Investigation of a heat transfer augmenter as a fouling cleaner and its optimum geometry in the tube side of a condenser

A spiral wire was used to augment the heat transfer inside the tubes of surface condensers or shell-and-tube heat exchangers. A spiral wire with a reinforcing component in the direction of the spiral axis has been investigated as a fouling cleaner on the internal surface of a tube, when it is driven in a reciprocating motion with the help of reinforcing wires. When it stays in the tube, it augments the convective heat transfer. Based on the an experimental investigation, the relationships among the heat transfer, drag, cleaning effectiveness, fouling rates, and geometric variables of the cleaner-augmenter performance were found. The results of the experimental investigations on the cleaner-augmenter and the comprehensive evaluation criterion for the device as a fouling cleaner are presented along with the dimensions of tube diameter, wire diameter, and pitch.     

Thermal behavior of spiral fin-and-tube heat exchanger having fly ash deposit

This research investigates the effect of fly-ash deposit on thermal performance of a cross-flow heat exchanger having a set of spiral finned-tubes as a heat transfer surface. A stream of warm air having high content of fly-ash is exchanging heat with a cool water stream in the tubes. In this study, the temperature of the heat exchanger surface is lower than the dew point temperature of air, thus there is condensation of moisture in the air stream on the heat exchanger surface. The affecting parameters such as the fin spacing, the air mass flow rate, the fly-ash mass flow rate and the inlet temperature of warm air are varied while the volume flow rate and the inlet temperature of the cold water stream are kept constant at 10 l/min and 5 °C, respectively.

From the experiment, it is found that as the testing period is shorter than 8 h the thermal resistance due to the fouling increases with time. Moreover, the deposit of fly-ash on the heat transfer surface is directly proportional to the dust–air ratio and the amount of condensate on heat exchange surface. However, the deposit of fly-ash is inversely proportional to the fin spacing. The empirical model for evaluating the thermal resistance is also developed in this work and the simulated results agree well with those of the measured data.     

Fouling resistance model for prediction of CaCO3 scaling in AISI 316 tubes

The term fouling is generally used to describe the deposition of unwanted (initially fluid) particles, which increases both resistance to heat transfer and pressure drop through the heat exchanger. CaCO₃ which is predominantly present in the cooling water, has inverse solubility characteristics i.e., it is less soluble in warm water, resulting in deposition of scales in heat transfer equipment. An experimental program is described in this paper to study the growth of fouling as a function of tube surface temperature, Reynolds number, tube diameter and the time for which the tube has been subjected to the scale forming solution. The data collected from the experiments are used to develop a fouling resistance model. In addition, the results obtained from the present study are also compared with those discussed earlier by several investigators with regard to CaCO₃ fouling.     

Fundamentals of corrosion fouling

This paper reviews the fouling of heat transfer surfaces due to corrosion as a consequence of their exposure to flowing oxygenated water. The fundamental mechanisms of oxygen transport, deposit growth, and deposit removal are considered. A model for predicting the formation of a corrosion fouling deposit is derived, and the utility of dimensionless variables deduced from the model is demonstrated. The interaction of corrosion fouling and other categories of fouling is discussed. Recommendations are made for future research in this area.     

Fouling effects of geothermal water scale upon heat transfer around an elliptic cylinder

An experimental investigation has been conducted to clarify fouling effects of geothermal water scale deposited onto a surface upon its forced convection heat transfer characteristics. Examined is an elliptic cylinder of an axis ratio 1∶3, on which particles of silica scale are uniformly distributed. Local and mean heat transfer characteristics were measured for angles of attack 0° and 90°. Subsequently the fouling resistance is estimated from those results. Mean and turbulent fluctuating velocities were also measured in order to correlate the heat transfer features with the velocity field in the near wake of the elliptic cylinder.     

