Maximum density effect on laminar water pipe flow solidification

Abstract

This paper investigates experimentally and numerically the effect of maximum density on laminar water pipe flow solidification. To visualize the secondary flow patterns and ice morphology experimentally, the water was seeded with a small amount of mercurochrome solution. The numerical analysis employs the large Prandtl number assumption and considers a gradual variation of solid shell in the streamwise direction. The experimental parameters cover the ranges of the dimensionless axial length from 0.008 to 0.32, the inlet water temperature from 5 to 20°C, the wall temperature from −12 to 0°C and the Rayleigh number from 104 to 3×106. The comparison of the measured and calculated heat transfer rates are in good agreement for wide ranges of operating parameters.