The break-though technology of our Orbital Rod Evaporator has no peer in energy efficiency offering significant energy savings.

With a COP of 3.0 the Orbital Rod Evaporator (ORE) tops the list for energy efficiency.  By producing 1 ton-hr of ice using 1 ~ 1.2 kWh of energy it provides greater efficiency than static ice-on-coil systems (Ice Builders), about 10% ~15% greater than ice harvesters, about 25%~30% greater than tube-in-tube wiped surface ice generators and over 30% greater than flake ice makers.

How does it do it?

MaximICE Technology operates at a constant
high level of efficiency

The ORE shell and tube heat exchanger generates not only a very high heat transfer coefficient, but one which is consistently high due to enhanced film coefficients from high speed orbital agitation of whip rods in the tubes. Microscopic ice crystals are formed in the solution without adhering to the heat transfer surfaces. Suction temperature of the ORE is constant and is normally at 16°F (-8.9°C).

Traditional but less efficient systems:

Ice Builders (ice-on-coil) grow ice on the coils over time.  Efficiency is temporarily higher than the ORE in the very early stages of ice building because the suction temperatures are high and heat transfer on the surface of the coils is effective. But as the ice grows thicker it insulates the water from the refrigerant inside the coils, forcing the suction temperature to dive lower and lower in order to freeze the water in contact with the ice, especially in the latter stages of the ice-making cycle when the ice is between 1.5” and 2.5” thick. The result is a much lower average suction temperature over the entire ice build cycle.     

Ice harvesters must employ a hot gas defrost cycle in order to harvest the ice from the evaporator plates. This results in a two energy penalties 1) higher head pressures of the compressors and 2) a 10%~ 15% energy loss from the defrost cycle. The ORE produces heat transfer coefficients 10 ~ 15 times higher than ice harvesters.

Tube in Tube Ice Generators and Flake Ice Makers have a much thicker heat transfer wall with much less agitation, resulting in a significantly lower heat transfer coefficient. As such, they require a lower suction temperature and more motor hp per square inch of heat transfer surface to remove the ice with the wiper blades, both of which consume more energy than the ORE.