A microscopic study of the ice slurry growth process

In this work, the ice slurry recrystallization process involving the growth of larger crystals at the expense of smaller ones, known as Ostwald ripening, has been experimentally and numerically investigated in an adiabatic and static cell. The ice slurry recrystallization process was analyzed using direct video observation of the ice crystals behaviour at the ice slurry interface in an ethanol-water solution. Measurements of the ice crystal size and shape are reported for a 5-%wt ethanol-water solution. A simple analytical model that was based on the mass diffusion of water molecules and Kelvin's relationship has been proposed to model the experimental results.