Numerical and experimental analysis of composite fouling in corrugated plate heat exchangers Wei Li a,⇑ , Hong-xia Li a , Guan-qiu Li a , Shi-chune Yao b a Department of Energy Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, PR China b Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States article info Article history: Received 4 August 2012 Received in revised form 24 March 2013 Accepted 29 March 2013 Available online 1 May 2013 Keywords: Fouling Numerical simulation Von-Karman analogy Plate heat exchanger abstract This paper provides a numerical and experimental analysis on precipitation and particulate fouling in corrugated plate heat exchangers with different geometric parameters which are plate height, plate spac- ing, and plate angle. The Realizable j–e model with non-equilibrium wall functions is used in the 3D numerical simulation considering the realistic geometries of the flow channel to obtained Nusselt num- ber and wall shear stress, while Von-Karman analogy is used to obtain mass transfer coefficient. Numer- ical analysis is verified by experimental study. The predicted influence of fluid velocity in fouling resistance is compatible with experimental data that it can help to optimize the design of plate heat exchangers. This investigation significantly simplifies the fouling analysis of complex flow fields and can be used to assess the fouling potential of corrugated plate heat exchangers. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Plate heat exchanger (PHE) has been widely used in many industrial applications, such as food, oil, heat-recovery etc., be- cause of its outstanding heat transfer performance, easy mainte- nance, compactness, and convenience to increase heat transfer area etc. [1]. Corrugations in plate heat exchangers enhance heat transfer rate by increasing heat transfer area and increasing turbu- lence mixing at low flow rates. However, fouling brings many con- cerns in the applications of PHEs. The heat transfer coefficient of fouled PHEs can be even lower than the heat exchangers with no enhanced surfaces. Fouling is a comprehensive and complex problem, which has many influential factors. Many researchers have investigated the effects of geometry design and process conditions on fouling per- formance for tubes. In a number cases the fouling models were established. Kim and Webb conducted accelerated particulate foul- ing experiments in three repeated rib tubes and a plain tube. The mass transfer rate is assumed to control the particle transport pro- cess, and the wall shear stress is assumed to control the removal process [1]. Webb and Li [2] took 2 years to perform practical cool- ing tower water fouling in a series of a series of seven helical-rib tubes and a smooth tube. The j factor analogy was used to calculate the asymptotic fouling resistance [3]. Naess et al. [4] reported an experimental study of accelerated particulate fouling tests from real industrial gas streams on bare and finned tubes in cross flow. Asymptotic fouling behavior was observed for both finned and un- finned tubes. The major part of the deposit was formed on the rear section of the tubes, where shear forces were low and protected from impaction of larger particles. Cho’s team continued to develop anti-fouling technology [5]. They investigated the effect of a self- cleaning filter on the performance of physical water treatment coil for the mitigation of mineral fouling in a concentric counter flow heat exchanger. Recent studies on fouling inside PHE are following. Merheb et al. [6] monitored the fouling inside PHE in real time, using multiple optimized non-intrusive sensors. Low-frequency acoustic waves propagated through the plates, and these waves were analyzed to detect fouling inside the PHE. Mahdi et al. [7] proposed a two- dimensional dynamic model for milk fouling to predict the perfor- mance of a PHE using material balance equations. Their results showed fouling was highly dependent on the various process oper- ating conditions. Lei et al. [8] tested the effects of surface roughness and textures of the PHE on calcium carbonate fouling, and found that the growth rate, the distribution and the crystal size of calcium carbonate fouling were strongly dependent on the surface texture and finish. Jun et al. [9] accounted for the hydrodynamics of fluid flow using a 2D model, which was capable of predicting the temper- ature distribution of flow with higher accuracy than a 1D model. Georgiadis and Macchietto [10] predicted the milk deposit patterns on the plate surfaces, which were expected to pave the way to orga- nize and optimize the operating conditions for reducing the extra cost involved in fouling. Izadi et al. [11] tested the effects of different parameters, such as surface roughness, flow velocity, and concen- tration on the calcium carbonate scale formation process by using 0017-9310/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2013.03.073 ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel./fax: +86 571 87952244. E-mail address: weili96@zju.edu.cn (W. Li). International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 63 (2013) 351–360 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhmt