Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method of cooling
fish on board a ship.
It is desirable in fishing operations on board ships to cool fish soon after
5 they are caught to ensure that they do not spoil. Conventionally, this is done by
manually spreading large pieces of ice over the fish on board the ship. The
disadvantages of doing this are that the fish are not cooled quicldy, because the contact
area between the ice and the fish is small. Furthermore, the ice tends to freeze the
fish because of the large amount of salt that is generally trapped in large pieces of ice.
10 This freezing of the fish may result in spoilage of the fish due to later thawing and
refreezing of the fish.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate
the above-mentioned disadvantages by providing a novel apparatus and method for
lS cooling fish on board a ship.
Accord;ng to the present invention there is provided an apparatus for
cooling fish on board a ship comprising:
an ice-making machine for processing fine ice particles in a brine
20 solution to form an ice-brine slurry, said ice-making machine having an inlet and an
outlet, said outlet for dispensing said ice-brine slurry;
a vessel for containing seawater9 said vessel having an inlet for receiving
said ice-brine slurry and an outlet, the inlet of said ice-making machine being
connected to the outlet of said vessel via conduit means to permit ice-brine slurry held5 in said vessel to be conveyed to said ice-making machine; and
transport means connected to the outlet of said ice-making machine, said
transport means being operable to direct said ice-brine slurry along one of at least two
paths to either said vessel containing seawater or to a catch of fish.
In another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of
cooling fish on board a ship comprising the steps of:
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produc;ng a slurry of fine ice particles in a brine solution via an ice-
making machine located on said ship;
directing said slulTy from said ice-making machine onto either a catch
of fish or into a vessel containing seawater for storing fish, and
S recirculating pre-chilled slurry held in said vessel to said ice-making
machine.
In still yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided in
combination, a ship and an apparatus for cooling fish, said apparatus comprising:
an ice-making machine disposed on said ship for producing fine ice
particles in a brine solution to form an ice-brine slurry, said ice-making machine
having an inlet and an outlet, said outlet for dispensing said ice-brine slurry;a vessel disposed on said ship for containing seawater, said vessel having
an inlet for receiving said ice-brine slurry and an outlet, the inlet of said ice-making
machine being connected to the outlet of said vessel via conduit means to permit ice-
brine slurry held in said vessel to be conveyed to said ice-making machine; and
transport means disposed on said ship and being connected to the outlet
of said ice-making machine, said transport means being operable to direct said ice
brine slurry along at least one of at least two paths within said ship to either said
vessel containing seawater or to a catch of fish.
The present method and appartus allow fish to be cooled in situ on board
a ship, either by spraying ice directly ehereon or by immersing the fish in a vessel
containing salt water with ice on the surface thereof. Different types of fish require
one or the other of these different methods of cooling. Also, the use of fine ice
particles provides for better cooling of the fish because the particles have a larger
surface area and the brine drains quicldy therefrom. The brine quickly cools the fish
while it drains and the fine ice particles completely cool the fish without freezing
them.
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Moreover, the use of A vessel containing salt water and ice provides a
thermal storage unit which can increase the capaci~y of the ice-making machine. Pre-
chilled seawater optionally containing ice particles can be obtained from this vessel to
provide pre-chilled water for the ice-making machine and/or to provide chilled water
S for the condenser of the ice-making machine.
Preferred embodiments of the invention will be further described, by way
of illustration only, with reference to the ~llowing figures in which:
Figure 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of an apparatus for cooling fish
on board a ship;
Figure 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of an alternative embodiment of
an apparatus for cooling fish on board a ship;
Figure 3 is a diagrammatic illustration of another alternative embodiment
of an apparatus for cooling fish on board a ship;
Figure 4a is a partial sectional view of a portion of the devices illustrated
in Figures 1, 2 and 3; and
Figure 4b is a cross section of the portion illustrated in Pigure 4a taken
along line A-A.
Referring first to Figure 17 it can be seen that an apparatus 10 for
cooling fish on board a ship comprises an ice-making machine 12 capable of producing
a slurry of fine particles of ice in a brine solution to form an ice-brine slurry. The
ice-making machine is of one of the designs disclosed in either U.S. Patent No.
4,551,159 issued November 5, 1985 (Goldstein) or U.S. Patent No. 4,796,441 issued
on January 10, 1989 (Goldstein).
