The experimental investigation of corrosion fouling in tubular heat exchangers by heat transfer resistance monitoring (HTRM) method

The corrosion fouling behavior of 90/10 Cu/Ni tubes is investigated in this paper. A mathematical model of fouling resistance in tubular heat exchangers is adapted. The model is based on the applied thermal heat, the inside heat transfer coefficient, and geometrical characteristics of the heat exchanger under consideration. The effect of different contaminants such as calcium chloride, and sodium chloride on the corrosion fouling behavior of 90/10 Cu/Ni tubes was investigated by performing some week-long experiments. The effect of corrosion inhibitors used to mitigate corrosion was investigated experimentally for the case of calcium chloride solution. The tube surface was evaluated by analytical microscopy before and after the experiment to see the effect of corrosion fouling on the tube surface. The fouling resistance of calcium chloride solution is considerably higher than sodium chloride solution with the same molarity of chlorine ions. The experimental results show that the fouling effect of calcium chloride can be mitigated by addition of corrosion inhibitors to the solution. Experimental results provide quantitative information of liquid-side corrosion fouling on heat transfer surfaces, and its effects on the thermal efficiency.

Keywords:

fouling , corrosion , 90/10 Cu/Ni alloy , heatexchanger