The membrane distillation (MD) process for water desalination is affected by temperature polarization, which reduces the driving force and the efficiency of the process. To counteract this phenomenon, spacer-filled channels are used, which enhance mixing and heat transfer but also cause higher pressure drops. Therefore, in the design of MD modules, the choice of the spacer is crucial for process efficiency. In the present work, different overlapped spacers are investigated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and results are compared with experiments carried out with thermochromic liquid crystals (TLC). Results are reported for different flow attack angles and for Reynolds numbers (Re) ranging from ~200 to ~800. A good qualitative agreement between simulations and experiments can be observed for the areal distribution of the normalized heat transfer coefficient. Trends of the average heat transfer coefficient are reported as functions of Re for the geometries investigated, thus providing the basis for CFD-based correlations to be used in higher-scale process models.

La Cerva M., Cipollina A., Ciofalo M., Albeirutty M., Turkmen N., Bouguecha S., et al. (2019). Cfd investigation of spacer-filled channels for membrane distillation. MEMBRANES, 9(8) [10.3390/membranes9080091].

Cfd investigation of spacer-filled channels for membrane distillation

La Cerva M.;Cipollina A.;Ciofalo M.;Micale G.
2019-01-01

Abstract

The membrane distillation (MD) process for water desalination is affected by temperature polarization, which reduces the driving force and the efficiency of the process. To counteract this phenomenon, spacer-filled channels are used, which enhance mixing and heat transfer but also cause higher pressure drops. Therefore, in the design of MD modules, the choice of the spacer is crucial for process efficiency. In the present work, different overlapped spacers are investigated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and results are compared with experiments carried out with thermochromic liquid crystals (TLC). Results are reported for different flow attack angles and for Reynolds numbers (Re) ranging from ~200 to ~800. A good qualitative agreement between simulations and experiments can be observed for the areal distribution of the normalized heat transfer coefficient. Trends of the average heat transfer coefficient are reported as functions of Re for the geometries investigated, thus providing the basis for CFD-based correlations to be used in higher-scale process models.
2019
La Cerva M., Cipollina A., Ciofalo M., Albeirutty M., Turkmen N., Bouguecha S., et al. (2019). Cfd investigation of spacer-filled channels for membrane distillation. MEMBRANES, 9(8) [10.3390/membranes9080091].
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
membranes-09-00091.pdf

accesso aperto

Descrizione: Published paper
Tipologia: Versione Editoriale
Dimensione 5.85 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
5.85 MB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10447/398524
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? 2
  • Scopus 11
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 11
social impact