Study on formation of ice slurry by W/O emulsion (discussion for promoting propagation of supercooling dissolution due to DC voltage impression)

This study is focused on a W/O (water-in-oil) emulsion with 60–80% water contents for formation of ice slurry in ice storage system. The emulsion is made of oil–water mixture with a little amino group modified silicone oil additive. Ice slurry could be formed by cooling the emulsion without ice adhesion to a cooling wall because of its structural feature. However, it was found that propagation of supercooling dissolution of the emulsion hardly started and the propagation rate was much slower. In this study, in order to promote propagation of supercoolng dissolution of the emulsion without ice nucleus charging, the DC voltage is applied to the emulsion during the cooling process. And then, influences of the magnitude of applied voltage, the composition ratio of water and oil (water content), and the distance between electrodes on the propagation process are clarified.