Design of intelligent surfaces for energy intensive processing industry

There are three different factors that can affect adhesion: the process fluid, the processing conditions and the surface of the processing equipment. Of these three factors, the surface properties of the processing equipment are the factor that offers the greatest opportunity for manipulation. The two key surface properties that have been identified to reduce adhesion are the surface energy and the surface topography. The surface energy of a material determines its degree of wettability and, a surface's affinity for water. In previous studies the surface energy of materials have been leveraged in order to create a surface with reduced levels of fouling through surface modification or the addition of polymer coatings with varying degrees of hydrophobicity. In addition, the topography of surfaces has been modified to reduce the level of particle adhesion. These modifications involve creating either a structured or random porous microstructure on the surface. Additional methods identified to reduce fouling include the application of liquid infused porous surfaces at low shear conditions and the use of non-contact heating through techniques such as microwave processing.