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ICEMAX... FOR ENERGEY COST-SAVINGS AND A SUPERIOR ICE SURFACE ON YOUR ICE RINK

WHAT CAN ICEMAX® DO FOR MY RINK?

As a parts per million additive to ice rink water, icemax® provides a cost-effective way to generate a superior ice surface, reduce energy costs, and improve customer satisfaction.

Superior Ice Surface

  • icemax® will produce a tighter grained ice crystal that will behave much like de-ionized ice rink water, without the capital and maintenance costs of a DI plant.
  • icemax® will help to remove impurities from the rink’s source water, giving the ice a cleaner, smoother surface.
  • icemax® will increase the bond cohesion between ice layers to give a better, stronger and more durable ice surface without the risk of ice layer delamination.

Energy Cost-Savings

  • icemax® can produce a stronger ice layer bond even when cold water is used in the resurfacing equipment, allowing substantial energy cost-savings.
  • With icemax®, rink operators can run their base ice temperature 3 to 4 degrees higher to save energy, while still maintaining a quality ice surface.

The benefits:

  • Very easy to implement, no extra equipment needed.
  • Energy and financial savings from increasing ice temp and building temp (ie., running fewer compressors), as well as using cold flood water instead of hot flood water.
  • Clear, quality ice that contains minimal impurities or air bubbles.
  • Decreased recovery time during an emergency maintenance situation (faster patching).
  • Wash water slush will be more cohesive and, therefore, more likely to fill in cuts during a resurfacing
  • Keeps you blade sharper longer by reducing the impurities in the ice that dull your blade

What is icemax®?

icemax® is a protein that is derived from a biotech fermentation process much like making beer, wine, yogurt or cheese. The active protein in icemax® has been in use globally for 20 years and has been used in a wide array of applications, including snowmaking, cloud seeding, wastewater concentration, ice harvesting and thermal storage process cooling plants.

How does icemax® work?

icemax® changes the molecular adhesion properties of water and will influence ice crystal size by producing finer and more tightly packed crystalline lattices. icemax® increases the bond cohesion between ice crystals at higher temperatures and reduces the amount of heat that needs to be removed to reach the nucleation, or freezing point, of water.

Test results

In 2011 the Cosmo Civic Centre tested a product called icemax®. This product is a flood water additive that allows rink operators to maintain a quality ice surface at a higher temperature while flooding with cool water, resulting in a reduced energy load on the refrigeration equipment and hot water heaters. It also reduces the moisture introduced into the rink, resulting in lower humidity levels. Results from the test indicate that the use of icemax® at Cosmo Arena reduced ice plant electricity consumption by 22%.