Visualization and determination of local heat transfer coefficients in shell-and-tube heat exchangers for in-line tube arrangement by mass transfer measurements

The local heat transfer coefficients on the shell-side of shell-and-tube heat exchangers for in-line tube arrangement are visualized and determined from mass transfer measurements. The mass transfer experiments are carried out using a technique based on absorption, chemical and coupled colour reaction. Local mass transfer coefficients are measured for fully developed flow conditions on each tube surface. These coefficients were transformed to heat transfer coefficients by employing the analogy between heat and mass transfer. The averaged heat transfer coefficients and the pressure drop are compared with the predictions from the literature. Received on 2 May 1997     

Fouling of a cylindrical probe and a finned tube bundle in a diesel exhaust environment

The objective of this work is to provide data simultaneously from an extended surface heat exchanger and a mass accumulation probe in a diesel exhaust environment. To obtain information about the possible link between the fouling behavior of the probe and the heat exchanger, a finned tube bundle was inserted in a diesel exhaust gas stream on the DELFINE loop at GRETh with a mass accumulation probe upstream of the bundle. A retractable protective device allowed the probe mass accumulation kinetics to be obtained during each fouling test. The results concerning the mass accumulation and the heat exchanger (asymptotic) fouling resistance behavior outline the role of the soot particle thermophoresis and the fluid velocity. The proposed model, which explains the probe mass accumulation kinetics, emphasizes the modification of the deposit thermal conductivity during the deposition.     

Crystallization fouling of finned tubes during pool boiling: effect of fin density

Bubble characteristics such as density, size, frequency and motion are key factors that contribute to the superiority of nucleate pool boiling over other modes of heat transfer. Nevertheless, if heat transfer occurs in an environment prone to fouling, the very same parameters may lead to accelerated deposit formation due to concentration effects beneath the growing bubbles. This has led to the widely accepted design recommendation to maintain the heat transfer surface temperature below the boiling point if fouling may occur, e.g., in seawater desalination. The present paper aims at investigating the formation of deposits on finned tubes during nucleate pool boiling of CaSO₄ solutions. The test finned tubes are low finned tubes with fin densities of 19 and 26 fins/in. made from Cu–Ni. The fouling experiments were carried out at atmospheric pressure for different heat fluxes ranging from 100 to 300 kW/m² and a CaSO₄ concentration of 1.6 g/L. For the sake of comparison, similar runs were performed with smooth stainless steel tubes. The results show that: (1) the fouling resistance decreases with increasing fin density, (2) fouling on the finned tubes was reduced with increasing nucleate boiling activity and (3) if any fouling layer occurred on the finned tubes it could be removed easily.     

Heat and mass transfer characteristics of organic sorbent coated on heat transfer surface of a heat exchanger

This paper describes heat and mass transfer characteristics of organic sorbent coated on heat transfer surface of a fin-tube heat exchanger. The experiments in which the moist air was passed into the heat exchanger coated with sorption material were conducted under various conditions of air flow rate (0.5–1.0 m/s) and the temperature of brine (14–20°C) that was the heat transfer fluid to cool the air flow in the dehumidifying process. It is found that the sorption rate of vapor is affected by the air flow rate and the brine temperature. Meanwhile, the attempt of clarifying the sorption mechanism is also conducted. Finally the average mass transfer coefficient of the organic sorbent coated on heat transfer surface of a fin-tube heat exchanger is non-dimensionalzed as a function of Reynolds number and non-dimensional temperature, and it is found that the effect of non-dimensional temperature on them is larger than Reynolds number .     

A risk based performance evaluation of plate-and-frame heat exchangers

Plate-and-frame heat exchangers (PHEs) operating in process industries are fouled to a greater or lesser extent depending on surface temperature, surface condition, material of construction, fluid velocity, flow geometry and fluid composition. This fouling phenomenon is time-dependent and will result in a decrease in the overall heat transfer coefficient and increase in the pressure drop of the PHE. Once the overall heat transfer coefficient decreases to a minimum acceptable level, cleaning of the equipment becomes necessary to restore the performance. In this paper, we present a simple probabilistic approach to characterize various fouling models that are commonly encountered in many industries. These random fouling growth models are then used to investigate the impact on risk based thermal effectiveness, overall heat transfer coefficient and the hot- and cold-fluid outlet temperatures of a PHE. All the results are presented in a generalized form in order to demonstrate the generality of the risk-based procedure discussed in this paper.     

Heat transfer experiments in rotating boundary layer flow

The influence of Coriolis force on heat transfer in a rotating transitional boundary layer has been experimentally investigated. The experiments have been conducted for local Görtler numbers up to 150. Heat transfer measurements have been performed for a flat plate with nearly uniform heat flux applied to the surface, where the temperature was measured by the thermochromic liquid crystal method. The results indicate that heat transfer is enhanced when Coriolis force acts towards the wall, i.e., on the pressure surface. The velocity measurements under equivalent conditions show that Coriolis instability induces counter-rotating longitudinal vortices which augment the lateral transport of the fluid on the pressure surface. On the other hand, the heat transfer on the suction surface remains at the same level as compared to the case without system rotation. As a consequence, the heat transfer coefficient on the pressure surface is 1.8 times higher than that measured on the suction surface when averaged over the measured surface.     

Monitoring the thermal efficiency of fouled heat exchangers: A simplified method

Fouling is a problem whether we are aware of it or not. In an industrial plant, it is important not only to be able to measure the buildup of unwanted deposits, but also to do it in the simplest and most economically possible way. This paper addresses the question of monitoring fouling in an oil refinery plant, where the high number of heat exchanger units and the variability of the feedstock charge pose additional problems in terms of the practicability of following the energetic performance of such equipment. In this case, the flow rates and quality of the fluids flowing through the heat exchangers do not usually correspond to the design conditions, because they change with time. Therefore, to assess the fouling level of the exchangers, the day-to-day measured thermal efficiency should not be compared with the efficiency predicted in the design calculations. The latter should be recalculated by introducing whenever necessary new values of flow rates, physical properties, and so forth, and by evaluating new heat transfer coefficients. However, the procedures are too time consuming to be applied frequently. The present work describes a simplified method for following heat exchanger performances, based on the assessment of the number of transfer units and thermal efficiencies, where the effects of changing the feedstock charge, particularly the flow rates of the fluids, are taken into account. The only data that need to be collected are the four inlet/outlet temperatures of the heat exchanger unit and one of the flow rates. Several heat exchanger units in an oil refinery were successfully monitored by means of this method, and it was found that the variations in the physical properties did not significantly affect the results obtained for the particular plant under study.     

MHD Flow and heat transfer of non-Newtonian power-law fluid with diffusion and chemical reaction on a moving cylinder

The problem of flow and heat transfer of an electrically conducting non-Newtonian fluid over a continuously moving cylinder in the presence of a uniform magnetic field is analyzed for the case of power-law variation in the temperature and concentration at the cylinder surface. A diffusion equation with a chemical reaction source term is taken into account. The governing non-similar partial differential equation are solved numerically by employing shooting method. The effects of various parameters on the velocity, temperature and concentration profiles as well as the heat and mass transfer rate from the cylinder surface to the surrounding fluid are presented graphically and in tabulated form.     

Fouling of heat exchangers in the dairy industry

A general overview is given of the main factors in the fouling of processing equipment used for heating dairy fluids. The data collected indicate that the primary step in fouling is the adsorption of a monolayer of proteins onto the wall of the heating equipment at room temperature. Real fouling (i.e., the formation of macroscopic layers of foulants), however, is caused by particle formation in the bulk of the liquid being processed. These particles include both whey protein aggregates and calcium phosphate particles. Their formation is heat induced, and the deposition takes place through diffusion toward the heating surface. Only very high flow rates are able to prevent their deposition and subsequent sticking. To better control the process of fouling, special attention is given to the parameters affecting the formation of both types of particles and how their formation can be retarded or prohibited, including the role of calcium sequestrants, pH, preheating, and flow rate herewith.     

Heat transfer in a hydromagnetic flow over a stretching sheet

Exact solutions are obtained for the heat transfer in an electrically conducting fluid past a stretching sheet subjected to the thermal boundary with either a prescribed temperature or a prescribed heat flux in the presence of a transverse magnetic field. The solutions for the heat transfer characteristics are evaluated numerically for different parameters, such as the magnetic parameterN, the Prandtl numberPr, the surface temperature indexs, and the surface heat flux indexd. It is observed that for the prescribed surface temperature case the fluid temperature increases due to the existance of the magnetic field, and decreases as the Prandtl number or the surface temperature index increases; for the prescribed surface heat flux case, the surface temperature decreases as the Prandtl number of the surface heat flux index increases, and the magnetic parameter decreases. In addition, varying the prescribed surface temperature indexs affects the mechanism of heat transfer.     

