Finite-difference approach of ice build-up around a cylindrical pipe

Abstract

Abstract Melting-freezing phenomena are largely studied due to their importance in many applications such as latent heat storage, ice build-up in different settings, solidification of moulded pieces, epitaxial growth of silicon bars used to produce semiconductor waffles, etc. The paper deals with studying the ice build-up process around a cylindrical pipe through which a coolant flows, extracting heat from the surrounding water. Such a situation can be encountered in ice rinks where pipes are immersed in a shallow water basin that freezes. The approach of the paper is to determine the required time necessary for the ice thickness of the layer that builds up around the pipe to freeze under specified conditions (coolant temperature, pipe radius, and total radius of the water domain). An implicit finite difference technique with constant space step is employed to perform this task and the results are plotted and discussed.