Inlet Water Temperature Reduction in Ice Production Machine

Abstract

This research proposes a performance improvement method of a tube ice production machine using the installation of a heat exchanger. At the end of an ice production process, there are cold rejected water from the defrost process. The cold rejected water are stored at the sump below the cooling tower. A prototype heat exchanger is submerged inside the sump. Incoming water for the next cycle was flown through the heat exchanger and are cooled before entering the cooling tower. The results showed that there are reduction in power consumption and the average production time reduced by 7.58 percent. As the system is more efficient, the machine’s production capacity is increased by 6 percent while being able to reach the payback period of the investment in less than five months.