Melting of a vertical ice wall by natural convection into pure or saline water

• Main Author: Lee, Jiunn-Jiu
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Memorial University of Newfoundland 1979
• Subjects: Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://research.library.mun.ca/7787/; https://research.library.mun.ca/7787/1/Lee_Jiunn-Jiu.pdf; https://research.library.mun.ca/7787/3/Lee_Jiunn-Jiu.pdf

A steady state two dimensional finite difference analysis is presented for the heat, mass and momentum transfer resulting from the initial portion of a semi-infinite vertical ice sheet melting into pure or saline water by natural convection. Fluid properties are assumed to be constant with the exception of the fluid density in the body force terms of the momentum equations. -- Results of the analysis are presented for free stream temperatures from 0 ﾟc to 24 ﾟc and salinities from 0 % to 35 %. They include streamlines, velocity profiles, temperature profiles, salinity profiles, local Nusselt numbers and mean Nusselt numbers for plate length of 0.7632 m. For pure water, calculated mean Nusselt numbers are favourably compared with existing data and analyses. For saline water, previous information not being available in the literature, the predicted results require verification. -- Overall, the results show three distinct flow regimes: steady unidirectional upward flow, steady unidirectional downward flow, and dual flow. The solution method is convergent for the unidirectional regimes, and mostly non-convergent for dual flows. Since the solution method is capable of accounting for local recirculations, this suggests that the dual flow regime may be transitory in nature.