Impact of roughness, wettability and hydrodynamic conditions on the incrustation on stainless steel surfaces

The goal of this work was to investigate the influence of the stainless steel surface roughness and wettability on incrustation of MgSO₄·7H₂O from aqueous solutions and resulting heat transfer resistance. The experiments were done for laminar flow (Re = 59–178) which is characteristic for regions of apparatus where fouling usually begin. A series of steel plates (X5CrNi18-10) were prepared and used as a heat transfer surfaces. Their properties, i.e. roughness, wettability and elementary composition of surfaces were determined. The experiments were done using specially designed flow cell equipped with Peltier element. Each incrustation measurement lasted for two hours, during which heat transfer resistance was measured as a function of time. After the experiments the mass of crystalline deposit was weighted. It was proved that wettability as well as surface roughness cannot be considered separately in the case of incrustation phenomenon. The knowledge of surface roughness is insufficient due to the fact, that it is possible to obtain surfaces with similar roughness but substantially different wettability for the same material.