Experimental study on pressure drop and ice blockage characteristics of ice slurry flow in big-diameter pipes

Ice slurry utilization in district cooling brings about attractive reduction in both the storage volume and transportation power of the cold thermal energy. However, the ice slurry flow characteristics, particularly in big-diameter pipes, remains unclear, hindering the application of ice slurry in large-scale district cooling systems. This paper prepared the ice slurry from pure water without any additives to experimentally study its flow characteristics in big-diameter pipes, including DN50, DN80, DN100 and DN190 pipes. The normalized pressure drops and friction factors have been obtained at various velocities and ice fractions. Generally, the pressure drop characteristics did not conform to the Blasius correlation which could predict the single-phase flow until the Reynolds number exceeded a certain threshold, known as the transition Reynolds number. The transition Reynolds numbers were in the range of 3.91 × 10⁴–6.77 × 10⁴ depending on the ice volume fractions ranging from 5% to 21% in the present study. Some visualization measures have been employed to help to observe the flow pattern and confirm the occurrence of ice blockage which was found nowhere but in the branches and expansion. The ice blockage occurred intermittently in the branches, whereas it was irreversible in the expansion. The critical velocity at which the ice blockage began to occur was quantitatively determined, which increased with increasing the ice volume fraction. This study provides a guide for evaluating the pump power and transportation safety of the ice slurry flow in big-diameter pipes.