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A review of recent advancements in the crystallization fouling of heat exchangers

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Abstract

A wide range of industrial processes (i.e., evaporation and condensation in desalination process, steam power plant, solar plant, etc.) involve heat transfer among the fluids. During the process of  evaporative and cooling heat transfer, undesirable materials from the fluids accumulate on the surfaces, which critically reduces the performance of heat exchangers and creates one of the biggest challenges in energy transfer. Though the various studies on prediction and removal of fouling was conducted by numerous scientists, this problem is still unresolved in industrial process and is responsible for huge environmental damage and economic losses. This investigation provides a comprehensive overview of crystallization fouling in heat exchangers. Various factors affecting the deposition of crystallization foulaning such as fluid temperature, flow velocity, surface material and roughness, concentration and boiling are systematically reviewed. Accuracy and uncertainty of different equipment and experimental studies are discussed. In addition, fouling modelling is comprehensively discussed from earlier fundamental model to recent computational fluid dynamic and artificial neural networks model. Furthermore, mitigation of fouling with off-line and online approaches are chronologically discussed. Finally, an overview from environmental and economic prospective of fouling in heat exchangers are discussed. The future directions for crystallization fouling in heat exchangers are emphasized, which will support the researchers and industries to retard fouling and achieve economic benefits.

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Abbreviations

A :

Surface area (m2)

C :

Concentration (gL−1)

D :

Diffusion coefficient (m2s−1)

\(\Delta E_{12}^{{{\text{TOT}}}}\) :

Total interaction energy (J)

h :

Convection heat transfer coefficient (Wm−2 K−1)

K m :

Fluid deposit mass transfer coefficient (ms−1)

K r :

Rate of reaction (m4kg−1 s−1)

\(K_{{\text{s}}}^{\prime }\) :

Deposit solubility product

m :

Mass (kg)

ṁ :

Mass flow rate (kg s−1)

n :

Order of reaction

Q :

Heat (J)

R :

Thermal resistance (m2KW−1)

Ra :

Arithmetic mean aberration

Re:

Reynold number

Rz :

Average surface roughness depth (µm)

Sh:

Sherwood number

t :

Time (s)

T :

Temperature (K, °C)

U :

Overall heat transfers coefficient (Wm−2 K−1)

v :

Velocity (ms−1)

Wa* :

Work of adhesion

x :

Thickness (m)

ƛ :

Thermal Conductivity, Wm K−1

β :

Inverse of time constant, s−1

τ :

Shear stress, Nm−2

ρ :

Density, kg m−3

* :

Asymptotic

b:

Bulk solution

c:

Clean

d:

Deposit

f:

Fouling

r:

Removal

sat:

Saturation

ANN:

Artificial neural network

AEMF:

Altering electromagnetic field

ANNM:

Artificial neural network model

CFD:

Computational fluid dynamic

DTPA:

Diethylene triamine pentaacetate

EAF:

Electronic antifouling

EDM:

Electric discharge machining

EDTA:

Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

FFNN:

Feed-forward neural network

GDP:

Gross domestic product

GNP:

Gross national product

MWCNT:

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes

PTFE:

Polytetrafluoroethylene

SCMC:

Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose

SEM:

Scanning electron microscopy

SWRO:

Sea water reverse osmosis

US:

Ultrasonic

USD:

United States dollar

VG:

Vortex generator

XRD:

X-ray diffraction

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Acknowledgements

This study is supported financially under the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme awarded by the Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia with Grant Number: FRGS/1/2019/TK03/UM/02/12 (FP143-2019A). The authors also gratefully acknowledge the support from Grants, RMF0400-13-2021, ST049-2022, RK001-2022, Centre of Advanced Manufacturing and Material Processing  (AMMP), Centre for Energy Sciences(CES), Centre of Advanced Materials (CAM), Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Malaya, and BUITEMS, Pakistan to conduct this research work.

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  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Kaleemullah Shaikh, Kazi Md Salim Newaz, Mohd Nashrul Mohd Zubir, Shekh Abdullah, Md Shadab Alam & Luvindran Sugumaran

  2. Faculty of Engineering, Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering, and Management Sciences (BUITEMS), 87100 Airport Road Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan

    Kaleemullah Shaikh

  3. Carbon Neutrality Research Group (CNRG), University of Southampton Malaysia, 79100, Iskandar Puteri, Malaysia

    Kok Hoe Wong

  4. Nanotechnology and Catalysis Research Centre (NANOCAT), Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Wajahat Ahmed Khan

  5. Centre of Advanced Manufacturing and Material Processing (AMMP), University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Kazi Md Salim Newaz

  6. Centre for Energy Sciences (CES), University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Mohd Nashrul Mohd Zubir

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  1. Kaleemullah Shaikh
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Shaikh, K., Newaz, K.M.S., Zubir, M.N.M. et al. A review of recent advancements in the crystallization fouling of heat exchangers. J Therm Anal Calorim 148, 12369–12392 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-023-12544-z

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