Particle volume fraction of a melting granular packed bed in a horizontally flowing fluid

摘要

A series of experiments are conducted to obtain the volume fraction of a packed bed consisting of melting ice particles. This experiment serves as a benchmark case for further validation of numerical modeling on the convective melting of a packed bed. The packing pattern of ice particles in horizontally flowing water is recorded using a digital video camcorder and a digital camera at the water velocity of 0.01, 0.05, and 0.10 m/s, respectively, and supply water temperature of 10, 20, and 30 °C, respectively. The mass of ice particles is measured at the desired time interval during the meting process. The volume of packed bed is obtained based on the digital images. The time variation of melting rate and volume fraction of ice particles is determined. Within the experimental conditions, the volume fraction of ice particles in the packed bed in horizontally flowing water decreases during convective melting. The step-jump changes of the volume of packed bed and volume fraction of ice particles during the melting process occur due to the sticking, blocking and release among particles. The effects of water velocity and water temperature on the packing and volume fraction of ice particles in the melting process are analyzed. The original experimental results are published to serve as benchmark data for numerical model development.