Generation of Water Channel During Melting Process of an Ice Packed Bed Available to Purchase

In the melting process of a packed bed of ice particles in an ice thermal storage tank, water channel is formed by non homogeneity melting. Water channel causes some problems such as the decrease of heat exchange rate and the increase of residual of ice. In this study, the generation of water channel during melting process of an ice packed bed was investigated. The experiment and numerical analysis of melting of an ice packed bed were performed in a two-dimensional model. In this model, water at 0°C flows through the ice packed bed continuously. In order to realize the non homogeneous melting, the ice packed bed was intentionally melted by a line heat source. In the experiment, the shape of melting front in the ice packed bed was observed on some typical conditions. The effects of the permeability and porosity distribution in the ice packed bed and the flow velocity of water on the shape of melting front were investigated in the numerical analysis. As a result, it was found that the growth rate of water channel is affected by the permeability in the ice packed bed and the flow velocity of water. It was also found that the results of the numerical analysis considering the porosity distribution of the packed bed correspond to the experimental results.