A Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS) presents an excellent opportunity to improve land-based fish farming. Deepchill® slurry ice partnered with RAS technology could keep your fish fresh during processing, storage, and transport all the way to market.
Let’s take a look at why RAS has gained so much traction in recent years and how Deepchill® can further enhance the freshness of your products.
Advantages of RAS Technology
From reduced transportation costs to greater freshness, RAS has the potential to revolutionize the salmon industry. Farmers end up with healthier fish, higher inventories, and enhanced control over the entire lifecycle of their stock.
Deepchill® slurry system is a natural next step to help further improve RAS harvesting and processing operation, as a single system offers solutions for chilling, storage, packing and shipping salmon
How Deepchill® Complements RAS Technology
There’s another way RAS farmers can revolutionize their production process. They may use water chillers, flake or crushed ice (or a combination) to chill and preserve harvested fish. However, Deepchill® slurry is a more effective way to superchill salmon and keep its freshness.
Deepchill® systems come with slurry ice generators and all the storage fish farmers need to organize the distribution process. The modular systems have numerous options, including refrigeration packages.
How It Works
Deepchill® extends the shelf life of land-based salmon with superior protection and consistent temperatures. Here are some of the ways farmers can apply the Deepchill® advantage to their RAS operation:
- Chilling: Deepchill® rapidly, uniformly and efficiently chills salmon and can be integrated into a variety of chilling apparatus including bleeding and chilling Helix tanks.
- Processing: Deepchill® facilitates chilled storage of HOG salmon for pre- or post-rigor processing to streamline farming operations.
- Packaging: Pack fresh fish into Styrofoam boxes filled with Deepchill® paste or crystal form to maintain quality and freshness more efficiently than alternative methods.
- Product distribution: Farmers can deliver their Deepchilled RAS-raised salmon with longer shelf life to further markets. As Deepchill® provides a full coverage of the product and does not leave air and heat pockets, unlike other types of ice, it will not melt pre-maturely and remains intact much longer.
As stated, Deepchill® can be used for the entire cold chain, therefore a single Deepchill® system satisfies cooling and preservation requirements of a RAS operation. These are just some of the advantages of choosing Deepchill® for a land-based RAS operation.
Deepchill® vs. Chilled Brine
Deepchill® produces superior results in chilling salmon compared to chilled water, as follows:
- Deepchill® superchills salmon to an ideal temperature range of –1°C to -1.5°C without freezing the fish. Meanwhile, chilled brine has limitations. For example, it cannot sub-chill the salmon unless salinity is raised to 5% — partially freezing the fish in the process.
- Recirculated Seawater (RSW) cannot be stored, and it requires more power consumption to continuously circulate . Deepchill® storage capacity minimizes refrigeration system size and reduces power consumption.
- Chilled brine requires recirculation to keep temperatures low. However, this introduces contamination risks. Deepchill® crystals carry and store energy, meaning they do not require any recirculation, thus avoiding contamination
Deepchill® vs. Flake Ice
Deepchill® offers several advantages over flake ice for chilling, storage and packing fish, including the following:
- Deepchill® is easy to pump anywhere and distribute over product, while it takes intensive manual labour to shovel ice flakes and transfer it to bins or tanks.
- Salmon stowed in Deepchill® remains superchilled at sub-zero temperatures compared to flake ice that stores salmon at about 1-2ºC. Research confirms that sub-zero temperatures cut spoilage rate and prolong product shelf life.
- Salmon storage in Deepchill® for post-rigor processing, eases rigor mortis, reduces gaping and helps to improve recovery rate and yield from filleting process as fish remains firm and easy to fillet.
- There’s also a significant difference in ice storage options. Deepchill® passive storage tanks work like a thermos, losing only up to 1.5% of chilling efficiency to heat loss. Conversely, up to 10% of flake ice melts in storage and require external refrigeration. So, you need more energy to cool the ice itself in a traditional storage tank.
- Deepchill® offers an enclosed system to help eliminate contamination and facilitate compliance with the FDA’s Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) requirements. On the other hand, flake ice production and storage can be open to contamination.
How Deepchill® Is Used for Packing and Shipping
Choose from Deepchill® paste or crystals to keep salmon fresh during packing and shipping. Both forms allow RAS farmers to pack and insulate the fish tightly. As there are no heat pockets, unlike flake ice, Deepchill® doesn’t melt pre-maturely. The Deepchill® paste maintains sub-zero temperatures and lock in moisture, while the crystals ensure a long-lasting cooling.
Invest in the Deepchill® for your RAS Farm
At Deepchill Solutions Inc., we create superior solutions that adapt to our customers’ needs. The Deepchill solution satisfies all the cooling and preservation needs at RAS harvesting and processing operations. For farmers who have already taken the step to revolutionize their land-based salmon farming with RAS solutions, investing in a Deepchill® system is the natural next step to ensure that fresh products hit the plates of end consumers!
Need more convincing?
Deepchill® offers:
- Modular units that offer full redundancy and easy expansion
- Flexible installation layouts that can match any space restrictions
- Customizable ice fraction for various applications
- Online monitoring and troubleshooting
Refer to our customer success stories to see how other industries have taken advantage of the Deepchill® slurry technology.
We would love to help you learn more, so call +1 905 856 0400 or email us at [email protected] to discuss the installation of Deepchill® slurry systems to enhance your RAS operations.