Possibilities of ice slurry systems onboard fishing vessels

Abstract

Rapid handling of seafood at low temperatures are important for the quality and shelf life of the catch. There are several different methods onboard fishing vessels, including no chilling, ice storage, refrigerated sea water (RSW) and ice slurry chilling. A refrigeration system is needed for the chilling methods and it is either located on land (when ice is brought on the ship) or installed on the ship. The main working fluid in fishing vessels globally is still R22, but there are efforts for providing systems with natural refrigerants, even if this should be done at a much faster rate. Most of the new systems on fishing vessels in Norway have either R717 or R744. The use of slurry systems has been investigated in this study. A few vendors have been contacted and an overview of the status of ice slurry system is given. It can be concluded that storing seafood with ice slurry gives longer shelf life, but is not used widely in the industry, mainly because of limited capacities and high costs. Not many of the ice slurry systems are operated with natural refrigerants either. There is clearly a potential for development, but for now there is no interest from the market and no incentives for that.