Pore-scale numerical study: Brine water crystallization with ice crystal particle motion using the LBM-PFM-IBM

In this study, the ice formation behaviour in micro pipelines accompanied by free crystal movement was investigated using the using the coupled method of lattice Boltzmann method - phase field method - immersed boundary method (LBM-PFM-IBM) at the pore-scale. Firstly, we proposed a novel coupling method that significantly improved the accuracy of the PFM method [1] in simulating the growth rate of ice crystal tips at the pore scale. The calculation error, when compared to experimental results, was only 3.1%. Furthermore, we conducted numerical studies to examine the influence of particle velocity, particle size, and pipe width on ice blockage (IB) in pipelines where free crystal motion occurs using the proposed method. The results revealed that the mechanism of ice blockage at the micro scale differs significantly from that at the macro level. Increasing the velocity and size of free crystals was found to effectively suppress ice blockage, with the size of the crystals having a more substantial impact. On the other hand, the impact of pipeline width on ice blockage was not consistent. Changing the pipe width did not prove to be an effective means of preventing ice blockage from occurring.