Experimental investigation of fouling in a plate heat exchanger used in a combi heating system

Fouling is the biggest enemy of not only plate heat exchangers but also pipes, valves and even entire plumping elements. Recently, new solutions against fouling are under investigation in order to overcome this known problem. Asymmetric type Brazed Plate Heat Exchangers (BPHEs) are mostly used in combi heating system for the the reason of their increased heat transfer. The disassembly of BPHEs is not possible due to the cupper brazed plates; therefore the effectiveness of the cleaning process is questionable since it depends on the service conditions such as time, chemical type, etc. This thesis is done in the Department of R&D of Bosch Termoteknik Isıtma ve Klima San. Tic. A.Ş Company, Manisa and supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), in the scope of industry and R&D collaboration programme (TEYDEB-1501) with Project number 3120300. Effect of temperature and mass flow rate of water circulated in the combi heating system on fouling is investigated in a specific test set up for investigation of fouling in BPHE is designed. The experiments are conducted in the conditinon, where the temperature of water in the central heating system is selected between 60°C and 85°C, where the flow rate of sanitary water is between 3 l/min and 15 l/min based on Manisa sanitary water by representing the real working conditions of a combi heating system.