Evolution Of Front Research Articles

Hydrate decomposition front within porous media under thermal stimulation and depressurization conditions: Macroscale to microscale

Natural gas hydrates are unstable and easily to be decomposed under warming or depressurizing condition. The complicated hydrate decomposition process is generally characterized by a moving decomposition front, yet the essence of decomposition front evolution is unclear and the evidence is lacking. In this study, X-ray computed tomography (X-CT) technology is used to reveal the dynamic process of macroscale and microscale evolution of hydrate decomposition front. The hydrate-bearing porous samples are synthesized in the high-pressure reactor and then decomposed by the thermal stimulation method and the depressurization method with X-CT scans in real time. Macroscale results show that isolated hydrates beyond the decomposition front remain undecomposed under both two decomposition conditions, indicating the oversimplification of the decomposition front as the boundary where gas hydrates are completely decomposed. Hence, the decomposition front is redefined as the boundary which divides the hydrate-bearing sediment into an interconnected zone and an isolated zone based on the interconnectivity of hydrate particles. Microscale hydrate decomposition behaviors show that, the heat transfer differences among pores, solid media, and gas hydrates under thermal stimulation condition result in the remnant of isolated hydrates beyond the outside-in moving decomposition front. The gas fugacity differences in gas phase, water layer, and dead-end pores under depressurization condition result in the remnant of isolated hydrates beyond the top-down moving decomposition front. More importantly, we found that the remnant grain-cementing hydrates could alter the thermal- hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) processes outside the decomposition front, and play important roles in formation stability and ecological environment by supporting the skeleton structure of hydrate-bearing sediments. These findings may provide implications and visual evidences for production efficiency improvement and environmental protection in future field tests of hydrate exploitation.

Evolution and dynamics of a summertime penetrating front off the Zhejiang-Fujian coast, China

Evolution and dynamics of a summertime penetrating front off the Zhejiang-Fujian coast, China

Unraveling gelation kinetics, arrested dynamics and relaxation phenomena in filamentous colloids by photon correlation imaging.

The fundamental understanding of the gelation kinetics, stress relaxation and temporal evolution in colloidal filamentous gels is central to many aspects of soft and biological matter, yet a complete description of the inherent complex dynamics of these systems is still missing. By means of photon correlation imaging (PCI), we studied the gelation of amyloid fibril solutions, chosen as a model filamentous colloid with immediate significance to biology and nanotechnology, upon passage of ions through a semi-permeable membrane. We observed a linear-in-time evolution of the gelation front and rich rearrangement dynamics of the gels, the magnitude and the spatial propagation of which depend on how effectively electrostatic interactions are screened by different ionic strengths. Our analysis confirms the pivotal role of salt concentration in tuning the properties of amyloid gels, and suggests potential routes for explaining the physical mechanisms behind the linear advance of the salt ions.

On the intermittent nature of forest fire spread – Part 2

Based on analysis of the interaction between a spreading fire and its surrounding environment, in nominally constant and uniform boundary conditions, it is observed that the evolution of the fire front is characterised by fluctuations of its properties, including (in particular) its rate of spread (ROS). Using a database with a wide range of fires with different time–space scales, it is shown that the amplitude of the fluctuation in ROS is proportional to the average value of the ROS and that the frequency of oscillation varies with the type of fire, and for a given fuel, increases with the average ROS. In fast-spreading fires, the large amplitude of ROS increase and sudden decrease promote the intermittent behaviour of the fire. In general, the amplitude and period required for the ROS increase are larger than for its decrease. However, the acceleration and deceleration phases in junction fires do not follow this rule, suggesting the existence of different convective processes of interaction between the flow and fire. This oscillation explains the variability in many fires at all scales and challenges the current interpretation based on the three factors affecting fire spread and the classification of wind or topography-driven fires.

