Freezing Food  [ Return towards  Applications  ]

Cryogenic quick-freezing allows products to be frozen 3 to 4 times more quickly than with mechanical refrigeration systems. This fast quick-freezing prevents surface dehydration and weight loss and they allow the successful preparation of Individually Quick Frozen (IQF) products.

This method has the following advantages:

 

Flexibility

The cryogenic quick-freezing device can adapt to:

·          Changes in operating conditions during operation. After each modification of control values, the new values are reached in no more than several minutes; contact times vary from several minutes to one hour and temperature from -20°C to -140°C.

·          Product changes, from one type of production to another in a given device.

·          Changes in application: quick-freezing, surface hardening or simple chilling.

 

 

Economical

Initial investment cost, annual maintenance costs and fixed costs are low, about a few percentages lower than mechanical refrigeration system.

 

 

Wide range of equipments

Air Liquide has developed a range of simple and reliable quick-freezing equipment which is compact and easy to use, service and clean:

 

DEVICE	SILVERSASTM		HIMALAYA™
Operating mode	Discontinuous		Continuous
Operating principle	Injects cryogenic liquid (LIN or LCO2) into a ventilated enclosure with trolleys equipped with racks		Cryogenic liquid (LIN or LCO2) is sprayed into a tunnel on a conveyor belt, fully automated with associated e-services
Product capacity	Low or medium (up to 400 kg/h)		Industrial (200 to 2000 kg/h)
Floor space requirement	1.5 m²		6 to 25 m²