Influence of temperature on fouling removal for pipeline based on eco-friendly ultrasonic guided wave technology

When industrial pipelines are used to transport production materials, the scale can easily form on the inner wall of a pipeline due to long-term contact with the liquid medium. Scaling in industrial pipelines is a common problem that poses a great threat to the production process and environmental protection. In this paper, the influence of temperature on the fouling removal process in pipes is studied. A finite element simulation model was established for guided wave propagation in pipes with different temperatures to obtain the acoustic pressure distribution along the pipes, showing that when the temperature increases, the acoustic pressure value on the solid–liquid surface of the pipes increases, and the cavitation threshold decreases. The experimental system for pipe descaling at different temperatures was established, when the temperature is from 20 to 60 °C, the descaling rate in the inner wall of the pipe far from the transducer is increased from 77.49 to 93.71%, the descaling rate in the inner wall of the pipe near the transducer is increased from 87.01 to 97.02%. The experimental results showed that the descaling performance is better when the pipeline temperature is higher.Compared with the traditional technology, the pipeline descaling technology based on ultrasonic guided waves is highly efficient, safe and eco-friendly, which can remove the fouling inside pipeline online without affecting the transportation. The above conclusions could provide a reference for further popularizing the application of the descaling technology based on ultrasonic guided wave.