๐งฝ Heat Exchanger Fouling Factor Guide
Interactive TEMA fouling resistance lookup. Select hot-side and cold-side fluids, enter the clean overall heat transfer coefficient, and get the design U with fouling, cleanliness factor, and required overdesign percentage.
๐ Configuration
U_design = 1/(1/U_clean + Rf_total)
CF = U_design / U_clean
Overdesign = (U_clean/U_design โ 1) ร 100%
๐ Results
Select fluids and click Compute.
๐ Methodology
TEMA Fouling Factors
The Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers Association (TEMA) publishes recommended fouling resistances Rf for common process fluids. These values represent the thermal resistance of the fouling deposit expected to accumulate during normal service between cleaning cycles.
Design Coefficient
The design (fouled) overall heat transfer coefficient is U_design = 1/(1/U_clean + Rf_total). The cleanliness factor CF = U_design/U_clean indicates how much the exchanger performance degrades. Typical CF values range from 0.80 to 0.95.
Overdesign
The required overdesign percentage = (U_clean/U_design โ 1) ร 100% represents the extra surface area needed to compensate for fouling. Engineers should balance overdesign cost against cleaning frequency to optimize total lifecycle cost.