Republic of the Philippines

Mindanao University of Science and Technology

Lapasan, Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental

College of Engineering and Architecture

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Mini Ice Plant

Submitted by:
Kent Eduard T. Nabor
BSME-5B

Submitted to:
Engr. Dennis E. Ganas

October 2016
I. Objectives:
To know and understand the working principle of a Mini Ice Plant.
To know the different parts and their functions in a Mini Ice Plant.
To determine the applications and limitations of a Mini Ice Plant.

II. Introduction:
An ice plant is basically based on the same principle as a simple
refrigeration system. An ice plant contains various parts such as compressor,
condenser, receiver, expansion valve, evaporator and refrigeration
accumulator. A refrigeration is always been a great deal for human being and
play a vital role in preserving food, chemical, medicine, and providing
appropriate temperature in working entity of any industry. Ice trade has been
a great impact before 19th century. Preservation had depended upon
techniques such as curing, but large supplies of natural ice allowed foods to
be refrigerated or frozen instead. An engineer from Maryland, invented the
early refrigerator which he patented in 1803; this involved a large, insulated
wooden box, with a tin container of ice embedded in the top. Until such time
that ice plants have been installed for mass production.

III. General Principle:

. We all are aware of domestic refrigerator and its usage. We get ice
cubes from freezer compartment to meet daily requirements but, to get an
ice in huge quantity, we normally approaches the ice plant or factory.
Normally, any refrigeration system consists of four main equipments:

1. Compressor
2. Condenser
3. Throttle valve / Flow control valve
4. Evaporator
 But in Ice plant factor, two additional circuits helps us to create huge
amount of ice.

Working Process:

Low pressure and low temperature Ammonia coming out from the throttle
valve is vaporized by taking the latent heat from the brine. Hence, brine
gets cooled which is circulated in the brine circuit.
This cooled brine further absorbs the heat from the water and coverts
water to ice.
Vaporized ammonia is compressed to high pressure and temperature and
passes from condenser.
In condenser, Ammonia is condensed by water circulated in cooling water
circuit having natural cooling tower. The condenser condenses the
Ammonia by water coming from natural cooling tower.
.

IV. Equipment:
1) COMPRESSORS: each of the four components of a vapor-compression
system-the compressor, the condenser, the expansion device, and the
evaporator has its own perculiar behavior. The heart of the vapor-
compression system is the compressor. The four most common types of
refrigeration compressors are the reciprocating, screw, centrifugal, and
vane. The compressor does exactly as it name says: it compresses the
refrigerant. The compressor receives low pressure gas from the evaporator
and converts it to high pressure gas.

2) CONDENSERS and EVAPORATORS: Since both the condenser

and evaporator are heat exchangers, they have certain features
in common. One classification of condensers and evaporators is
according to whether the refrigerant is on the inside or outside
of the tubes and whether the fluid cooling the condenser or
being refrigerated is a gas or a liquid. The most widely used
types of condensers and evaporators are shell-and-tube heat
exchangers and finned coil heat exchangers.
 (Shell and tube water cooled condenser)

(Air cooled condenser)

It is important to realize, however, that the mechanisms prevailing

when refrigerant boils are quite different from those when
refrigerant condenses.

3) EXPANSION DEVICES: The last of the basic elements in the

vapor-compression cycle, after the compressor, condenser, and
evaporator, is the expansion device. The purpose of the
expansion device is twofold: it must reduce the pressure of the
liquid refrigerant, and it must regulate the flow of refrigerant to
 the evaporator. The common types of expansion devices, the
capillary tube, the superheat-controlled expansion valve, the
float valve, and the constant-pressure expansion valve.

4) BRINE: Brine is a common fluid used in large refrigeration

installations for the transport of thermal energy from place to
place. It is used because the addition of salt to water lowers the
freezing temperature of the solution and the heat transport
efficiency can be greatly enhanced for the comparatively low
cost of the material. The lowest freezing point of brine is -21.1
C (-6F).
5) COOLING TOWER: is a wind braced enclosure or shell usually
made of wood, concrete, or metal with fillings on the inside to
aid water exposure. The water to be cooled is pumped into a
distributing header at the top of the tower from which it drops in
sprays to the fillings. The air circulating through the tower
becomes partially saturated with moisture by evaporating some
amount of water. This evaporation is mostly what cools the
water.

6) ICE TANKS: A water tank container

V. Applications/Limitations:

One of the main advantage of the modern compact ice plant is that it
can usually be located at the place where the ice is to be used, therefore
distances are kept to a minimum. Transport to distribution points or the
consumer is usually done in bulk and, for short journeys in temperature
climates, this may be in covered uninsulated vehicles. However, if long
journeys are made, the ice should at least be covered and, in warmer
climates, insulated transport or even refrigerated transport may be
economical.

VI. Conclusion:
Nowadays, refrigeration plant is widely used for the cooling of storage
chambers in which perishable foods, drinks, and other applications of
achieving and maintaining a temperature below of the surroundings. It is very
similar to the refrigeration cycle because it is applied here in the mini ice
plant. Ive learned that the brine has a big impact on absorbing heat so it can
create ice out of water.