Effects of Natural Convection on Ice Formation Around an Isothermally Cooled Horizontal Cylinder

The effects of maximum density near 4°C on steady-state, two-dimensional ice formation around an isothermally cooled horizontal cylinder in a quiescent water bath are studied experimentally for ambient water temperature T_∞ = 1.9 to 18.0°C and cylinder surface temperature T_w = −20.0 to −16.2°C. The stagnation point Nusselt number, local heat transfer coefficient, and average Nusselt number behavior at the ice-water interface are studied using such parameters as ambient temperature, Rayleigh number, and a modified Grashof number Gr_d^*. The temperature field in the ice layer is determined from the measured ice profiles by a point-matching method using a series solution of the Laplace equation in the ice. The average ice layer thickness and total low-temperature heat stored in the ice layer can be correlated using the parameter Gr*_d^0.5/θ_c². A flow direction inversion region exists in the range T_∞ = 5.2 to 8.1°C, Gr_d^* = 3.8×10⁴ to 1.3×10⁵, and a minimum Nusselt number behavior occurs at T_∞ = 5.2°C. Flow visualization photographs of the flow patterns near the ice surface are presented for T_∞ = 3.8, 5.2, 8.1, and 12.1°C.