Analysis of crystallization fouling in electric water heating

Alexander Janzen; Eugeny Y Kenig

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02695

Analysis of crystallization fouling in electric water heating

Heliyon. 2019 Nov 14;5(11):e02695. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02695. eCollection 2019 Nov.

Authors

Alexander Janzen¹, Eugeny Y Kenig^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Stiebel Eltron GmbH & Co. KG, Dr.-Stiebel-Straße 33, Holzminden, 37603, Germany.
² Chair of Fluid Process Engineering, University of Paderborn, Pohlweg 55, Paderborn, 33098, Germany.
³ Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas, Moscow, Russian Federation.

Abstract

In the present study, the main influencing factors of crystallization fouling in electric water heating were investigated. Dependence on the saturation index and four operating parameters was analyzed, namely: liquid temperature, surface temperature, flow rate and electrical leakage current. A focus of the study was the influence of electrical leakage current on the fouling behavior and the morphology of the deposited crystal layers. The investigation shows that the aforementioned parameters influence the fouling process and crystal size growth in a different way. The experimental results were used to find a correlation between the electrical leakage current and induction time. In addition, a modeling approach is presented which allows an estimation of the fouling mass flux.

Keywords: Chemical engineering; Crystallization fouling; Electric water heating; Electrical engineering; Electrical leakage current; Electrochemistry; Influencing factors.