Experimental characterization of the icephobic surfaces properties for optimization of ice slurry production
Abstract
In the refrigeration industry, ice slurries are an alternative to reduce the use of refrigerants with high greenhouse gas content. However, the production of these ice slurries requires the use of scraped surface generators. These generators have high maintenance costs due to the wear of the scrapers caused by the ice adhering to the generator walls and consume additional mechanical energy. Because of these drawbacks, it is important to study the icephobic behavior of surfaces to find alternatives that significantly reduce ice adhesion without consuming additional energy. Our study consists in experimentally characterizing the icephobic behavior of different types of surfaces and in studying the detachment of ice from the surfaces by flow. The objective is to understand the phenomena behind ice adhesion to select icephobic surfaces. The final goal is to design an ice slurry generator without mechanical scraping.