Articles on Ice Factories

1. Ice factories, water packaging units raided

INDORE: In a major crackdown, the district administration raided ice factories and

water packaging units in Indore on Thursday and collected around 10 samples. The

test result of the samples is likely to come within a fortnight. Food safety officer

Manish Swami said, "A team raided an ice depot and Monish ice-cream factory at

Nandlalpura and Pankaj ice factory on Dhar Road. Out of the three places raided, two

ice cream factories even had water packaging units. Appropriate action would be

taken against Pankaj Ice factory because of the unhygienic conditions." The ice

samples will be tested at the lab of Indore Municipal Corporation, while the samples

of ice-candy and water pouch would be sent to Bhopal for testing, he added. A fine of

Rs 5 lakh may be slapped if the factories are found using substandard ice. For

violating the provisions of labeling and packaging norms, a fine of Rs 3 lakh can be

imposed and if samples are found unsafe for human consumption, then the owner of

the factory may be sent to jail for one year with a fine of Rs 1 lakh. New Food and

Safety Act, 2006 has become effective from August 2011. Since then, around 500

samples have been collected, out of which 100 samples lacked quality. "About 50

cases have been registered under Food and Safety Act in ADM court, out of which

verdict has come in seven cases," said Swami adding that till now, fine in the range of

Rs 25,000 to Rs 3 lakh has been imposed on the accused.

(Source: THE TIMES OF INDIA)

2. Battle to save historic ice factory

AN HISTORIC ice factory and its 80-year-old refrigeration equipment have become

the subject of a preservation battle. English Heritage is fighting to save the former

Grimsby Ice Company building in Grimsby Docks amidst demands to redevelop the

site. Although the Grimsby Ice company building now stands derelict, it was once

thelargest ice factory in the world and for 90 years was a vital cog in producing ice for

the Grimsby fishing industry. Grade ll listed, the building is on English Heritage's At

Risk register. Recognising that the factory is at "immediate risk of further rapid

deterioration", English Heritage is keen to save the building but, more importantly, it

is keen to preserve what it recognizes as the last surviving example of early 20th

century refrigeration equipment. This includes five massive J&E Hall four-cylinder

compressors, now lying silent and rusting, still in place in the decaying plant rooms.

Speaking to ACR News, Giles Proctor, English Heritage's South and East

Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire architect, said: "Our primary concern is for the

building to be retained with a significant proportion of the ice-making machinery still

in place." He confirmed that the building was Grade ll listed principally because of

the rarity of the refrigeration equipment.

History

The Grimsby Ice Company was originally founded in 1863 by local fishing smack

owners to import ice from Norway. A peak was reached in 1900 with the importation

of 86,685 tons of ice, but the supply was unreliable, and prices rose with growing

demand. Against this background, the ice factory was opened on October 9 1901 as a

joint initiative between the Grimsby Ice Company and the Grimsby Co-operative Ice

Company. In its heyday, the Grimsby ice factory produced around 1,250 tons of ice

per day, and helped establish Grimsby as the largest fishing port in the world by the

1950s. The building originally housed four Pontific horizontal double-acting ammonia

compressors and four ice tanks.

This system was capable of producing 300 tons of ice per day but in order to

keep pace with increasing demand an extension was added in 1907. This increased

output to 500 tons per day thanks to the addition of a further two ice tanks served by

two Linde double-acting ammonia compressors. These were driven by vertical steam

engines. None of these original compressors have survived.

Electrification

Subsequent increases to the speed of the compressors and the addition of a further ice

tank pushed output to 720 tons per day by 1926. But even this was not enough. By the

1930s the Grimsby fishing fleet comprised 600 trawlers, all demanding supplies of ice

for sorties to the fishing grounds in the North Sea and off the west coast of Greenland.

