INTRODUCTION:

The demand for block ice is as great today as it ever has been, despite
advances made in the development of modern refrigeration equipment.
manufacture is used for producing refrigeration effect to freeze potable
water in standard cans placed in rectangular tank which is filled by brine. A
good definition of refrigeration is the removal of heat energy so that a space
or material is colder than its surroundings. An ice plant based on 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,
fisheries and providing appropriate temperature in working Entity of any
industry. Refrigeration in the coming years becomes very essential deal for
drastic development of the industrial sector.

COMPONENTS OF AN ICE PLANT:

In the study of an ice plant the components generally used are viz.
compressor, oil separator, condenser, receiver, drier, expansion
valve,evaporator, chilling Tank, refrigerant accumulator and pressure gauges.
COMPRESSOR: A refrigerating compressor, as the name indicates, is a
machine used to compress the vapour refrigerant from the evaporator and to
raise its pressure so that the corresponding saturation is higher than that of
the cooling medium. It also continually circulates the refrigerant through the
refrigerating system. Since the compression of refrigerant requires some
work to be done on it, therefore a compressor must be driven by some prime
mover. In other words the purpose of the compressor in the vapour
compression cycle is to
compress the low-pressure dry gas from the evaporator and raise its
pressure to that of the
condenser. Compressors are V belt driven and are suitable to operate with
Ammonia.

Condenser :
The condenser is an important device used in the high pressure side of a
refrigeration system. Its function is to remove heat of hot vapor refrigerant
discharge from the compressor. The hot vapour consists of the heat absorbed
by the evaporator and the heat of compression added by the mechanical
energy of compressor motor. The heat from the hot vapourrefrigerant in a
condenser is removed first by transferring it to the walls of the condensers
tubes and then from the tubes to the condensing or cooling medium. The
high temperature, high pressure ammonia vapour is condensed in a
condenser which may be of shell and tube type or evaporative type. The
selection of the condenser depends of the capacity of the refrigerating
system, the type of refrigerant used and the type of cooling medium
available.

Expansion Devices:
The expansion device (also known as metric device or throttling device) is an
important device that divides the high pressure side and the low pressure
side of a refrigerating system. It is connected the receiver (containing liquid
vapour at high pressure) and the
evaporator (containing liquid refrigerant at low pressure). The expansion
device performs the
following functions like to reduce the high pressure liquid refrigerant to low
pressure liquid refrigerant before being fed to the evaporator and to maintain
the desire pressure difference between the high and low pressure side of the
system, so that the liquid refrigerant vaporizes at the designed pressure in
the evaporator.
Evaporator
The evaporator is an important device used in the low pressure side of the
refrigeration system. The liquid refrigerant from the expansion valve enters
intothe evaporator where its boil and change into vapour.The function of the
evaporator is to absorb heat from the surrounding location or medium which
is to be cooled, by mean of a refrigerant. The temperature of
the boiling refrigerant in the evaporator must always be less than that of the
surrounding medium so that heat flows to the refrigerant. The evaporator
becomes cold and remains cold due to the following two reasons:
The temperature of the evaporation coil is low due to the low
temperature of the refrigerant inside the coil.
The low temperature of the refrigerant remains unchanged because
any heat it absorbs is converted to latent heat as boiling proceeds.
Chilling Tank
The main components of chilling tank are viz.ice tank,insulation of ice tank
and ice block. Ice tanks are made of such material as wood, steel or

