Laboratory investigation of the correlation between frazil ice particle and floc properties

A series of cold room laboratory experiments were performed in a frazil ice tank to investigate the time series correlation between frazil particle and floc number concentrations and mean sizes during supercooling events. Time series images of frazil particles and flocs were obtained under different turbulence dissipation rates, as well as steady and unsteady air temperatures. The results were analyzed over different time periods to investigate correlations. A strong linear relationship was found between particle and floc number concentrations with the floc-to-particle number concentration ratio ranging from 0.29 to 0.35. The ratio remained approximately constant at different steady air temperatures but decreased by 12% to 17% at lower turbulence dissipation rates, and by 6% to 12% when the air temperature was varied. Analysis revealed an exponential relationship between particle and floc mean sizes with high R 2 values when particle mean size varied significantly. A weak to moderate linear correlation with a negative slope was found when particle mean size reached equilibrium. These findings provides new insights into the temporal evolution of frazil ice particle formation and flocculation during supercooling. In particular, it was found that flocculation is more sensitive to variations in the turbulence dissipation rates than to secondary nucleation, which could support the development of more realistic modeling approaches. The robust linear relationship between particle and floc number concentrations that was found could be incorporated into existing models to enable estimation of floc number concentrations.