Refereed Proceedings

Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning:

Fundamentals and Applications
Engineering Conferences International Year 2003

Fouling During the Use of Seawater as

Coolant - The Development of a ‘User
Guide’
S. Pugh∗ G.F. Hewitt†
H. Müller-Steinhagen‡

∗ ESDU International
† Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine
‡ University of Stuttgart

This paper is posted at ECI Digital Archives.

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 Pugh et al.: Fouling During the Use of Seawater as Coolant - The Development o

Fouling during the use of seawater as coolant- the development of a ‘User Guide’

S. J. Pugh1*, G. F. Hewitt2, H. Müller-Steinhagen3

1
ESDU International, 27 Corsham Street, London N1 6UA, UK. Email: [email protected]
2
Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemical Technology, Imperial College of Science,
Technology and Medicine, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2BY, UK
3
Institute for Thermodynamics and Thermal Engineering, University of Stuttgart, Germany.

ABSTRACT Table 1 ESDU Oil Industry Fouling Working

Party Participants, 2002/03
ESDU International of London, UK has recently
published a ‘User Guide’ [1] on fouling in heat Refinery Operators
exchange systems using seawater as the coolant. BP
Developed over a period of eighteen months in Chevron Texaco
close collaboration with a team of oil refiners, Exxon Mobil
heat transfer equipment and services suppliers Shell Global Solutions
and universities, with valuable input from the Statoil
power industry, the User Guide is a practical Total
guide to the current state of knowledge relating
to fouling in cooling systems using seawater. Its Heat Transfer Equipment and Services
objective is to provide the designer and the ABB Lummus Heat Transfer
operator of both onshore and offshore equipment Brown Fintube Company
with a practical source of guidance on the Cal Gavin
occurrence, the mechanisms and the mitigation Fluor Daniel
of seawater fouling in these systems. HTRI
Kvaerner Process
ESDU’s collaborative Oil Industry Fouling NEL
Working Party was formed in recognition of the Petroval
huge economic and environmental importance of Struthers Heat Transfer
heat exchanger fouling and the potential benefits Wellman-Graham
that can accrue from better understanding of UKAEA
mitigation strategies. The seawater fouling User
Guide is the second in a group, following the Universities
development of the Crude Oil Fouling User Birmingham University
Guide issued in 2000. Work is now underway on UMIST
cooling water fouling, University of Bath
University of Cambridge
The development of the User Guide is discussed
in this paper and its technical content is INTRODUCTION
summarized
Heat exchanger fouling in general is a major
Keywords: Fouling, cooling, seawater, economic problem, accounting for 0.25% of the
mitigation, cleaning, heat exchangers, plate, gross domestic product (GDP) in the highly
shell-and-tube, cooling tower, pipework. industrialised countries [2]. Against this
background, ESDU formed the industrially led

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 Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning: Fundamentals and Applications, Art. 3 [2003]

Oil Industry Fouling Working Party of oil Although seawater consumption is less in the
company experts in refining technology and key process industries than in the power generation
engineers from companies developing fouling industry, its effective use is crucial, particularly
mitigation technologies. It was noted that some in offshore processing.
70% of the global refining capacity was
represented on the Working Party. Member In electricity utilities and process plants located
companies are listed in Table 1. in coastal zones, seawater is frequently used
directly in heat exchangers and condensers.
A key milestone for the group was the
publication in July 2000 of the ESDU Data Item Once-through systems using fresh water are used
(“User Guide”) ‘Heat exchanger fouling in the in locations close to rivers or lakes. However,
pre-heat train of a crude oil distillation unit”, and fresh water supplies are usually not sufficiently
associated software [3]. These tools allow abundant and their consumption is increasingly
process engineers and plant operators to review restricted by legislation limiting the thermal load
the impact of process conditions and equipment on natural waters and the use of chemical
design changes on heat exchanger fouling and additives for cooling water conditioning. It has,
plant operation. therefore, become common practice to use closed
cooling water systems and to reject the heat to
The work was conducted under the guidance of the atmosphere via cooling towers or to fresh
the ESDU Oil Industry Fouling Working Party water or seawater through heat exchangers.
and consisted of detailed review and evaluation
of the experience of the industrial members and a On a world scale, fresh water represents only a
literature study. small fraction of available water. The world’s
water resources [3] are 1.36 × 1018 m3 of which
This paper follows in part the structure of the only a small proportion is fresh water. Keens
seawater fouling User Guide and summarizes estimated the distribution of available water as
some of its content. follows:

