The Study on the Influence of the Containing Ice Ratio on the Flow and Heat Transfer Characteristics of Ice Slurry in Coil Tubes

Abstract

The latent heat storage of ice slurry has great potential for application in cold storage air conditioning. However, due to the poor control of the containing ice ratio in the process of transportation and storage, there are phenomena such as stratification, aggregation, and even blockage in pipelines and as a result, such latent heats are still not used on a large scale. The effect of the containing ice ratio on ice flow and heat transfer characteristics of ice slurry in coils has been studied in this paper by numerical simulation method with inlet velocity of 0.1 m/s and pipe outside diameter of 10 mm as the simulation conditions. The results show that containing ice ratio of the ice slurry has a greater influence on the flow and heat transfer of the ice slurry in the coils. To be specific, if the containing ice ratio is too large, the ice particles can form a stagnant layer on top of the pipe, and even ice blocking phenomenon occurs at the bent position of the pipe, which is unfavorable to the flow and heat exchange of ice slurry; when the containing ice ratio of ice slurry is too low, the latent heat released by phase change is not sufficient enough and the heat exchange capacity is rather small. In order to effectively reduce the ice blocking phenomenon, ensure the smooth flow of ice slurry, enhance the heat transfer effect, and reduce the power consumption, according to this study, the ideal containing ice ratio of ice slurry is between for 5–10%.