ZIEGRA Ice Info

Ice is always exposed to a certain amount of humidity and always releases some moisture when it melts. If this moisture freezes, the ice freezes together.

The colder the ice, the more easily the moisture freezes. If condensation forms on the surface of an iceberg in the reservoir, this condensation flows downwards in the ice and freezes on the pieces of ice that it passes = the pieces freeze together. This effect becomes stronger the longer the ice lies and the more moisture is added.

This is why, for example, broken ice at +/- -7°C tends to freeze together into a lump after just a few hours; this can be delayed by storing it in a room that is also cooled to around -5°C.
Broken ice at -0.5°C has the property of not refreezing the moisture, as the temperature difference to the moisture is too small. This means that crushed ice can be stored for days at temperatures above 0°C (ideally up to 4°C for low dew loss) without freezing together. Only a light layer of hard ice forms on the surface, underneath the ice remains loose and grainy.
 

The bulk density is important for calculating the storage volume:

• 1.00 t / m3 for water
• 0.92 t / m3 for block ice
• 0.50 t / m3 for broken ice or cullet ice

This means that for the storage of 1,000 kg of broken ice, a storage space of 2 m3 plus reserve for the cone of debris = approx. 2.5 - 3 m3 is required.
 

The larger the surface area of the ice in relation to its volume, the faster the ice melts.

This means that MicroIce (small broken ice particles) melts faster than MacroIce (large broken ice particles)
I.e. micro ice (ice thickness approx. 2 mm) melts faster than macro ice (ice thickness 9.5 mm).

If fast melting = fast cooling is required, MicroIce (or StreamIce®) should be selected.
If a long shelf life is required (e.g. transportation of fish in a warm environment), MacroIce should be selected.