WATER AS A COOLANT Oceans 97.2%

Icecaps & Glaciers 2.15%
Water is the main coolant in industry, though Atmosphere 0.001%
environmental pressures are increasingly Ground water 0.626%
militating in favour of the use of air rather than Rivers 0.0001%
water. Oil refineries, chemical plants, steels Fresh water lakes 0.009%
mills, power plants, all use water to remove heat Saline lakes 0.008%.
from their processes. Generally the water is not
consumed, but simply passes through heat Fresh water conservation in process plant is often
exchangers and returns to the source. economically very important [5]. Thus, cooling
with seawater, when it is readily available in the
Seawater consumption is huge in the power locality, makes use of the largest resource of
generation industry. According to Keens [4], the water. Keens estimated that 42% of the water
United States power industry uses around 6700 used by US power plants is seawater; however,
m3/s (106 million US gallons per minute); that is, this utilisation is likely to decrease in future
80% of all industrial cooling water or a third of because of the severe environmental pressures.
water usage for all purposes in the USA.

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 Pugh et al.: Fouling During the Use of Seawater as Coolant - The Development o

Usually, cooling with seawater is done on a glycol (TEG) or mono-ethylene glycol

once-through basis (though it is occasionally (MEG) is used as the secondary cooling
used in cooling towers). It has the following medium. For onshore use, fresh water is
further advantages over cooling by re-circulated often used if climate conditions permit.
fresh water from cooling towers:
3. Use of seawater in cooling towers. In some
• With cooling towers, there is a limit on the areas, it may be economic to utilise seawater
return temperature to within around 5oC of in cooling towers; here, the heat rejection is
the wet bulb temperature and, often, once- not only to the sea but also to the
through seawater systems give lower atmosphere due to partial evaporation of the
available temperatures and, hence, smaller seawater. This obviously can make
heat exchangers. available an alternative source of cooling
tower water where fresh water is expensive.
• There is continuous loss of (relatively It can also lead to a considerable reduction
expensive) fresh water from cooling towers. of pumping power and thermal pollution.
Typically, 0.2% is lost as spray and about Usually, in such systems, the seawater is
1% as water vapour for each 5oC of cooling cycled through the cooling tower for no
in the cooling tower. more than two cycles, to minimise corrosion
and fouling.
There are two possible routes to utilisation of
seawater as a heat sink, namely the use of direct Typically, for direct cooling process
and indirect cooling systems. These choices are applications, plate heat exchangers are used for
summarised below, but are described and low-pressure duties and shell-and-tube
illustrated by industrial examples in the User exchangers for high-pressure duties. Plate
Guide [1]. exchangers would be a common choice for
cooling of the cooling medium in indirect
SELECTION OF SEAWATER COOLING systems.
SYSTEM TYPE
The selection between the two most common
There are three possible routes to utilisation of (direct and indirect) systems is a prime design
seawater as a heat sink: decision and needs to be considered carefully.
The advantages and disadvantages of the
1. Direct use of seawater; here, the seawater is respective systems are summarised in the User
pumped directly to the heat exchanger and Guide.
there is direct transfer of heat (across the
heat exchanger surface) from the hot INTRODUCTION TO HEAT EXCHANGER
medium being cooled to the seawater FOULING
cooling medium.
Epstein [6] classified fouling mechanisms for
2. Indirect use of seawater; here, heat is heat exchangers into particulate fouling,
exchanged between the seawater and a crystallisation fouling, corrosion fouling,
secondary stream which could be fresh water chemical reaction fouling and biofouling.
or a mixture of fresh water and, say, glycol; Biofouling (both aerobic and non-aerobic) and
this secondary stream is then used as the corrosion fouling are the most important
cooling medium. In general, for offshore mechanisms for seawater cooling systems but
use, water with typically 30% of tri-ethylene crystallisation fouling and particulate fouling

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 Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning: Fundamentals and Applications, Art. 3 [2003]

may also be significant in some circumstances. behaviour (d) is observed. A typical example is
Epstein suggested a general sequence of fouling shown in Figure 2 [9].
events which may play a role in all types of
fouling; the sequence is: Compact Heat Exchangers