Each boat required about 15 tons of ice when going to fish in the North Sea and four

times as much when fishing in Icelandic waters. Faced with this increasing demand,

the Grimsby Ice Company took the decision to scrap the steam plant and replace the

original compressors with the latest electrically-driven technology. As one of the great

refrigeration companies of all time, it is perhaps no surprise that the contract was

subsequently placed with J&E Hall. In 1931, however, with Britain in the depths of

the Great Depression, the announcement of the deal by Hall's managing director Lord

Dudley Gordon gave a welcome boost to the company's fortunes and is reported to

have been greeted with wild cheering amongst the workforce in Dart ford.

Largest in the world

The installation at the time was the largest of its kind anywhere in the world. Central

to the contract was the supply and installation of four huge four-cylinder ammonia

compressors. These 16.5in dia, 15in stroke machines were designed to run at 250rpm,

each powered by 600hp, 6,000V motors supplied by then Metropolitan Vickers

Electrical Company of Manchester. As is common today, the new equipment was

expected to be installed without distribution to the output of ice - and this in a factory

which operated 24-hours a day. Two oil separators were also installed, as was an

electrical control system which incorporated automatic start, stop, and safety devices.

In addition to earlier Pontifex condensers, a new array of condensers had been added

to the roof. This huge array consisted of 12in bore Staffordshire iron pipes in 34

stacks, 54 pipes high - a total run of 44,200ft, or well over eight miles. On

Wednesday, December 16, 1931, the Grimsby Daily Telegraph ran the headline

"Mammoth Ice Factory Inaugurated", noting that the modernized factory "will be

capable of producing 1,100tons of ice per day - by far the largest output of any ice

factory in the world." Initial run-tests were carried out on just one compressor but

these were not without their problems. When electricity was first applied the

compressor ran backwards and the engineers from Metropolitan Vickers were called

in to reverse the electrical connections. It then ran successfully for a few hours before

a knocking noise was heard. The compressor was shut down and investigations found

a seized gudgeon pin in the no3 piston. A new piston, gudgeon, connecting rod and

bottom end bearings were delivered by road from the works in Dart ford and was back

up and running within 24 hours.

Operation

The shell and tube heat exchanger on the roof removed superheat from the gas. This

recovered heat was then used to release the ice from the moulds. After leaving the

heat exchanger, the ammonia refrigerant passed through two oil separators and two

sets of atmospheric condensers cooled by circulated dock water. Water was taken

from local boreholes and frozen in moulds in the ice tanks. The evaporator coils were

arranged in trunks along the side of each tank. In 1930 there were six tanks with the

capacity to produce 6,606 2cwt (102kg) blocks and 3,240 2.5cwt (128kg) blocks. The

blocks of ice were then turned into crushed ice and conveyed to the quay side and the

waiting trawlers. A further compressor room was added in the early 1950s. This

contained one compressor - another four-cylinder J&E Hall model - which also

survives, but about which little is known. It was at this time that a further well was

sunk on the site and a seventh ice tank added.

(Source: ACR News magazine, November 2009)

3. Refrigeration’s Cooling Makes Businesses Hot

Though ice, brewing, and meat-packing industries were refrigeration’s major

beneficiaries, many other industries found refrigeration a boon to their business. In

metalworking, for instance, mechanically produced cold was used to help temper

cutlery and tools. Iron production got a boost, as refrigeration removed moisture from

the air delivered to blast furnaces, increasing production. Textile mills used

refrigeration in mercerizing, bleaching, and dyeing. Oil refineries found it essential as

did the manufacturers of paper, drugs, soap, glue, shoe polish, perfume, celluloid, and

photographic materials. Fur and woolen goods storage could beat the moths by using

refrigerated warehouses. Refrigeration also helped nurseries and florists, especially to

meet seasonal needs since cut flowers could last longer. And there was a morbid

application — preserving human bodies in the morgue. Sugar mills, confectioneries,

chocolate factories, bakeries, yeast manufacturers, tea companies — all found

refrigeration helped their business.

