Effect of Various Parameters on a Supercooling Phenomenon of Still Bulk Water and Water Solution

Supercooling characteristics on still bulk water and several kinds of water solutions were investigated experimentally. The test fluids, which were sandwiched in between two immiscible liquids in a glass tube, were set in a constant low-temperature room, and its freezing temperature was measured. It was found that the critical degree of supercooling for the water increased with decreasing test fluid volume, V, and was proportional to the logarithm of V. However, the critical degree of supercooling for the water solutions varied with the type of solute, and for each solute, it increased with increasing solute concentration. The critical degree of supercooling for the water solution was larger than that for the water by about 0∼4 K. The increment supercooling, which depended on the type of solute, could be explained by the equilibrium freezing point depression, an increase in the viscosity and solute/water interactions. In addition, the present data for the water solutions were correlated with dimensionless parameters which expressed these effects.