Israeli Company IDE Launches VIM All Weather Snow Maker
Global warming is already proving to have a tangible, detrimental impact on our natural surroundings, ecosystems, human societies and even businesses. Ski slopes, are completely dependent on a steady supply of snow in order to sustain their businesses. However, as global temperatures rise and snow is becoming a rarer treat - this means a shorter season and a dramatic revenue hit for many snow-based businesses.
Existing snow-production solutions require below freezing air temperatures and depend on climatic conditions such as humidity and wind or produce low-grade snow (based on ice crushing), that requires higher energy consumption.
The VIM All Weather Snowmaker is capable of producing up to 1,720 m3 (60,741 ft3) per day of spring-quality, environmentally friendly snow at all ambient temperatures, enabling businesses to secure and even extend their peak season beyond the limitations of seasonal temperatures, without having to compromise on quality.
VIM All Weather Snow Maker technology is ideal for any situation – critical links, receding glaciers, finishing zones, adventure and sport events.
The Snowmaking Process
The VIM All Weather Snowmaker is based on IDE’s proven Vacuum Ice Maker (VIM) technology, which has been operating for more than 30 years worldwide.
Inside the VIM All Weather Snow Maker freezer, water is exposed to a deep vacuum. The vacuum forces a small portion of the water to evaporate, while the remaining water freezes and forms a water-ice mixture called slurry.
This ice slurry is pumped out from the freezer and into an ice concentrator that separates water from ice crystals. In order to maintain deep vacuum inside the freezer, water vapor is continuously evacuated from the freezer, compressed and fed into a condenser using IDE’s centrifugal compressor. Condensing the vapor requires cooling water supplied by a standard water chiller.
IDE Technologies, a world leader in advanced water treatment solutions, continues to leverage its vast engineering know-how to provide sustainable solutions based on the proprietary Vacuum Ice Maker (VIM) technology for All Weather Snowmaking & Refrigeration applications. VIM All Weather Snow Maker allows businesses to meet their growing need for guaranteed snow, with a unique technology that achieves 'spring snow' quality, high snow capacity and most efficient power consumption at any weather condition and environmentally friendly way.
VIM All Weather Snow Maker technology is ideal for any situation - critical links, receding glaciers, finishing zones, adventure and sport events, and offers a diverse choice of energy efficient, highly reliable and low maintenance applications.
Existing snow-production solutions require below freezing air temperatures and depend on climatic conditions such as humidity and wind, and in most cases produce low-grade snow (based on ice crushing), that requires higher energy consumption. IDE's VIM All Weather Snow Maker is capable of producing up to 1,120 tons per day of high quality snow at all ambient temperatures and with low power consumption.
"Thanks to a proven technology, VIM All Weather Snow Maker is truly environmentally friendly," explains Miki Tramer - IDE's VP of Sales & Marketing. "It is 25% more efficient than any other Ice making solution as it does not involve energy-intensive ice crushing, it ensures low operation and maintenance cost and can be used with any type of feed water - fresh or brackish."
"When VIM All Weather Snow Maker was installed in our resort in 2011, the length of the snow-covered pass was about 300-400m," says Kurt Guntli - Area Manager and CEO of the Zermatt Resort. "Today, the length of this pass is more then 700m. Thanks to our VIM the ski season in Zermatt can last 365 days a year. We will never give it up!" The VIM400 facility in Zermatt, Switzerland is designed to produce up to 480 tons snow/day.
| Specifications | VIM400 (Snow) | VIM850 (Snow) |
| Snowmaking Mass Capacity (at 4.5°C/40°F feed water temperature) |
560 ton snow/day | 1,120 ton snow/day |
| Snowmaking Volumetric Capacity1 (at 4.5°C/40°F feed water temperature) |
860 m3/day | 1,720 m3/day |
| Designed Power Consumption | 235 kW | 397 kW |
| Snow Quality | “Spring Snow” | |
| Snow Grain Size | 0.5 – 1.0 mm 0.02-0.04 inch |
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A world leader in providing advanced water treatment solutions, IDE specializes in the development, engineering, construction and operation of some of the world's largest and most advanced thermal and membrane desalination facilities and industrial water treatment plants. IDE partners with a wide range of customers - municipalities, mining, refineries and power plants - on all aspects of water projects and delivers approximately 3 million m3/day of high-quality water worldwide.
