THE CUBA REVIEW 



17 



AN ICE PLANT IN HAVANA 



The Coinpania Frigorofica Cubana in 

 Havana has a large plant in the city. The 

 ice is made from distilled water, and every 

 precaution is observed to prevent contamina- 

 tion either of the water on its passage into the 

 ice cans, or during freezing, or of the ice after 

 it is frozen. Likewise, in the ice cream de- 

 partment, all the milk and cream is first steril- 

 ized or pasteurized, all the material used is 

 inspected by the city health department, as is 

 also the finished product. 



This company was organized in 1900. The 

 erection of the plant was begun in April, 1910, 

 and the fisrt ice turned out in June. The 

 pm'chasers of the plant meanwhile had visited 

 the United States, and purchased a complete 

 outfit of ice wagons, tools and other equip- 

 ment necessary to complete the ice cream- 

 making machinery, pasteurizers, etc. 



The ice plant has a daily ice-making capa- 

 city of 50 tons of clear merchantable ice, with 

 an ice cream capacity of 1,000 gallons per 

 day. 



The power equipment for the plant consists 

 of three horizontal, tubular boilers, each 72 

 in. in diameter and IS feet long. They are 

 supplied with water by means of 6 x 4 6 in. 

 boiler feed pump. The feed water returns 

 through a 250 h.p. feed water heater. 



The ice-making machinery includes a 17 x 

 30-inch horizontal, double-acting Triumph 

 ammonia compressor, driven by- a 22 x 42- 

 inch heavy duty CorUss engine. The com- 

 pressor pumps the ammonia gas into a 

 double-pipe ammonia condenser consisting of 

 nine sections, each section being 14 pipes high. 

 The ammonia receiver is a cylinder sixteen 

 inches in diameter and ten feet long. The oil 

 trap or intercepter, is 16 inches in diameter 

 and fom- feet high. Both are plainly visible 

 in the view of the condenser. 



Two freezing tanks were installed each 

 54 X 20 ft., and 47 inches deep. These were 

 built with steel partitions, and each tank 

 supphed with a 22-inch agitator for cu'cula- 

 ting the brine. Instead of placing the ex- 

 pansion coils in the brine tanks, each tank is 

 provided with a special shell-type brine cooler, 

 placed directly in the tank in compartments 

 for that purpose. In these brine coolers the 

 ammonia is carried in liquid form, while the 

 brine is circulated through the brine coils in 

 the cooler. The liquid ammonia shows in the 

 gauge glass attached on outside of freezing 

 tank. With this arrangement only one ex- 

 pansion valve is required for each freezing 

 tank. The brine coolers are submerged in 

 one end of the tank. They are constructed 

 of flanged stsel, the shell and heads being 

 welded, as are also all flanged steel connec- 

 tions, thus reducing the possibihty of leak- 

 age. 



The brine, after passing through the cooler, 

 is forced down one division of the tank, four 

 cans wide, then returns throughout the second 

 division, thence down the tank, through the 

 third division, thence back through the fourth 



division, and again througli the cooler. .After 

 the plant was placed in operation, it was 

 found that the variance of temperature in the 

 various parts of tank was less than one per 

 cent. The cooler is carried practically full of 

 liquid anhydrous ammonia, which evaporates 

 at the surface in the same manner as water 

 evaporates in a boiler. A practically dry gas 

 results. In case of any liquid being carried 

 over through the suction connection, it is 

 trapped in the separator and returned to the 

 cooler. The ammonia is kept in an anhydrous 

 condition free from oil and other impurities 

 by the use of the smaU oil intercepter. 



The insulation of the freezing tanks con- 

 sists of five inches of pure sheet-cork on bot- 

 tom and twelve inches of granulated cork on 

 the sides and between the two tanks, while 

 the ends are insulated with five inches of 

 sheet cork. The insulation on ends of tanks 

 as well as that around the sides is finished 

 with cement. 



The freezing tanks hold a total of 760 ice 

 cans, each 113^ x 22H x 46 m., giving a capac- 

 ity of fifty tons ice-making each twenty-fom- 

 hours. The cans are filled by means of two 

 can fillers and are pulled by means of two 

 double pneumatic ice can hoists, for operating 

 which a small air compressor and receiver was 

 installed. For emptying the cans two skele- 

 ton type ice dumps arranged for handling two 

 cans at a time are used, together with two 

 tliawing tanks for ice. The overhead cranes 

 are of the horizontal pneumatic type. 



An ice storage room of about 500 tons 

 capacity was fitted up adjacent to the freez- 

 ing tanks. The walls are insulated with four 

 inches pure sheet cork, finished with cement. 

 The rooms are piped with brine piping at a 

 ratio of about one Uneal foot of pipe to nine 

 cu. ft. of space. 



For ice cream freezing, which is done in 

 brine freezers, a separate brine tank, twenty- 

 two feet long, two feet wide and four feet 

 deep, is provided. In this tank is placed a 

 double pipe brine cooler consisting of 2-in. 

 and 3-in. pipe, six pipes high and 18 ft. in 

 length, rated as of ten tons refrigerating 

 capacity. The brine in this tank is cii-cu- 

 lated tlu-ough the ice cream freezers by means 

 of a pump 5x5x6 in. The ice cream hardening 

 rooms are on the dry system and of special 

 design, so arranged that a positive and very 

 rapid circulation of air comes in direct con- 

 tact with all parts of every can. The air is 

 circulated through a bunker room containing 

 2,000 ft. of 134 in. du-ect expansion piping, 

 by means of a 30 inch fan direct connected to 

 a 3-h.p. electric motor. The hardening re- 

 quires from seven to ten hours at a tempera- 

 ture of from zero to 3° F. The hardening 

 rooms are insulated with six inches cork 

 board, finished with cement plaster. A 173-2- 

 h.p. elctric generator direct connected to an 

 8x8-inch engine, suppUes current for all the 

 motors, as well as lights used about the 

 plant. — Refrigerating World, New York. 