• initiation, For compact heat exchangers, it is common

• transport of foulant, practice to define a duty margin, which is the
• attachment to the surface, amount that the surface area has to be increased
• release of the deposit, and to account for fouling; this might typically be
• ageing of the deposit on the surface. around 10-20%. Care needs to be taken about the
way in which the additional area is introduced.
The processes of heat exchanger fouling are Increasing area by increasing the number of
actually quite complex and there is an increasing channels would decrease velocity and may lead
need to consider these complexities in designing to an infringement of minimum velocity
and operating systems. Fouling is currently constraints. Alternatively, area might be
accommodated in heat exchanger design as increased by increasing tube length without
follows. affecting velocity but this may infringe pressure
drop restraints.
Tubular Heat Exchangers
For plate-and-frame heat exchangers, the
In order to quantify the fouling propensity of the following fouling factors have been suggested
heat exchanger, it is normal to define, for tubular [10]:
heat exchangers, a fouling factor, Rf . This is
derived from the normal definition of overall Coastal seawater: 0.000 043 m2 K/W.
heat transfer coefficient. It is common practice in Ocean seawater: 0.000 026 m2 K/W.
industry to use fixed values of fouling factors for
tubular exchangers, most usually those listed by However, for plate heat exchangers, the
the Tubular Exchangers Manufacturers maximum excess surface area should be also
Association (TEMA) [7]. limited to 20-25% of the clean surface
requirements.
In practice, however, a wide range of variation in
fouling factor is observed, and the value of the Power Station Condensers
fouling factor that applies will depend critically
on the circumstances. Also, it should be stressed For power station condensers, it is common
that fouling is a time-dependent phenomenon. practice to account for fouling using a
Figure 1 [8] illustrates the various forms of cleanliness factor, which is the fraction of the
variation of Rf with time that may occur. The clean surface heat transfer which occurs after
assumption of constant values of Rf would be accounting for fouling. This methodology is
consistent (in the longer term) only with the recommended by the Heat Exchange Institute
asymptotic behaviour, (c). In many cases, the Inc. (HEI) whose standards [11] tabulate
fouling factor would continue to increase over reference values of overall heat transfer
the period of operation of a system between coefficients which are functions of velocity and
cleaning either linearly (a) or with a falling rate tube diameter.
(b). In some circumstances, the fouling layer is
periodically removed and a “saw tooth” In contrast to TEMA, HEI does not make
quantitative recommendations on how to allow

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 Pugh et al.: Fouling During the Use of Seawater as Coolant - The Development o

for the effect of fouling; HEI standards state the Of the above mechanisms, the ones presenting
following: “A design cleanliness factor (FC) the most problems for seawater systems are
should be selected by the Purchaser that suitably corrosion fouling and biological fouling.
reflects the probable operating conditions the
tubes will experience in service. Non-copper There are six factors that have a predominant
bearing tube materials are more susceptible to role in governing fouling in seawater systems:
biofouling than tubes with a high copper
content”. Surface temperature. The temperature at the
interface between the seawater and the solid
Guidance on the use of cleanliness factor is given surface (that is, initially the metal but later the
in the User Guide, where a comparison of stated foulant layer) is of crucial importance. Figure 3
HEI values and those calculated based on TEMA sketches the effect of temperature on the various
values are presented. Large discrepancies are types of fouling. Thus, for crystalline fouling, the
shown between values. It is noted that to deposition is small at temperatures below 60oC
maintain high cleanliness factors, attention needs but can become serious at elevated temperatures
to be given to maintaining high velocities and to [9].
proper design of inlet conditions, etc.
Fouling factors for corrosion fouling show a
TYPES OF SEAWATER FOULING peak value as temperature increases; at low
temperature, the corrosion rate increases with
The most important forms of fouling occurring in temperature but the corrosion requires the
seawater systems are as follows: presence of dissolved oxygen and this dissolved
oxygen content is reduced at higher temperatures
Crystallisation fouling. This includes the due to the decreasing solubility of oxygen in
deposition of calcium carbonate, calcium water. For biological fouling, the rate initially
sulphate and other salts that have a solubility that increases with temperature [12] up to about 30-
diminishes with increasing temperature, leading 40oC. Foulant organisms are killed at high
to crystallisation of deposits of the salts on the temperature and, thus, the rate of biological
heat exchanger tubes. fouling decreases with increasing temperature.
There is less effect of temperature on deposition
Corrosion fouling. Some metals are oxidised to of silt but it should be noted that silt or mud
produce insulating layers of oxides on the tubes. deposits could be dehydrated at higher
temperatures, which decreases their conductivity
Biological fouling. A whole range of biological and increases the fouling factor.
growths form on heat exchanger tubes in
seawater. The species attached range from Bulk temperature. The value of the bulk
micro-organisms (bacteria, algae) to macro- temperature is also important. Biological growth
organisms (mussels, barnacles, etc.). becomes faster as bulk temperature increases
from ambient values. At high bulk temperatures
Particulate fouling. Seawater may contain many the organisms may be killed; however, long
types of silt, mud, sand or other finely divided residence times may be required at elevated bulk
particles that may settle on the heat exchanger temperatures, to kill the organisms present. At
surfaces and act as an insulating layer. the UK CEGB Abberthaw “A” power station,
water temperature was increased to 85°C by
reversing and throttling the flow. A time of 120
minutes was required at this temperature to kill