concrete. As wooden tanks do not last long enough and are liable to leak,
they should preferably be made of steel well coated with waterproof paint.
Tanks made of reinforced concrete are also recommended as superior to
those of wood. The ice tank contains the direct expansion coils, equally
distributed throughout the tank and these coils are submerged in brine. The
tank is provided with a suitable frame of hard wood for support the ice cans
and a propeller or agitator for keeping the brine in motion: the brine in the
tank acts as a medium of contact only, the ammonia evaporating
in the ice coils extracts the heat from the brine,which again absorbs the heat
for the water in the cans.The tank itself should not be much larger than is
necessary.
Suction Accumulators
Suction line accumulators are sometimes inserted in halocarbon circuits, to
serve the purpose of separating return liquid and prevent it passing over to
the compressor. Since this liquid will be carrying oil, and this oil must be
returned to the compressor, the outlet pipe within the separator dips to the
bottom of this vessel and has a small bleed hole, to suck the oil out.
Oil Separators
During the compression stroke of a reciprocating machine, the gas becomes
hotter and some of the oil on the cylinder wall will pass out with the
discharge gas. Some oil carry-over will occur with all lubricated compressor
types, and in small self-contained systems it quickly finds its way back to the
compressor. Start up after a long idle period can result in a large amount of
oil carryover for a short period due to foaming. With larger more complex
systems with remote
evaporator oil, it is desirable to fit an oil separator inthe discharge line to
reduce carry-over to the system.
CAPACITY, PROCESS CYCLE AND ITS LAYOUT: Ice cans are
placed in can grids and moved to beneath the filling tank which
automatically fills each can with proper level of pre-cooled water and then
stop. Potable water must be used to make ice intended for human
consumption.
The cans are then hoisted and carried to the brine tank and immersed inside.
The brine, which is a calcium chloride solution kept at a temperature of
-10, is constantly circulated by agitator in order to keep the temperature
consistent throughout the tank.
Air is blown into the center of the can to induce a swirling motion. This
causes any impurities and air bubbles in the water to be collected in the
center of cans. Prior to finish freezing, this core is removed by a suction
pump and replaced with fresh pre-cooled water.
The time required for the water to be frozen varies according to the size of
cans being used, 150lbs. block requires 24 hours, 300 lbs. Takes 48 hours.
When the ice has completely formed, the grids are lifted up from the brine
tank and moved to place in the thawing tank. Using the warm water heats
the can, until the ice allowed to be slid out. The block ice is then removed
from the can by a can dumper. In POF 150 block per day are going

manufactured and mass of each block is 50KG. The capacity of that plant is
3.5 TONS.
The empty cans are returned to filling tank for next ice making cycle. The ice
is moved to ice storage and stacked by an ice stacker, or it can be delivered
tocustomer right away upon requested.

Working of an Ice Plant:

the working principle of ice plants can be explained in detailed by
stepwise.
In ice plant the tanks are filled with chilled brine. The brine solution is kept in
constant
motion by agitatorsfor increasing the heat
transfer from the water in the can to chilled brine.
The agitators may be either horizontal or vertical and are operated by
means of
electric motors .but in factory horizontal agitator is use.
The brine temperature is maintained by the refrigeration plant at -10
C to -11c.
The high temperature, high pressure ammonia vapours are condensed
in a condenser which may be of shell and tube type or evaporative
type.
The condensed liquid ammonia is collected in the receiver and then
expanded through the expansion valve.

 Due to the expansion, the pressure of the liquid ammonia is

considerably reduced It then passes through the evaporator coils
surrounding a brine tank in which brine solution is filled.
The low pressure liquid ammonia absorbs heat from the brine the brine
solution, equivalent to its latent heat of vaporization, gets converted to
vapour state and is once again fed to compressor to complete the
cycle.
The depth of brine tank is such that the brine level is around 25 mm
higher than the water level in the cans.
The Tank is insulated on all the four sides and from the bottom.The
insulated wooden lids are provided to cover the top in segments, to
facilitate the removal of ice cans.
The ice cans are fabricated from galvanized steel sheets and are given
chromium treatment to prevent corrosion.
In order to get transparent ice, water in the can is agitated by the use
of low pressure air through the tubes suspended from the top.
Due to agitation, the dissolved impurities such as salt, even colors get
collected in the unfrozen water core.
It is desirable that it should be taken out and replaced with fresh water.
Applications:The applications of an ice plant are in Fisheries, Hospital,
Chemical
Pharmaceutical and Commercially used in different
industrial applications etc.

ABASYN ICE FACTORY

PICTURES