Effect of supercooling phenomenon on liquid freezing in cylindrical vessel

Abstract

Freezing has been used to extend the shelf life of food products. In freezing, the large ice crystals which are unfavorable for the texture and quality of food are mainly generated during a solid–liquid coexistence phase. It is well known the ice crystals produced after undergoing a supercooling state were finer than those produced without supercooling. This implies that the supercooling phenomenon affects the solid–liquid coexistence time during freezing. Therefore, in this study, the effect of the supercooling phenomenon on the solid–liquid coexistence time was investigated using a cylindrical vessel. The experimental results indicated that the solid–liquid coexistence time decreased with increasing degrees of supercooling. This result suggests that increasing the degree of supercooling is effective for producing finer ice crystals. Generally, the temperature distribution is uniform to promote the supercooled state. Thus, rotational motion of the vessel with a periodical switching the rotational direction every 180° clockwise and counter‐clockwise was imposed to relax the temperature distribution in the vessel. Below a certain rotational speed, it was observed that supercooling deepened; above that, multiple instances of supercooling release were observed owing to the inversion.