This paper presents the results of experiments and modelling carried out on ice slurries flowing in uninsulated steel pipes with a nominal diameter of 50 mm. The slurries used were formed from 4.75% NaCl aqueous solution and had ice mass fractions in the range 18–42%, with a view to the use of thick ice slurry ‘pigs’ as a pipeline clearing technique. Of particular interest was the distance over which such slurries can survive as plug-like entities, before melting reduces them to ineffective thin two-phase suspensions. The experiments showed that for small volumes of slurry, survivability is directly proportional to the quantity of slurry used, but that increasing the ice fraction has a more marked effect. A simple one-dimensional numerical model that accounts for transportation, heat transfer and melting was developed that produces reasonable predictions.
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