Predicted Ice Accretion on Horizontal Surfaces of Marine Vessels and Offshore Structures in Arctic Regions

Sea spray icing is one of the most significant problems for the operation of marine vessels and offshore structures in Arctic regions. This phenomenon affects the stability of marine vessels and offshore structures, and also the safety of human activities onboard. In this paper, a new predictive icing model for large horizontal surfaces of a marine vessel is developed. To obtain the total flux of sea spray during the icing process, both wind spray and wave spray are considered. By applying heat, mass and salt concentration balances, the freezing fraction, temperature distribution, ice layer and water film thicknesses are determined. Moreover, the effects of different parameters on the freezing fractions at various air temperatures are investigated. The results indicate that air temperature, wind velocity, vessel speed, spray water salinity, height from the water surface, and angle between the vessel heading and wind/wave direction are major parameters in the growth rate of the ice. This theoretical method provides a reasonably accurate and simple way for predicting the sea spray icing phenomena on marine vessels and offshore structures.