Notion

Liquid Nitrogen Freezer :  Liquid nitrogen freezer is a cooling device that utilizes liquid nitrogen as refrigerant. Liquid nitrogen, with an extremely low temperature usually around -196°C, rapidly cools and freezes objects. Due to its excellent cooling performance, liquid nitrogen freezers find wide applications in food processing, medical fields, laboratory research, and industrial manufacturing.

Air Blast Freezer:  Air blast freezer operates by forcibly circulating air to achieve cooling and freezing. It typically uses electrically driven fans to blow cold air onto objects needing freezing, thereby achieving rapid cooling effects. This equipment is extensively used in food processing, chemical industries, pharmaceuticals, laboratories, and various industrial applications.

Differences between Liquid Nitrogen Freezer and Air Blast Freezer

Working Principle

Liquid Nitrogen Freezer: Utilizes the extremely low temperature of liquid nitrogen (-196°C) to directly contact and rapidly lower the temperature of objects through conduction.

Air Blast Freezer: Uses electric fans to forcefully blow cold air onto objects or into spaces, utilizing air to cool surfaces and achieve rapid cooling.

Cooling Speed and Efficiency

Liquid Nitrogen Freezer: Due to the ultra-low temperature of liquid nitrogen, it can cool objects very quickly, making it suitable for applications requiring ultra-fast freezing.

Air Blast Freezer: While slightly slower than liquid nitrogen freezers, it achieves relatively uniform cooling effects through forced air circulation, suitable for a wide range of products and applications.

 Application Areas

Liquid nitrogen quick-freezing equipment can provide working temperatures as low as -120°C (this is the lowest working temperature of the SPEEDCRYO liquid nitrogen quick-freezer, but it can also provide temperatures of -140°C or even -150°C when needed). This equipment can accelerate the crystallization process, quickly passing through the "maximum ice crystal growth zone," forming small, uniform ice crystals inside the food, with minimal or no damage to food cells, thus achieving a higher preservation effect. Therefore, liquid nitrogen quick-freezing equipment is very suitable for various high-value and perishable foods, or foods that need long-term storage.

As the price of liquid nitrogen continues to decrease, the cost of processing food with liquid nitrogen quick-freezing equipment is also gradually decreasing. Therefore, liquid nitrogen quick-freezing technology is becoming more and more popular in various food fields, such as various seafood, bakery products, durian, mango, and other fruit and vegetable products, as well as poultry products like chicken, duck, and goose, and various meat products.

Air Blast Freezer equipment provides working temperatures of -35°C to -40°C, which can meet the freezing needs of most ordinary ingredients, providing a more balanced solution in terms of processing costs and frozen product quality. Normally, the cost of freezing food with an Air Blast Freezer is lower than that of a Liquid Nitrogen Freezer, making it more suitable for ingredients that are more price-sensitive or lower-priced.

Equipment Complexity and Operational Requirements

Liquid Nitrogen Freezers are low-temperature quick-freezing devices that use liquid nitrogen as a cold source, achieving rapid heat exchange through the process of liquid nitrogen evaporating into nitrogen gas. Because they do not require compressors and condensers, their construction is simpler, maintenance is more convenient, and failure rates are lower. Moreover, under the same production capacity conditions, the volume of liquid nitrogen quick-freezing equipment is much smaller than that of quick-freezing equipment using compressors. Therefore, liquid nitrogen quick-freezing equipment has the advantages of small size, simple construction, low failure rate, less maintenance workload, and low maintenance costs.

Air Blast Freezers use compressor refrigeration, so their construction is more complex than liquid nitrogen refrigeration equipment, requiring more maintenance work. However, with the current maturity of compressor technology, the after-sales maintenance work of Air Blast Freezers has also become very simple.

Energy Consumption and Operating Costs

The cost of processing food with liquid nitrogen quick-freezing equipment mainly depends on the local price of liquid nitrogen. Generally, processing 1 kilogram of food requires 1 to 1.5 kilograms of liquid nitrogen, and electricity costs are almost negligible. In most cases, the cost of freezing food with liquid nitrogen quick-freezing equipment is higher than using an Air Blast Freezer because the price of liquid nitrogen is higher than the cost of electricity.

However, the purpose of liquid nitrogen quick-freezing technology is not to reduce the cost of food quick-freezing but to improve the quality of frozen products. With economic development and social progress, people's demand for frozen food is increasing, and the requirements for the quality of frozen products are also getting higher. The quality of food frozen by Air Blast Freezers is increasingly unable to meet consumers' demands for freshness. Therefore, more and more food companies are adopting liquid nitrogen quick-freezing technology to improve the quality of their products.

The Advantages of Liquid Nitrogen Freezer and Air Blast Freezer

Liquid Nitrogen Freezer

• Ultra-low Temperature: Provides extremely low temperatures (typically around -196°C), suitable for applications requiring ultra-low temperature environments, preserving activity and stability of samples like biological specimens and cells.
• Rapid Freezing: Liquid nitrogen rapidly cools objects, minimizing ice crystal formation during freezing, effectively protecting microscopic structure and quality. It is crucial for high-quality frozen products such as high-end foods and bioproducts.
• Uniform Cooling: Ensures consistent freezing effects by evenly covering and cooling object surfaces, avoiding product quality issues due to uneven freezing.
• No Mechanical Parts: Avoids complex mechanical parts, reducing the risk of mechanical failures. Maintenance is relatively simple, lowering maintenance costs and downtime.
• Special Materials: Applicable to handling special materials requiring extremely low temperatures, such as high-tech materials and chemicals, providing reliable freezing solutions for their processing and research.

