Abstract
In this paper, a modelling investigation of water droplet evaporative freezing was conducted in order to better understand the snowmaking process and hence to optimise the design of the artificial snowmaking device. To this end, mass and heat transfer theoretical models of a single water droplet cooling in an air space were established and implemented in a numerical model developed using the software COMSOL Multiphysics. The effects of the air temperature, relative humidity and velocity and the water droplet initial diameter and temperature on this process were identified and analysed, and their appropriate ranges for the snowmaking were determined.
Highlights
Winter snowfall progressively heralds all manner of fun and games, such as snowball fights, skiing, tobogganing and snowboarding
For the snowmaking by compressed air, the water is mixed with high pressure air and blown using a nozzle as a form of tiny droplets, which are frozen in cold air to form snowflakes
A modelling investigation of water droplet evaporative freezing was performed and appropriate operating parameters ranges were provided for the artificial snowmaking device design
Summary
Winter snowfall progressively heralds all manner of fun and games, such as snowball fights, skiing, tobogganing and snowboarding. For the snowmaking by ice-cutting, ice blocks are scraped with blades to form extremely thin ice sheets as snowflakes In this context, many researchers carried out extensive works on snowflakes in three research directions. The third direction is to study the growth characteristics of ice crystals, including their nucleation and polymerisation processes, under different operating conditions [11,12,13,14]. The growth state of ice crystal is greatly affected by the environment and slight changes in environmental conditions result in different ice crystal morphologies. This sensitivity is one of the signs of ice crystal growth. The effects of the air temperature, relative humidity and velocity and the water droplet initial diameter and temperature on this process were identified in order to get their appropriate ranges for the snowmaking, which can provide some elements for the design of the artificial snowmaking device
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