Bubble Slurry™ Ice can be used in virtually any operation where the rapid and efficient cooling of a product is required. It can be used for direct cooling (by immersion) or to replace secondary refrigerants, such as chilled water, ammonia, or glycol-water mixtures in supermarket displays and chillers. It can also be used when a product’s temperature needs to be maintained near freezing point during processing, cold storage or refrigerated transportation.

Furthermore Crytec’s ice machines can be used to concentrate fruit juice, to purify and enrich grape juice in wine production, and to separate substances or impurities from liquids, such as in seawater desalination and wastewater treatment.

For specifications of Crytec Bubble Slurry™ Ice machines Click Here (International) or Click Here (US)

The storage option is primarily intended for infrequent and/or sudden, large cooling needs.
Click here for more, detailed information.

Producing a Bubble Slurry™ Ice mix buffer can be done:

 

APPLICATIONS

FISHERIES

Fishing Vessels
Fish Farms (Aquaculture)
Fish Processing

REFRIGERATION

Cold Storage & Refrigerated Transportation
Supermarkets: Fresh Food Displays

HORTICULTURE

Fruits & Vegetables
Coffee
Flowers

FOOD & BEVERAGES PROCESSING

Wine
Fruit Juices
Beer
Poultry
Meat
Bread
Cheese
Ice Cream
Frozen, Carbonated Beverages

COLD THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE

Air-conditioning
TESS (Thermal Energy Storage Systems)

MEDICINE

Protective Hypothermia
Rehabilitation & Chronic Treatments

WATER TREATMENT & DESALINATION

Seawater Desalination
Waste Water Purification

INDUSTRIAL USES

Laser Head Cooling
Pharmaceuticals
Petro-Chemicals
Concrete
Plastics
Plating
Textiles
Printing, Photography & Film

 

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Fishing Vessels
Rapid chilling of fish prevents injuries, trauma and rot. The result of rapid chilling with Bubble Slurry™ Ice is a larger catch of better quality FISH with a longer shelf life.

Crytec has installed ice makers for Bubble Slurry™ Ice production on board fishing vessels and in fishing ports for distribution of Bubble Slurry™ Ice loads to small fishing boats for their daily catches.
Click here to download our brochure on fish chilling

 

Fish Farms (Aquaculture)
Rapid chilling of fish prevents injuries, trauma and rot. The result of rapid chilling with Bubble Slurry™ Ice is a larger catch of better quality FISH with a longer shelf life.

Crytec’s Bubble Slurry™ Ice machines are the only ice machines on the market that are capable of producing slurry ice online with a seawater temperature up to 25°C (77°F), without pre-chilling or recirculating the seawater.
Click here to download our brochure on fish chilling

 

Fish Processing
Bubble Slurry™ Ice machines are also used in fish processing factories, and for refrigerated transportation, cold storage and in supermarket displays of fresh fish.
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Cold Storage & Refrigerated Transportation
Bubble Slurry™ Ice can be used to keep products cool during refrigerated transportation and cold storage. Due to its superb cooling capabilities and lasting, low temperature, the products remain colder longer, protecting the cooled product from spoilage and preventing quality loss. Bubble Slurry™ Ice can be used in open containers (which will drain the water from the Bubble Slurry™ Ice mix, but keeps the Bubble Slurry™ Ice crystals inside), in closed containers, or in sealed plastic bags that can be packed inside the storage or transportation containers. Crytec is working directly with various manufacturers of packaging equipment to incorporate Crytec Bubble Slurry™ Ice machines in automated packaging systems.
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Supermarkets: Fresh Food Displays
Bubble Slurry™ Ice can be used in supermarket displays to refrigerate fresh products. Two ways of refrigeration are possible: direct cooling (when the Bubble Slurry™ Ice mix comes in contact with and surrounds a product-to-be-cooled completely), or indirect cooling (when the Bubble Slurry™ Ice mix is used as secondary refrigerant or coolant). In direct cooling the cooled product is also protected from dehydration, an additional benefit when compared with regular refrigeration. In indirect cooling the Bubble Slurry™ Ice mix can be circulated through the often already available piping as secondary refrigerant, replacing environment unfriendly refrigerants, like R-22 (Freon^®) and other hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC’s).
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Fruits & Vegetables
Fresh fruits and vegetables must be in excellent condition to achieve top quality and maximum shelf life. This can only be accomplished at the moment of harvest. From that point onwards, quality cannot be improved, only maintained. Shelf life begins at harvest. Deterioration of fresh crops can result from physiological breakdown due to the natural ripening processes, water loss, temperature injury, physical damage, or invasion by microorganisms. All of these factors can interact, and all are influenced by temperature.
Click here to read in more detail

