The Melting Process in an Ice-Ball Capsule

아이스볼내의 융해과정에 대한 해석

A numerical study is made on the melting process of an unconstrained ice inside an isothermal ice-ball capsule. The unmelted ice core is continuously ascending on account of buoyancy forces. Such a buoyancy-assisted melting is commonly characterized by the existence of a thin liquid film above the ice core. The present study is motivated to present a full-equation-based analysis of the influences of the initial subcooling and the natural convection on the fluid flow associated with the buoyancy-assisted melting. In the light of the solution strategy, the present study is substantially distinguished from the existing works in that the complete set of governing equations in both the melted and unmelted regions are resolved in one domain. Numerical results are obtained by varying the wall temperature and initial temperature. The present results reported the transition of the flow pattern in a spherical capsule, as the wall temperature was increased over the density inversion point. In addition, time wise variation of the shapes for the liquid film and the lower ice surface, the time rate of change in the melt volume fraction and the melting distance at symmetric line is analyzed and is presented.