Abstract
This paper compares the numerically predicted steady state, laminar hydrodynamic and thermal fields of an ice slurry (water with 15% ethanol and 12.26% ice particles) and a homogeneous binary, single phase mixture (water with 17.1% ethanol) entering identical constant temperature tubes (T-w = 274.16 K) with the same temperature (T-0 = 264.16 K) and Reynolds numbers (Re = 500). The isothermal length of the tube is preceded and followed by adiabatic zones. The fluids are considered to be Newtonian and the governing partial differential equations are coupled since their properties depend on the temperature and, in the case of the ice slurry, on the ice concentration which is not uniform due to heat transfer. The results show significant differences between local values of the wall shear stress, the friction factor, the bulk temperature and the Nusselt number of these two flows. Specifically, the local Nusselt number for the ice slurry is higher throughout the developing region and its bulk temperature decreases in the downstream adiabatic zone due to radial conduction and an axial increase of the bulk ice concentration.