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

• 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