Refrigeration and Air - Conditioning Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai - 600 036 (INDIA)
*Current Address: Advanced Engineering, ASHOK LEYLAND LTD., Chennai-600035. E-mail: kishore.alc@ashokleyland.com
**Corresponding author. E-mail address: ssmurthy@iitm.ac.in
A Numerical analysis of freezing of viscous liquids including the presence of a mushy region between the solid and liquid phases is presented. The conservation equations of continuity, momentum, and energy are solved using the enthalpy - porosity method. Iso - liquid fraction lines in the mushy region, streamlines and isotherms are obtained. Two cases, namely “conduction - only”, and “conduction - natural convection” are studied. The solid and liquid interface movements with time are traced. Results show that heat transfer during the early periods of freezing is dominated by conduction in the solid formed close to the wall. Natural convection exerts greater influence on the morphology of the liquid front whereas the solid front is affected slightly.
Freezing, natural convection, conduction, mushy regio
