MINI ICE PLANT TRAINING MODULE

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

2.1 Review of Related Literature

2.1.1 International

2.1.1.1 Importance of Refrigeration to the Society

Imagine life without ice creams, fresh fruits, ice cold beer or frozen
entrees, going to grocery every day to buy product that are fresh. No fresh special
flowers to send to that special someone or medicines or computers. There are
several things to be considered in production of ice. Water quality is one of them.
To produce clean and crystal clear ice is depending on the quality of water that is
supplied to the unit.

Ice is a consumable product that serves the specific function of basic

refrigeration. Placing some ice in a cooler keeps picnic foods and beverages fresh
and cool. Cold beverages help to refresh someone, especially on a hot summer
day (Poortvliet, 2015).

2.1.1.2 Ice Plant Trainer, India

The unit enables the students to study the Basic Principals of ice plant
cycle within a short period. The test rig is designed for the study of
thermodynamics of vapour compression refrigeration cycle. It has a facility to
measure various parameters for experimentation. Ice cans are kept in liquid tank,
which is cooled by the refrigerant evaporator. As conventional ice plants take 12-
24 hours to complete the cycle, the ice plant is specially designed to demonstrate
process of ice formation to be complete within period of 4 hours and hence it is
most suitable for laboratory use. The market price of the trainer is Php 60, 000.
(Superb Technology, 2016)

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2.1.2 Local

2.1.2.1 example

2.1.2.1 Module Modification of mini-Ice Plant, 2015

The coefficient of performance (COP) of the module is 3.45. Stainless

steel plate, polyurethane foam, galvanized iron sheet are the insulation that is used

W
in the brine tank resulting to thermal conductivity, U = 0.3215 m2 K .

Theoretically, the computed value for the freezing time of ice, considering the
brine is on final temperature, is 1800 seconds. Based on the experimentation, the
best result of freezing time of ice is 3 hours and 30 minutes froze up to 80% of its
volume. (University of the East Module modification of mini- Ice plant, 2015)

2.2 Review of Related Studies

2.2.1 Local

2.2.1.1 Comparison of a Mini Ice Plant Training Module to a Typical Ice

Plant Trainer

In a typical ice plant, the most common refrigerant used is ammonia

(NH3). Ammonia suffers from the disadvantage of toxicity; it is harmful to the
environment and human being. Therefore, the researchers decided to use R-134a
instead of ammonia. The characteristics of R134-a are non-flammable, non-
explosive, non-toxic and non-irritating that is suitable for ice making (University
of the East Module modification of mini- Ice plant, 2015).

2.2.1.2 Liquid to Suction Heat Exchanger System

Liquid to Suction Heat exchanger has five major components:

Compressor, condenser, expansion valve, evaporator and line heat exchanger.

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They are discussed in Figure 2.1. (University of the East Mini Ice Plant
Feasibility Studies, 2014).

Condenser

Compressor

Expansion Device

Evaporator
Liquid Line/Suction Line heat Exchanger

Figure 2.1: Liquid Suction Heat Exchanger

2.2.1.3 Mechanical Refrigeration

Mechanical refrigeration is a thermodynamic process of removing heat

from a lower temperature heat source or substance and transferring it to a higher
temperature heat sink. It uses the evaporation of a liquid refrigerant to absorb
heat. The refrigerant goes through a cycle so that it can be reused, the main
cycles are; vapour-compression, absorption, steam-jet or steam-ejector, and air
(University of the East Mini Ice Plant Feasibility Studies, 2014).

2.2.1.4 Refrigeration System Components

The refrigeration system makes a cold room work. It is simply a process of

transporting heat from one place to another. The vapour-compression system is
the most commonly used method of refrigeration. It is frequently used in large
cold rooms like industrial chillers (University of the East Mini Ice Plant
Feasibility Studies, 2014).

The main components of a refrigeration system are the condenser, the

compressor, the evaporator and the expansion valve.

1 Condenser

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Its main purpose is to liquefy the refrigerant gas sucked by the compressor
from the evaporator. As condensation begins, the heat will flow from the
condenser into the air, only if the condensation temperature is higher than that of
the atmosphere. The high-pressure vapour in the condenser will be cooled to
become a liquid refrigerant again, this time with a little heat. The liquid
refrigerant will then flow from the condenser to a liquid line.

2 Compressor

The compressors use is to pull the low-temperature and low-pressure

vapour from the evaporator, through a suction line. Once the vapour is drawn, it
will be compressed. This will cause the vapours temperature to rise. Its main
function is to transform a low-temperature vapour in to a high-temperature
vapour, to increase pressure. Vapour is released from the compressor into a
discharge line.

3 Evaporator

An evaporator is used to turn any liquid material into gas. In this process,
heat is absorbed. The evaporator transfers heat from the refrigerated space into a
heat pump through a liquid refrigerant, which boils in the evaporator at a low-
pressure. In achieving heat transfer, the liquid refrigerant should be lower than the
goods being cooled. After the transfer, liquid refrigerant is drawn by the
compressor from the evaporator through a suction line. Liquid refrigerant will be
in vapour form upon leaving the evaporator coil.

4 Expansion Valve

The expansion valve is reached by the liquid refrigerant after it has been
condensed. Reducing the pressure of the refrigerant, its temperature will decrease
to a level below its atmosphere. This liquid will then be pumped into the
evaporator.

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2.2.2 International

2.2.2.1 Function and Importance of Refrigeration System

Refrigeration is the process of achieving and maintaining a temperature

below that of the surroundings, the aim is to freeze ice, cool some product, or
space to the required temperature. The basis of modern refrigeration is the ability
of liquids to absorb enormous quantities of heat as they boil and evaporate.

One of the important applications of refrigeration is in ice plant. Ice plant

is used for producing refrigeration effect to freeze potable water in standard cans
placed in rectangular tank which is filled by brine. The project is based on simple
refrigeration system which uses the vapour compression cycle.
The vapour compression cycle comprises four process compression,
condensing, and expansion and evaporation process. The conventional ice plant
has been studied and a prototype model of an ice plant has been fabricated with
above said accessories (Whitman, et. Al 2009).

2.2.2.2 Operation of an Ice Plant

In ice plant, the tanks are filled with chilled brine. The brine solution is
kept in constant motion by agitators for increasing the heat transfer from the water
in the can to the chilled brine. The agitators are operated by means of electric
motors. 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 is either 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

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latent heat of vaporization, gets converted to vapour state and fed again 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 (Ullah, 2016).

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