Adhesion characteristics of ice in urea aqueous solution for efficient slurry formation in cold storage. (April 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhao, Yanjie; Li, Zhaoning; Utaka, Yoshio; Chen, Zhihao; Ohkubo, Hidetoshi
• Is Part Of: International journal of refrigeration. Volume 100(2019)
• Page Start: 335
• Page End: 342
• Publication Date: 2019-04
• Subjects: Cold storage -- Ice slurry -- Urea solution -- Adhesion -- Solidification; Entreposage frigorifique -- Coulis de glace -- Solution d'urée -- Adhérence -- Solidification; Refrigeration and refrigerating machinery -- Periodicals; 621.56
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2019.01.020
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0140-7007

Abstract

Highlights: Urea was an appropriate additive in solution to depress ice adhesion on surface. Latent heat of urea aqueous solution was higher than typical solutions. A micro liquid layer existed on the ice/substrate interface in two-phase region. Ice slurry was generated spontaneously with liquid flow scouring. Abstract: Ice slurry displays many advantages as a phase-change material for its high energy density and flowability. In typical mechanical scraping method, the strong interaction of ice with solid surface causes the problem of high energy consumption and damage of scrapers. Ice slurry generation process will be efficient if the ice adhesion strength could be reduced. In this paper, urea was proposed as an additive to depress ice adhesion in solutions. Ice particles was scoured easily by liquid flow and ice slurry was generated spontaneously. The thermal transition property, solidification morphology and adhesion characteristic of urea aqueous solutions were investigated respectively. Results show that the latent heat of urea solution was higher than other candidate solutions. Micro liquid film was observed at the solidification–substrate interface when the solution was in solid-liquid two-phase state. This phenomenon explains the lower adhesion strength of ice in aqueous solutions.