Brine enters the machine 12 through an inlet 14, and a slurry of fine ice
particles in a brine solution exits the machine through an outlet 16. The ice-making
machine preferably produces a slurry of 30-60% ice. The outlet is connected to apump 18 which is connected to a flexible hose 20. This hose 20 can be carried to
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either a vessel 22 containing salt water or to a catch of fish 24 to direct the ice-brine
slurry produced by the ice-making machine 12 directly to the catch of fish 24 or (as
indicated by the dotted line) to the vessel 22.
S Figure 2 shows an alternative embodiment of the apparatus for cooling
fish on board a ship. Components similar to those in Figure 1 will be given the same
reference numeral, followed by the suffix "A". In this embodiment, the outlet 16A
of the ice-making machine 12A is connected by a three-way valve 26 to either thevessel 22A or to the catch of fish 24A.
A line 28 leads from the three-way valve 26 to the vessel 22A to transfer
ice-brine sluITy to the vessel 22A. A second line 30 leads from the valve 26 to a
separator 32 in which ice is at least partially separated from brine and is directed
through the flexible hose 20A to the catch of fish 24A. The separator 32 comprises
a screw conveyor with a screen disposed therebelow. The brine from the separator32 is sent by a line 34 to line 28 via a pump 35 and is thereby sent to the vessel 22A.
Makeup brine is sent to the vessel 22A via a direct seawater line 36 or
from a brine storage unit 38. An outlet 40 in the lower portion 42 of the vessel 22A
is connected to the ice-making machine 12A to transfer pre-chilled brine to the ice-
10 making machine. Agitators, such as water jets 44, are optionally provided in thevessel 22A to agitate the ice so that some ice is entrained in the pre-chilled`brine sent
to the ice-making machine 12A.
In this embodiment, the efficiency of the ice-making unit is increased,
15 resulting in substantial cost savings and reduced space requirements for the ice-making
machine, by using pre-chilled brine in the ice-making machine.
Figure 3 shows an alternative embodiment of the apparatus of Figures
1 and 2. Elements similar to those shown in Figures 1 and 2 will be referred to by
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the same reference numeral followed by the suffix "B". In this embodiment, some of
the pre-chilled brine is sent to a condenser 46 of the ice-making machine 12B by a line
48. The warmed brine from the condenser 46 is then returned to the top of the vessel
22B for cooling via line 50. The use of the pre-chilled b~ne as a heat exchange
S medium for t~e condenser of the ice-making machine results in further increased
capacity of the ice-making machine.
Referring to Figures 4a and 4b, an embodiment of the discharge end 60
of the flexible hose 20 used in any of the above-mentioned systems 10 is shown. This
10 embodiment includes an ice slurry drier 62 comprising a housing 64 of circular cross-
section having a sloped bottom wall 66, the bottom wall being provided with a drain
67. The housing includes an inlet 68 connected to the flexible hose 20 having a
diameter greater than the diameter of the flexible hose 20. An outlet 70 is alsoprovided in the housing and has a diameter larger than that of the hose but less than
that of the inlet 68. A closure flap 72 is pivotally connected to the outlet 70 ~o cover
the housing outlet when ice-brine slurry is not being pumped therethrough.
A cylindrical sieve 74 is provided in the housing 64 and extends between
the inlet and outlet 68 and 70 thereof. The sieve 74 has a diameter substantially the
20 same as the flexible hose 20 and directs the ice-brine slurry through the housing. The
sieve 74 is also provided with a plurality of spaced slots 76 on a portion of its
circumference that extend along the entire length of the sieve 74.
In operation, the ice-brine slurry produced by the ice-making machine
25 12 that is being discharged through the flexible hose passes from the hose 20 into the
sieve 74. The longitudinally extending slots 76 do not impede the flow of the ice-
brine slurry but allow excess brine to be drained from the ice-brine slurry. Theexcess brine passes through the slots 76 as ~e slurry moves along the sieve 74 and
falls to the bottom of the housing 64. The sloped bottom wall 66 directs the excess
30 brine to the drain 67 so that the brine can be released from the housing. The drained
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ice-brine slurry passes through the sieve 74 to the outlet 70 causing the flap 72 to open
thereby allowing the ice-brine slurry to be applied to the catch of fish 24 or to the
vessel 22. It should be noted that the drained brine can be re-circulated into the
system 10 or the drain can be closed to prevent the drained brine from being released
5 from the housing 64.
It should also be realized that the drier 62 can be used in combination
with the separator 32 to increase further the drying of the ice-brine slurry or can be
used in the systems 10 without the separator to permit the drainage of brine from the
10 ice-brine slurry if desired.
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