On a front evolution problem for the multidimensional East model

We consider a natural front evolution problem the East process on $\mathbb{Z}^d, d\ge 2,$ a well studied kinetically constrained model for which the facilitation mechanism is oriented along the coordinate directions, as the equilibrium density $q$ of the facilitating vertices vanishes. Starting with a unique unconstrained vertex at the origin, let $S(t)$ consist of those vertices which became unconstrained within time $t$ and, for an arbitrary positive direction $\mathbf x,$ let $v_{\max}(\mathbf x),v_{\min}(\mathbf x )$ be the maximal/minimal velocities at which $S(t)$ grows in that direction. If $\mathbf x$ is independent of $q$, we prove that $v_{\max}(\mathbf x)= v_{\min}(\mathbf x)^{(1+o(1))}=\gamma(d) ^{(1+o(1))}$ as $q\to 0$, where $\gamma(d)$ is the spectral gap of the process on $\mathbb{Z}^d$. We also analyse the case in which some of the coordinates of $\mathbf x$ vanish as $q\to 0$. In particular, for $d=2$ we prove that if $\mathbf x$ approaches one of the two coordinate directions fast enough, then $v_{\max}(\mathbf x)= v_{\min}(\mathbf x)^{(1+o(1))}=\gamma(1) ^{(1+o(1))}=\gamma(d)^{d(1+o(1))},$ i.e. the growth of $S(t)$ close to the coordinate directions is dictated by the one dimensional process. As a result the region $S(t)$ becomes extremely elongated inside $\mathbb{Z}^d_+$. We also establish mixing time cutoff for the chain in finite boxes with minimal boundary conditions. A key ingredient of our analysis is the renormalisation technique of arXiv:1404.7257 to estimate the spectral gap of the East process. Here we extend this technique to get the main asymptotics of a suitable principal Dirichlet eigenvalue of the process.

Assessment of fatigue crack growth based on 3D finite element modeling approach

Fatigue crack growth life assessment enables manufacturers to quantify damage tolerance capability of high-risk components. Reduced order models that are based on simple geometries (i.e. surface crack in a plate, corner crack at a bolt hole) and on the assumption that cracks maintain an elliptical shape during propagation, are commonly employed in the damage assessment. A more comprehensive modeling process should consider the component geometry, service loading conditions and, eliminate assumptions related to crack front shape or planarity of the crack growth path. A 3D finite element-based approach is evaluated in this study as a more accurate alternative to reduced order models. For verification purposes, an analytical solution-based model was developed and implemented in MATLAB to predict fatigue crack growth life and crack front evolution for three different crack types: surface, corner and internal. The analytical model solutions are compared against 3D finite element (FE) based approach implemented in SimModeler Crack. The 3D FE modelling approach has been further tested and validated against experimental fatigue crack growth measurements from two Al 2024-T3 specimens containing multiple cracks. The verification and validation data presented herein show that the 3D FE-based modelling approach provides an accurate and effective modelling tool for crack propagation life assessment of structural components.

Mathematical Modeling and Associated Numerical Simulation of Fusion/Solidification Front Evolution in the Context of Severe Accident of Nuclear Power Engineering

Considering transient processes where liquid/solid phase change occurs, this paper focuses on the associated modeling and numerical treatment in the frame of “Computational Fluid Dynamics” simulations. While being of importance in many industrial applications involving solidification and melting of mixed materials, including power and manufacturing engineering, the first application of this work pertains to the analysis of severe accidents in a nuclear reactor. Indeed, in this context, the molten core materials (a.k.a. corium) can form a high-temperature multiphase liquid pool at the boundary of which fusion and solidification phenomena are of prime importance. In this context, even if materials at play are treated as pure components, it is mandatory to distinguish two different phase change temperatures with a solid fusion temperature and a liquid solidification temperature. Accordingly, in the frame of a sharp interface representation, the paper introduces non-classical heterogeneous conditions at the liquid/solid boundary in such a way that both moving interface (through Stefan conditions associated with fusion or solidification) and static interface (imposing heat flux continuity) are supported at the same time on different spatial locations along this boundary. Within a monolithic resolution of Navier–Stokes and heat conduction equations, this interface is explicitly tracked with combined Front-Tracking and VOF methods. In order to ensure zero velocity in the solid phase, an Immersed Boundary Method and a direct forcing penalization are also introduced. The main relevant features of this combination of numerical methods are discussed along with their implementation in the TrioCFD code taking advantage of the pre-existing code capabilities. Numerical simulations including both verification tests and a case of interest for our industrial application are reported and demonstrate the applicability of the proposed triptych model+methods+code to treat such problems. The numerical tools and the simulation code developed in this work could be used not only in the several accident context but also to simulate melting, solidification and fusion processes occurring in aerodynamics, hypersonic reentry vehicles and laser applications to cite but a few.