 

Coffee
Coffee freeze concentration
Instant tea and coffee can be prepared either by spray drying or by freeze-drying. In each case the drying processes are preceded by extraction and then concentration of the liquor. Most spray-dried products are produced from thermally concentrated extracts and the Crytec Bubble Slurry™ Ice machine can be an excellent method of concentration. When high-quality freeze-dried tea or coffee is to be produced, freeze concentration is usually preferred, because there is less volatile loss. Crytec Bubble Slurry™ Ice machines can be used to slurry freeze the extract prior to basket centrifuging for pre-concentration.
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Flowers
Temperature is the major factor affecting the storage, shelf and vase life of flowers. High temperatures influence the respiration rate of flowers, their response to ethylene, and moisture loss. Cooling is also necessary to reduce other metabolic activity, and to slow the rate of opening of the flowers. Bubble Slurry™ Ice can cool flowers rapidly to the desired temperature, and maintain that temperature during storage and transportation. Rapid cooling is therefore not only the vital first step in the cold chain of cut flowers, but also of importance during the later stages: storage and transportation.
Click here to read in more detail

 

Wine
The major application is, as described below under “Fruit Juices”, the concentration of the grape juice. This procedure not only offers the described advantages, but it also makes use of the increased concentration of natural sugars, essential for the fermentation process, and later in the maturation process.

Furthermore the crystallization process that takes place in Crytec’s machines enhances a complex range of physical, chemical, and biological changes that tend to improve the sensory characteristics of wine. Major adjustments are also observed in acidity modification, sweetening, alcohol content and color adjustment.

The concentration process improves product stability, and therefore gives it a longer shelf life. New products can be developed, using wine-based alcohol concentrates, as well as producing wines with a high alcohol content.

Besides improved quality issues, this application also offers various financial advantages, such as the use of the cooling capabilities during the process, the possibility to reuse the melted (pure water) ice crystals, increased storage capacity, reduction of storage costs, and hence lower distribution and packaging costs.
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Fruit Juices
Crytec’s Bubble Slurry™ Ice machine methodology can be applied to concentrate fruit juices by separating water content from the fruit; this is done by freezing the water content, and separating and collecting the concentrated fruit. This process does not change the taste or constitution of the fruit, to the contrary, the taste improves (becomes stronger) and all natural substances are retained in higher concentrations. In addition, the stability of the juice improves, thereby prolonging shelf life. Furthermore, because of the concentration of the juice, smaller storage and shipping containers are required for the same (equivalent) original volume.

Examples of fruit juice concentrates are juices of: all citrus fruits, red, blue and black berries, pineapple, banana, mango, black and red currants, cranberry, banana, tomato, apple, peach, pear, plum, and more.
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Beer
Beer brewers have their own production techniques and cooling methods. Generally there are four steps where cooling is of importance: cooling the wort, stopping fermentation, when transferring the beer from its fermentation to its storage vessels, and in the pasteurization process. Rapid cooling can also be used to preserve or prolong the shelf life of the yeast.
Click here to read in more detail

 

Poultry
There are great varieties in slaughtering methods of poultry, some depending on centuries old traditions and habits, others based on religious laws. Most poultry processing lines include one or more stages where the birds are chilled to prevent bacterial growth. Salt is often used to drain the blood from the birds, and has the added benefits of evening out the birds' moisture, tenderizing their flesh, and creating a hostile environment for microorganisms. After the salting process, the birds are rinsed in chilled water. The use of Bubble Slurry™ Ice has been tested by various poultry processors with positive results. Crytec is currently collaborating in the design of processing lines to include Crytec’s Bubble Slurry™ Ice machines.
Click here for more info

 

