Because of the complexity of fouling, it has been primarily studied as individual mechanisms. However, in actual field conditions, multiple mechanisms may be present. Little is understood about how different mechanisms interact. In cooling tower applications, water is treated with corrosion inhibitors and biocides to eliminate biological and corrosion fouling mechanisms. The fouling in cooling towers is, therefore, typically a combination of precipitation and particulate fouling. This paper presents a literature survey of research in the area of particulate, precipitation, and combined fouling modes in heat exchangers that use cooling tower water. Several experiments, models, and correlations are briefly described. The article concludes with a review section on long-term fouling data.
WatkinsonA. P.EpsteinN.Particulate fouling of sensible heat exchangers. Proceedings of the 4th International Heat Transfer Conference, Paris-Versailles, France, 1970, vol. 1, pp. 1–12, paper no. HE 1.6.
7.
ThononB.GrandgeorgeS.JallutC.Effect of geometry and flow conditions on particulate fouling in plate heat exchangers. Heat Transf. Eng., 1999, 20 (3), 12–24.
8.
CleaverJ. W.YatesB.A sub layer model for the deposition of particles from a turbulent flow. Chem. Eng. Sci., 1975, 30, 983–992.
9.
CleaverJ. W.YatesB.The effect of re-entrainment on particle deposition. Chem. Eng. Sci., 1976, 36, 147–151.
10.
EpsteinN.Fouling: Technical aspects. Fouling of heat transfer equipment (Eds SomerscalesE. F. C.KnudsenJ. G.), 1981, pp. 31–53 (Hemisphere Publishing Corporation, Washington).
11.
WebbR. L.KimN-H.Particulate fouling in enhanced tubes. Heat transfer equipment fundamentals, design, applications and operating problems, 1989, HTD - vol. 108, pp. 315–324 (ASME, New York, NY, USA).
12.
WebbR. L.ChamraL. M.On-line cleaning of particulate fouling in enhanced tubes. Fouling and enhancement interactions, 1991, HTD - vol. 164, pp. 47–54, (ASME, New York, NY, USA).
13.
SomerscalesE. F. C.PonteduroA. F.BerglesA. E.Particulate fouling of heat transfer tubes enhanced on their inner surface, Fouling and enhancement interactions, 1991, HTD - Vol. 164, pp. 17–26, (ASME, New York, NY, USA).
14.
WebbR. L.Principles of enhanced heat transfer, 1994 (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York).
15.
ChamraL. M.WebbR. L.Effect of particle size and size distribution on particulate fouling in enhanced tubes. Enhanced Heat Transf., 1993, 1 (1), 65–75.
16.
ChamraL. M.WebbR. L.Modeling liquid-side particulate fouling in enhanced tubes. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf., 1994, 37 (4), 571–579.
HassonD.Precipitation fouling. Fouling of heat transfer equipment, (Eds SomerscalesE. F. C.KnudsenJ. G.), 1981, pp. 527–568 (Hemisphere, New York).
21.
HassonD.Rate of decrease of heat transfer due to scale. DECHEMA Monogr., 1962, 47, 233–282.
22.
HassonD.AvrielM.ResnickW.RozenmanT.WindreichS.Mechanism of calcium carbonate scale deposition on heat-transfer surfaces. I and EC Fundamentals, 1968, 7 (1), 59–65.
23.
TaborekJ.AokiT.RitterR. B.PalenJ. W.KnudsenJ. G.Fouling - the major unresolved problem in heat transfer, part I. Chem. Eng. Prog., 1972, 88 (2), 59–67.
24.
TaborekJ.AokiT.RitterR. B.PalenJ. W.KnudsenJ. G.Fouling - the major unresolved problem in heat transfer, part II. Chem. Eng. Prog., 1972, 88 (7), 69–78.
25.
WatkinsonA. P.LouisL.BrentR.Scaling of enhanced heat exchanger tubes. Can. J. Chem. Eng., 1974, 52, 558–562.
26.
WatkinsonA. P.MartinezO.Scaling of spirally indented heat exchanger tubes. ASME J. Heat Transf., 1975, 97, 490–492.
