Heat transfer and fouling deposition investigation on the titanium coated heat exchanger surface

Fouling is the undesired deposition on heat exchanger surfaces which enhance heat transfer resistances and retard heat exchanger performance. This paper investigates fouling mitigation of calcium carbonate by the application of coatings on SS316L heat exchanger. Titanium (Ti) was selected as coating material due to its high resistance to corrosion and good surface adhesion. Physical vapor deposition method was adopted to coat Ti on the SS316L surface. Heat transfer investigation at different flow rates were conducted to observe the effect of coating and then fouling experiments were carried out to investigate the deposition of Calcium Carbonate to the coated and uncoated surfaces. The test section was taken under microscopic investigation to study the surface texture before and after the fouling effect. It was observed that the Ti coated SS316L surface of heat exchanger surface experienced less corrosion, enhanced heat transfer and reduced fouling deposition.