A plate heat exchanger is subject to unwanted deposition of material on the surface of the heat exchanger, which greatly reduces its efficiency. In the present work, an aqueous solution of inverse-soluble salts was pumped through a compact plate heat exchanger in the counter-flow regime and, during variable changes in the flow rate, we observed the time change of fouling and efficiency of the heat exchanger. We analyzed the influence of sudden changes in the flow rate on the deposition of impurities. We measured the surface temperature of the upper plate with an infrared camera, which enabled local detection of fouling. We found that changing the flow rate through a plate heat exchanger can improve the efficiency of the heat exchanger and reduce fouling.
|
