What Material Is Used for The Evaporator in An IQF?

What Material is Used for the Evaporator in an IQF?

In an IQF system, the evaporator is the key component used to absorb heat from food or other products and condense it.

The choice of evaporator material is usually influenced by the following factors:

Food Safety Requirements: If the IQF system is to be used to process food products, the material of the evaporator must meet the relevant health and safety standards. Stainless steel or other food-grade metals are often used to ensure that no substances harmful to food quality are released.

Evaporation Temperature: Evaporators typically operate at low temperatures in IQF systems. Select materials that can operate at low temperatures and are not susceptible to corrosion, such as stainless steel or aluminium.

Corrosion resistance: Evaporators may come into contact with frozen liquids or frozen gases, so it is important to select materials that are corrosion resistant to these media. Stainless steel is often considered a good choice for corrosion resistance.

Thermal Conductivity: Since evaporators need to absorb heat efficiently, their materials should have good thermal conductivity. Copper and aluminium are two metals with high thermal conductivity that are commonly used in evaporator manufacturing.

Strength and durability: Evaporators need to withstand cycles of freezing and defrosting, so materials with good strength and durability need to be selected to ensure their long-term stable operation.

Overall, stainless steel (especially food-grade stainless steel) and aluminium alloys are common evaporator material choices. These materials offer corrosion resistance, thermal conductivity and strength for IQF systems in low-temperature environments.