CLEANING AND PREVENTION OF INORGANIC DEPOSITS IN PLATE HEAT EXCHANGERS USING PULSATING CURRENT

Fouling of heat exchangers is a major problem in many industrial processes. The higher temperature of the heat exchange surface compared with the liquid containing precipitable compounds causes the formation of inorganic deposits. Removing the deposits on plate heat exchangers is most often carried out by high-pressure cleaning. This is a laborious task and often increases the corrosion rate of the plates by increasing the roughness of the cleaned surface. This study presents an electrochemical method to clean heat exchange surfaces fouled by deposits and to prevent formation of deposits. This method utilizes pulsating current to polarize heat exchange surfaces with periodic anodic and cathodic DC current. The shape of the pulse and the current density are adjusted to maximize the deposit removal rate, thus minimizing plate corrosion. The optimal pulsating current depends on the material of the heat exchange surface, as well as the composition of the deposits and the solution. For cleaning, the current densities and the frequency of the current pulse are typically higher than those used for preventing deposition. Pulsating current can effectively remove deposits with low solubility, such as TiO2 on titanium heat exchange plates or dense gypsum deposits on stainless steel plates. For cleaning titanium, the cathodic pulse and formation of hydrogen is more essential than in the cleaning of stainless steels. However, the risk of corrosion limits the use of high current densities. Experiments have until now been carried out mainly in the laboratory, though industrial pilot cleaning equipment has also been constructed. An application has already been submitted to patent the method

Asymptotic expansion for reversible A + B <-> C reaction-diffusion process

We study long-time properties of reversible reaction-diffusion systems of type A + B C by means of perturbation expansion in powers of 1/t (inverse of time). For the case of equal diffusion coefficients we present exact formulas for the asymptotic forms of reactant concentrations and a complete, recursive expression for an arbitrary term of the expansions. Taking an appropriate limit we show that by studying reversible reactions one can obtain "singular" solutions typical of irreversible reactions.Comment: 6 pages, no figures, to appear in PR

Sea polarisation and the Drell-Hearn-Gerasimov sum-rule(s)

The Drell-Hearn-Gerasimov sum-rule is really two sum-rules: one for each of the valence and the sea/glue contributions to the nucleon wavefunction. The convergence of these sum-rules follows from the Froissart bound for spin dependent processes in QCD and is necessary for the consistency of the constituent quark model of low energy QCD. Some challenges for future polarised photoproduction experiments, for example at ELFE, are discussed.Comment: 10 pages, LaTe

x-Dependent Polarized Parton Distributions

Using QCD motivated and phenomenological considerations, we construct x- dependent polarized parton distributions, which evolve under GLAP evolution, satisfy DIS data and are within positivity constraints. Each flavor is done separately and the overall set can be used to predict polarization asymmetries for various processes. We perform our NLO analysis strictly in x space, avoiding difficulties in moment inversion. Small-x results and other physical considerations are discussed.Comment: 30 pages, 11 Postscript figure

Space-and time-resolved diffusion-limited binary reaction kinetics in capillaries: experimental observation of segregation, anomalous exponents, and depletion zone

An experimental investigation of one-dimensional, diffusion-limited A+B→C chemical reactions is reported. The persistence of reactant segregation and the formation of a depletion zone is observed and expressed in terms of the universal time exponents: α (motion of the boundary zone), β (width of instantaneous product formation zone), γ (rate of instantaneous local formation of product), δ (rate of instantaneous global formation of product), etc. There is good agreement with the recently predicted and/or simulated values: α =1/2, β =1/6, γ =2/3, δ =1/2, in contrast to classical predictions ( α =0, β =1/2, γ =0, δ =−1/2). Furthermore, classically the segregation would not be preserved and there would be no formation of a depletion zone and no motion (just dissipation) of the reaction zone. We also discuss the relations to electrode oxidation-reduction reactions, i.e., A+C→C where C is a catalyst, electrode, or “trap.”Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45162/1/10955_2005_Article_BF01049588.pd

Introduction to the special issue on the statistical mechanics of climate

We introduce the special issue on the Statistical Mechanics of Climate by presenting an informal discussion of some theoretical aspects of climate dynamics that make it a topic of great interest for mathematicians and theoretical physicists. In particular, we briefly discuss its nonequilibrium and multiscale properties, the relationship between natural climate variability and climate change, the different regimes of climate response to perturbations, and critical transitions