Hospitality businesses including hotels, restaurants, saloons, and soda fountains,

proved to be big markets for ice. And there was a defense application. In WWI,

refrigeration in munitions factories provided the required strict control of

temperatures and humidity. Allied fighting ships held carbon-dioxide machines to

keep ammunition well below temperatures at which high explosives became unstable.

(Source: History Magazine)

4. Nestlé uses solar energy to power ice cream factory:

Coppa Del Nonno:Nestlé has taken excellence in ice cream-making one step further with the installation of a unique solar power system to produce its Coppa del Nonno brand in Italy. one of its kind in the country to use a combination of three different solar power technologies on the same site. Supported by a smaller solar power system built in 2009, it will provide all the energy needed to power the Coppa del Nonno ice cream production line. Manuela Kron, Corporate Affairs Director for Nestlé Italy, explained how the innovation is part of the Company’s countrywide commitment to obtaining more energy from renewable sources. She said: “The Ferentino solar power system is a high priority for us. It is a tangible expression of our commitment to environmental protection and sustainable development. “The factory already featured cutting-edge ice cream production processes, and the installation of this new solar power system reaffirms its excellence in the management of energy resources.” Ms Kron continued: “It is a great satisfaction for us to be able to contribute to the well-being of the community and the local area in this way.” Nestlé’s Ferentino factory is one of the most advanced in its category, with 11 production lines producing more than 26,000 tonnes of ice cream per year. Its entire solar power system - built with the technical support of the Solar Green Energy Company - produces enough energy to meet around 14% of the factory’s total energy needs, or the equivalent of around 750 homes.It is the only factory to produce Coppa del Nonno ice cream, an historical brand which has been available exclusively in Italy for around 60 years.

SOLAR POWER SYSTEM: The entire solar power system located at the Nestlé’s ice cream factory in Ferentino produces enough energy to meet around 14% of the factory’s total energy needs.

Sold in multipacks and in single-serve ice cream cups, Coppa del Nonno is available in a choice of two different recipes - classic coffee and cappuccino - and is most popular with adults in the north of the country. In addition to Coppa del Nonno, the Ferentino factory makes some of Nestlé’s most prestigious ice cream brands in Italy. These include Maxibon, Maxicono, Antica Gelateria del Corso, and the Company’s biggest seller, La Cremeria. Made with Italian fresh milk, La Cremeria is available in eight different flavours: fiordilatte, stracciatella, spagnola, crema-cioccolato, pistacchio-gianduia, vaniglia-noci pecan, nocciola-cioccolato and limone

Source: The Incredible Times

5. Ice-Cream Production at Tai Chang Wall`s Ice Cream Factory (China):

The Tai Chang Wall's Ice Cream factory (in China it is called He Lu Xue) is producing different kinds of ice cream for the Chinese market. The factory is a subsidiary of the united Li Hua Company. The different types of ice-cream, branded He Lu Xue, have become the famous and favorite products confirmed by the consumers in China Hua Dong area.

Project

In 1995, it was decided to modernize the factory in order to increase the production

quantities and to extend the number of different types of ice creams under production.

During the planning phase, it became obvious that the latest process control

technology based on international accepted communication standards must be used to

fulfil the high production requirements.

Solution: The management of the Tai Chang Wall's Ice Cream factory decided to use the SIMATIC PCS as central control system. In order to save huge efforts during installation and operation of the new plant, PROFIBUS was used to interconnect the decentralized Field Devices like I/O, valves and drives with central control system. The complete production line can be monitored and operated from the two operators sitting in the central control room through two operator stations of the PCS system. Two PLCs TI505 perform the real time control of the production line. They are also the Master stations of the PROFIBUS-DP Fieldbus and perform the main communication tasks including configuration, monitoring and control. PROFIBUS transports all information from the decentralized Field Devices located in the various sections of the plant to the central controller. The correct function of the mixing section is the most important function of the ice-cream production. Here, numerous pipelines and valves are used to mix up the various raw materials of the ice cream. The valves are controlled by on-site valve control modules from Festo. These control modules support PROFIBUS-DP protocol and are connected to the PROFIBUS-DP bus as Slave stations. Through PROFIBUS-DP, the central controller can directly monitor and control all valves.

