Abstract
•Ice shape around the tubes.•Effects of accumulation of ice around the tubes.•Effects of parallel and series tubes arrangements.•Effects of ice accumulated around the tube surfaces.•Effects of backsplash on ice formation.
Excessive electrical load has recently get a lot of attention from electric companies specially in hot countries like Saudi Arabia, where air-conditioning load represents about 75% from the total electrical load. Energy storage by freezing is one of the methods that used to tackle this issue. Ice is formed around horizontal cold tubes that are subjected to falling film of water. Ice quantity is measured, photographed and studied. In this studied the coolant inside the tubes flows in series tube arrangement. The results are compared with previous study in which parallel arrangement was used. In addition the falling film behavior and the resulted backsplash are also investigated. A mathematical model to predict ice formation around the tube is proposed. Comparison of the results of the model with that of the experiments showed that the agreement between the two is acceptable. The results also show a quite reasonable quantity of ice is formed in a short time and the series arrangement is more efficient than parallel one. The falling film shapes and its backsplash has also affected the ice formation.