Thermocrystallization flow of nonfreezing water films on the surface of capillaries

Abstract

The rates of mass transfer under the influence of a temperature gradient between the menisci of ice in a thin quartz capillary are measured. The mass transfer rate is determined by the diffusion of vapor and by the flow of a nonfrozen polymolecular adsorption film over the capillary surface. It is shown that the flow of the film is attributable neither to the thermoosmotic nor to the thermocapillary flow. The flow rate of a nonfrozen film is well described by a thermocrystallization transfer equation derived earlier, the thermocrystallization transfer being controlled by the water-ice phase transition heat.