Abstract
We invented and studied a new ice making system, in which a cooling plate freezes water through a thin metallic belt and protected ice is removed from on the plate by moving the belt. It is shown that the system is able to make long and plate-like ice continuously for more than four hours. The thickness of the ice can range from 1 to 8 mm depending on belt feed speed and temperature of the cooling plate. Then, from a measured mass rate of ice production, we calculated thermal contact resistance between the cooling plate and the belt, which is an important parameter for evaluating ice-making performance of the system. In the results, it is found that the resistance, which is significantly decreased by increase of the belt feed speed, can be low enough not to hinder the ice-making performance. Additionally, feeding the belt back and forth with short strokes is to be effective in reducing the resistance while maintaining the thickness of the plate-like ice.