Computational analysis of the mechanisms and characteristics for pulsating and uniform flame spread over liquid fuel at subflash temperatures

The present study aims to gain insight of the mechanisms and characteristics for pulsating and uniform flame spread over liquid fuel at subflash temperatures. A specific goal is to use the validated three-dimensional (3-D) numerical model to reveal fine details of the gas and liquid phase flows as well as the resulting flame characteristics, which are challenging to obtain experimentally. To facilitate the study, 3-D formulations have been developed to explicitly solve the transport equations in both phases. A compressible solver was formulated for flame propagation in the gas phase using a one-step chemical reaction expression and mixture-averaged diffusion coefficients for the gaseous species. An incompressible solver with temperature dependent thermo-physical properties was employed to describe the convective motions and heat transfer in the liquid fuel region. Validation has been conducted for both uniform and pulsating spreads over a narrow 1-propanol tray with varying fuel depths through comparing the predicted flame front evolution with published measurements. Further qualitative comparison has also been conducted for some predicted fine features of the gas and liquid phase flows and flame spreading characteristics with published experimental observations. For both the uniform and pulsating spread, the detailed flame structure including the main diffusion flame and a small stratified premixed flame at the front have been captured. Wherever relevant, the detailed predictions were also used to shed light on some discrepancies in previously reported features in different laboratory studies and numerical simulations. Finally, the detailed 3-D predictions were used to illustrate fine features of the subsurface convective flow and its relative position to the flame front, the relative magnitudes of the subsurface flow velocity and that of the spread rate as well as the role of the thermocapillary-driven subsurface flow in the flame spread mechanism.

Effect of liquid size on vertical liquid bridge freezing

Liquid bridge solidification has important applications in industry. In this paper, the solidification process of vertical axisymmetric liquid bridges between two horizontal discs is numerically simulated with the effects of supercooling and gravity. The mathematical model consists of two parts: one is to use the equivalent heat capacity method to obtain the thermophysical properties and ice mass fraction of the liquid bridge after recalescence, and the other is to solve the Young-Laplace equation to obtain the geometric profile of liquid bridge. The simulated results of freezing front evolution and freezing time are in good agreement with the experiment. It is found that there are two dramatical temperature drops during the freezing process, respectively, corresponding to the initial freezing and the complete freezing of the liquid bridge. Higher disc temperature, larger liquid volume or higher liquid bridge decreases the temperature cooling rate and the development of freezing front height, thus prolonging the freezing time. A correlation is established for estimating the freezing time with the use of simulation results. The disc temperature and the liquid bridge height show more significant influence on the freezing process than the liquid bridge volume.

Knowledge mapping of digital twin and physical internet in Supply Chain Management: A systematic literature review

Physical Internet (PI) is an open global logistics system of which components are hyperconnected for increased efficiency and sustainability. Digital twin (DT), referring to the virtual representation of a physical object, is well-perceived as a key driver in the development of PI-based Supply Chain Management (SCM). Due to the capabilities of real-time monitoring and evaluation of large-scale complex systems, significant research efforts have been made to exploit values of PI/DT in SCM. Despite this, the current literature remained largely unstructured and scattered due to a lack of systematic literature reviews to synergise research findings, analyse the evolution of research fronts and extract emerging trends in the field. To address this issue, the paper deploys a bibliometric knowledge mapping approach to provide a bird's eye view of the current research status in the PI/DT-SCM area. Using CiteSpace's keyword co-occurrence network, 518 journal articles are clustered into 10 key research streams on PI/DT applications in: job shop scheduling, smart manufacturing design, PI-based SCM, manufacturing virtualisation, information management, sustainability development, data analytics, manufacturing operations management, simulation and optimisation, and assembly process planning. Based on citation burst rate, keywords representing research frontiers of the PI/DT are detected and their temporal evolutions are discussed. Likewise, some identified emerging research trends are production process and system, robotics, computer architecture, and cost. Finally, seven future research directions are suggested, which emphasise on several PI/DT-related issues, including business ecosystem, sustainability development, SC downstream management, cognitive thinking in Industry 5.0, citizen twin in digital society, and SC resilience.

