Thermal and Hydrodynamic Phenomena Associated with Melting of a Horizontal Substrate Placed beneath a Heavier Immiscible Liquid

Abstract

The melting of a horizontal slab of frozen olive oil placed beneath a pool of warm water has been studied experimentally. The interfacial heat flux data are taken in quasi-static mode by noting the time rate of change of enthalpy of the pool of water. Because of little agitation of the pool due to low melt volume flux (ρwater/ρolive oil ≃ 1.09; ΔT ≃ 5–45 K), the pool was found to stratify with time. Hence, heat transfer coefficient data have been based on the interfacial temperature rather than on the mean pool temperature. Visual observations show that melt removal is governed by Taylor instability and that melt releasing nodes lie about a Taylor wavelength apart. Predictions of the growth of the interface based on equilibrium between surface tension and buoyant forces have been made and found to compare well with the data obtained from the movies. The heat transfer coefficient data obtained at higher pool temperatures are found to correlate well with the predictions based on the proposed model.