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 Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning: Fundamentals and Applications, Art. 3 [2003]

off mussel growth. The use of higher temperature limitations for use in seawater
temperatures would increase the rate at which the cooling systems (it can be used up to 300oC
mussel growth could be killed (but was not though it, too, may have stress corrosion
possible in this case due to problems of cracking problems above 100oC), However, it is
differential thermal expansion, Loraine [13]). more susceptible to biological fouling,
particularly if the velocities are too low.
Water velocity. The relative effects of water Titanium tubes are, however, able to withstand
velocity on the various fouling mechanisms are higher velocities and this allows the avoidance of
sketched in Figure 4. Water velocity generally biofouling by suitable increases in velocity.
has only a small effect on crystalline fouling at Cathodic protection can increase allowable
lower velocities but may tend to shear off the operating temperatures in seawater considerably.
crystalline deposits at higher velocities.
Corrosion fouling is not strongly affected by Upstream pipework materials. Corrosion
water velocity but there is a strong velocity effect products from upstream pipework may be
in both biological fouling and suspended solids transferred to the heat exchanger and create a
fouling. With biological fouling, the fouling rate fouling layer. Care should therefore be taken in
may increase with velocity at low velocities, the selection of materials for such pipework.
reflecting the need to supply nutrients to the
surface which needs at least a low flow rate to Solids. Superficially, high solids concentrations
sustain mass transfer. might be expected to reduce fouling rate.
However, there is a significant risk that erosion
For the same turbulence level (and hence shear followed by corrosion will severely damage
rate), flow velocities in compact heat exchanger tubes (particularly with Cu-based alloys). In
types, such as plate-and-frame heat exchangers seawater, sand is the most prevalent solid and
are lower than in tubular geometries. erosion may be expected for sand particles with
sizes greater that around 50 micrometres at
Oxygen concentration. As was mentioned concentrations more than a few hundred ppm.
above, corrosion fouling is strongly affected by Titanium and Superduplex alloys are much less
the amount of oxygen dissolved in the water. prone to erosion-corrosion than copper-based
This tends to reduce at higher temperatures. alloys.
Oxygen is also necessary for the maintenance of
biological fouling, though anaerobic slimes can It is important to stress that several fouling
sometimes occur at low oxygen concentrations. mechanisms frequently operate simultaneously.
Thus, interaction effects may be important in
Tube or plate material. The material of the tube many circumstances. An example here is the
or plate in the heat exchanger plays an important complex effect of flow velocity; high velocities
role in fouling. Alloys with more than about 60- at a given surface temperature will reduce the
70% copper will not support marine growth. potential of biological fouling and silt deposition.
Ferrous materials are easily oxidised. Most However, in most practical applications the
stainless steels are susceptible to stress corrosion higher flow rates would also lead to lower
cracking. Duplex high chrome nickel alloy surface temperatures and this may offset the
tubing is generally not suitable for seawater duty decrease in biological fouling resulting from the
but some suppliers claim that Superduplex nickel increase in velocity (see Figure 3). This
alloy tubing may be used for metal temperatures underlines the need to treat fouling problems in
up to around 50oC. Titanium has excellent terms of overall system design and not just as a
resistance to corrosion and usually has no series of numbers (e.g. TEMA fouling factors),

