Ice quality and cooling comparison of Flake ice and

Chip ice (BUCO) of Norwegian Fish Concern

First of all the two different ice qualities have to be defined precisely:
z
Flake ice with 1mm ice thickness and -8°C to -10°C ice temperature.
z
Chip ice so called BUCO ice with 6mm to 8mm thickness and -0,5°C to -1°C ice temperature.

The main reason why the Norwegian concern Marine Harvest tested the BUCO ice, was the fact
that BUCO ice is manufactured with an evaporation temperature of minus 10°C which is less
than half the temperature required to produce flake ice (evaporating temperature minus 25°C)
and has the following effect on cost for the final customer per kilo fish and kilo ice:

31.5 tons/day of BUCO ice with a total energy consumption of 50.2 KW

priced at 8,7 cents per KW/hr can be manufactured for EURO 151,20
which equals a price per kg of ice of EURO 0,0048

31.5 tons/day of flake ice with a total energy consumption of 103.32 KW

priced at 8,7 cents per KW/hr can be manufactured for EURO 315,00
which equals a price per kg of ice of EURO 0,01

Double the price to produce the same quantity of ice was the reason why Marine Harvest
finally decided to test if the quality of the BUCO ice is comparable or better than flake ice in
order to confirm the full advantage of BUCO ice in respect of price per kg of ice to price per
kg of fish which is the main calculation basis in the fish industry today.

Marine Harvest confirmed their results as follows:

A constant quantity of 20 kg of trim A Salmon fillets were tested at various stages during cooling.

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 10 different tests on each quantity were made on fish in tubs per the photo below. The tubs
contained 3 kg, 5 kg and 7 kg BUCO ICE

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 The fish tubs were placed in a cold store room for 120 hours at a constant temperature of 0°C.
Thermometers were placed inside the salmon to measure the internal temperature of the fish.
Some fluctuations in the temperatures measured are as a result of the highly sensitive
measurement machine.
It can be confirmed that the salmon temperature was constant according to the tests on the
three quantities 3, 5 and 7 kgs of Buco ice in the fish tubs.
The above temperature graph shows that the internal temperature of the salmon was reduced
from a starting temperature in between 3.5°C and 5°C cold down to in between 0,3°C and 0.5°C
in a 10 – 12 hour period which is confirmed to be homogeneous cooling.

The final results of the research show that the BUCO ice gives slightly better cooling results
when compared with the results of flake ice.
It was also positively confirmed that the BUCO ice has no sharp edges, is not subcooled
and during transportation or storage there is very little clogging or packing of the ice.

Heat Transfer Technology AG, Bernastrasse 6, CH-3005 Bern www.htt-ag.com

Telefon +41 (0)31 310 2400 | Telefax +41 (0)31 310 2415 E-mail: office@htt-ag.com