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Updated: Aug 8, 2026

Ice Generation and the Heat and Mass Transfer Phenomena of Introducing Water to a Cold Bath of Brine
Published on: March 13, 2017
Remarkable antiagglomeration effect of a yeast biosurfactant, diacylmannosylerythritol, on ice-water slurry for cold
D Kitamoto1, H Yanagishita, A Endo
1Laboratories of Separation Engineering and System Analysis, National Institute of Materials and Chemical Research, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8565, Japan. kitamoto@nimc.go.jp
Abstract:
Antiagglomeration effects of different surfactants on ice slurry formation were examined to improve the efficiency of an ice-water slurry system to be used for cold thermal storage. Among the chemical surfactants tested, a nonionic surfactant, poly(oxyethylene) sorbitan dioleate, was found to show a greater antiagglomeration effect on the slurry than anionic, cationic, or amphoteric surfactants. More interestingly, diacylmannosylerythritol, a glycolipid biosurfactant produced by a yeast strain of Candida antarctica, exhibited a remarkable effect on the slurry, attaining a high ice packing factor (35%) for 8 h at a biosurfactant concentration of 10 mg/L. These nonionic glycolipid surfactants are likely to effectively adsorb on the ice surface in a highly regulated manner to suppress the agglomeration or growth of the ice particles. This is the first report on the utilization of biosurfactant for thermal energy storage, which may significantly expand the commercial applications of the highly environmentally friendly slurry system.
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