3X Technology and Matís, in collaboration with companies in Iceland (The peninsula, FISH Seafood and Iceprotein), in Norway (Grieg Seafood), Finland (Hätälä) and Denmark (Norway Seafood), have for some time now been working on research into supercooling and its effects on the processing and quality of marine products. 3X and Matís are among three parties that have been nominated for Sviföld 2016, The avant-garde idea of the Fisheries Conference, but the results will be announced at the Fisheries Conference which will be held this week in Harpa.
The Fisheries Conference is held every year and has established itself as the main communication platform for all those involved in the fisheries sector in Iceland. The nomination each time is a great honor but Gunnar Þórðarson, a consultant at Matís and station manager for the company in the Westfjords, has carried the heat and burden within Matís around this research project.
Svifaldan 2016 - from the website of the Fisheries Conference
Overcooling
Applicants have been conducting supercooling research for the past six months in collaboration with parties in Iceland, Norway, Finland and Denmark, with the support of the Nordic Innovation Center Nordic Innovation, as part of Nordic Marine Innovation 2.0. These are companies that conduct research, fishing, aquaculture, processing and further processing for the consumer market. The project will be completed by the end of next year, with the aim of bringing all results to the Nordic fishing and aquaculture industries as quickly as possible.
Gunnar Þórðarson, consultant at Matís and station manager for the company in the Westfjords
Significant research has been carried out on the effects of supercooling on processing and product quality in the fisheries and aquaculture production, and the results are decisive. Supercooling refers to the transfer of cooling energy into the fish muscle immediately after fishing / slaughter, as less than 20% of the water content is frozen. In demersal fish, the target is to cool down to -0.7 ° C and -1.5 ° C in salmon, which is fat and therefore has a lower freezing point. In both cases there is a phase change at these temperatures and it takes a considerable amount of energy to go below them. Extensive research has been done on supercooling and it has been shown that there is no damage to cells due to ice crystal formation as long as cooling is within the definition. There can be great opportunities in transporting super-chilled fresh fish (salmon / catfish) as a lot is saved by getting rid of ice in the transport chain, especially by air. About 10% of the weight of conventional products during transport is ice and therefore both financial and environmental benefits with the method. Reducing the footprint in the production and transport of fish products is an important marketing tool for the future.