Composite fouling ‐ inorganic and biological: A review

Recent research on fouling in desalination systems, cooling towers, ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) heat exchangers, salinity power plants (SPP), etc. where composite inorganic and biological fouling may be present is reviewed. Crystallization or precipitation fouling is the most studied type of fouling. Other types of fouling are studied in various degrees of detail in isolation. In practical industrial applications, usually several types of fouling occur simultaneously, not in isolation. However, not much attention has been paid to the relative significance and the interactive effects of these processes when they occur simultaneously. This is specifically the case for composite inorganic and biological fouling. In general, there is complete lack of attention to the presence, mechanism, modeling and mitigation of composite fouling.