Author(s): Yangfan Hu; Li Zhou; Shifeng Ding; Fang Li
Linked Author(s):
Keywords: Polar ship ballast tanks; Numerical simulation; Temperature field; Freezing; Bubble system
Abstract: To address the freezing problem in side ballast tanks of polar ships operating in cold environments, this study investigates a bubble-based anti-icing system through low-temperature experiments and numerical simulations. A laboratory-scale water tank test platform was built in a cold room to examine water temperature variation and freezing behavior under different bubble flow rates. The experiments show that, under bubble agitation, the water undergoes a clear supercooling stage before freezing. Based on the experimental observations, a two-dimensional numerical model of the bubble-induced freezing process was developed with supercooling taken into account. The model was then used to simulate the anti-icing performance of the bubble system under different ambient temperatures and gas flow rates. The results indicate that, at ambient temperatures of -30 °C and above, the bubble system can effectively prevent freezing in the ballast tank. A higher bubble flow rate leads to better anti-icing performance. However, there is also a critical flow rate, beyond which the improvement in anti-icing efficiency decreases markedly. Incorporating supercooling into the simulation of bubble-induced freezing is important for understanding the anti-icing process in ballast tanks. The present study can provide useful guidance for the design and parameter optimization of bubble anti-icing systems for polar ship ballast tanks.
Year: 2026