590 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



work was the design of an apparatus for practical use in freezing 

 fish, especially herring, in large quantities.' 1 ' In this apparatus, as 

 in that of Goer de Herve. the fish are moved about in brine, but in 

 a revolving motion rather than a forward motion. In its simplest 

 form (fig. 31) the apparatus is a tank containing refrigerated brine. 

 In the tank is mounted a cylindrical drum of wire netting or per- 

 forated sheet metal. Three baffles are mounted on a revolving 

 spindle, arranged to revolve within the drum. A chute is provided 

 for loading the freezer from the top when the door is open. Valves 

 are provided so that the brine may be kept at any one of the three 

 levels — one within the drum, another just above it, and the third near 

 the top of the tank. To fill the freezer, the brine is lowered until 

 its surface is within the drum, and with the door open the fish are 

 put in at the top and dropped into the drum. The door is then 

 closed and the brine level caused to rise by closing the lowest valve. 

 When the brine is at this level, the drum is revolved by an external 

 source of power. The baffles or paddles carry the fish around and 

 around in the drum. When the fish are fully frozen the drum is 

 stopped, the door opened, and the brine caused to rise farther in the 

 tank by closing another valve. The fish now rise to the top from the 

 compartments and are scooped out. Upon slow revolution of the 

 revolving baffles the fish in the other compartments likewise rise to 

 the top. 



A larger apparatus makes use of three or more cylinders of netting 

 or perforated sheet metal, 3 feet 3 inches in diameter and 7 feet long. 

 The cylinders have a door that swings on hinges and extends part 

 of the length. Inside the cylinder are three baffle plates of galvanized 

 sheet iron. The cylinder is mounted on a spindle with a gear 

 at one end. The cylinders are filled about five-eighths full of fish — 

 that is, about 1,870 pounds to each — and are lowered into the tank 

 containing the cold brine, when the spindle ends rest in bearings. 

 They are now caused to revolve, when the baffles not only keep the 

 fish in motion but also serve as propeller blades, which renew the 

 brine in the cylinder. The cylinders are moved by an endless chain, 

 and one may be removed without disturbing the others. This ap- 

 paratus has a capacity of about 2y 2 tons, which, in the case of her- 

 ring, freezes in 50 minutes. Floor space required is 16 feet 6 inches 

 by 9 feet 8 inches. Such a plant was built and operated at Billings- 

 gate, England. 



Another form of the apparatus makes use of the cylindrical drums 

 which are loaded at one end. conveyed mechanically downward and 

 forward through the brine, revolving as they travel, emerging and 

 rising at the other. 



newton's method 



J. W. Newton, of Los Angeles. Calif., striving for a plant that 

 could be inexpensively constructed and simply operated, designed a 



60 Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Food Investigation Board. Special 

 Report No. 4, Interim Report on Methods of Freezing Fish, with special reference to 

 handling large quantities in gluts. 50 pp. London, 1920. Pique\ J. J., and the Imperial 

 Trust for the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. British Patent 154250 ; 

 Piqu4, U. S. Patent 1431328, Oct. 10, 1922 ; and W. B. Hardy, Canadian Patent 212879. 

 June 19, 1923. 



