Experimental investigation of marine biofouling and corrosion for tropical seawater
Biofouling and corrosion for marine heat exchangers are being investigated at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii. The objective of this experimental investigation is to determine effective fouling-control techniques for ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) heat exchangers, which must be kept clean enough to maintain heat-transfer resistance (R/sub f/) values below 0.02 m/sup 2/K/kW. Due to the lack of experimental data bases and prediction methods, fouling-control techniques developed for conventional heat exchangers cannot easily be extended to OTEC applications. In addition, it is important to develop low-cost heat exchangers that will use less-expensive materials. Therefore, a long-term experimental program was initiated during an early stage of the project. After conducting preliminary experiments in the Gulf of Mexico on a floating platform (1) and in Hawaii with a submerged buoy (2), a permanent test facility was built on the island of Hawaii. Over several years of continuous testing, many series of experiments were carried out to develop a technical data base for biofouling and corrosion of candidate materials. In this paper, the experimental investigation is summarized, and observed data are discussed.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 6197173
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-8705145-1; ON: DE87011427
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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