The effect of particle concentration on ferric oxide fouling of water in tubes having a two-dimensional repeated rib geometry

Abstract

The effect of ferric oxide concentration on particulate fouling in two-dimensional repeated rib tubes is investigated. Three repeated rib tubes with the range of roughness configuration 0.015≤e/D_i≤0.030 and 10≤p/e≤20 are tested. The fouling curves show an asymptotic behavior. The fouling resistances of repeated rib tubes are higher than that of the plain tube. At low concentration of 750 ppm, however, they are approximately the same. The repeated rib tubes show stronger concentration dependencies compared with the plain tube. Within the test range, the repeated rib tube fouling resistance increases as p/e increases and e/D_i decreases. The deposit inspection supports this trend. The effect of the deposit non-uniformity on fouling resistance and the effect of deposit on heat transfer performance are additionally examined.