Meat
Bubble Slurry™ Ice can be used in the processing of various meat products, such as Hamburgers, Frankfurters, sausages, and other meat mélanges. Bubble Slurry™ Ice can be mixed with the ingredients to obtain quick cooling and a correct consistence. It also maintains the color of the mixture. Without ice cooling the high temperature generated by the rotation and friction of the grinder blades would increase the mixture’s temperature, creating bacterial growth, and alter the color of the compound. The Bubble Slurry™ Ice mix can be used in concentrations of 10% to 30% and in amounts of about one third of the meat mixture’s weight. Bubble Slurry™ Ice cools the mixture quickly and efficiently, therefore reducing the process time.
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Bread
The use of high-speed mixers creates an undesired increase of temperature of dough. Bubble Slurry™ Ice can be directly mixed in the dough in order to lower the temperature and therefore control the leavening. The quantity (weight) of Bubble Slurry™ Ice depends on the quality and temperature of the flour as well as the temperature of the oven. The temperature of the dough during mixing must remain between 19°C and 23°C (66°F and 74°F).  Because the Bubble Slurry™ Ice mix can be regulated at temperatures between -3°C to -0.5°C (+27°F to +31°F), a better control of the mixing time and the dough temperature can be obtained. Using chilled water and solid or flake ice make it extremely difficult to keep the temperature of the dough steady.
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Cheese
The production processes of cheese vary from cheese to cheese, from manufacturer to manufacturer, and from country to country. Virtually all cheeses need to undergo one or more cooling stages, whether during the starter phase, the whey protein concentration or on the finishing tables. Bubble Slurry™ Ice can offer specific benefits during the differing cooling stages, offering substantial savings in time by bringing temperatures down to the desired levels within a much shorter period when compared to cooling systems using solid or flake ice or any other form of chilled water.

In addition can Bubble Slurry™ Ice be used during transportation of fresh cheese, which should be done ideally at a temperature between 0°C and +2°C (32°F and 34 °F). Using Bubble Slurry™ Ice has a specific advantage as it provides a high humidity level, which helps cheese to maintain its organoleptic characteristics and its proper taste.
Click here to read in more detail

 

Ice Cream
Several cooling stages are required during the production of ice cream. With the ability to perform these cooling steps rapidly and efficiently, one can save substantial time and money. Usually ice cubes are put inside the churns during two subsequent stages: at the beginning to lower the cream temperature down to 9°C, and at the end of the process to help the butter harden and to enable the natural separation of the remaining water. The average ice requirements per 100 kg of cream is about 15 kg to cool off the cream, and about 25 kg for butter hardening. Advantages of solid ice compared to simple refrigeration: ice grants quicker refrigeration of the churns and therefore shortens the processing time. Crytec’s Bubble Slurry™ Ice produced using sugared water can be used in these processes.
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Frozen, Carbonated Beverages
The recipes for the production of many brand named beverages are mostly, if not always, secret. That Crytec can use its proprietary technology to produce frozen, carbonated beverages is no secret, and we have performed several trials, of which some are still ongoing. Crytec’s machine has, for instance been successfully tested by the Coca Cola company in Atlanta, USA. The creation of new drinks, using Crytec’s technology, is under development.
Click here for more info

 

Air-conditioning
Thermal Energy Storage (TES) systems shift energy usage to a later period to take advantage of cheaper time-based utility rates and/or to reduce overall energy demand. In the United States and Japan, the primary use of thermal energy storage is for cool storage since summer air-conditioning is the dominant electric load. Cooling storage mediums of choice are water, liquid and slurry ice.

TES technologies significantly reduce energy costs by allowing energy-intensive cooling equipment (i.e., chillers, rooftop units) to be predominantly operated during off-peak hours when power rates are lower. Most liquid and slurry ice TES systems can lower first costs and lower operating expenses compared to non-storage systems.

Over the past two decades, a number of equipment and control concepts have been introduced to maximize TES efficiency. Unfortunately, widespread TES adoption has been slow due to perceived cost disadvantages and system complexities.

Since Crytec’s current Bubble Slurry™ Ice machines have been designed and built to satisfy the smaller demands, Crytec has not yet entered this market segment with large units. Nevertheless, small experimental trials have proven that Crytec’s Bubble Slurry™ Ice machines can offer the sought after advantages: low cost price and low operating costs compared to standard air-conditioning equipment.
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Protective Hypothermia
People who suffer cardiac arrests outside of the hospital have a lower recovery rate. Brain cells start dying rapidly 10 to 12 minutes after an arrest, because of the lack of blood flow to the brain. Beyond this time a full recovery is improbable. Even if the heart can be restarted, the person is brain dead. 

Researchers are currently investigating brain cooling using ice slurry to improve the recovery rate. When cells cool, their metabolism and their chemical processes slow dramatically, even by cooling brain cells by a mere 1 to 3°C.
Click here to read in more detail

 

Rehabilitation & Chronic Treatments
Bubble Slurry™ Ice is the ideal cooling medium for use in ice bags for rehabilitation purposes, during specific operations where direct cooling is needed, and for long-term or chronic treatment of hospitalized patients. Bubble Slurry™ Ice is smooth, soft, and easy flowing; when filled in an ice bag, it adapts itself to the shape of the body or body part. Its superb cooling capabilities and its 100% efficient use of its cooling surface area, enables an extremely fast cooling. It also can maintain a lower temperature for a longer period of time, when compared to solid or flake ice.
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Seawater Desalination
Crystallization is a fairly sophisticated method of separation and purification in a broad variety of industries, and has been utilized for a long time. The crystallization technique is commonly used in the production of electronic materials as well as in the chemical industry for purification of many chemicals. The product spectrum may range from basic materials such as sucrose, sugar, and sodium chloride, to semi-conductors, ferroelectrics and piezoelectrics. In general, when valuable and temperature susceptible substances are involved, crystallization becomes an attractive and relevant method of separation and purification.

Since the chief purpose of a crystallization process is the production of a pure component from solution, the crystallization technique can be applied to saline water by crystallizing out the water in the form of ice. This is inevitably the case when a salt solution is cooled to its freezing temperature, the solution deposits ice crystals of pure water. Therefore, freezing is considered to be a means of desalination of saline water. This principle forms the basis for desalting water by the freezing process. The idea of extracting fresh water from saline water by freezing is not new and has been known for centuries. Some civilizations in the cold and arid zones of the world such as Central Asia, Western Siberia, and Antarctica have practiced the desalination of saline water by freezing. To make their potable water in these regions, they are known to collect sea ice during the winter and use it during the summer. It is a well-known fact of physical chemistry that when the temperature of a salt solution is reduced to its freezing point, the ice crystals, which form in the solution, are ideally salt-free. The mechanism of this separation is that when an ice crystal grows from a salt solution, the dissolved salts and other impurities pile up ahead of the advancing solid-liquid interface, and thus provides an excellent means for purifying water.

Current freeze desalination methods are vacuum-freezing vapor compression, secondary refrigerant freezing, and vapor absorption freezing. They have essentially the same components, but differ only in the method by which freezing is accomplished. Existing desalination plants are bulky, requiring large amounts of electricity and refrigerant. Crytec’s Bubble Slurry™ Ice machines offer an affordable and highly efficient alternative. Current models, however, do not have the necessary capacity for industrial desalination plants, but our smaller models suffice for small-scale desalination needs. Crytec’s R&D program includes the design and development of larger Bubble Slurry™ Ice machines that can be used for industrial scale desalination purposes.
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Waste Water Purification
Crytec’s Bubble Slurry™ Ice machines can reduce highly saturated wastewater to dry solids for disposal. High purity water is then recovered by melting the Bubble Slurry™ Ice, and is then prepared for recycling. The method of operation is in essence identical to the Seawater Desalination process described above.
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Industrial Applications
The following are possible future applications – various experiments and tests are being conducted by most ice machine manufacturers
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Laser Head Cooling
Pharmaceuticals: controlled, rapid chilling during production processes
Petro-Chemicals: cooling natural gas and other process gases, pre-cooling of gas fired turbine generators, cooling or condensing of chemicals
Concrete: replacing water in concrete with slurry ice to both dilute the mixture and at the same time use the slurry ice’s latent heat to absorb the reaction heat
Plastics: to stabilize temperatures in order to arrive at a more homogenous temperature profile in the plastic extruders, improving product quality.
Plating: chiller systems for acid bath cooling and hard anodizing
Textiles
Printing, Photography & Film

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