Eutectic potassium chloride (KCl) solution as phase change material (PCM) for fish cold storage

Abstract

Traditional fishermen need to buy ice blocks every time they go fishing, thus impacting their expenses. To potentially save money, an alternative solution using phase change material (PCM) is proposed. PCM contained properly is reusable, thus reducing expenses for fishermen. Eutectic potassium Chloride (KCl) solution is utilized as PCM, which has melting temperature of -10.7 °C and heat of fusion of 253 kJ/kg. The PCM is used to substitute ice as the currently primary source to chill fish in storage. The solution is contained in an aluminium-foil zip-lock bags, each containing 670 grams of solution. The experiment uses two Polystyrene boxes, one containing 10 pouches of eutectic KCl solutions as PCM and the other containing ice cubes with the same mass. Two kg of fish is stored for 24 hours in each box. Thermal analysis shows that the box temperature containing KCl solution is steady for the 24 hours of experiment. Starting to be steady at -2.8 °C from room temperature, the box temperature increases slowly, reaching only 2.1 °C after 24 hours. Organoleptic test shows that the fish stored inside KCl box loses 1.39 quality points on average, compared to 1.89 in ice box after 24 hours. Therefore, the fish in the PCM box is slightly fresher than the one stored using ice cubes.