Immersion Chiller/Freezer – Fluid Chilling
Industry: Fruit and Vegetables (NAICS 3114) Meat (NAICS 3116)
NAICS process:
311411 Frozen Fruit and Vegetables
311612 Meat Processed from Carcasses
Process Brief: The product is chilled or frozen by immersing it in a fluid
Energy source: Electricity/ some Natural Gas
Energy Intensity: 250-1,700 Btu/lb of product
A liquid chills the surface of a product more rapidly than air and immersion chillers/freezers use this characteristic to very rapidly cool products. Food products such as canned frozen orange juice, fried fish and blanched vegetables must be cooled very rapidly after heating to avoid degradation. Immersion chilling cools the product more rapidly than chilled air or plate systems.
The chilled fluid is usually propylene glycol, brine, glycerol, or calcium chloride solution. Immersion chilling achieves heat transfer rates that are 5 times the rate of plate chillers and 20 times the rate of chilled air systems. Chilled fluid systems are more flexible than plate systems because the system is more tolerant of variations in shape and orientation.
Source: Overview GRI-03/0075;