Experimental study on flow characteristics of ice slurry through a T-junction Part I: Laminar flow

Abstract

Abstract An ice slurry is a mixture of fine ice particles and an aqueous solution. Because of the latent heat of fusion of the ice particles and the wide heat exchange areas, ice slurries have many advantages as a thermal energy storage medium. The flow and heat transfer characteristics of ice slurries have been intensively studied. In the present study, the flow characteristics of an ice slurry were assessed experimentally, focusing on the distribution of the ice packing factor (IPF) and the energy losses on passing through a T-junction under laminar flow conditions. The ice slurry was produced from on a 5 mass% ethanol solution, and the inlet IPF, the Reynolds number for the inlet flow, and the flow rate ratio were all varied while monitoring the pressure drop and IPF before and after the junction. The results show that the distribution of IPF values is affected by the inlet IPF, and that the pressure drop before and after the T-junction increases along with the inlet IPF and the Reynolds number. This study also determined the branch loss coefficients for both the branch and main tubes as a means of evaluating the energy losses associated with branching.