The environment of polar regions is very different from that of other ocean regions, including extremely cold (low temperature), icing, snowing, polar day and polar night, etc. The polar climate emulation laboratory will build an indoor polar environment for the design optimization and the test of polar equipment performance, ensuring the reliable operation of ships and offshore equipment under various polar environments. Currently, the military and civil institutions in some countries around the world have built climate laboratories for the operation simulation and experimental verification of the polar equipment and technology. The key technologies of polar climate emulation laboratory, such as the load calculation, air distribution design, and insulation system and refrigeration plant configuration, are summarized and discussed combined with the design cases of the ultra-low temperature container laboratory and the polar climate laboratory.

The numerical modeling of the ice formation in the ballast tank of polar ships has been established by adopting the volume of fluid (VOF) model in FLUENT to simulate the liquid phase and vapor phase, in order to analyze the influences of low temperature environment and ballast water capacity on the ice formation, and the heat transfer mode of the ballast tank of polar ships. The variations of the ice field in the computational domain with set-ups of different temperature environment and ballast water capacity are observed to analyze the influences of various factors and conditions on the ice formation in the ballast tank. It is found that the ice grows along the bulkhead to form a uniform ice layer, then grows transversely and vertically to form an ice layer completely covering the water surface, and finally grows downward along the bulkhead on the other side to form an arch shape as a whole. It is also observed that for the same ballast water capacity, the lower the ambient temperature, the faster the icing rate and the higher the icing degree; while for the different ballast water capacity, the lower the free surface, the better the effect of the hot air in the tank and the slower the icing rate. It can be concluded that the icing law of the ballast tank under low temperature is revealed through the numerical simulation of the ice formation of the polar ship ballast tank under low temperature. It can provide references for the deicing and winterization measures of the polar ship ballast tank.

The increasing popularity of polar shipping routes poses greater challenge to the marine cold protection technology. Considering the importance of the cold-proof design of the sea chest, the key requirements of the sea chest in the ice region in the relevant specifications of the classification society are introduced in order to ensure the stable operation of the ship in polar environment. The current cold protection technologies are classified and analyzed from the structural design, structural layout and auxiliary deicing according to the principles of different cold protection technologies. The application of the cold protection measures based on different technical principles in different design schemes are highlighted by comparing the characteristics of four cold protection design schemes. The unique technical key points of the cold protection design of the sea chest in the ice region are summarized. It can provide ideas for promoting the scientificity and rationality of the cold protection technology of the sea chest in the ice region in subsequent researches.