Ice Slurry Quick-Kill Device for Fish Freshness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for quickly killing fish, such as cutting the spinal cord or using smoke pre-treatment, are either difficult to execute or do not efficiently maintain the fish in a fresher state.
Innovation Solution
A method involving immersion of the fish in ice slurry at a specific temperature to rapidly cool the center part below the habitable temperature limit, followed by refrigeration to maintain freshness, using a quick-kill device and system that employs ice slurry for cooling and refrigeration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If fish is quickly killed by traditional methods (spinal cord cutting or smoke pre-treatment), then the killing process can be completed, but the fish freshness and quality are not optimally maintained
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical killing methods (spinal cord cutting, smoke treatment) with a thermal field method using ice slurry. The ice slurry at controlled temperature rapidly cools the fish body, stopping physiological functions and achieving quick kill while maintaining freshness, substituting complex mechanical operations with a simpler thermal process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes temperature as a critical parameter, controlling the ice slurry temperature to be below 0°C but not causing freezing of the fish. By precisely controlling the temperature parameter and immersion time, the fish is rapidly cooled to stop physiological functions while maintaining meat quality and freshness, resolving the contradiction between killing efficiency and freshness maintenance.
2Speed
If ice slurry is used to cool the fish rapidly, then the killing speed and freshness maintenance are improved, but the risk of freezing the fish body increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent precisely controls the temperature parameter of the ice slurry, maintaining it below 0°C to achieve rapid cooling effect, while carefully managing the immersion time to prevent the fish body temperature from dropping to the freezing point. This parameter control enables fast killing speed without causing freezing damage to the fish tissue.
Solution Approach 2:
The ice slurry acts as an intermediary medium between the cooling source and the fish body. It provides controlled thermal transfer, cooling the fish rapidly through conduction and convection while its slurry state (mixture of ice and water) moderates the cooling intensity, preventing direct contact freezing that would occur with solid ice.
3Duration of action of moving object
If the fish is kept in water after catching, then the fish remains alive longer, but ATP is consumed and taste deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary cooling action immediately after fish catching by immersing the fish in ice slurry. This preliminary thermal shock rapidly stops physiological functions including ATP consumption and metabolic processes, preventing the accumulation of lactic acid and other deterioration substances, thus maintaining taste quality while achieving quick kill.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the natural physiological process (fish remaining alive in water) with a thermal field intervention. By using ice slurry cooling to stop physiological functions, it substitutes the natural metabolic continuation with thermal-induced physiological cessation, preventing ATP consumption and taste deterioration that occur during prolonged survival.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method effectively keeps the fish in a fresher state by rapidly stopping heart function without freezing the center part, ensuring high quality and longer preservation.
Implementation Method 1
immersing an object to be quickly killed into ice slurry at a first temperature and cooling thereof
Implementation Method 2
continuing immersion of the object to be quickly killed in the ice slurry for a predetermined immersion time for bringing at least a center part of the object to be quickly killed to a second temperature
Data Source
AI summary
A quick-kill system by which objects to be quickly killed can be kept in a fresher state. The quick-kill system includes: a quick-kill device that cools a fish with ice slurry at a first temperature (−21° C.) to bring the temperature of the fish to a second temperature (−1° C. to −2° C.) lower than the lower limit of the temperature at which the fish can live (0° C. to 2° C.), while keeping at least the center part of the fish in a refrigerated state; and a transport part that transports the fish, wherein the transport part immerses the fish into the quick-kill device while transporting thereof, and, when the time has reached a predetermined immersion time for bringing the temperature of the fish to the second temperature, pulls the fish out of the ice slurry.