Abstract: A heat transfer method for melting thick layers of ice advancing toward an object facing the ice is disclosed. Elongated grooves or corrugations are disposed in the exterior surface of the object facing the ice. A heating fluid is circulated in intimate contact with the inside of the grooved surface, and a force is maintained between the grooved surface and the advancing ice layer. The grooves increase the heat transfer rate to the ice both by increasing the surface area exposed to the ice and by providing channels for controlling the flow of the melted ice liquid to initiate and maintain a forced convection mode of heat transfer that is necessary for high ice-melting rates. A preferred application of the invention is in oil and gas exploration and production in Arctic regions where moving ice sheets must be melted to maintain a drilling platform or oil production platform positioned over a submerged well site during periods when moving ice fields overlie the well site.

Abstract: A heat transfer system for melting thick layers of ice advancing toward an object facing the ice are disclosed. Elongated grooves or corrugations are disposed in the exterior surface of the object facing the ice. A heating fluid is circulated in intimate contact with the inside of the grooved surface, and a force is maintained between the grooved surface and the advancing ice layer. The grooves increase the heat transfer rate to the ice both by increasing the surface area exposed to the ice and by providing channels for controlling the flow of the melted ice liquid to initiate and maintain a forced convection mode of heat transfer that is necessary for high ice-melting rates. A preferred application of the invention is in oil and gas exploration and production in Arctic regions where moving ice sheets must be melted to maintain a drilling platform or oil production platform positioned over a submerged well site during periods when moving ice fields overlie the well site.