Experimental Study on Effects of Particle Melting and Micro-Convection on Measurement of Thermal Conductivity of Ice Slurry

This study is based on the micro-convection analysis of a thermal conductivity model, the influence of micro-convection on the thermal conductivity measurement was discussed, and a theoretical model of the thermal conductivity of ice slurry was established considering the influence of latent heat of ice crystal melting. Subsequently, a uniform suspension test device with a multi-interlayer was developed, which suppresses the micro-convection heat transfer of solid particles caused by the solid–liquid density difference. The total uncertainty of the thermal conductivity measurement system was less than 2%; The results show that the thermal conductivity of the device increased gradually with an increase in the ice packing factor (IPF). the thermal conductivity of the suspension device with the interlayer was generally higher than that of the suspension device without the interlayer. By comparing the experimental results, it was found that compared with the conventional models for predicting the thermal conductivity of liquid–solid two-phase fluids, the accuracy of the proposed model for predicting the thermal conductivity of ice slurry based on the influence of latent heat of ice crystal melting was significantly better; the results were in good agreement with the experimental results