Freezing Patterns in Saline Soils: Modeling with Regard to the Osmotic Effect

Freezing patterns in a porous soil saturated with a saline solution are investigated with regard to osmotic effects, using a model suggested previously by the authors but in a more general formulation. The results include a numerical and an approximate self-similar analytical solution to a nonlinear problem; description of typical freezing behavior in the presence of osmotic pressure. The modeling results agree well with experimental evidence on freezing of saline clay and sand. The model includes three porous domains with ice (I), thermodynamically equilibrated ice+solution (II), and a liquid saline solution (III) in the pores. The modeling is performed for a simplified case of domains II and III that share a mobile phase boundary where the solution freezes up partially, with heat release.