Effects of electronic water treatment (ewt) on fouling in pipes

• Main Author: Hafez Azhar Bin Mohamed Ismail
• Other Authors: Yang Chun, Charles
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2017
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/72285
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

There have been many researches done to explore the myriad of ways to reduce or mitigate fouling in pipes, or cooling towers especially. Despite umpteen efforts, the use of an electric field (E-field) through these pipes or cooling towers has not been extensively studied. Current studies only investigate the effects of an electric field to reduce the fouling effect via artificially hardened water. An experimental set up was designed and conducted to mimic the role of cooling towers and artificially hardened water was being flown through it. The artificially hardened water was prepared using NaHCO3 and CaCl2 to obtain on CaCO3. A wire was coiled around a copper pipe, which the artificially hardened water flowed through, to generate an E-field across it. Various voltages and durations were used throughout the experiments to find out the effects of the said parameters. Samples of aluminium sheets were being collected and weighed for further study after the experiments. The sample of aluminium sheets yielded positive results with the use of the E-field. In other words, the usage of an E-field and increasing its strength had an effect on the artificially hardened water. The concentration of CaCO3 and the percentage increase in weight both decreased. Hence, this presented the opportunity to apply electronic water treatment (EWT) on pipes to combat the effects of fouling, with CaCO3 being the main contributor. Also, with this investigation of EWT on pipes, fouling can possibly be eliminated on an industrial level.