Result

By using PROFIBUS-DP, the Tai Chang Wall's Ice Cream factory could avoid the

installation of hundreds of parallel cables to transport the information from the field

devices to the central controller. Furthermore the flexibility of the production could be

increased and due to the excellent diagnosis capabilities of PROFIBUS, production

downtimes could be notably reduced. 

Involved in the development of the system were: 

-Siemens

- FestoSource: Internet

6. The Ice Revolution:

Ice was first shipped commercially out of Canal Street in New York City, where it was cut, to

Charleston, South Carolina in 1799. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much ice left when the shipment

arrived. New Englanders Frederick Tudor and Nathaniel Wyeth saw the potential for the ice

business and revolutionized the industry through their efforts in the first half of the 1800s. Tudor,

who became known as the “Ice King,” focused on shipping ice to tropical climates. He

experimented with insulating materials and built ice houses that decreased melting losses from 66

percent to less than 8 percent. Wyeth devised a method of quickly and cheaply cutting uniform

blocks of ice that transformed the ice industry, making it possible to speed handling techniques in

storage, transportation and distribution with less waste. Natural ice supply became an industry

unto itself — and a large one at that. More companies entered the business, prices decreased, and

refrigeration using ice became more accessible. By 1879 there were 35 commercial ice plants in

America, more than 200 a decade later, and 2,000 by 1909. In 1907, 14-15 million tons of ice

were consumed, nearly triple the amount in 1880. No pond was safe from scraping for ice

production, not even Thoreau’s Walden Pond, where 1,000 tons of ice were extracted each day in

1847. But as time went on, ice as a refrigeration agent became a health problem. Says Bern

Nagengast, co-author of Heat and Cold: Mastering the Great Indoors (published by the American

Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers), “Good sources were harder

and harder to find. By the 1890s, natural ice became a problem because of pollution and sewage

dumping.“ Signs of a problem were first evident in the brewing industry. Soon the meat-packing

and dairy industries followed with their complaints. Refrigeration technology provided the

solution: ice mechanically manufactured, giving birth to mechanical refrigeration.

Source: The History Magazine

7. Safety First:

Despite the inherent advantages, refrigeration had its problems. Refrigerants like

sulfur dioxide and methyl chloride were causing people to die. Ammonia had an

equally serious toxic effect if it leaked. Frigidaire discovered a new class of synthetic

refrigerants called halocarbons or CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) in 1928. Then part of

General Motors, the company sewed up all the patents. It released CFCs in 1930. And

despite its original intent to keep its patents proprietary, this was too big an invention

to keep to itself, not to mention it didn’t have its own manufacturing facility. The

entire industry was allowed to use the patents and refrigeration technology switched

to these new “safe” agents like Freon (which have since been banned for harming the

ozone layer). Without the discovery of CFCs, says Nagengast, “Refrigeration

wouldn’t have been pervasive.”

Source: Internet

8. Refrigeration Redefines Brewing And Meat-Packing:

There’s no question that the brewing industry was one of the first to realize the significant benefits that refrigeration offered. German lager beer came to America with the German immigrants in the 1840s, tasting a lot better than American ale. Refrigeration enabled the breweries to make a uniform product all year round. Brewing was the first activity in the northern states to use mechanical refrigeration extensively, beginning with an absorption machine used by S. Lineman’s Sons Brewing Company in Brooklyn, New York in 1870. Commercial refrigeration was primarily directed at breweries in the 1870s and by 1891, nearly every brewery wasequipped with refrigerating machines. A decade later, refrigeration was introduced in Chicago to the meat-packing industry. Though meat-packers were slower to adopt refrigeration than the breweries, they ultimately used refrigeration pervasively. By 1914 the machinery installed in almost all American packing plants was the ammonia compression system, which had a refrigeration capacity of well over 90,000 tons/day.The five big packers — Armour, Swift, Morris, Wilson, and Cudahy — owned the expensive equipment extensively, using it in refrigeration cars, branch houses, and other cold storage facilities. This was essential for the distribution of perishable foods on a large scale. Within the packing plant itself, space for meat chilling and storage was usually cooled by ice in overhead lofts, connected to the area by flues that helped the natural circulation of cold air. With refrigeration, curing became a year-round activity and because animals could be brought to market at any time, not just in winter, meat quality improved.