New insights on landscape and environmental evolution in the Subandean region, Southern Central Andes: Sedimentology and geochronology of Guanaco Formation in the Río Chico (Jujuy, Northwestern Argentina)

During the late Miocene, the development of topography of the eastern margin of the Puna Plateau of the Central Andes, was related to the onset of the eastward migration and foreland fragmentation. The Guanaco and Piquete formations (late Miocene-early Pleistocene, Jujuy Subgroup) represent a thick succession of the adjacent foreland. These units outcrop in the Río Chico (=Xibi Xibi) locality (Jujuy in north-west Argentina), a transition zone between the Eastern Cordillera (EC) and the Subandean Ranges (SR). We combine a detailed stratigraphic section, paleocurrent measurements, provenance and facies analyses, as well as a new absolute age near to the top of the Guanaco Formation (5.7 ± 0.8 Ma), and new data on the Neogene environmental changes in this region to characterize these units in the context of the regional tectono-sedimentary evolution. Our analyses suggest a progradation of an alluvial-fan system over a braided-fluvial system, linked to an increase in relief due to rapid shortening pulses and associated to the regional climatic changes in this part of the Central Andes. In the studied area, the earliest uplift of the eastern margin of the Puna Plateau and other areas of the EC generated higher topographic relief to the north and north-west, which increased the relevance of local sources and caused the deflection of paleo-rivers toward the south. The limit between the Guanaco and Piquete formations was reinterpreted to be located 1000 m higher in the stratigraphic section compared to previous proposals, in agreement with the age of the newly dated tuff. Our analysis improves the temporal and spatial characteristics of tectonic processes in the southern Central Andes and provides a framework for the study of landscape as well as biotic, and environmental changes during the late Miocene within the context of the eastward migration of the orogenic front and coeval foreland evolution in the Central Andes. • Neogene southern Subandean units are analyzed in the context of the Central Andes orogeny evolution. • A novel upper tuff was dated on 5.7 Ma, constraining the span of the Guanaco-Piquete formations limit. • The earliest uplift of the eastern margin of the Puna and other areas of EC generated NW and N highs. • Progradation of alluvial fans over braided fluvial systems was recorded. • Southern deflection of main drainages and restriction of open areas evolved toward latest Miocene.

Solidification performance enhancement of encapsulated ice storage system by fins and copper foam

It is critical for the encapsulated ice storage system to maintain high cooling capacity within permissible time. In this paper, the strengthening effects of metal foam and fins on ice storage spheres are numerically studied comprehensively. The variations of the temperature field, ice front evolution, solidification fraction, total solidification time and the cold storage capacity are analyzed under four different strengthening configurations (plain, fins, metal foam and metal foam composite fins). The optimum porosity is obtained after the comparison of four comprehensive criteria about the input-output performance. Finally, the dimensionless parameters of the metal foam ice storage sphere are analyzed. The results demonstrate that the temperature distribution in the metal foam ice storage sphere is more uniform, and the solidification rate is faster due to coupled effects of thermal conduction enhancement and the suppression of the natural convection. Metal foam composite fins can remarkably save 83.5% of the solidification time and enhance the solidification rate by 6.1 times compared with the non-enhancement case. Dimensional analysis of the results is presented as the solidification fractions versus an appropriate combination of the porosity, Fourier, and Stefan numbers. Compared with the previous non-metal foam prediction formula, the formula reported in this research is more accurate. The prediction accuracy can improve by 20%.

The Landscape of Risk Perception Research: A Scientometric Analysis

Risk perception is important in organizational and societal governance contexts. This article presents a high-level analysis of risk perception research using Web of Science core collection databases, scientometrics methods and visualization tools. The focus is on trends in outputs, geographical and temporal trends, and patterns in the associated scientific categories. Thematic clusters and temporal dynamics of focus topics are identified using keyword analysis. A co-citation analysis is performed to identify the evolution of research fronts and key documents. The results indicate that research output is growing fast, with most contributions originating from western countries. The domain is highly interdisciplinary, rooted in psychology and social sciences, but branching into domains related to environmental sciences, medicine, and engineering. Significant research themes focus on perceptions related to health, with a focus on cancer, human immunodeficiency virus, and epidemiology, natural hazards and major disasters, traffic accidents, technological and industrial risks, and customer trust. Risk perception research originated from consumer choice decisions, with subsequent research fronts focusing on understanding the risk perception concept, and on developing taxonomies and measurement methods. Applied research fronts focus on environmental hazards, traffic accidents, breast cancer and, more recently, e-commerce transactions and flood risk. Based on the results, various avenues for future research are described.

