Cost of Operating Heating Systems

• Heating and cooling operations often account for more than 70% of operating costs in a building.

Definition of Fouling (e.g. Scale)

Fouling is defined as the accumulation of unwanted materials on the surface(s) of processing equipment and affects the operation of equipment in two ways:

• The fouling layer has a low thermal conductivity. This increases the resistance to heat transfer.
• As deposition occurs, the cross-sectional area is reduced, which causes an increase in pressure drop across the apparatus.

The Impact of Scale (Fouling) on Energy Costs

Fouling is defined as the accumulation of unwanted materials on the surface(s) of processing equipment and affects the operation of equipment in two ways:

• As fouling builds, boiler and heat exchanger efficiencies are lost due to minerals, foreign matter and chemicals
• Even less than one millimeter of scale can increase energy costs by 10% - 30%*
• Thermal conductivity of calcium is 491 times smaller than that of copper (severely degrading heat-transfer)

Overall Thermal Resistance after Physical Removal of the Fouling Deposition Layer