Investigation of the Characteristics of Ice Slurry Containing Antifreeze Protein for Ice Storage Applications.

Ice slurry systems have recently attracted much attention in Japan for their ability to reduce electricity peaks caused by high energy-consumption by air-conditioners in the daytime. While conventional storage systems involve compact ice generation, these days ice slurry systems are introduced for transporting flowable ice in pipelines. Even though seveal methods for dynamic ice formation have been researched and developed, there are still problems related to the recrystallization of ice crystals for realizing long-term storage and long-distance transportation. Antifreeze proteins (AFPs) strongly influence ice crystal growth by adsorption to the ice crystal surface. In this paper. we present results from investigations of ice slurry made from an AFP solution, and of its thermophysical properties such as thermal storage and flowability characteristics, as well as the results from observation of crystal growth and ice slurry flow. For ice storage applications, the benefits of this additive are the ability to create well-defined crystal structures and the inhibition of recrystallization.