Abstract
To overcome the defect of conventional chilled water systems, we propose pneumatic conveying of ice cubes. We conducted experiments to investigate the pressure drops during pneumatic conveying of ice cubes in a prototype conveyance pipe, and obtained the following results : (1)The mean velocity of the ice cubes is proportional to the mean velocity of the conveying air flow regardless of balls in the pipe or the volume fraction of the ice cubes. (2) Difference in the velocity of the air flow cause variations in the density of ice cubes. If we convey ice cubes with balls, it is possible to convey a higher density. (3) The volume fraction of this method is about 10 times that of the previous experimental results. (4)The pump power of this proposed conveyance system is reduced to about 0.71 to 0.59 times that of the conventional chilled water systems.