Earth’s Cryosphere, 2011, Vol. XV, No. 2, p. 21-28

FREEZING OF WATER DROPS IN THE DISPERSION OF “DRY WATER”

V.P. Melnikov, L.S. Podenko, A.N. Nesterov*, N.S. Komisarova, V.V. Shalamov, A.M. Reshetnikov, E.G. Larionov**

Earth Cryosphere Institute, SB RAS, 625000, Tyumen, P/O box 1230, Russia, lpodenko@yandex.ru
*Tyumen State Oil and Gas University, 625000, Tyumen, Volodarskogo str., 38, Russia
** Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, SB RAS, 630090, Novosibirsk, av. Acad. Lavrentiev, 3, Russia

Freezing of water drops in the dispersion of “dry water” has been investigated by nuclear magnetic relaxation spectroscopy and differential thermal analysis. The possibility of using “dry water” as a model system for analysis of supercooled water crystallization in the microdrops containing hydrophobic particles has been demonstrated. The analysis of ice nucleation mechanisms in the “dry water” has been carried out. The fact of the high ice-forming ability of hydrophobic particles of Aerosil R 202 has been ascertained. It has been revealed that the spectrum of spin-spin relaxation and the thermogram of the “dry water” differential thermal analysis consist of several components reflecting the distribution of dispersed phase microdrops by size. It has been found that the freezing–thaw of “dry water” leads to the separation of “bulk water”, considerable part of it being kept in the form of individual microdrops.

Key words: Freezing, water drops, “dry water”, ice nucleation, nuclear magnetic relaxation.

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