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Scaling of Calcium Carbonate on the Exterior of Heated Surfaces in a Flow‐Through Setup
Author(s) -
Nergaard Margrethe,
Beck Ralf,
Seiersten Marion,
Andreassen JensPetter
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
chemical engineering and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.403
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1521-4125
pISSN - 0930-7516
DOI - 10.1002/ceat.201400121
Subject(s) - supersaturation , aragonite , calcium carbonate , calcite , scaling , volumetric flow rate , growth rate , mineralogy , chemistry , materials science , carbonate , thermodynamics , analytical chemistry (journal) , chromatography , composite material , geometry , metallurgy , mathematics , organic chemistry , physics
Calcium carbonate scale formation on the external surface of a heated tube was studied in a flow‐through setup. This setup was effective in isolating the effect of supersaturation from that of temperature and allowed nondestructive examination of the scale morphology. The initial scale layer consisted of a polymorphic mixture, and the scale thickness increased with time and supersaturation. Varying the heating medium temperature changed the polymorphic distribution from a calcite/aragonite mixture to pure aragonite. Linear scale growth rates were determined for two inlet supersaturations. For the highest level of supersaturation, the growth rate decreased with time as a result of slower growth front kinetics due to the lower skin temperature resulting from increased scale thickness.