Crude refinery preheat trains (PHTs) are a major part of a refining process as these units reduce the amount of thermal energy required to heat the crude oil to its distillation temperature. Fouling is a longstanding problem in the operation of PHTs; the ability of a refinery to process different crude blends or to increase its production capacity depends on the thermal and hydraulic performanc...

Vessel traffic is the primary pathway for non-indigenous marine species introductions to New Zealand, with hull fouling recognised as being an important mechanism. This article describes hull fouling on seven slow-moving commercial vessels sampled over a 1 year period. Sampling involved the collection of images and fouling specimens from different hull locations using a standardised protocol de...

Membrane fouling is the bottleneck that restricts the sustainability of membrane technology for environmental applications. Therefore, the development of novel analytical tools for characterizing membrane fouling processes is essential. In this work, we demonstrate a capability of probing the chemical structure of foulants and detecting their 3-dimentional spatial distribution on membranes base...

Biofouling of ship’s internal seawater systems can have serious implications for performance, continuing operational capability and crew habitability. Internal seawater piping systems and intakes are prone to heavy fouling pressure due to the relative inaccessibility and complexity of these systems. Fouling control in internal systems is optimally maintained by the installation and operation of...

A laboratory-scale submerged anaerobic membrane bioreactor (SAnMBR) treating sewage was used to investigate the membrane fouling mechanism. Characterization of cake layer formed on membrane surface showed that cake layer was hydrated, rich of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and negative charged with the charge density of 0.21-0.46 meq/kg MLSS. Detailed analysis revealed a new membrane ...

Since fouling-release coating systems do not prevent settlement, various methods to quantify the tenacity of adhesion of fouling organisms on these systems have been offered. One such method is the turbulent channel flow apparatus. The question remains how the results from laboratory scale tests relate to the self-cleaning of a ship coated with a fouling-release surface. This paper relates the ...

* Current address: Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd, Private Bag 11029, Palmerston North, New Zealand Email: [email protected] ABSTRACT Fouling of heat exchangers in the dairy industry has been investigated extensively and a large number of studies are reported in literature. This review focuses on the mechanisms of milk fouling, detailing the role of protein denaturation and aggregation...

The present work focuses on understanding and control of biopolymer fouling in ultrafiltration of a typical surface water and nearby secondary effluent for direct and indirect portable use. Characterization results show that both kinds of biopolymers are of similar molecular weight. Longer than one year water quality monitoring results show that the C/N ratio in the secondary effluent biopolyme...

In an industrial seawater cooling system, the effects of three different antifouling treatments, viz. sodium hypochlorite (NaClO), aliphatic amines (Mexel®432) and UV radiation, on the characteristics of the fouling formed were evaluated. For this study a portable pilot plant, as a side-stream monitoring system and seawater cooling system, was employed. The pilot plant simulated a power plant s...

Capillary dependent systems are highly influenced by surface fouling and may degrade as material surface properties change. In anticipation of a spacecraft microgravity fluids management system exposed to highly variable wetting conditions, the impact of urine wastewater fouling on capillary contact angle was examined. The results indicate that, in general, surface fouling can decrease the cont...