Fouling in Circulating Cooling Water System

Abstract

Fouling exists in almost every circulating cooling water system. It greatly harms to the operation of the system. According to their formation, fouling can be classified into crystallization fouling, particulate fouling, chemical reaction fouling, corrosion fouling, biological fouling, condensation fouling and mixed fouling. There are many factors influence fouling, and the main factors include the fluid temperature, flow rate, heat-transfer surface temperature and so on. The formation of fouling involves origin, transport, adhesion, exfoliation and aging stage. Due to difference of the formation mechanism and applicable conditions, fouling models are also different. Two typical models were introduced in the paper.