Heat and Mass Transfer in Icing and Anti/De-Icing Technologies

Submission Deadline: 31 March 2027 View: 35 Submit to Special Issue

Guest Editor(s)

Dr. Zhi Xu

Email: zxu@neau.edu.cn

Affiliation: Engineering College, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China

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Research Interests: wind turbine icing; hybrid anti/de-icing; ice accretion physics; icephobic coatings

Dr. Wenke Zhao

Email: zhaowenke@hit.edu.cn

Affiliation: School of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China

Homepage:

Research Interests: porous medium; thermodynamics; heat and mass transfer

Summary

Icing poses severe threats to the safety and efficiency of aircraft, wind turbines, power lines, and refrigeration systems, often leading to catastrophic failures and substantial economic losses. At the heart of all icing and anti/de-icing technologies lie complex heat and mass transfer processes, including droplet impingement, phase change, runback water flow, and conjugate heat transfer, which govern ice accretion and the effectiveness of protective systems. A deeper understanding of these coupled phenomena is therefore essential for advancing next-generation ice protection strategies.

This Special Issue aims to bring together cutting-edge research that bridges fundamental transport phenomena and practical thermal management solutions. The scope spans from micro-scale interfacial heat and mass transfer during ice nucleation to macro-scale system performance under in-flight or outdoor icing conditions. Contributions involving theoretical modeling, high-fidelity numerical simulation, advanced experimental diagnostics, and novel anti/de-icing material development are all welcome.

Suggested themes include, but are not limited to:
· Droplet dynamics, impingement heat transfer, and ice accretion physics;
· Phase-change heat and mass transfer in glaze, rime, and mixed ice regimes;
· Conjugate heat transfer in electrothermal, hot-air, and liquid-based anti/de-icing systems;
· Surface engineering and superhydrophobic/icephobic coatings for passive ice mitigation;
· Multiscale and multiphysics modeling of icing and de-icing processes;
· Experimental techniques for measuring transient heat flux and residual ice;
· Heat and mass transfer optimization in ground and inflight ice protection systems.

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