Study of thermal and hydrodynamic processes associated with melting of horizontal substrate

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 change of enthalpy of the pool of water. Because of little agitation of the pool due to low melt volume flux (rho/sub w//rho/sub o/ approx. 1.09; ΔT = 5 to 45K), the pool was found to stratify with time. Hence, heat transfer coefficient data have been based on both the mean pool temperature and the interfacial 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 interface growth 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 also predicted well by the theoretical model