Ice particles study for ice jet machining

This research was undertaken at the Industrial Research Institute of the Swinburne University of Technology (IRIS), Melbourne, Australia. The aim of this research work was to study the effects of parameters such as temperature and flow rate of water, on the phenomenon of ice particle formation. The shape, size and the percentage of ice produced from water were studied. The ice particles can be used for water jet applications such as cleaning, degreasing and cutting. The concept is based on the convective heat transfer between a cold cryogenic gas and atomised water droplets. Ice particles are formed inside the system by transferring latent heat of water droplets to liquid nitrogen. The results show that the ice particles obtained were linearly proportional to the water droplets atomised.