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 Pugh et al.: Fouling During the Use of Seawater as Coolant - The Development o

which can be introduced in an arbitrary way. It is impingement corrosion, polluted water and
possible to also have temporarily varying fouling deposit attack, but is more expensive.
mechanisms. A power station on the Thames
Estuary at West Thurrock, UK (fitted originally • 90-10 copper-nickel which is roughly
with 70-30 copper nickel tubes) suffered from intermediate between aluminium brass and
non-aerobic corrosion from polluted Thames 70-30 copper-nickel in impingement
water when the flow was downstream but was resistance.
affected by aerobic corrosion augmented by
entrained sharp sand once the flow reversed as However, there has been a recent shift towards
the tide came in (Loraine [13]). the use of titanium rather than copper alloys for
reasons that include the following:
A full description of each of the fouling
mechanisms listed above is given in the User • Advances in manufacturing technology,
Guide. Also given are design guidelines such as including the ability to weld titanium tubes,
preferred, minimum and maximum tubeside have made this material a cost-effective
velocities for minimisation of corrosion fouling option.
with various materials: these data were supplied
by Working Party member companies. • There are now strict environmental
discharge limits on copper and these must be
MATERIALS SELECTION adhered to. It is sometimes difficult to
demonstrate unequivocally that even minor
The selection of materials is a crucial factor in levels of corrosion of copper alloy tube
fouling in seawater-cooled systems. Steels are bundles will not give rise to a breaching of
not generally suitable for seawater duties; carbon these limits.
steels corrode and most stainless steels suffer
from stress corrosion cracking. Duplex alloys are • It is possible to operate titanium heat
not usually suitable, though some manufacturers exchangers with much higher surface
claim that Superduplex alloys may be used at temperatures in contact with the seawater.
temperatures up to around 50°C, or even as high This favours many process applications and
as 80°C with cathodic protection. Traditionally, minimises biological fouling.
copper based alloys were used in seawater
applications. Such alloys inhibit biological • Titanium is highly corrosion resistant and
fouling and, provided that the velocity is kept this allows titanium heat exchangers to be
below the erosion/corrosion limit, corrosion is operated at high velocity without
often small and acceptable. The types of copper erosion/corrosion problems. Again, this
alloy used most frequently have been: minimises biological fouling.

• Aluminium brass, which has excellent • Titanium has a relatively low density (4500
corrosion resistance in clean seawater kg/m3) compared to copper alloys (8600 -
provided that the velocity is not too high. It 8900 kg/m3) and steels (7200 - 8000 kg/m3)
is not recommended in contact with polluted and this can be advantageous where weight
water or water containing large amounts of saving is important (e.g. in offshore
suspended sand. platforms).

• 70-30 copper-nickel with 1% iron and 1% • Titanium heat exchangers present fewer
manganese which offers greater resistance to problems than copper alloy heat exchangers

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 Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning: Fundamentals and Applications, Art. 3 [2003]

for disposal at the end of their life. This is SYSTEM DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
because of the lower toxicity compared to
that of copper. Key Considerations

