A survey of cooling tower water quality for condenser tube fouling potential

Fouling from cooling tower water is a serious problem in both power and refrigeration industries. The effect of fouling on enhanced tubes could be worse than that on smooth tubes because fouling may degrade the superior heat transfer performance by filling the gaps between the roughness elements with foulant. Condensers that use cooling tower water usually experience four different fouling mechanisms: corrosion, scaling, particulate, and biological fouling. Corrosion is prevented with chemical inhibitors, which pacify the piping and protect the metal surfaces. Cooling tower water can also be treated with biocide to prevent biological fouling. Therefore, the current paper addresses scaling and particulate fouling. The paper also establishes a database of water quality based on chemical analysis of samples collected from cooling towers across the country. The objective of the database is to determine water qualities that are typical of those found in actual cooling towers. From chemical analysis, three water qualities were determined: having an average fouling potential, a low fouling potential, and a severe fouling potential. These water qualities can be used in experimental determinations of fouling resistances in augmented tubes.