Frost formation on a super-hydrophobic surface under natural convection conditions

Liu, Zhongliang; Gou, Ying; Wang, Jieteng; Cheng, Shuiyuan

doi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2008.03.026

Cited by 176 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The effect of the surface free energy of the substrates on frosting has been extensively studied (14)(15)(16)(17). Through these works, it is now known that frost typically forms either directly from the vapor phase through ablimation (ablimation frosting) or via water vapor condensation on subcooled solids that generates supercooled water droplets, which then freeze through nucleation (condensation frosting) (17).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Frost halos from supercooled water droplets

Jung

Tiwari

Poulikakos

2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

152

155

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Water freezing on solid surfaces is ubiquitous in nature. Even though icing/frosting impairs the performance and safety in many processes, its mechanism remains inadequately understood. Changing atmospheric conditions, surface properties, the complexity of icing physics, and the unorthodox behavior of water are the primary factors that make icing and frost formation intriguing and difficult to predict. In addition to its unquestioned scientific and practical importance, unraveling the frosting mechanism under different conditions is a prerequisite to develop "icephobic" surfaces, which may avoid ice formation and contamination. In this work we demonstrate that evaporation from a freezing supercooled sessile droplet, which starts explosively due to the sudden latent heat released upon recalescent freezing, generates a condensation halo around the droplet, which crystallizes and drastically affects the surface behavior. The process involves simultaneous multiple phase transitions and may also spread icing by initiating sequential freezing of neighboring droplets in the form of a domino effect and frost propagation. Experiments under controlled humidity conditions using substrates differing up to three orders of magnitude in thermal conductivity establish that a delicate balance between heat diffusion and vapor transport determines the final expanse of the frozen condensate halo, which, in turn, controls frost formation and propagation.droplet science | explosive evaporation | multiphase physics | phase change | condensate freezing D ue to its frequent occurrence in nature and in everyday societal and technological applications, freezing of supercooled water has been studied intensively for decades (1-6). Models that aim at describing and predicting ice nucleation, ice adhesion, the conditions for atmospheric icing, and icing scaling methods in the aviation industry are seriously hindered by the complexity of icing physics, the sometimes unorthodox behavior of water (7,8) and the many intricacies related to wetting phenomena and water-surface interactions (9).In the pursuit of understanding and avoiding undesirable water freezing on surfaces, research efforts have recently focused on developing so-called "icephobic" surfaces that could potentially retard/avoid ice formation and contamination (10, 11). Such works have also shed light on the crucial and sometimes unexpected role of environmental conditions-e.g., frost, humidity, and shearing gas flow on the formation and potential delaying of icing on solid surfaces (12, 13).The effect of the surface free energy of the substrates on frosting has been extensively studied (14-17). Through these works, it is now known that frost typically forms either directly from the vapor phase through ablimation (ablimation frosting) or via water vapor condensation on subcooled solids that generates supercooled water droplets, which then freeze through nucleation (condensation frosting) (17). Due to its obvious relevance to the fundamentals of surface frosting, the investigation of ...

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Frost halos from supercooled water droplets

Jung

Tiwari

Poulikakos

2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

152

155

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“…This free-energy barrier is lowered when nucleation occurs on a foreign surface (heterogeneous nucleation). The free-energy barrier (ΔG) (Liu et al, 2008) associated with heterogeneous ice nucleation can be estimated as Eq. (2).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing ice accumulation and adhesion by using a flexible micro-rod film

Yang

Jiang

et al. 2015

Cold Regions Science and Technology

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“…Experimental results demonstrated that the anti-frosting time of the coated heat exchanger was longer compared with the uncoated one. Liu et al [9] prepared a super hydrophobic surface whose contact angle was 162°, and the frost on the surface was delayed for 55 min compared with the plain copper surface. Rahman and Jacobi [10] investigated the drainage of condensate droplets from a number of micro grooved brass surfaces experimentally and found that micro grooved surfaces drained up to 70% more condensate than the flat baseline did.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%