Prediction of thickness and fouling rate in pulsating flow heat exchangers, using FLUENT simulator

Nasser Saghatoleslami; Mehdi Koolivand Salooki; Mohammad Ali Armin

Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering, Vol.27, No.1, 96-103, January, 2010

DOI10.1007/s11814-009-0315-3 Export Citation

Prediction of thickness and fouling rate in pulsating flow heat exchangers, using FLUENT simulator

Nasser Saghatoleslami^†, Mehdi Koolivand Salooki, and Mohammad Ali Armin¹

Department of Chemical Engineering, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran
¹Department of Chemical Engineering, Shahrood Azad University, Shahrood, Iran

E-mail:

Heat exchangers are an important part of industrial processes as they handle a major portion of total energy consumption. Fouling could have serious impact on their performance and hence affect the economic performance of the process plant. The aim of this work was to simulate the crystallization fouling process in a heat exchanger by developing a C++ program and adopting UDF functions through Fluent software; and hence evaluate all the given models and consequently implement the model which would best suit our particular case. The finding of this work would enable us to evaluate the thickness and fouling rate in the heat exchangers. Furthermore, the effect of pulsating flow on the crystallization fouling of calcium sulfate (CaSO4) in the heat exchanger was also investigated, and the effect of operation of different amplitude of the oscillations (10-70) and frequencies (1.59-12.73 Hz) on the fouling of this compound was studied.

Keywords:Fouling;Heat Exchanger;Pulsating Flow;Fouling Resistance;Calcium Sulfate

[References]

Al-Haddad A, Al-Binally N, International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow, 10, 131 (1989)
Grassmann PP, Tuma M, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 22, 799 (1978)
Wang XF, Zhang NL, Int. J. Heat Mass Transf., 48(19-20), 3957 (2005)
Gomaa H, Al Taweel AM, Chem. Eng. J., 102(1), 71 (2004)
Mackley MR, Stonestreet P, Chem. Eng. Sci., 50(14), 2211 (1995)
Brunold CR, Hunns JCB, Mackley MR, Thompson JW, Chem. Eng. Sci., 44, 1227 (1989)
Howes T, Mackely MR, Roberts EPL, Chem. Eng. Sci., 46, 1669 (1991)
Gbadebo SA, Said AM, Habib MA, Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 35, 377 (1999)
Perez-Herranz V, Guinon JL, Garcia-Anton J, Chem. Eng. Sci., 54(11), 1667 (1999)
Martinelli RC, Boelter LMK, Weinberg EB, Yakahi S, Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 65, 789 (1943)
Mao ZX, Hanratty TJ, Experiments in Fluids, 2, 129 (1985)
Mao ZX, Hanratty TJ, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 170, 545 (1986)
Velazquez A, Arias JR, Montanes JL, Int. J. Heat Mass Transf., 52(3-4), 647 (2009)
Brahim F, Augustin W, Bohnet M, International Journal of Thermal Sciences, 42, 323 (2003)
FLUENT 6.1, Users’s Guide.
Lammers J, Diss. TU Berlin (1972)
Bohnet M, Augustin W, Hirsch H, Influence of fouling layer shear strength on removal, United Engineering Foundation and Begell House, New York (1997)
Brahim F, Augustin W, Bohnet M, ECI Conference on heat exchanger fouling and cleaning: Fundamentals and applications, 17 (2004)
Chen Y, Zhao J, ICEBO2006, Shenzhen, China HVAC technologies for energy efficiency, IV-6-3 (2006)
Suksangpanomrung A, Chungpaibulpatana S, Promvonge P, International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, 34, 829 (2007)

[1] Al-Haddad A, Al-Binally N, International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow, 10, 131 (1989)

[2] Grassmann PP, Tuma M, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 22, 799 (1978)

[3] Wang XF, Zhang NL, Int. J. Heat Mass Transf., 48(19-20), 3957 (2005)

[4] Gomaa H, Al Taweel AM, Chem. Eng. J., 102(1), 71 (2004)

[5] Mackley MR, Stonestreet P, Chem. Eng. Sci., 50(14), 2211 (1995)

[6] Brunold CR, Hunns JCB, Mackley MR, Thompson JW, Chem. Eng. Sci., 44, 1227 (1989)

[7] Howes T, Mackely MR, Roberts EPL, Chem. Eng. Sci., 46, 1669 (1991)

[8] Gbadebo SA, Said AM, Habib MA, Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 35, 377 (1999)

[9] Perez-Herranz V, Guinon JL, Garcia-Anton J, Chem. Eng. Sci., 54(11), 1667 (1999)

[10] Martinelli RC, Boelter LMK, Weinberg EB, Yakahi S, Transactions of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 65, 789 (1943)

[11] Mao ZX, Hanratty TJ, Experiments in Fluids, 2, 129 (1985)

[12] Mao ZX, Hanratty TJ, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 170, 545 (1986)

[13] Velazquez A, Arias JR, Montanes JL, Int. J. Heat Mass Transf., 52(3-4), 647 (2009)

[14] Brahim F, Augustin W, Bohnet M, International Journal of Thermal Sciences, 42, 323 (2003)

[15] FLUENT 6.1, Users’s Guide.

[16] Lammers J, Diss. TU Berlin (1972)

[17] Bohnet M, Augustin W, Hirsch H, Influence of fouling layer shear strength on removal, United Engineering Foundation and Begell House, New York (1997)

[18] Brahim F, Augustin W, Bohnet M, ECI Conference on heat exchanger fouling and cleaning: Fundamentals and applications, 17 (2004)

[19] Chen Y, Zhao J, ICEBO2006, Shenzhen, China HVAC technologies for energy efficiency, IV-6-3 (2006)

[20] Suksangpanomrung A, Chungpaibulpatana S, Promvonge P, International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, 34, 829 (2007)