Heat-transfer performance comparison between overlapped and woven spacers for membrane distillation

2016

Sustainable production of fresh water from seawater desalination is a problem of crucial importance nowadays. Recently, some desalination technologies are taking advantage from the coupling with renewable resources. Among emerging technologies, Membrane Distillation (MD) is considered as one of the most promising as it can be easily powered by solar thermal energy or waste-heat. As an emerging technology, efforts are required to optimize MD unit geometry and operating conditions in order to reduce fresh water production specific cost. