Project description
Scale-phobic surfaces with intrinsic fouling resistance for water and energy applications
Crystallisation fouling – an important subset of fouling that occurs when solid heated surfaces contact water, causing initially dissolved scaling salts to precipitate and grow unwanted scale deposits – negatively impact energy conversion and water treatment systems. Scaling salts like calcium carbonate and calcium sulfate can significantly inhibit heat transfer in heat exchangers and reduce flow performance in membranes. Despite significant efforts, rationally designed coatings that resist crystallisation fouling without relying on active methods such as antiscalant additives remain elusive. The EU-funded DESCALE project will investigate mechanisms that can inhibit scale nucleation and reduce adhesion based on antiscalant coating composition and topography - a sustainable approach. This will lead to the design of better scale-phobic surfaces that are more environmentally friendly than antiscalant additives.
Objective
Crystallization fouling, a process where scale forms on surfaces, is pervasive in nature and technology, negatively impacting the energy conversion and water treatment industries. Despite significant efforts, rationally designed materials that are intrinsically resistant to crystallization fouling without the use of active methods like antiscalant additives (which can persist long after their disposal and the toxicological impact of which in effluent is questioned) remain elusive. This is because antiscalant surfaces are constructed today without sufficient reliance on an intricate but necessary science-base, of how interweaved interfacial thermofluidics, nucleation thermodynamics, and surface nanoengineering control the onset of nucleation and adhesion of frequently encountered scaling salts like calcium carbonate and calcium sulfate. Such scaling salts are common components of fouling deposits in industrial heat exchangers and membranes, which significantly inhibit heat transfer and flow performance. Therefore, guided by interfacial thermofluidic and thermodynamics theories, and employing advanced experimental methods in the areas of surface nanoengineering and diagnostics, this project will develop an integrated knowledge-base for how engineered surfaces can beneficially interact with interfacial transport phenomena in order to significantly advance antiscalant surfaces. We aim to pinpoint mechanisms for inhibiting scale nucleation and reducing adhesion in order to design and engineer antiscalant materials based on the collaborative action of their composition and topography. The effects of surface texture curvature, surface composition, and substrate compliance on scale nucleation and adhesion have intertwined and sometimes competing impacts, which we aim at elucidating to realize high performance scale-phobic surfaces. Connected to this are cutting edge materials fabrication techniques and considerations to the development of surfaces for future applications.
Fields of science
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesastronomyplanetary sciencesplanetary geology
- natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistryalkaline earth metals
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesthermodynamics
- engineering and technologynanotechnologynano-materials
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsenergy conversion
Programme(s)
Topic(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-STG - Starting GrantHost institution
8092 Zuerich
Switzerland