[Explanation] For the past few days, the high temperature in Shanghai has "hot" the ice market, and an ice factory in Shanghai has also ushered in the busiest time of the year.
At noon on July 15th, a reporter from China News Agency came to the ice-making room of an ice-making factory in Songjiang District, Shanghai. The slightest coolness was blowing on my face, and the air-conditioning was continuously coming out from the ice pool. The workers were working quickly and efficiently. The newly produced ice cubes are then sent to the track connected to the truck with special anti-skid hooks for packing and transporting away.
Yu Ganghong, the head of the ice-making factory, told reporters that due to the continuous high temperature, the company's orders surged and it was already in a state of full-load production.
It is reported that the ice season will last until around the end of September.
[Concurrent] Yu Ganghong, head of the ice factory
The demand is four or five times higher than in previous years. It should be said that our employees are working in three shifts, the machines are running 24 hours a day, and the output is close to more than 13,500 pieces (blocks) every day.
[Explanation] Yu Ganghong said that at present, the cold storage in the factory is not used at all, and the ice cubes are transported away as soon as they are made. Even so, it still cannot meet the needs of the market.
The reporter learned that the current ice factory produces 320 tons of ice cubes every day.
Calculated by area, the ice produced every day can cover about 6 basketball courts.
Zhu Yanjun, the driver who is loading ice cubes, told reporters that since the high temperature days, he has been delivering ice cubes to the ice factory.
On July 15, he had already made two trips to and from the city, and he would make two more trips in the afternoon and evening.
[Concurrent] Driver Zhu Yanjun
At least every day, we usually start three or four times, which is the minimum, including our colleagues from outside here, because I can't send all of Shanghai (region) alone.
[Explanation] So, how is such a large amount of ice produced?
Yu Ganghong introduced that the principle is to take advantage of the fact that the freezing point of salt water is lower than that of fresh water, and put the mold filled with fresh water into a salt water pool of minus ten degrees Celsius to cool for 12 hours.
After cooling, immerse the mold in room temperature water to melt the edge of the ice cube and separate it from the iron sheet.
This way, as long as the mold is tilted, the ice cubes will slide out on their own.
These huge ice cubes, each of which can be used for four or five hours without direct sunlight, are basically used in enterprise production workshops, fresh food logistics and transportation links, etc.
In addition, nucleic acid sampling sites all over the city are also "big players" in terms of ice demand.
[Concurrent] Yu Ganghong, head of the ice factory
Concentrating on nucleic acid testing points, vegetable basket projects, transportation of vegetables, and one is cooling the water temperature of seafood, as well as the cooling of heatstroke in factories, which are basically used in these points.
Zhang Jian reports from Shanghai
Responsible editor: [Song Yusheng]