Source: Internet

9. The Refrigerated Railroad Car

Beginning in the 1840s, refrigerated cars were used to transport milk and

butter. By 1860, refrigerated transport was limited to mostly seafood and

dairy products. The refrigerated railroad car was patented by J.B. Sutherland

of Detroit, Michigan in 1867. He

designed an insulated car with ice bunkers in each end. Air came in on the

top, passed through the bunkers, and circulated through the car by gravity,

controlled by the use of hanging flaps that created differences in air

temperature. The cars helped establish mid-Western cities, especially Chicago

and Kansas City, as the slaughter centers of the country and also created

regional produce specialization. Consider Georgia peaches, California grapes,

peaches, pears, plums, apples and citrus, Washington and Oregon apples,

pears, cherries, and raspberries, and of course, Florida citrus. The increasingly

widespread distribution of fresh foods expanded markets and helped to create

healthier diets of meat, produce, eggs, butter, milk, cheese and fish. There

were different car designs based upon the type of cargo, whether meat or

fruit. The first refrigerated car to carry fresh fruit was built in 1867 by Parker

Earle of Illinois, who shipped strawberries on the Illinois Central Railroad. Each

chest contained 100 pounds of ice and 200 quarts of strawberries. It wasn’t

until 1949 that a refrigeration system made its way into the trucking industry

by way of a roof-mounted cooling device, patented by Fred Jones.

Source: Internet

10.Concrete cooling Plant

Source: Tech-Soft Magazine

Modern Ice Factory’s Technical Information

Investigative Costing & Design:

Client is attempting to determine project estimated investment; simple logistics of

working within their system and general operating cost parameters. For this a client

will receive:

1. A single on-site visit by Modern lce person

2. One (1) plain view drawing, CAD drawing, with layout

3. Plan evaluation

4. Operating cost analysis

Site Execution Plans:

Client is requiring need for a bid package or construction type of directional drawings

to move their project forward. For this a client will receive:

1. Two(2) two(2) day on-site visits with client and/or their contractor

2. One(1) elevation drawing

3. One(1) pit and pad drawing

4. One(1) electrical drawing

5. One(1) control plan drawing

6. One(1) Refrigeration Schematics

7. One(1) water piping drawing

8. Rigging instructions - provided electronically

9. Project timeline if order placed with Modern Ice

10. Coordination of delivery if order placed with Modern Ice

Technical Services Group Provided Services

Plant Lay-out and Design

Project Estimating

Project Management and Coordination

Installation and Start-up

Equipment and Operational Training

PICQS Appliance Evaluations and Assistance

Plant Trouble Shooting, Assessment reporting, and Repairs

Preventive Maintenance Programs

Equipment Removal

Equipment Refurbishing

Plant Evaluations

Green Solutions for Plant Operations

Preventative Maintenance Program:

Client is looking for organization to provide review, evaluation of equipment in plant,

and develop maintenance schedule for required equipment operational needs. For this

a client will receive:

1. Two and one-half (2.5 days) days of a Technical Supervisor at their plant scheduled

at time of our choice

2. A written report of current operating conditions of four (4) pieces of equipment

3. A written report of required parts to resolve any service issues (parts not include in

price)

4. Training of employee(s), as designated by company, to assist in continued safe

operation of the plant

5. Supervision of repairs that will not last beyond the 2.5 days with this program

6. Guaranteed service rate for one (1) year at $85.00/hour

7. Priority service call request status

:Modern Ice Factory’s Service System (Information System):