the rake system operation, ensuring reliable operation. CB rakes range in capacities from 49 to 87 tons of ice.
  • The CB Rake is completely automatic – unload and load operation require the operator to turn on the “Delivery” switch.

Ice Delivery System to processing and other icing delivery points

Ice can be delivered to the ice storage and other delivery points (boats, trucks, processing). The icing requirements may vary within the process or to a number of different icing points inside and outside of processing areas. A single system may deliver ice to the vessels at dock side, to trucks, to several different processing areas inside and outside of the plant.

Automatic ice delivery can include a combination of methods including: Galvanized or stainless steel screw conveyors (augers) which can be used to deliver ice from the icemaker to the ice storage bin (rake system) and from the ice rake to the processing area, dock, tuck icing, or processing areas – all automatically. Simple user friendly controls allow adjustments to the ice loading and unloading process to match the customer’s requirements.

The speed of the screw conveyor(s) are selected to meet the delivery volume and rate required for the mixer.

Pneumatic delivery systems consist of a blower, two and three-way diverter valves (for delivery to more than one icing point or processing area), rotary valve, after-cooler (typically not required with fragmented ice), cyclone to decelerate ice delivery to processing area for release of the air transporting the ice, piping, and control systems. Pneumatic systems are typically used for long transport distances or in application where space is limited in the process area. Ice is transported in small aluminum piping system to deliver the ice to one or more icing points in a minimum of space.

Cyclones are required in processing areas to separate the air and ice, and decelerate the ice discharge from the Pneumatic delivery system. Delivery rates of 15 to 40 tons per hour are typical and easily accomplished with the complete line of delivery system components. Turbo CB and Automatic Rakes allow a convenient way of storing and handling large amounts of ice – all automatically. The rake stores the ice and delivers it when it is needed for processing, boat icing or other needs.

Pneumatic delivery systems

Pneumatic systems are used to load ice on fishing vessels quickly and efficiently to minimize the time sitting dock side waiting for ice. Ice can be effectively blown into all parts of a large fish hole to completely fill the hole. All from ice plants located remote to the docks, and all completely automated and safe.

Unlike old pneumatic systems VOGT systems utilize large inlet and outlet silencer to reduce the noise to acceptable levels.

Typical applications:

  • Coastal fish processing plants for vessel icing
  • Coastal fish processing plants for process icing
  • Inland fish processing plants and shrimp and fish farms
  • Pneumatic conveyors for handling ice to vessels and processing lines
  • Packing of fresh seafood for transport

Chilled Water System

TURBO Chillers

Chilled water can be delivered to the process by one of two methods. TURBO Chiller – HTD or HF chillers Thermal energy storage systems – HP or ATS/FTS.

Chilled water at 33 deg F can be supplied by HTD and HF type Turbo Falling Film chillers to chill the fish or shrimp as it waits to be processed. The cleanable nature of the chiller and stainless steel construction make it the preferred way to supply sanitary cold water for cleaning during processing.

Water is cooled from temperatures as high as 85 to 90 deg F down to 33 deg F in a single pass. The water enters the chiller at the higher temperature and leaves at the lower temperatures and can be delivered directly to the process or to a storage tank for later use. TURBO chillers can deliver water to within one (1) degree of the freezing point.

Chiller products can deliver several hundred gallons per minute of chilled water to the process typically with a single chiller. Multiple chillers can handle large processing requirements.

Thermal Energy Storage (HP and ATS/FTS) for water chilling
Thermal energy storage (TES) systems use ice generators mounted on top of storage tanks. Ice is produced during night time or other periods of low electric utility rates and stored in a concrete or steel lined tank. During the processing hours the 32 deg F water from the mixture of water and ice in the storage tank is circulated through a plate frame heat exchanged to obtain the 35 to 39 deg F required for the processing areas for cleaning. TES systems typically operate at higher evaporator temperatures and are more efficient than standard icemakers. With or without electric utility rebates or lower utility rates the TES provide a reliable method to store the required cooling for the processing.