Electrode design of an electrical impedance spectroscopy system for fouling detection in a heat exchanger

We present a preliminary study of the electrode design of an electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) system for fouling detection in heat exchangers. In this study, a basic model of a heat exchanger is created based on finite element method (FEM). Here, an invasive and non-invasive electrode configuration was investigated. Numerical results show that both invasive and non-invasive electrode configurations are suitable for detecting fouling using impedance spectroscopy. The invasive one showed a better contrast between the fouling and non-fouling scenarios. However, from a practical point of view, the latter is preferable in our application since it does not disturb the surface where fouling is formed.