Talk:Fouling

	Physics portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Physics, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Physics on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.PhysicsWikipedia:WikiProject PhysicsTemplate:WikiProject Physicsphysics
Mid	This article has been rated as Mid-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by Fluid Dynamics Taskforce.

Technology

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Technology, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of technology on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.TechnologyWikipedia:WikiProject TechnologyTemplate:WikiProject TechnologyTechnology

Engineering Low‑importance

	Engineering portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Engineering, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of engineering on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.EngineeringWikipedia:WikiProject EngineeringTemplate:WikiProject EngineeringEngineering
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Biology Low‑importance

	Biology portal Fouling is part of the WikiProject Biology, an effort to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to biology on Wikipedia. Leave messages on the WikiProject talk page.BiologyWikipedia:WikiProject BiologyTemplate:WikiProject BiologyBiology
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Limited scope

There are many other types of fouling that the article does not cover, like the fouling of a water filter, boat hull and a pipeline (not involved in heat exchanging). I've heard/seen it applied mostly to biological organisms that clog a system (like a water intake) or cause some other detrimental effect (boat hull fouling slows it down), and to a lesser extent, I have heard it applied to non-living contaminants. I think that the article should be expanded to include other types of fouling. -- Kjkolb 07:48, 14 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Fouling category needed?

Fouling science and engineering is an large, diverse, and important area. A "fouling" category may be needed.Stan J. Klimas 13:35, 21 July 2007 (UTC)

Done by the same user (Stan J. Klimas). Thank you. --Daniele Pugliesi (talk) 14:43, 16 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Definition

The first sentence defines fouling as: "Fouling refers to the accumulation of unwanted material on solid surfaces, most often in an aquatic environment."

I realize that fouling is a very general term, but is there a way to better define it? For instance, the build-up on metalworking raw materials is called scales, but I wouldn't define it as fouling. However, based on the above definition scales would qualify a fouling. Wizard191 (talk) 15:46, 15 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I tried to address your good observation by adding the following to the head: "Fouling is usually distinguished from other surface-growth phenomena in that it results in the impediment of the function of the component due to the presence of the fouling deposit on the surface." Stan J. Klimas (talk) 01:20, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

It's a start, however, I feel that it still doesn't quite hit it on the head, because my above example would still qualify. The scales on a metal ingot impede it from being extruded due to its presence on the surface. What about something along the lines of: "Fouling is distinguished from other types of build-up, because fouling occurs from deposits of matter into a surface. Other build-up may be due to chemical reactions with the surface (or any other example you can think of)." I'm not complete sure that's even true, but in the case of my example it's due to a chemical reaction between the air and the metal. Hopefully between the two of us we can figure it out. Wizard191 (talk) 02:04, 5 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, typically it is exactly as you say (if I understood everything correctly): the material for fouling comes not from the surface itself but from the working fluid. However, this does not always distinguish fouling from other surface growth phenomena, e.g., see corrosion fouling in the article. Therefore, there are cases when distinguishing fouling from "other surface growth phenomena" may be a matter of perspective.

Returning to your original above example, it might be that one does not see metal working scale as a fouling phenomenon because the scale does not develop in service. The metal is a raw material, not yet a component.

I do not remember seeing literature that addresses your good point. Most specialists in the topic seems to take the approach "Horse is as everyone can see."

Please don't be shy to adjust the definition when you feel you can clarify. The worst what can happen is that somebody changes is back or that it mutates into yet something else :) Cheers. Stan J. Klimas (talk) 16:31, 6 December 2008 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Fouling. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20111215092211/http://www.wbdg.org/ccb/ARMYCOE/PWTB/pwtb_420_49_34.pdf to http://www.wbdg.org/ccb/ARMYCOE/PWTB/pwtb_420_49_34.pdf

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 20:27, 4 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified (January 2018)

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 6 external links on Fouling. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 00:33, 24 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]