Mixed convection effects on heat and mass transfer in a non Newtonian fluid with chemical reaction over a vertical plate

This paper studies mixed convection, double dispersion and chemical reaction effects on heat and mass transfer in a non-Darcy non-Newtonian fluid over a vertical surface in a porous medium under the constant temperature and concentration. The governing boundary layer equations, namely, momentum, energy and concentration, are converted to ordinary differential equations by introducing similarity variables and then are solved numerically by means of fourth-order Runge-Kutta method coupled with double-shooting technique. The velocity, temperature concentration, heat and mass transfer profiles are presented graphically for various values of the parameters, and the influence of viscosity index n, thermal and solute dispersion, chemical reaction parameter χ are observed.     

Melting heat transfer in Cu-water and Ag-water nanofluids flow with homogeneous-heterogeneous reactions

This article addresses melting heat transfer in magnetohydrodynamics(MHD)nanofluid flows by a rotating disk. The analysis is performed in Cu-water and Ag-water nanofluids. Thermal radiation, viscous dissipation, and chemical reactions impacts are added in the nanofluid model. Appropriate transformations lead to the nondimensionalized boundary layer equations. Series solutions for the resulting equations are computed.The role of pertinent parameters on the velocity, temperature, and concentration is analyzed in the outputs. It is revealed that the larger melting parameter enhances the velocity profile while the temperature profile decreases. The surface drag force and heat transfer rate are computed under the influence of pertinent parameters. Furthermore, the homogeneous reaction parameter serves to decrease the surface concentration.     

FOULING PREVENTION WITH FLUIDIZED PARTICLES IN EVAPORATION OF TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE EXTRACT

The present investigation shows that comparing with the evaporation of vapor-liquid two-phase flow boiling system, heat transfer is enhanced by adding proper inert solid particles into the traditional Chinese medicine liquid whichis under evaporation. As a result, fouling prevention effects are evident in such three-phase flow boiling evaporator.     

Local heat transfer from a hot plate to a water jet

Jet impingement boiling is very efficient in cooling of hot surfaces as a part of the impinging liquid evaporates. Because of its importance to many cooling procedures, investigations on basic mechanisms of jet impingement boiling heat transfer are needed. Until now, most of the experimental studies, carried out under steady-state conditions, used a heat flux controlled system and were limited by the critical heat flux (CHF). The present study focuses on steady-state experiments along the entire boiling curve for hot plate temperatures of up to 700°C. A test section has been built up simulating a hot plate. It is divided into 8 independently heated modules of 10 mm length to enable local heat transfer measurements. By means of temperature controlled systems for each module local steady-state experiments in the whole range between single phase heat transfer and film boiling are possible. By solving the two dimensional inverse heat conduction problem, the local heat flux and the corresponding wall temperature on the surface of each module can be computed. The measurements show important differences between boiling curves measured at the stagnation line and those obtained in the parallel flow region. At the stagnation line, the transition boiling regime is characterised by very high heat fluxes, extended to large wall superheats. Inversely, boiling curves in the parallel flow region are very near to classical ones obtained for forced convection boiling. The analysis of temperature fluctuations measured at a depth of 0.8 mm from the boiling surface enables some conclusions on the boiling mechanism in the different boiling regimes.     

Enhancement of nucleate pool boiling heat transfer to dilute binary mixtures using endothermic chemical reactions around the smoothed horizontal cylinder

Experimental studies on enhancing the pool boiling heat transfer coefficient of binary dilute mixtures of water/glycerol, water/MEG (Mono-ethylene glycol) and water/DEG (di-ethylene glycol) have been carried out. Some particular endothermic chemical reactions related to ammonium salts were used to enhance the pool boiling heat transfer coefficient, simultaneously with occurrence of pool boiling heat transfer. Accordingly, 100?g of Ammonium nitrate, ammonium perborate and Ammonium sulfate were selected to dissolve into mixtures. High and extreme solution enthalpies of each of these ammonium salt powders are employed to reduce the surface temperature around the horizontal cylinder locally. Results demonstrated that presence of ammonium salts into the mixtures deteriorates the surface temperature of cylinder and as the result, higher pool boiling heat transfer coefficient is reported for tested solutions. Results are also reported and compared for different ammonium salts to find the influence of inducing different enthalpies of solution on pool boiling heat transfer coefficient. Obtained results also indicated that presence of endothermic reaction besides the pool boiling heat transfer enhances the heat transfer coefficients in comparison with nucleate pool boiling phenomenon solely.