Progressive freeze concentration (PFC) has emerged as a viable technology for concentration of liquid solution. In this study, a newly designed spiral finned crystallizer to improve productivity of PFC process was proposed. Performance of the crystallizer was analyzed through the system efficiency assessed in parallel with the effect of operating conditions. It was found that the efficiency of the system has significantly improved signalled by the lower effective partition constant and higher solute recovery. Effective partition constant of 0.35 and solute recovery of approximately 0.96 g of glucose obtained per 1 g of initial glucose were obtained. 1.71 g m(-2) s(-1) of maximal ice production was attained, reflecting good function of the spiral fin. A mass balance has successfully validated the obtained experimental results. Thus, the spiral finned crystallizer is highly potential to be integrated in a PFC system as an effective system to concentrate a solution and to produce pure ice crystal. This proposed system can also offer an attractive alternative for the food industry as it involves no heating and has high potential in producing highly concentrated solution. (C) 2015 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.