Ice maker is a refrigeration mechanical equipment that generates ice by cooling water through the evaporator with the refrigerant of the refrigeration system. This blog will tell you all the details of how a ice maker works.
1. What Are the Working Principles of Ice Maker?
A ice maker uses the refrigeration system and water as a carrier to make ice by passing through a certain device under power-on state. The shape of the ice cubes generated is different according to the principle and production method of the evaporator.
(1) Chilled Water Circulated
The chilled water in the water tank is continuously circulated through the plate-type or grid-type evaporator by a water pump;
(2) Compressor Begin to Work
After the compressor is running, it goes through suction-compression-exhaust-condensation (liquefaction)-throttling and then evaporates in the evaporator at a low temperature of -10 to -18 degrees to absorb heat.
The chilled water condenses into an ice layer on the surface of the evaporator at a lower temperature at a water temperature of 0 degrees. When the ice layer condenses to a certain thickness, the evaporation temperature of the refrigerant reaches the set temperature of the temperature control, and the defrost solenoid valve is turned on to defrost, often using a heat pump, and then the next cycle is realized.
2. How Does Water Circulation Work Inside an Ice Making Machine?
Through the water replenishment valve, water automatically enters a water storage tank in the ice maker, and then is sent to the diversion head through the flow control valve through the water pump, where the water is evenly sprayed on the surface of the ice maker and flows through the wall of the ice maker like a water curtain.
The water is cooled to the freezing point, and the water that is not evaporated and frozen will flow into the icemaker water storage tank through the porous groove and start the cycle again.
3. How Ice Harvesting Cycled in Ice Maker Machine?
When the ice reaches the required thickness (thickness can be selected by the operator/user), the hot air discharged from the compressor is led back into the ice maker wall to replace the low-temperature liquid refrigerant.
In this way, a thin film of water is formed between the ice and the evaporation tube wall. This water film will play a lubricating role when the ice falls freely into the groove below by gravity. The water generated during the ice harvesting cycle will return to the water storage tank through the porous groove, which also prevents wet ice from being discharged by the machine.
4. How Ice Maker Refrigerator Condensates
It can be realized with air-cooled, water-cooled or evaporative condensers.
Evaporative condensers are installed above the ice maker, water-cooled condensers are installed below the ice maker or below the refrigeration system, and air-cooled condensers are installed with the ice maker or outdoors according to actual conditions.
If necessary, water-cooled condensers can be used on ships or on the coast, using seawater for cooling. Evaporative cooling can be used when the ambient air temperature is high, but from the perspective of efficiency and economy, it is not suitable for use under conditions of water-cooled or air-cooled refrigeration.
5. Conclusion
This blog we talked about the working principles of ice making machine. FlyCheng focuses on producing high-quality commercial ice makers. They undergo a long period of ice-making performance testing and debugging before leaving the factory, so you can use them with more confidence!
