Experimental investigation of the effect of the spacer and operating conditions on mass transfer in direct contact membrane distillation

Ve, Quoc Linh; Koirala, Ravi; Bawahab, Mohammed; Faqeha, Hosam; Cuong, Minh; Nguyen, Quang Lich; Date, Abhijit; Akbarzadeh, Aliakbar

doi:10.1016/j.desal.2020.114839

Cited by 25 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…However, the findings of this study show a disparity between the water flow and the thermal feed response. This demonstrates that the photothermal heating effect, which is responsible for this phenomenon, is highly localized and efficiently employed for water vaporization, notably at the interface between the spacer and the feed …”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…This demonstrates that the photothermal heating effect, which is responsible for this phenomenon, is highly localized and efficiently employed for water vaporization, notably at the interface between the spacer and the feed. 41 More intriguingly, if 100% of the incoming light is converted to thermal energy and utilized to heat the bulk feed water, the analytical calculation (eq 1) 42 shows that the feed temperature can rise by only 0.16 K.…”

Section: ■ Experimental Sectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Photothermal Surface Heating Membrane Distillation Using 3D-Printed Ti₃C₂T_x MXene-Based Nanocomposite Spacers

Almarzooqi

Hong

Verma

et al. 2023

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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To address the growing global need for freshwater, it has become essential to use nonpotable saline water. Solar membrane distillation is a potential desalination method that does not need conventional electricity and may cut water production costs. In this study, we develop a photothermal surface heating membrane distillation using a new class of photothermal spacers constructed with Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene-based nanocomposites. In contrast to traditional membrane distillation, which utilizes energyintensive bulk feed heating, solar-powered surface heating membrane distillation removes the external thermal energy input requirements, hence reducing operating costs significantly. In particular, three-dimensional (3D)-printing technology was used to fabricate the functional spacer, which allowed the design and materials to be fine-tuned per the needs of the process. Under solar illumination, the printed spacer can exhibit a localized photothermal conversion-driven heating effect near the surface of distillation membranes, which generates vapor pressure strong enough to operate distillation across membranes. Importantly, a two-dimensional Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene with outstanding photothermal conversion efficiency and stability in hypersaline ionic solutions was incorporated into the 3D-printed spacers as the crucial nanofiller for imparting a local heating effect of feed. The fabricated nanocomposite spacers showed superior photothermal heating response under sunlight with an average permeate flux and energy conversion efficiency of 0.49 kg•m −2 •h −1 and 30.6%, respectively. An enhancement in both photothermal efficiency and permeate flux was noticed as the amount of MXene nanosheets increased in the 3D-printed spacers. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using 3D-printed photothermal spacers for high-performance and sustainable surface heating membrane distillation, providing a promising avenue for further improvement with other photothermal nanofillers or spacer modifications.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: ■ Experimental Sectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photothermal Surface Heating Membrane Distillation Using 3D-Printed Ti₃C₂T_x MXene-Based Nanocomposite Spacers

Almarzooqi

Hong

Verma

et al. 2023

ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces

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“…They highlighted the turbulence promoters and membrane surfaces' coating using thermally conductive material to reduce temperature polarization in MD and enhance the overall performance. Moreover, the effect of spacer on the DCMD performance besides operating conditions (feed temperature, velocity, and salt concentration) has been investigated experimentally by Ve et al [15]. They concluded that the plastic spacer had the best performance in their study, and the flow rate was proven to be the most critical operating condition on the mass transfer through the membrane.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modeling and Simulation of Fabricated Graphene Nanoplates/Polystyrene Nanofibrous Membrane for DCMD

et al. 2021

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Membrane distillation is an active technique that provides pure water with very good rejection and could be applied to water of extremely high salinity. The low productivity of membrane distillation needs intensive efforts to be competitive with other desalination techniques. In this current study, a composite (PS/GNP) membrane, which is composed of polystyrene (PS) based and 0.25% weight percent graphene nanoplates (GNP) has been fabricated via electrospinning and compared with the blank PS membrane. SEM, FTIR, contact angle and porosity characterization have been performed, and the results show that the validity of the predefined conditions, and the contact angle of the composite membrane, which is found to be 91.68°, proved the hydrophobic nature of the composite membrane. A numerical simulation using Ansys 2020 software has been introduced to study the performance of the fabricated composite membrane when used in direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD). The numerical model has been validated with experimental work from the literature and showed an excellent match. The blank PS and composite PS/GNP membranes have been investigated and compared at different operating conditions, i.e., hot water supply temperature and system flow rate. The results show that the composite PS/GNP membrane outperforms the blank PS membrane at all studied operating conditions.

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“…TP is a major barrier to the widespread application of DCMD technology in industry [ 13 , 14 , 15 ]. Accordingly, much research has been conducted to elucidate and mitigate the TP phenomenon in MD systems [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 ], and the phenomenon has been analyzed and predicted in such systems using model equations under various operating conditions [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ]. Additionally, heat transfer analysis was performed according to the angles for the membrane unit, and spacers and modules have been developed to increase the transfer of heat and mass, effectively reducing the TP phenomenon [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exergy Analysis of a Direct Contact Membrane Distillation (DCMD) System Based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

Choi

Lee

et al. 2021

Membranes

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Understanding the energy efficiency of direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) is important for the widespread application and practical implementation of the process. This study analyzed the available energy, known as exergy, in a DCMD system using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). A CFD model was developed to investigate the hydrodynamic and thermal conditions in a DCMD module. After the CFD model was verified, it was used to calculate the temperature polarization coefficient (TPC) and exergy destruction magnitudes under various operating conditions. The results revealed that slight decreases and increases in the TPC occurred with distance from the inlet in the module. The TPC was found to increase as the feed temperature was reduced and the feed and permeate flow rates were increased. The exergy destruction phenomenon was more significant under higher feed temperatures and higher flux conditions. Although the most significant exergy destruction in the permeate occurred near the feed inlet, the effect became less influential closer to the feed outlet. An analysis of exergy flows revealed that the efficiency loss in the permeate side corresponded to 32.9–45.3% of total exergy destruction.

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Experimental investigation of the effect of the spacer and operating conditions on mass transfer in direct contact membrane distillation

Cited by 25 publications

References 35 publications

Photothermal Surface Heating Membrane Distillation Using 3D-Printed Ti₃C₂T_x MXene-Based Nanocomposite Spacers

Photothermal Surface Heating Membrane Distillation Using 3D-Printed Ti₃C₂T_x MXene-Based Nanocomposite Spacers

Modeling and Simulation of Fabricated Graphene Nanoplates/Polystyrene Nanofibrous Membrane for DCMD

Exergy Analysis of a Direct Contact Membrane Distillation (DCMD) System Based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

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Experimental investigation of the effect of the spacer and operating conditions on mass transfer in direct contact membrane distillation

Cited by 25 publications

References 35 publications

Photothermal Surface Heating Membrane Distillation Using 3D-Printed Ti3C2Tx MXene-Based Nanocomposite Spacers

Photothermal Surface Heating Membrane Distillation Using 3D-Printed Ti3C2Tx MXene-Based Nanocomposite Spacers

Modeling and Simulation of Fabricated Graphene Nanoplates/Polystyrene Nanofibrous Membrane for DCMD

Exergy Analysis of a Direct Contact Membrane Distillation (DCMD) System Based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)

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Product

Resources

About

Photothermal Surface Heating Membrane Distillation Using 3D-Printed Ti₃C₂T_x MXene-Based Nanocomposite Spacers

Photothermal Surface Heating Membrane Distillation Using 3D-Printed Ti₃C₂T_x MXene-Based Nanocomposite Spacers