ABSTRACT
One of the biggest problems in equipment that uses water as a coolant is biofouling. In the design and operation of water-cooled heat exchangers, the biological coefficient must be considered, which adheres to the inside of the tubes, redcucing the efficiency of the equipment. For this reason, it is necessary to apply an appropriate antifouling treatment for the design of each heat exchanger. In this work, the effectiveness of electromagnetic field (EMF) to reduce the growth of biofouling adhering to the tubes of a seawater cooled heat exchanger will be evaluated. In a first phase the interior of the tubes of a seawater cooled heat exchanger was monitored using Cusum control charts until biofouling growth was established. In one of the tubes, the EMF treatment was applied continuously in order to maintain it in the initial condition. The control chart showed that the EMF treatment increased the useful life compared to the control tube without treatment.