Role of copper foam on solidification performance of ice-cool storage sphere system

Due to the poor thermal conductivity of phase change material (PCM), the application of the ice-cool storage sphere system is hindered. In this paper, the solidification performance of heat transfer after adding copper foam to the ice-cool storage sphere system is numerically studied by Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD). The enthalpy-porosity method is used to describe the PCM solidification. Local thermal equilibrium is numerically adopted for modeling the heat transfer between the PCM and the solid matrix in copper foam. The variations of temperature field, ice front evolutions, solidification fraction, total solidification time, and cold storage capacity are investigated with the consideration of natural convection. The influence of surface temperature is explored by Stefan (Ste) number. A new evaluation index is proposed that can evaluate the cold storage performance of the energy storage system in real-time. The results show the metal foam focuses on accelerating the upper heat transfer due to the influence of natural convection in the plain ice storage sphere. The total ice storage time can be reduced by at least 72.7% in copper foam ice storage sphere with the porosity of 0.97, at the cost of very little ice storage capacity reduction. A higher porosity of copper foam is recommended with a compromise on the total melting time. This paper provides a clear and comprehensive vision of the metal foam effects of different temperatures and porosity inside the ice-cool storage sphere systems.

Interaction of a singular surface with a strong shock in the interstellar gas clouds

We investigate the interaction between a singular surface and a strong shock in the self-gravitating interstellar gas clouds with the assumption of spherical symmetry. Using the method of the Lie group of transformations, a particular solution of the flow variables and the cooling–heating function for an infinitely strong shock is obtained. This paper explores an application of the singular surface theory in the evolution of an acceleration wave front propagating through an unperturbed medium. We discuss the formation of an acceleration, considering the cases of compression and expansion waves. The influence of the cooling–heating function on a shock formation is explained. The results of a collision between a strong shock and an acceleration wave are discussed using the Lax evolutionary conditions. doi:10.1017/S1446181121000328

Experimental and numerical study of upward flame spread and heat transfer over expanded polystyrene at different altitudes

Experimental and numerical study on upward, vertical flame spread was carried out on expanded polystyrene (EPS) at two different altitudes of 50 m and 3658 m to understand the effect that altitude has on flame spread of melted material. The experiments show that, with the altitude increase, the flame spread rate would decrease. At low altitude, the flame spread rate accelerated at later time, while at high altitude, the stagnant stage of pyrolysis front was formed. The numerical simulation could well give the trend of pyrolysis front evolution and the different flame spread behaviors with altitudes. It was found that, at low altitude, Raxincreased slowly in the turbulent period with relatively large entrainment air flow rate, mainly due to the increased and then decreased mass loss rate in the wall fire zone. While, at high altitude, the simulated increasing entrainment air flow rate, combined with the larger preheating length δf and the smaller flame heat flux qf", resulted in the stagnancy of pyrolysis front easily. It was hypothesized that extinction occurred eventually at high altitude due to competition between flame spread rate νf and preheating length δf.

Melting assessment on the angled fin design for a novel latent heat thermal energy storage tube

Latent heat thermal energy storage was widely used to solve the problem of the intermittency in time and space for solar energy systems. To improve the energy storage efficiency, metal fins were typically further added to the shell side to increase thermal conductivity of phase change materials (PCMs). However, the positive effect of metal fins on enhancing heat transfer has not been fully utilized. In this paper, a novel design on angled fins was proposed to improve the thermal transport for PCMs in a shell-and-tube thermal storage unit. A numerical model was built and verified by comparing with experimental observations on the melting front evolution and temperature history. Bending angles for fins ranging from 0° to 75° were designed upwardly and downwardly and quantified on the melting front shape and location, melting time, and temperature field. Results demonstrated that melting rates were improved for the angled-fin cases other than cases with large bending angles. The case with a 10° downward angle exhibited as much as 55.41% reduction in full melting time. Simultaneously, the temperature uniformity can be improved by 20.00%. The novel design strategy on fin angles engendered a promising solution to enhancing thermal storage for emerging engineering applications.

