Improvements in heat transfer in thermal desalination operation based on removal of salts using ultrasound pretreatment.

Scaling is a major problem in the thermal desalination operation which is mainly attributed to the deposition of salts on the tube, thereby increasing the resistance to heat transfer. To reduce or prevent the formation of scale on heat transfer surfaces, treating desalination concentrates and precipitating sparingly soluble salts can be a promising method. In the present work, the effect of ultrasound pretreatment to the synthetically prepared sea water as desalination feed has been investigated with an objective of intensifying salt removal process and avoiding scale formation leading to better heat transfer rates.