Abstract
Mitigation of crystallization fouling on heat transfer surface is crucial for developing highly efficient desalination techniques, because the tenacious and porous crystal layer can drastically deteriorate system efficiency. Surface modification is a potential approach to decrease scale formation and promote crystal removal, but some of the mechanisms between crystallization and substrate properties are still not fully understood. In this study, we use dual-angle microscopic visualization and image processing to quantify three-dimensional crystallization behavior and analyze the impact of surface structure and material. The transition of crystal size and distance with roughness and wettability are identified from statistical analysis. The determination of crystal porosity and effective thermal conductivity is enabled by visualized geometry and measured deposition mass. This study shed lights on potential strategies of surface modification to mitigate scaling in desalination by enhancing scale removal and localizing crystal growth.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 115754 |
| Journal | Desalination |
| Volume | 532 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 15 2022 |
Funding
This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy 's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Solar Energy Technology Office Award Number DE-EE0008392 . The authors are grateful to project manager Rajgopal Vijaykumar for guidance. The first author also would like to thank Yuheng Zhang, Yuchen Shen, and Jiaqi Li for the informative discussion.
Keywords
- 3D crystal morphology
- fouling
- surface induced crystallization
- thermal desalination