Impact of different spacer filament geometries on concentration polarization control in narrow membrane channel

Ahmad, A.L.; Lau, Kok Keong; Bakar, Mohamad Zailani Abu

doi:10.1016/j.memsci.2005.06.056

Cited by 102 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Mass transfer phenomena in reverse osmosis (RO) processes have been studied experimentally and theoretically for many decades in order to understand how water and solute permeation occur within membrane modules [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16], so as to identify the factors that determine the performance of membrane modules. One of the most critical mass transfer phenomena present in an RO membrane module is concentration polarisation (CP), which is caused by the accumulation of solute(s) rejected by a selective RO membrane, resulting in an elevated solute concentration on the membrane surface [13][14][15][16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the most critical mass transfer phenomena present in an RO membrane module is concentration polarisation (CP), which is caused by the accumulation of solute(s) rejected by a selective RO membrane, resulting in an elevated solute concentration on the membrane surface [13][14][15][16]. In a spiral wound membrane (SWM) module, which is the type of module most widely used in large scale RO plants, spacers are inserted between membrane sheets to keep them apart [37].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Early CFD work focussed on flow, solute concentration and pressure distributions in simplified two-dimensional (2D) geometries [8, 12-16, 18-20, 30, 31], including 2D cross-sectional models for cavity, submerged and zigzag configurations [12,14,15,19]. Different spacer shapes were also examined in several studies [13,16,18]. Ahmad et al compared rectangular, cylindrical and triangular spacers and found the triangular shape to be most effective in mitigating CP [16].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Different spacer shapes were also examined in several studies [13,16,18]. Ahmad et al compared rectangular, cylindrical and triangular spacers and found the triangular shape to be most effective in mitigating CP [16]. Despite the computational efficiency and usefulness of 2D CFD models, they are limited in capturing the complex geometric features of spacers, e.g., the intersection of filaments cannot be incorporated in 2D models.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effect of feed spacer geometry on membrane performance and concentration polarisation based on 3D CFD simulations

Adjiman

2017

Journal of Membrane Science

121

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Feed spacers are used in spiral wound reverse osmosis (RO) membrane modules to keep the membrane sheets apart as well as to enhance mixing. They are beneficial to membrane performance but at the expense of additional pressure loss. In this study, four types of feed spacer configurations are investigated, with a total of 20 geometric variations based on commercially available spacers and selected filament angles. The impact of feed spacer design on membrane performance is investigated by means of three-dimensional (3D) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, where the solution-diffusion model is employed for water and solute transport through RO membranes.Numerical simulation results show that, for the operating and geometric conditions examined, fully woven spacers outperform other spacer configurations in mitigating concentration polarisation (CP).When designed with a mesh angle of 60º, fully woven spacers also deliver the highest water flux, although the associated pressure drops are slightly higher than their nonwoven counterparts. Middle layer geometries with a mesh angle of 30º produce the lowest water flux. On the other hand, spacers with a mesh angle of 90º show the lowest pressure drop among all the filament arrangements examined. Furthermore, the computational model presented here can also be used to predict membrane performance for a given feed spacer type and geometry.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The effect of feed spacer geometry on membrane performance and concentration polarisation based on 3D CFD simulations

Adjiman

2017

Journal of Membrane Science

121

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“…The governing equations used to depict fluid flow in the computational domain can be found elsewhere [10]. The standard k -ε model was selected to solve those governing equations in FLUENT v6 under a turbulent condition.…”

Section: Solution Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

CFD simulation on membrane distillation of NaCl solution

Pan

2009

Front. Chem. Eng. China

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A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation that coupled an established heat and mass transfer model was carried out for the air-gap membrane distillation (AGMD) of NaCl solution to predict mass and heat behaviors of the process. The effects of temperature and flowrate on fluxes were first simulated and compared with available experimental data to verify the approach. The profiles of temperature, temperature polarization factor, and mass flux adjacent to the tubular carbon membrane surface were then examined under different feed Reynolds number in the computational domain. Results show that the temperature polarization phenomena can be reduced, and mass flux can be enhanced with increase in the feed Reynolds number.

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Reverse Osmosis

Kucera

2017

Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology

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Reverse osmosis is a membrane‐based separation technology, which was developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, with rapid advancements in the technology through the 1980s. A highly effective and cost‐efficient technology, reverse osmosis is used industrially for desalination of seawater and brackish water, wastewater recovery and reuse, municipal drinking water treatment, and other applications. Membrane materials and types of modules used in reverse osmosis, as well as theoretical and operational aspects, general design considerations, and economics are reviewed in this article. A discussion of membrane transport theory, flux‐limiting conditions caused by concentration polarization, and membrane fouling is also included.

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Impact of different spacer filament geometries on concentration polarization control in narrow membrane channel

Cited by 102 publications

References 27 publications

The effect of feed spacer geometry on membrane performance and concentration polarisation based on 3D CFD simulations

The effect of feed spacer geometry on membrane performance and concentration polarisation based on 3D CFD simulations

CFD simulation on membrane distillation of NaCl solution

Reverse Osmosis

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