ICE Energy-Efficiency Improvement

Lead Performer: Oak Ridge National Laboratory – Oak Ridge, TN
DOE Total Funding: $310,000
Project Term: October 1, 2021 – September 30, 2025
Funding Type: AOP Project (Direct-Funded Lab Project)

Project Objective

The primary objective of this project is to develop an energy-efficient methodology to dispense ice from the ice maker mold. Ice is an important commodity both as a direct use product and as a nuisance in day-to-day refrigeration related equipment. It is utilized as an energy storage medium at industrial scale, in the food service industry, in domestic household refrigeration, and in supermarkets. Additionally, demand deicing in cold display cases and food storage facilities consumes significant amount of parasitic energy in maintaining the equipment. Ice making (or deicing) is an energy intensive process. For instance, ~8-15 kWh of electrical energy is consumed in making 100 pounds of ice, and it could be as high as 45 kWh if one considers the source-to-site losses. ~30% of this energy is exclusively consumed during the dispensing process, which involves mold heating for dislodging the ice followed by re-cooling of the thermal mass to attain the desired temperature for the next ice making cycle. This process consumes ~5 kWh/100 pounds of ice at the site. Given the amount of energy being consumed in such processes, it is the objective of this project to develop a method to help dispense the ice in an energy-efficient manner.

The key approach in this project is to help dislocate the ice layer rather than defrosting using low interfacial toughness (LIT) materials with <10 kPa of ice adhesion strength. Further enhancement involves targeting the interfacial layer between the mold surface and ice sheet using induced or dielectric heating. The combination of these two methodologies avoids thermal mass heating and re-cooling, decreasing the process time and energy intensity. LIT materials with <5% drop in thermal diffusivity designed for commercial applications will be investigated in detail. In this project, ORNL will first investigate surfaces, LIT materials, form factors, and energy sources for effectiveness, energy intensity, reaction time, control, and implementation strategy. Then they will develop a roadmap for other applications, down-selecting the approach and investigation. Finally, a prototype will be built and demonstrated.

Project Impact

This project will decrease the parasitic energy consumption and processing time involved in ice making by at least 30%.

Contacts

DOE Technology Manager: Wyatt Merrill
Lead Performer: Brian Fricke, Oak Ridge National Laboratory