Solar thermal-driven desalination plants based on membrane distillation

Koschikowski, Joachim; Wieghaus, Marcel; Rommel, Matthias

doi:10.1016/s0011-9164(03)00360-6

Cited by 290 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…The exergy rates of each stream throughout the MD systems and the exergy efficiencies of the MD modules are analyzed by taking the basic exergy definitions [1] and relationships for MD models as reported in the literature [5,6,9]. The intensive parameters governing the MD process are temperature and composition, and exergies related to kinetic and potential are not considered.…”

Section: Exergy Analysis Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Figure 3 shows a photograph of the Elixir500 lab unit tested at KTH. In Figure 4, the schematic diagram shows the main components and water streams (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8) considered during analyses. The red lines show streams on the hot feed side of the module and the blue lines for the streams on the cooling side.…”

Section: Experimental Setup For Bench Scale Agmdmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Membrane distillation requires heat to evaporate the feed and electricity for the low pressure pumps. The heat sources used in MD include solar [3][4][5][6][7], district heat [8], or waste heat [9,10]. Though low-grade heat is sufficient to drive the MD process, thermal energy demand is heat sink temperatures when integrated with other processes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exergy Analysis of Air-Gap Membrane Distillation Systems for Water Purification Applications

Woldemariam

Santarelli

2017

Applied Sciences

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Exergy analyses are essential tools for the performance evaluation of water desalination and other separation systems, including those featuring membrane distillation (MD). One of the challenges in the commercialization of MD technologies is its substantial heat demand, especially for large scale applications. Identifying such heat flows in the system plays a crucial role in pinpointing the heat loss and thermal integration potential by the help of exergy analysis. This study presents an exergetic evaluation of air-gap membrane distillation (AGMD) systems at a laboratory and pilot scale. A series of experiments were conducted to obtain thermodynamic data for the water streams included in the calculations. Exergy efficiency and destruction for two different types of flat-plate AGMD were analyzed for a range of feed and coolant temperatures. The bench scale AGMD system incorporating condensation plate with more favorable heat conductivity contributed to improved performance parameters including permeate flux, specific heat demand, and exergy efficiency. For both types of AGMD systems, the contributions of the major components involved in exergy destruction were identified. The result suggested that the MD modules caused the highest fraction of destructions followed by re-concentrating tanks.

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Section: Exergy Analysis Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Experimental Setup For Bench Scale Agmdmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exergy Analysis of Air-Gap Membrane Distillation Systems for Water Purification Applications

Woldemariam

Santarelli

2017

Applied Sciences

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“…In all simulated cases, flow rates and temperatures were set identical to those typically adopted in real MD spiral wound modules already operating and tested [2]. In particular, inlet mass flow rate was imposed equal to12.5 kg/h, and temperature was set to 70°C.…”

Section: Models and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Membrane distillation heat transfer enhancement by CFD analysis of internal module geometry

Cipollina¹,

Micale²,

Rizzuti³

2011

Desalination and Water Treatment

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Module geometry optimisation can be a crucial matter in all separation processes using selective or hydrophobic membranes, e.g. Reverse Osmosis (RO), Membrane Distillation (MD). In fact the choice of suitable channel shape and size can dramatically affect the performance of the process. With reference to the membrane distillation process, temperature polarization phenomena and pressure drops along the channels largely affect the process efficiency (i.e. the efficient use of temperature driving force for the passage of vapour through the membrane) as well as pressure distribution, module mechanical resistance and pumping costs.Several works have been presented so far in literature on the fluid flow characterization of spacer-filled channels for the case of Reverse Osmosis modules, but only few works deal with the problem of MD modules optimization.The present work aims at the CFD simulation of the fluid flow and temperature fields within spacer-filled MD module channels for a variety of spacer geometries. Both commercial and custom made geometries have been simulated in order to identify the most important parameters affecting process efficiency. The commercial CFD code ANSYS CFX11.0 has been adopted to perform simulations.Results provide valuable information to identify the main features which an optimised spacer should possess in order to minimise T-polarization and pressure drops along the channel.

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“…More importantly, MD systems can be manufactured from non-corrosive and inexpensive plastic materials, leading to significantly reduced capital and maintenance costs. Finally, the feed operating temperature of MD is often in the range of 40 to 80 ºC, which is also the optimal operating temperature with respect to thermal efficiency of most thermal solar collectors [11]. Given these attributes, MD is a promising candidate for small-scale, stand-alone, and solar-driven seawater desalination applications [3,[11][12][13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating energy consumption of air gap membrane distillation for seawater desalination at pilot scale level

Duong

Cooper

Nelemans³

et al. 2016

Separation and Purification Technology

167

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This study aimed to optimise an air gap membrane distillation (AGMD) system for seawater desalination with respect to distillate production as well as thermal and electrical energy consumption. Pilot evaluation data shows a notable influence of evaporator inlet temperature and water circulation rate on process performance. An increase in both distillate production rate and energy efficiency could be obtained by increasing the evaporator inlet temperature. On the other hand, there was a trade-off between the distillate production rate and energy efficiency when the water circulation rate varied. Increasing the water circulation rate resulted in an improvement in the distillate production rate, but also an increase in both specific thermal and electrical energy consumption. Given the small driving force used in the pilot AGMD, discernible impact of feed salinity on process performance could be observed, while the effects of temperature and concentration polarisation were small. At the optimum operating conditions identified in this study, a stable AGMD operation for seawater desalination could be achieved with specific thermal and electrical energy consumption of 90 and 0.13 kW h/m3, respectively. These values demonstrate the commercial viability of AGMD for smallscale and off-grid seawater desalination where solar thermal or low-grade heat sources are readily available. Abstract: This study aimed to optimise an air gap membrane distillation (AGMD) process for seawater desalination with respect to distillate production as well as thermal and electrical energy consumption. Pilot evaluation data shows a notable influence of evaporator inlet temperature and water circulation rate on process performance. An increase in both distillate production rate and energy efficiency could be obtained by increasing the evaporator inlet temperature. On the other hand, there was a trade-off between the distillate production rate and energy efficiency when the water circulation rate varied. Increasing the water circulation rate resulted in an improvement in the distillate production rate, but also an increase in both specific thermal and electrical energy consumption. Given the small driving force used in the pilot AGMD, discernible impact of feed salinity on process performance could be observed, while the effects of temperature and concentration polarisation were small. At the optimum operating conditions identified in this study, a stable AGMD operation for seawater desalination could be achieved with specific thermal and electrical energy consumption of 90 and 0.13 kWh/m 3 , respectively. These values demonstrate the commercial viability of AGMD for small-scale and off-grid seawater desalination where solar thermal or low-grade heat sources are readily available.

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Solar thermal-driven desalination plants based on membrane distillation

Cited by 290 publications

References 2 publications

Exergy Analysis of Air-Gap Membrane Distillation Systems for Water Purification Applications

Exergy Analysis of Air-Gap Membrane Distillation Systems for Water Purification Applications

Membrane distillation heat transfer enhancement by CFD analysis of internal module geometry

Evaluating energy consumption of air gap membrane distillation for seawater desalination at pilot scale level

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