Research of Deposit Accumulated on Heat Exchange Surfaces in the Light of Thermal Degradation of Heat Exchange Aparatus of Steam Power Plants Part I: Study of Real Sediments

The presence of deposits on heat exchange surfaces in condensers and regenerative exchangers of ship and land steam power plants is always connected with the increase of the wall temperature on the water vapor side due to additional thermal resistances resulting from accumulated deposits. This increase always results in an increase in the condensing pressure, which results in the deterioration of the condensation process of the water vapor, leading to thermal degradation of a given heat exchanger. In addition, the resulting deposits form unevenness with a diversified, often stochastic, geometric structure of the surface layer surface, whose measure is most often the roughness parameters, describing the geometric structure of the surface. In addition, the increase in surface roughness of the heat transfer surface on the water vapor side promotes the formation of a thicker layer of condensate, thus worsening the organization of condensate runoff, which results in interference of the thermal degradation phenomenon of a given heat exchange apparatus. As a result, these phenomena lead to a reduction in the efficiency of a given thermal system, and thus entail an increase in the costs of energy conversion and consequently cause an increased degradation of the natural environment. In the article, based on the results of the author’s own experimental research, the types of pollution accumulating on heat exchange surfaces on the water vapor side of heat exchange apparatus in marine and land steam power plants and quantitative measures of the unevenness of the surface layer of these sediments are presented.