Super cool: companies launch new fish chiller
A new fresh fish chilling technology that is said to ensure preservation of quality, a longer shelf life, greater yield and a higher price in the market place is to be launched at next week’s Seafood Expo Global in Brussels.
Norway-based Stranda Prolog and Canadian company Sunwell Technologies have developed the concept, combining the HeliX tank with DeepChill.
The HeliX DeepChiller, developed by Norway-based Stranda Prolog and Canadian company Sunwell Technologies, is suitable for use on fishing vessels and in land-based processing plants.
DeepChill is comprised of millions of micro crystals suspended in a solution to form an ice slurry. The crystals can vary between 0.25mm and 0.5mm which gives the maximum heat transfer area among all types of ice for a given weight. DeepChill surrounds the entire surface area of the fish, giving it the ability to cool more quickly and keep it colder and fresher for a longer period than any other cooling method.
Chilled, not frozen
Because the chilling is driven by the melting of tiny ice crystals, the temperature in the tank will never go below the freezing point of seawater. DeepChill has a built-in “thermostat” that ensures the fish is chilled, not frozen. The process is easier to control then conventional RSW-systems using brine. There is no risk of ice forming in the heat exchangers or of the fish being frozen solid if it is kept too long in the tank.
The HeliX tank is designed to give operators full control of retention time, as it follows the first in, first out-principle, ensuring that each fish gets exactly the right amount of chilling.
“We’re excited to work with Stranda Prolog, an outstanding company in the fish processing industry. Stranda has designed HeliX tanks, a truly top of the line product that is available today in the market,” says Vladimir Goldstein, chief executive of Sunwell Technologies.
“The combination of our HeliX tank and DeepChill enables us to offer safer, faster and deeper chilling. Sunwell Technologies’ knowledge of how ice crystals form in seawater and how to use the resulting slurry to chill fish make them an ideal partner for us”, said Klaus Hoseth, chief executive of Stranda Prolog.