27.
KnudsenJ. G.StoryM.The effect of heat transfer surface temperature on the scaling behavior of simulated cooling tower water. AIChE Symp. Ser., 1978, 74 (174), 25–30.
28.
MorseR. W.KnudsenJ. G.Effects of alkalinity of simulated cooling tower water. Can. J. Chem. Eng., 1977, 55, 272–278.
LahmL.Jr.KnusdenJ. G.Precipitation of cooling water. Heat transfer sourcebook (Ed PalenJ. W.), 1986 (Hemisphere Publishing, Washington).
32.
KnudsenJ. G.SantosoE.BreskeT. C.DonohueJ. M.ChenowethJ. M.Fouling characteristics of cooling tower water containing phosphate corrosion inhibitors. Proceedings of the 1987 ASME-JSME Thermal Engineering Joint Conference, 1987, vol. 3, p. 10.
33.
WatkinsonA. P.Water quality effects on fouling from hard water. Heat transfer sourcebook (Ed PalenJ. W.), 1986 (Hemisphere Publishing, Washington).
34.
HassonD.ShermanH.BitonM.Prediction of calcium carbonate scaling rates. National Safety News, 1978, 2, 193–199.
35.
SheikholeslamiR.WatkinsonA. P.Scaling of plain and externally finned heat exchanger tubes. ASME Transf. J. Heat Transf., 1986, 108, 147–152.
36.
DreytserG. A.GomonV. I.ArnozI. Z.Comparison of fouling in tubes with annular turbulence promoters and in smooth tubes of shell-and-tube heat exchangers. Heat Transf. Sov. Res., 1983, 15 (1), 87–93.
37.
ZubairS. M.SheikhA. K.BudairM. O.HaqM. U.QuddusA.AshiruO. A.Statistical aspects of CaCO3 fouling in AISI 316 stainless-steel tubes. ASME Trans. J. Heat Transf., 1997, 119, 581–588.
38.
KhanSultan M.BudairM. O.ZubairS. M.A parametric study of CaCO3 scaling in AISI 316 stainless steel tubes. Heat Mass Transf., 2001, 38, 115–121.
39.
SheikholeslamiR.NgM.Calcium sulfate precipitation in the presence of nondominant calcium carbonate: Thermodynamics and kinetics. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 2001, 40, 3570–3578.
40.
BansalB.Muller-SteinhagenH.ChenX. D.Effect of suspended particles on crystallization fouling in plate heat exchangers. ASME J. Heat Transf., 1997, 119, 568–574.
41.
RabasT. J.PanchalC. B.SasscerD. S.SchaeferR.Comparison of power-plant condenser cooling-water fouling rates for spirally-indented and plain tubes. Fouling and enhancement interactions, 1991, HTD - vol. 164, pp. 29–36 (ASME, New York, NY, USA).
42.
HaiderS. I.WebbR. L.MeitzA. K.A Survey of water quality and its effect on fouling in flooded water chiller evaporators. ASHRAE Trans., 1991, 97 (1), 55–67.
43.
HaiderS. I.WebbR. L.MeitzA. K.An experimental study of tube-side fouling resistance in water-chiller-flooded evaporators. ASHRAE Trans., 1992, 98 (2), 86–103.
44.
WebbR. L.LiW.Fouling in enhanced tubes using cooling tower water Part I: Long-term fouling data. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf., 2000, 43, 3567–3578.
45.
LiW.WebbR. L.Fouling in enhanced tubes using cooling tower water Part II: Combined particulate and precipitation fouling. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf., 2000, 43, 3579–3588.
46.
LiW.The performances of internal helical-rib roughness tubes under fouling conditions: Practical cooling tower water fouling and accelerated particulate fouling. ASME J. Heat Transf., 2003, 125, 746–748.
47.
LiW.WebbR. L.BerglesA. E.Particulate fouling of water in internal helical-rib roughness tubes. Proceedings of the 12th International Conference of Heat Transfer at Grenoble, France, 2002, TaineJean, ed, Société Française des Thermiciens (SFT), Elsevier, Paris.
