Square Technology Vertical Plate Freezer for Seafood, Minced Meat & Offal
Company: Square Technology Group Co., Ltd. (Shanghai Stock Exchange: 603339) Product: Vertical Plate Freezer (VPF series) Sector: Seafood processing · Offshore fishing · Meat & offal processing · Pet food Global footprint: 3,000+ clients served · 5,000+ installations · 200+ service technicians worldwide
About the Company
Founded in 1986, Square Technology Group Co., Ltd. is China’s largest industrial freezer manufacturer and a listed company on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. With more than 38 years of continuous focus on cold-chain and quick-freezing equipment, the company has supplied block-freezing, spiral and tunnel freezing systems to leading food producers around the world — including Tyson Foods, Cargill, Unilever, OSI, CPF, BIMBO, Hormel and Morpol. Square Technology is also the drafting unit of the China National Standard for Plate Freezers (GB/T 22734-2008).
The Challenge
For seafood and meat processors, freezing raw material into regular, dense blocks is a make-or-break operation. Whether aboard a fishing vessel or in a shore-based plant, processors need to:
- Freeze fast to preserve freshness, texture and yield as product passes through the critical freezing zone;
- Produce uniform, dense blocks that stack efficiently for cold storage and long-distance transport;
- Withstand harsh marine environments without corrosion or breakdown;
- Commission quickly and with minimal on-site work, especially in remote locations or on board ships;
- Adapt flexibly to different raw materials — whole sea-caught fish, minced meat, animal organs — and to customer-specific block sizes and capacities.
The Solution: Square Vertical Plate Freezer
Square’s vertical plate freezer is a direct-contact freezing system built for block freezing of raw materials. Product is placed between vertically mounted evaporator plates; a hydraulic system presses the plates together, compressing the product into a regular, dense block and freezing it rapidly through direct double-sided contact heat exchange — typically within a few hours.
How It Works
- Raw material (whole fish, minced meat, offal, etc.) is loaded between the vertical freezing plates.
- The hydraulic system closes the plates under controlled pressure, compacting the product into a uniform block.
- Refrigerant circulates inside thin channels of the freezing plates, extracting heat directly from both block faces for fast, energy-efficient freezing.
- The finished frozen block is discharged, ready for palletizing and cold-chain transport.
Key Features & Technology
| Fonctionnalité | Benefit |
| Hot-dip galvanized frame | Corrosion-resistant; equally suited to offshore fishing vessels and land-based plants |
| Extruded magnesium-aluminium alloy plates | Lightweight, high thermal conductivity, high surface finish, strong corrosion resistance — superior freezing capacity and hygienic contact surfaces |
| High-quality hydraulic system with deicing copper rings on cylinder-head seals | Long service life, leak-free operation, smooth and reliable plate movement in low-temperature environments |
| Separate liquid supply and suction per plate | Uniform refrigerant distribution, higher freezing efficiency, consistent block quality |
| Hot-gas defrosting | Fast, automatic defrosting between batches, minimal downtime |
| Standalone refrigeration unit or centralized system | Each freezer can be supplied with its own compressor unit, or connected directly to an existing central refrigeration system |
| Fully modular, pre-assembled design | No on-site installation required — connect the hydraulic and refrigerant lines and the unit is ready to run |
| Hydraulic power unit: 1:1 or 1:many | One hydraulic station can drive one freezer or be shared across multiple freezers, cutting capital cost on multi-line plants |
| Fully customized design | Capacity from 800 to 1,280 kg/batch; 21–33 evaporator plates; block thickness from 50 / 75 / 90 / 100 mm; frozen block dimensions made to customer requirements |
Reference Specification (Model VPF26×100)
| Paramètres | Value |
| Type | VPF26×100 |
| Layout dimensions (L×W×H) | 4090 × 1635 × 1340 mm |
| Frozen block size (L×W×T) | 525 × 525 × 100 mm |
| Freezing product | 20 kg/piece (whole fish) |
| Output | 1,040 kg/batch |
| Number of plates / effective layers | 27 plates / 26 effective layers |
| Feed / outfeed temperature | +15 °C / −18 °C |
| Temps de congélation | 200 min |
| Freezing cycle time | 220 min |
| Refrigerant supply mode | Liquid pump recirculation |
| Dégivrage | Hot-gas defrosting |
Note: parameters vary with product type, freezing requirements and customer-specific customization.
Applications
- Block freezing of sea-caught fish — whole fish frozen into standardized 20 kg-class blocks aboard trawlers or in shore plants, preserving catch quality and enabling space-efficient transport.
- Minced meat (MDM) and animal organs — soft, high-moisture raw materials are compressed and frozen into dense, regular blocks that are easy to store, transport and further process.
- Other block products — shrimp, surimi, meat products and pet food, all handled through the same rapid, contact-freezing process.
Results & Customer Value
- Product quality: Rapid contact freezing preserves texture, moisture and yield far better than slow air-blast methods.
- Throughput per footprint: Compact vertical design delivers high batch output (up to 1,280 kg/batch) in minimal floor space — a decisive advantage on board vessels.
- Logistics efficiency: Regular, dense, stackable blocks optimize cold-storage space and container utilization.
- Energy savings: Direct plate contact transfers heat far more efficiently than air-blast freezing.
- Rapid time-to-production: Modular, pre-assembled units need no on-site installation — plug in hydraulic and refrigerant lines, and start freezing immediately, even in remote sites or on ships.
- Lower capital cost on multi-line plants: 1:many hydraulic configurations and centralized refrigeration reduce equipment spend per line.
- Long-term reliability: Corrosion-resistant construction, leak-free hydraulics and marine-grade design keep maintenance low even in saltwater environments.
Why Square Technology
- Standard-setter: Drafting unit of China’s National Standard for Plate Freezers (GB/T 22734-2008).
- Proven scale: 3,000+ clients and 5,000+ installations worldwide; long-term partnerships with global food leaders.
- Vertically integrated manufacturing: Evaporators, PIR panels, structures and pressure vessels are produced in-house under strict quality control.
- International compliance: CE, ASME, PED, U2, CSA and CRN certifications; 400+ patents.
- Global support: A service network of 200+ technicians keeps your freezing line running, wherever you are.
Conclusion
Square Technology’s vertical plate freezer turns block freezing into a simple, fast and flexible operation — at sea or on land, with a standalone or centralized refrigeration system, and customized to the exact block sizes and capacities your market demands. For processors of sea-caught fish, minced meat and animal organs, it is the reliable foundation of a high-quality, cost-efficient frozen supply chain.
For detailed quotations and customized configurations, contact Square Technology Group Co., Ltd.