Late Eocene–early Miocene evolution of the southern Australian subtropical front: a marine palynological approach

Abstract. Improvements in our capability to reconstruct ancient surface-ocean conditions based on organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst (dinocyst) assemblages from the Southern Ocean provide an opportunity to better establish past position, strength and oceanography of the subtropical front (STF). Here, we aim to reconstruct the late Eocene to early Miocene (37–20 Ma) depositional and palaeoceanographic history of the STF in the context of the evolving Tasmanian Gateway as well as the potential influence of Antarctic circumpolar flow and intense waxing and waning of ice. We approach this by combining information from seismic lines (revisiting existing data and generating new marine palynological data from Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Hole 1168A) in the western Tasmanian continental slope. We apply improved taxonomic insights and palaeoecological models to reconstruct the sea surface palaeoenvironmental evolution. Late Eocene–early Oligocene (37–30.5 Ma) assemblages show a progressive transition from dominant terrestrial palynomorphs and inner-neritic dinocyst taxa as well as cysts produced by heterotrophic dinoflagellates to predominantly outer-neritic/oceanic autotrophic taxa. This transition reflects the progressive deepening of the western Tasmanian continental margin, an interpretation supported by our new seismic investigations. The dominance of autotrophic species like Spiniferites spp. and Operculodinium spp. reflects relatively oligotrophic conditions, like those of regions north of the modern-day STF. The increased abundance in the earliest Miocene of Nematosphaeropsis labyrinthus, typical for modern subantarctic zone (frontal) conditions, indicates a cooling and/or closer proximity of the STF to the site . The absence of major shifts in dinocyst assemblages contrasts with other records in the region and suggests that small changes in surface oceanographic conditions occurred during the Oligocene. Despite the relatively southerly (63–55∘ S) location of Site 1168, the rather stable oceanographic conditions reflect the continued influence of the proto-Leeuwin Current along the southern Australian coast as Australia continued to drift northward. The relatively “warm” dinocyst assemblages at ODP Site 1168, compared with the cold assemblages at Antarctic Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site U1356, testify to the establishment of a pronounced latitudinal temperature gradient in the Oligocene Southern Ocean.

Observation of the high-density front at the high-field-side in the J-TEXT tokamak

This article reports the observation of the high-density front at the high field side (HFS) region in the limiter J-TEXT tokamak. In the J-TEXT high density discharges, the high-density front at the HFS scrape-off layer (SOL) region has been clearly identified by the far-infrared laser polarimeter-interferometer. The high-density front forms at the HFS SOL when the plasma density reaches a critical value, it can be up to seven times higher than the density in the low field side region and it stays stable as long as the density remains. In this stable phase, the local radiation is at a low level and it shares common characteristics with the high-field-side high-density (HFSHD) phenomena observed in divertor devices. If density increases continuously, the high-density front expands poloidally and evolves into an unstable ‘moving’ phase while propagating into the main plasma region, which eventually triggers the disruption. The maximum achievable density on J-TEXT seems to be correlated with the evolution of the high-density front, suggesting that the region may play a role in setting the operational limit on J-TEXT. The unstable phase of high-density front seems to share some common characteristics with the well-known multifaceted asymmetric radiation from the edge (MARFE), except that the radiation level in J-TEXT stays at a low level. The density threshold of the high-density front formation and the maximum density of the region itself increase with , consistent with the observation on both HFSHD and MARFE. The MARFE-like behavior of the high-density front in its final stage, suggests that MARFEs might be the result of these fronts forming in or moving into regions where the plasma temperature and impurity concentration are conducive for them to be radiatively unstable.

Numerical research on the solidification heat transfer characteristics of ice thermal storage device based on a compact multichannel flat tube-closed rectangular fin heat exchanger

In this study, a compact ice thermal storage device that combines multichannel flat tube and closed rectangular fins is designed to improve solidification performance. To analyze the heat transfer characteristics and visualize the ice formation process, a numerical model was formulated and solved using enthalpy-porosity method. The temperature distribution, liquid fraction, and ice front evolution were studied during solidification process. The effect of heat transfer fluid on the performance of storage device at different inlet temperatures and flow rates was numerically investigated. Results show that when the inlet temperature was reduced from -3 °C to -6 °C, the ice packing factor increased by 32.2% and the storage power forms a linear relationship with the inlet temperature. When the flow rate was increased from 0.1 m3/h to 0.2 m3/h, the ice packing factor increased by 8.7% but the effect of flow rate was less obvious than the inlet temperature. Furthermore, the heat transfer characteristics of closed rectangular fins were compared with traditional longitudinal fins. We found that the former can achieve more uniform temperature distribution and a higher ice formation rate. The average solidification enhancement ratios of the both are 2.28 and 2.08, respectively, the former being 9.6% higher than the latter.