UNJUK KERJA SLURRY ICE REFRIGERATOR BERBAHAN BAKU AIR LAUT DI PERAIRAN TROPIS (The Performance of Slurry ice Refrigerator with Sea Water Raw Material in Tropical Area)

Fish is perishable food. Quality of fish, especially the freshness level will drop significantly if it is not treated quickly and properly. The general method used in fish handling on fishing vessels is cold treatment such as ice cube, ice flake, ice tube, and slurry ice. Usage of slurry ice in Indonesia has not been applied due to high cost of refrigeration slurry ice unit, even though slurry ice has many advantages such as quick cooling, low operating cost, easy operation, and adaptable size. The objective of this research was to determine performance of slurry ice refrigerator (SIR) using sea water as raw material in tropical area. This unit can produce slurry ice for fish handling on fishing vessel. An experimenta lmethod was applied in this research. The results showed that SIR could reach temperatures of -60 C with no-added load, and -40 C with load.