• The modern use of seal welded and bead It is axiomatic that the overall cooling system
crushed titanium tubes or seal welded and should be designed taking into account the
drawn titanium tubes has reduced the cost of various propensities to fouling outlined above.
heat exchanger surface, particularly when 22 Thus, cooling equipment should embody a
SWG (0.71 mm wall thickness) tubes are number of basic features, which include:
used; the use of thin tubes (which is possible
due to the higher Young's modulus and • Construction from corrosion resistant
greater resistance to impingement attack of materials.
titanium) also offsets the smaller wall
thermal conductivity of titanium, in addition • A minimum of dead area, i.e., regions of low
to reducing materials cost. However, velocity which could permit organisms to
recently the application of similar settle and develop, or silt to deposit. Such
manufacturing technology to brass and dead areas occur in segmentally-baffled
cupro-nickel tubes has allowed reduced wall shell-and-tube exchangers in the regions
thickness for such tubes also and this has near the point of contact between the baffles
offset the cost gains made using the and the shell. The turning shell-side flow
technology for titanium tubes. tends to bypass these areas, making them
natural zones for deposits to form. Another
The above factors have led many refinery dead area in this case might occur near the
operators to use only titanium in seawater U-bends in a U-tube exchanger.
cooling applications. However, if such a
selection is made, then it is important to make A variety of techniques are available for the
sure that the velocity is sufficient to inhibit minimisation of dead spots and the
biological fouling at the temperature of the heat enhancement of heat transfer, and are
exchanger surface. If the seawater flows on the discussed in the User Guide.
shell side in shell-and-tube heat exchangers, a
factor militating against increasing the velocity • A design that, so far as is possible,
may be the fact that tube vibration (and discourages surface fouling.
consequent damage) may occur, particularly • A design that, as much as possible,
bearing in mind the fact that the wall thickness of facilitates cleaning and inspection.
titanium tubes is often smaller for the reasons
mentioned above. Tube vibration can be The User Guide discusses the applications of
minimised by attention to baffle design, for tubular exchangers (including the role of
instance by using rod baffles. Bi-metallic effects enhancement technologies) and then goes on to
due to differences in tube and baffle materials discuss plate heat exchangers. Then, intake
should be avoided. system design (which is common to all types of
heat exchanger) is reviewed. Of course, other
components of the cooling system such as
pumps, distribution piping, treatment/dosing
plant, control elements (measurement
instruments, valves etc) and outfall are also
important and should be considered carefully at

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 Pugh et al.: Fouling During the Use of Seawater as Coolant - The Development o

the design stage. Finally, a review is given of MITIGATION AND CONTROL OF

some overall design aspects such as the FOULING
interactions between the respective sides of the
exchanger and the effects of off-design There are many factors influencing fouling that
operation. need to be addressed at both the design and
operational stages. These include operation at the
Overall System Design and Operational appropriate velocities and temperatures, avoiding
Considerations dead zones in heat exchangers and ensuring that
proper screening of the input water is achieved.
In the design and commissioning stages of Even when all these factors are properly
seawater cooling systems, it should be borne in addressed, fouling (and particularly biofouling)
mind that: may still occur and it may be appropriate to seek
mitigation, control and cleaning methodologies
• Any change in heat transfer coefficient or to maintain this fouling at acceptable levels.
effective area on one side of a heat
exchanger will be reflected in a change of Mitigation and control strategies are
conditions on the other side. Thus, predominantly "on-line" processes, carried out
enhancing the hot side coefficient or surface either continuously or intermittently. A wide
area (by finning) will cause the seawater variety of methods have been used for fouling
side wall temperature to increase. This treatment and control and these are summarised
would have implications on the fouling in the User Guide. These methods can be
behaviour (as discussed in the User Guide). categorised into External Treatment (which
includes water softening and ion exchange),
• The system will not always operate at its Internal Treatment (which implies the use of
design conditions. Thus, startup and chemicals dissolved in the water) and Removal
shutdown, controller actions, etc, may give (which implies the use of mechanical devices for
conditions under which the propensity to the continuous or intermittent removal of
fouling is significantly increased. Controller deposits).
actions should not reduce the seawater
velocity. The consequences of off-design Chemical Mitigation and Control of Fouling
conditions should be considered at the
design evaluation stage. A variety of chemical agents have been used to
inhibit deposition in seawater fouling systems.
Thus fouling should be accounted for in the As was stated above, the most important problem
design not only for a point design condition but is that of biofouling and a whole variety of
also for anticipated off-design conditions. biocides are available to control biofouling in
water systems. The principal types of biocides
Velocity-dependent and wall temperature- are as follows:
dependent fouling in shell-and-tube heat
exchangers can be investigated at point design 1. Oxidising agents – including chlorine, ozone
conditions and over ranges of operation using and potassium permanganate.
ESDU’s EXPRESS computer program. This
program, which also allows the investigation of 2. Hydrolysing agents – acids and alkalis.
crude oil fouling behaviour, is described in the
companion User Guide on crude oil fouling in 3. Cell poisons (heavy metals).
pre-heat trains [3].

