E. Puhakka and E. Lecoq
Heat Transfer Engineering, vol. 36, no. 7-8, pp. 721-730, 2015
Fouling reduces the thermal efficiency of heat transfer units, and it causes economic losses and has a marked effect on CO<sub>2</sub> releases and thus on climate change. In order to improve the energy efficiency, deposition formation (precipitation and crystallization) onto the heat transfer surfaces is going to be mitigated. A way to achieve this goal is the development of new surface materials with controlled chemical composition and morphology. In this study, formation mechanism of CaCO<sub>3</sub> depositions was investigated on modified (–CH<sub>3</sub> and –COOH) organosilicon (SiOC), and anatase and rutile TiO<sub>2</sub> surfaces. The results were compared to those of stainless steel surfaces. Based on the molecular modeling results, anatase and –COOH functionalized SiOC coatings are promising materials for mitigation of fouling caused by CaCO<sub>3</sub>.