Investigating the Efficacy of the Population Balance Model for Predicting Thermal Transfer Characteristics of Ice Slurry Flow within a Pipe

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Document Type : Article

Authors

1 Department of Thermo-Fluids Mechanics, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

2 Department of Thermo-fluids Mechanics, School of Mechanical Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

10.24200/j40.2025.67578.1749

Abstract

Ice slurry flow presents a fascinating area of study within fluid dynamics and thermal energy storage. This flow involves a dynamic mixture of solid ice particles and a liquid carrier, typically an aqueous solution. Its widespread use in air conditioning and other cooling applications makes understanding its behavior crucial. However, despite its practical importance, numerical simulations of ice slurry flow often fail to account for a critical aspect: the continuous change in particle size due to aggregation and breakage. This oversight can significantly impact the accuracy of heat transfer predictions. In this research, we performed a detailed numerical investigation into the effectiveness of the Population Balance Model (PBM) as a powerful tool for simulating the complex phenomena of particle aggregation and breakage. The results demonstrate a substantial improvement in prediction accuracy when the PBM is integrated into the simulation framework. Specifically, for turbulent flows with a volume fraction below 10%, the PBM was shown to reduce calculation errors to less than 5%. Our findings also reveal a direct correlation between increased volume fraction and flow velocity, and an increase in the average particle diameter within the flow. Further analysis focused on evaluating various combinations of aggregation and breakage mechanisms within the PBM itself. The combination proposed by Luo proved to be the most effective, yielding superior and more reliable results compared to other models. This held true across both laminar and turbulent flow regimes and was consistently validated against experimental data. We also examined how the predefined range of allowable particle diameters within the PBM influences the results. Our investigation highlighted a strong dependency between this parameter and the distribution of the average particle diameter across the pipe's cross-section. Finally, this study provides a practical guideline, identifying the optimal operating range for ice slurry-based cooling systems as a 10% to 20% ice volume fraction. Beyond this range, the heat transfer coefficient begins to decline, while the pressure drop increases dramatically, compromising system efficiency.

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Sharif Journal of Mechanical Engineering

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 03 December 2025

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