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 Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning: Fundamentals and Applications, Art. 3 [2003]

4. Protein coagulants – mercury and phenol. Surface Effects and Treatments

5. Surfactants – cationic detergents. There are a number of cases in which surfaces

are naturally inhospitable to biofouling.
6. Electrolytically-produced copper ions. Furthermore, there are a number of antifouling
treatments in which the surfaces are coated or
7. Film-forming/dispersing additives. modified. These surface-influenced situations are
discussed in the User Guide.
Of the above, types 3, 4 and 5 can be ruled out
for open circuits. Phenols and heavy metals are Miscellaneous Methods
forbidden by anti-pollution legislation, and
surfactants cause undesirable foams. A wide variety of alternative methods for fouling
Hydrolysing agents (type 2) would require mitigation have been proposed and investigated.
concentrations large enough to upset pH and A brief survey is given of some of these
promote corrosion in the circuit. Of the oxidising technologies in the User Guide.
agents, permanganate is sometimes used in
closed fresh water circuits, but would be too CLEANINGOF HEAT EXCHANGERS
expensive in open circuits. Thus, the number of
alternative practical systems for chemical Periodic cleaning of heat exchangers will be
inhibition and treatment of biofouling in necessary, even if the heat exchanger is well
seawater systems is limited. The most important designed and the fluid treatment is effective.
systems, discussed in detail in the User Guide, Additionally, conditions in the heat exchanger
are chlorine addition, ozone treatment, may deviate from the design conditions due to
electrolytic copper ion addition and film changes in flow rates and temperatures, plant
forming/dispersing additives. failures, ingress of air and bacteria, changes in
the fluid composition or up-stream corrosion,
Mechanical Mitigation And Control Of which all may promote fouling. If a heat
Fouling exchanger or pipe-line develops deposit
formation, this can be the start of a whole series
A number of methods for mechanical mitigation of problems. Corrosion processes may take place
have been developed, the most important of under the deposit, fouling rates may be increased
which are discussed in detail in the User Guide. due to the surface roughness of the deposit or
Micromesh filters treats the cooling water itself irregular behaviour of the exchanger may be
whereas flow reversal, gas rumbling, continuous observed due to build-up and removal of
transport of cleaning devices, fluidised bed heat deposits. It is, therefore, advantageous to remove
exchangers, tube inserts, and robots treat the non-protective deposits soon after the on-set of
contaminated surfaces. Most of the commonly- their formation. Heat exchangers may be cleaned
used fouling mitigation techniques have been by chemical or mechanical methods or by a
developed for the tube-side liquid in shell-and- combination of both.
tube heat exchangers. Even though attempts have
been made to develop mechanical on-line Chemical Cleaning Methods
mitigation devices for non-tubular heat
exchangers, their installation has not penetrated Chemical cleaning methods have a number of
the market. advantages over mechanical methods, namely:

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 Pugh et al.: Fouling During the Use of Seawater as Coolant - The Development o

• They are relatively quick. Typically, While blasting (or brushing for soft deposits) is
chemical cleaning would take one day the only available alternative for the shell side of
whereas mechanical cleaning might take the tube bundle, several cleaning methods can be
three days, principally because most used for the inside of straight tubes. The
mechanical methods require the unit to be continuous cleaning sponge ball system,
isolated and removed for cleaning. described in detail in the User Guide, can also be
used as a transportable, off-line cleaning system,
• Surfaces do not experience mechanical particularly if used with corundum-coated
damage. sponge balls. Very dirty and plugged tubes can
be cleaned with drills equipped with drill bits,
• Chemical solutions reach normally brushes or bit-brush combinations.
inaccessible areas.
To avoid damage of the heat transfer surfaces,
• They are less labour intensive than cleaning must be done carefully, thus increasing
mechanical cleaning. costs for labour and down-time.

