Freezing front motion and heat transfer outside an infinite, isothermal cylinder

Abstract

A numerical method is developed for calculation of the temperature field in a material that freezes outside an isothermal cylinder. Numerical values are presented for the freezing front location and for the rate of heat transfer to the cylinder. The computed values are compared with the analytical solutions for the limiting cases of zero latent hear, negligible heat capacity, and freezing adjacent to a flat plate. The results have many applications, including the freezing of wet soil outside underground pipes or storage tanks for cryogenic fluids.