Experimental and modeling studies on the growth characteristics of ice layers at different temperatures and salinities

The growth and evolution of sea ice play an important role in the global climate and ocean environment. To understand and clarify the growth characteristics of sea ice and its influencing factors, an experimental study is carried out in small sea ice freezing tanks at −10 °C to −40 °C cold plate temperatures and 0 % - 5 % solution salinity. As a result, the cold plate temperature effect is obvious. From −10 °C to −40 °C, the average growth rate of the ice layer within 60 mm increased from 4.02 mm/h to 24.18 mm/h. To further analyze the heat transfer process, a model under temperature and salinity coupling for the freezing process is developed and evaluated. As analyzed, the mean deviations of ice thickness and salinity for a 3.5 % brine solution frozen at −20 °C are 10.36 % and 18.43 %, respectively. Increasing water salinity slows down ice growth. When the ice grows to 60 mm, the NaCl concentrations in the ice layer are 0.54 % and 2.53 % for initial salinity solutions of 1.5 % and 5 %, respectively. The results of this study are expected to provide references for the growth characteristics of sea ice and the mechanism of salt discharge.