The efficiency of OTEC heat exchangers is dependent on the maintenance of a surface with a high heat-transfer coefficient. Materials exposed to natural seawater typically develop a layer of attached organisms that is referred to as biofouling. A biofouling film can contain dead cells and cellular debris, organic secretion, and inorganic precipitates, in addition to viable cells. Metal surfaces in contact with seawater may be further altered by the formation of a scale layer produced by corrosion. The resulting biofouling and/ or corrosion derived deposits have poorer thermal conductivity than the original metal surfaces, introducing resistance to heat transfer between seawater and the working fluid1 . The objective of the Gulf of Mexico OTEC biofouling and corrosion experiment was the same as similar experiments in Hawaii2  , St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands3 , and a previous Gulf of Mexico experiment4 : to characterize the biofouling and corrosion in heat exchangers exposed to flowing oceanic water as a function of time and to correlate these phenomena with the measured decay in heat-transfer efficiency.

Subject
Biofouling, Films, Pipe surfaces, Steel surfaces, Materials, Piping, Metal surfaces, Aluminum, Metals, Heat, Titanium, Stainless steel, Fouling
© 1980 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
1980
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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