The
IIHR Model Ice Basin consists of a refrigerated room 80 ft (24 m) long,
27 ft (8 m) wide, and 12 ft (3. m) high which houses a towing tank 65 ft
(20 m) long, 16 ft (5 m) wide, and 4 ft (1.2.m) deep. The refrigeration
equipment associated with this facility consists of 4 evaporators each
rated at 8.4 BTU/hr ºFID (3800 cal/hr ºCID). The refrigeration units
are suspended from the ceiling with two at each end of the room. 
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The towing tank is equipped with a variable-speed motorized carriage rated at 1750
lb ft (2370 Nm). The carriage rides on round rails located on the top
surfaces of the sides for the towing tank. The carriage span across the
towing tank is 18 ft (5.5 m) and it is 8 ft (2.4 m) wide. It is
propelled by a 15 horsepower (11.2 kW) DC variable speed control motor
with a rack and pinion drive.A photo-optical digital timing scheme with
12 bit resolution is used to determine position and speed within one
part in 4096. Gearboxes with 5 to 1 or 15 to 1 gear ratios are used to
provide speeds ranging from 30 in/s (75 cm/s) to 7.4 ft/s (225 cm/s).
The towing
tank has a TV trench that allows the use of either the
monochrome or color underwater video systems that are part of the ice
research facilities. The Model Ice Basin also has access to a
"point" source refrigeration supply system.
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