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Numerical simulation of calcium sulfate (CaSO4) fouling in the plate heat exchanger

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Abstract

Plate heat exchanger is a widely used apparatus in the industrial production processes. Through a numerical simulation method, this paper calculates the deposition rate of CaSO4 fouling on heat transfer surfaces of the plate heat exchanger under saturation in the bulk. The effects of CaSO4 concentration in the range 0.7 kg/m3 to 1.5 kg/m3, inlet flow velocity under turbulent flow, and the fluid’s inlet temperature from 288 K to 328 K on the deposition rate, removal mass rate and fouling resistance are investigated. The simulation results are compared with the experimental results showing similar trend. The simulation results show that the concentration and the flow velocity affect significantly the fouling characteristics in the plate heat exchanger. The deposition mass rate, removal mass rate, and asymptotic value of fouling resistance all increase with the increase in CaSO4 concentration and the inlet temperature of the hot fluid, while the asymptotic value of fouling resistance decreases with the increasing of inlet flow velocity. The influence of the inlet temperature of cold fluid may be negligible.

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Abbreviations

A :

Heat transfer area of plate heat exchanger (m2)

C :

Concentration (kg/m3)

C b :

The concentration in the unit space (kg/m3)

c F :

Concentration of CaSO4 in cold fluid

C μ,C 1,C 2 :

Constant term

c p :

Heat capacity at constant pressure (kJ·kg−1·K−1)

D :

Diffusion coefficient

d e :

Equivalent diameter (m)

d p :

Average radius of CaSO4 crystals in the solution (μm)

E :

Activation energy (kJ·kg−1·mol−1)

f :

Friction factor

g :

Acceleration of gravity (m/s2)

h :

Overall heat transfer coefficient (W·m−2·K−1)

I :

Turbulence intensity

K m :

Mass transfer coefficient (m/s)

k :

Turbulent kinetic energy

k R :

Reaction rate constant

k R0 :

Chemical reaction rate constant m4/(kg·s)

k t :

Convective mass transfer coefficient (m/s)

L :

Hydraulic diameter of import and export (m)

L 0 :

Length of plate heat exchanger (m)

l :

Characteristic length (m)

m d :

Deposition rate (kg·m−2·s−1)

m f :

Mass of fouling deposition on the unit heat exchanger area (kg/m2)

m r :

Erosion rate (kg·m−2·s−1)

Nu :

Nusselt number

q :

Mass flow (kg/s)

R :

Gas constant

R f :

Fouling resistance (m2·K/W)

R f * :

Asymptotic fouling resistance

Sc :

Schmidt number

Sh :

Sherwood number

S ϕ :

General source item

T :

Temperature (K)

T C :

Cold fluid temperature (K)

T H :

Hot fluid temperature (K)

t :

Time (s)

U :

Velocity vector

u :

Velocity (m/s)

V :

Fluid velocity (m/s)

x f :

Thickness of fouling layer (mm)

Γ ϕ :

Generalized diffusion coefficient

Δp :

Pressure difference (Pa)

ΔT :

Temperature difference (K)

δ:

Linear expansion coefficient (W·m−1·K−1)

ε :

Turbulent energy dissipation rate

η :

Hydrodynamic viscosity coefficient

η t :

Turbulent viscosity coefficient

λ :

Thermal conductivity

λ f :

Thermal conductivity of fouling layer W/(m·K)

ρ :

Density (kg/m3)

ρ f :

Average density of fouling layer (kg/m3)

ϕ :

Generalized variable

ψ :

Correction coefficient of temperature deviation

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Acknowledgements

Authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.51476025).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Energy and Power Engineering, Northeast Electric power University, Jilin, Jilin Province, China

    Zhiming Xu, Yu Zhao, Zhimin Han & Jingtao Wang

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  1. Zhiming Xu
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  2. Yu Zhao
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Correspondence to Yu Zhao.

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Xu, Z., Zhao, Y., Han, Z. et al. Numerical simulation of calcium sulfate (CaSO4) fouling in the plate heat exchanger. Heat Mass Transfer 54, 1867–1877 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-018-2282-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00231-018-2282-x

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