• Cleaning can be performed in situ. Most mechanical cleaning methods remove not
only the deposit but also the protective oxide
One drawback with chemical cleaning is that, layer. Under certain circumstances, this may
since the exchanger is usually not opened, create a corrosion problem. On the other hand,
methods for validating the cleaning programme regular cleaning removes deposit and avoids
may be needed, as inaccessible areas may not be flow conditions, which promote corrosion due to
cleaned as effectively. chemical reaction or stagnant flow. For very
severe fouling problems, a combination of
However, the type of cleaning process used, the chemical and mechanical cleaning may be
procedure followed, the selection of cleaning recommended.
agents and any problems associated with
cleaning must be understood. These aspects are The shell side of tube bundles can only be
discussed in the User Guide. cleaned completely if the tubes are arranged in-
line.
Mechanical Cleaning Methods
A discussion of the main methods for mechanical
For the application of mechanical cleaning cleaning is given in the User Guide.
methods, heat exchangers have to be taken off-
line and dismantled. Some of the deposits may Design For Cleaning
then be removed manually, for example from the
water box. Steam-blasting and hydroblasting (up If exchangers are likely to experience fouling
to 60 MPa) are probably the most common and therefore require cleaning, it is important to
mechanical cleaning methods. However, blasting incorporate features into the design and location
may not completely eliminate all deposits and of the units so that they can be readily cleaned.
some significant roughness can remain. Both Examples include connections and sensors
steam- and hydroblasting are labour intensive required for chemical cleaning, drainage points
and keep the exchanger off-line for a for removing cleaning fluids, access for tube
considerable time. bundle removal, and specifying tube pitches so
that bundles can be cleaned. If information on
fouling, deposit nature and subsequent cleaning

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 Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning: Fundamentals and Applications, Art. 3 [2003]

requirements is available for similar situations, [7] TEMA, Standard of Tubular Exchanger
this should be exploited at the design stage in Manufacturers Association, 8th Edition, TEMA,
deciding the unit configuration. New York, 1999.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS [8] Müller-Steinhagen, H., Fouling Of Heat

Exchanger Surfaces. Chemistry and Industry,
The authors would like to thank the members of No. 5, pp. 171-175, 1995.
the ESDU Oil Industry Fouling Working Party,
Chaired by Mr D.C. King of BP, and the ESDU [9] Ritter, R.B. and Suitor, J.M., Handling And
Heat Transfer Steering Group, Chaired by Prof. Disposal Of Solid Wastes From Steam Power
P.J. Heggs, for their assistance in the Plants. Proc. 2nd National Conference on
development of the User Guides. Complete Water Use: Waters Interface with
Energy, Air and Solids, Chicago, Illinois, pp.
REFERENCES 604-609, 1975.

[1] Engineering Sciences Data Unit (ESDU), [10] Marriot, J., Where And How To Use Plate
Fouling In Cooling Systems Using Seawater, Exchangers. Chemical Engineering., Vol. 78,
ESDU Item 03004, ESDU International Ltd., No.8, pp.127-134, 1971.
London, UK, 2003.
[11] HEI, Standards For Steam Surface
[2] Steinhagen, R., Müller-Steinhagen, H. and Condensers. 9th Ed., Heat Exchange Institute
Maani, K., Problems and costs due to heat Inc, Cleveland, Ohio, 1995.
exchanger fouling in New Zealand industries.
Heat Transfer Engineering, Vol.14, No.1, pp.19- [12] Bott, T.R., Fouling of Heat Exchangers.
30, 1992. Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1995.

[3] Engineering Sciences Data Unit (ESDU), [13] Loraine, J., Private Communication with
Heat Exchanger Fouling in the Pre-heat Train of ESDU, 2002.
a Crude Oil Distillation Unit, ESDU Item 00016, `
ESDU International Ltd., London, UK, 2000.

[4] Keens, D., Case For Seawater Cooling.

IChemE Symposium Series, No. 52, pp.31-38,
1977.

[5] Engineering Sciences Data Unit (ESDU),

Guide To Industrial Water Conservation. Part 1.
Water Re-Use In Single Contaminant Systems.
ESDU Item No. 00020, ESDU International plc.,
London, UK, 2000.

[6] Epstein, N., Thinking About Heat Transfer

Fouling: A 5*5 Matrix. Heat Transfer
Engineering, Vol. 4, pp. 43-56, 1983.

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 Pugh et al.: Fouling During the Use of Seawater as Coolant - The Development o

Figure 1. Fouling curves showing the various possible fouling rates [7]

Figure 2. Fouling history for power plant surface condenser [8]

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 Heat Exchanger Fouling and Cleaning: Fundamentals and Applications, Art. 3 [2003]

Figure 3. Effect of temperature on various fouling mechanisms at constant velocity

Figure 4. Effect of water velocity on various fouling mechanisms at constant temperature

`
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