Air Blast Freezer

• Flexibility: Handles various shapes and sizes of objects, suitable for diverse freezing needs—from small laboratory samples to large-scale food processing production lines.
• Ease of Operation: Simple equipment operation without the need for liquid nitrogen storage and management, reducing operational burdens and training costs for operators.
• Uniform Cooling: Achieves uniform surface cooling through forced air circulation, particularly suitable for food processing that requires even freezing, ensuring food texture and quality.
• Controlled Energy Consumption: Primarily consumes electricity, with energy consumption managed based on equipment efficiency and operating methods. Operating costs are relatively controllable, allowing businesses to optimize energy use as per actual needs.
• High Safety: Avoids handling ultra-low temperature liquids, reducing safety hazards associated with liquid nitrogen operations. Suitable for use by general operators, lowering the likelihood of safety incidents.
• Ease of Maintenance: Simple equipment structure facilitates easy maintenance and upkeep, without requiring special freezing mediums, reducing maintenance costs and difficulty.

Export Situation and Application Case of SPEEDCRYO Liquid Nitrogen Freezers

SPEEDCRYO boasts over 10 years of production experience and operates from a 30,000 square meter production base. With over 100 patented technologies, SPEEDCRYO provides diverse food preservation and freezing solutions for global food enterprises. All SPEEDCRYO products are CE certified and exported to more than 20 countries including the USA, Canada, Peru, Bulgaria, Estonia, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Southeast Asia.SPEEDCRYO liquid nitrogen freezers not only provide efficient freezing solutions for the food industry but are also widely used in medical, biotechnology, chemical, and various other fields, demonstrating their superior performance and reliability in meeting diverse ultra-low temperature freezing requirements.

Application Case of SPEEDCRYO Liquid Nitrogen Tunnel Freezer for Qingyuan Chicken

 

 

The SPEEDCRYO Liquid Nitrogen Tunnel Freezer is widely used globally for freezing various types of food, especially high-end meat products. Below is an application case of the SPEEDCRYO Liquid Nitrogen Tunnel Freezer for freezing Qingyuan chicken, detailing its excellent performance in improving product quality and extending shelf life.

Challenges in Qingyuan Chicken

Qingyuan chicken, as a high-end meat product, is favored by consumers for its unique flavor and high nutritional value. However, freezing Qingyuan chicken faces several challenges, including:

Need for Rapid Freezing: To maintain the fresh taste and nutritional content of Qingyuan chicken, its temperature must be lowered as quickly as possible.

Ice Crystal Formation: Slow freezing can cause large ice crystals to form in the chicken's muscle cells, damaging the cell structure and affecting texture and quality.

Oxidation Issues: Qingyuan chicken is rich in fat, which can oxidize during the freezing process, leading to a decline in quality.

SPEEDCRYO Liquid Nitrogen Tunnel Freezer Solution

Rapid Freezing: The SPEEDCRYO Liquid Nitrogen Tunnel Freezer uses the extremely low temperature of liquid nitrogen (about -196°C) for rapid freezing. It lowers the temperature of Qingyuan chicken to ultra-low levels within minutes, significantly reducing ice crystal formation. Compared to traditional freezing methods, the tunnel freezer's speed better preserves the cell structure and nutritional content of the chicken.

Uniform Freezing: The design of the SPEEDCRYO Liquid Nitrogen Tunnel Freezer ensures even distribution of liquid nitrogen throughout the tunnel, achieving uniform freezing of Qingyuan chicken. Uniform freezing avoids issues with localized high or low temperatures, ensuring consistent freezing quality for each chicken and maintaining high product quality.

Reduced Oxidation: The liquid nitrogen freezing process occurs in a low-oxygen environment, effectively reducing the oxidation of the chicken's fat. By quickly lowering the temperature and creating a low-oxygen environment, the SPEEDCRYO Liquid Nitrogen Tunnel Freezer significantly extends the shelf life of Qingyuan chicken, preserving its color, flavor, and nutritional value.

Application Case

In Guangdong Province, China, a well-known poultry processing company introduced the SPEEDCRYO Liquid Nitrogen Tunnel Freezer for freezing its high-end Qingyuan chicken products. The company processes large quantities of Qingyuan chicken daily, and the introduction of the tunnel freezer has greatly improved its production efficiency and product quality.

Interpretation of Result

Quality Improvement: The frozen Qingyuan chicken retains its tender texture and natural color after thawing. Whether exported to Hong Kong and Macao or sold in the local market, it has received unanimous praise from customers.

Increased Production Capacity: The efficient freezing capability of the SPEEDCRYO Liquid Nitrogen Tunnel Freezer allows the company to meet larger production demands, keeping up with the growing market needs.

Cost Savings: Although the initial investment in liquid nitrogen freezing equipment is high, its high efficiency and low waste significantly reduce operating costs in the long run.