Falling liquid film enhancement, fouling mitigation and conceptual design of polymer heat exchangers

Against the backdrop of latest developments in polymer technology, polymer-based materials are a promising alternative in novel apparatus design or other fields of constructional application. However, for efficient industrial material design or equipment layout, sound design criteria based on fundamental research is incentive and at this moment rare for polymer apparatuses. The present thesis addresses the portrayed demand for research by systematic studies of wetting and fouling on polymeric surfaces. The results achieved with the developed setup for crystallization fouling investigations allow the prediction of fouling propensity, operational mitigation as well as manipulation strategies for e. g. antifouling surfaces. Besides surface engineering aspects, material selection and polymer engineering are investigated with respect to surface characteristics and mechanical properties. Referring to the latter, a special focus directs creep behavior of polymers in media at elevated temperature, contributing to various industrial fields involving polymer construction materials at challenging mechanical circumstances. However, economic and ecologic advantages of polymer equipment is discussed in detail for falling film heat exchangers. The developed thermal design correlations in addition to the chemical-free, in-place cleaning strategy underline the feasibility of the exemplary presented polymer film heat exchanger apparatus concept. The fundamental research of the present thesis contributes to numerous industrial fields, which are struggling with wetting or fouling tasks. Additionally, the overall conceptual design criteria encourages engineers significantly for the industrial application of polymer equipment, especially heat exchangers.