Analysis of Fouling in Six-Start Spirally Corrugated Tubes

Abstract

Fouling on heat exchanger surfaces can weaken the heat-transfer capability, increase the energy consumption, and even cause the failure of the whole system. In coaxial heat exchangers, spirally corrugated tubes perform better than smooth ones concerning heat transfer and antifouling. In this article, a parametric study on the antifouling performance of a six-start spirally corrugated tube is carried out with a solid–liquid two-phase model. First, comparisons between a smooth tube and a specific sample six-start spirally corrugated tube on the solid particle volume fraction distributions are carried out. Then, the effects of solid particle diameter, the main geometric parameters, including pitch and the corrugation depth, are investigated. Analyzing the solid particle volume fraction with different geometries, solid particle diameters and Reynolds number, the roles played by the centrifugal force, drag force, and gravity of solid particles on fouling performance in six-start spirally corrugated tubes are obtained. In addition, the corrugation depth affects the volume fraction range more while the pitch affects more on the steady range of particle volume fraction. This work is of significance for further design of spirally corrugated tubes and analysis of fouling problems in heat exchangers.