Computational fluid dynamics simulation study of hypersaline water desalination via membrane distillation: Effect of membrane characteristics and operational parameters

Morteza Afsari; Amir Hossein Ghorbani; Morteza Asghari; Ho Kyong Shon; Leonard D Tijing

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.135294

Computational fluid dynamics simulation study of hypersaline water desalination via membrane distillation: Effect of membrane characteristics and operational parameters

Chemosphere. 2022 Oct:305:135294. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.135294. Epub 2022 Jun 10.

Authors

Morteza Afsari¹, Amir Hossein Ghorbani², Morteza Asghari³, Ho Kyong Shon⁴, Leonard D Tijing⁵

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, 15 Broadway, Ultimo, New South Wales, 2007, Australia.
² Chemical Engineering Department, Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran, P.O. Box 14115-143, Tehran, Iran.
³ Separation Processes Research Group (SPRG), University of Science and Technology of Mazandaran, Iran.
⁴ Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, 15 Broadway, Ultimo, New South Wales, 2007, Australia; ARC Research Hub for Nutrients in a Circular Economy, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, 15 Broadway, Ultimo, New South Wales, 2007, Australia.
⁵ Centre for Technology in Water and Wastewater, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, 15 Broadway, Ultimo, New South Wales, 2007, Australia; ARC Research Hub for Nutrients in a Circular Economy, University of Technology Sydney, PO Box 123, 15 Broadway, Ultimo, New South Wales, 2007, Australia. Electronic address: leonard.tijing@uts.edu.au.

PMID: 35697112
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.135294

Abstract

In this study, a comprehensive model was developed using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), and the behaviour of a direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) system was investigated at hypersaline feedwater conditions. The effects of various operating parameters including feed and permeate velocities, temperatures and salinities, as well as different membrane characteristics like thickness, porosity, and thermal conductivity were studied. The developed simulation model was also validated using experimental data. The results showed that the membrane conductivity and thickness had a significant impact on the DCMD performance, and the optimum operational condition was necessary to be determined. The results showed that increasing the feedwater salinity from 50 to 200 g/l decreased the membrane flux by up to 33%, while a four times decrease in thermal conductivity of the membrane could lead to an increase in the membrane flux from 11.2 to 32.4 l/m²·h (LMH). In addition, the optimal membrane thickness was found to increase with salinity, reaching >120 μm for treatment of 22 wt% NaCl feedwater solution. However, the flux declined from >32 LMH to <13 LMH upon the increase in feedwater salinity (up to 22 wt% NaCl solution). It is also shown that a thinner membrane performed better for desalination of low salinity feedwater, while the thicker one produces higher separation performance and thermal efficiency for hypersaline brine desalination.

Keywords: COMSOL; Computational fluid dynamics (CFD); Concentration polarisation; Membrane distillation (MD); Simulation.

MeSH terms

Distillation* / methods
Hydrodynamics
Membranes, Artificial
Sodium Chloride
Water
Water Purification* / methods

Substances

Membranes, Artificial
Water
Sodium Chloride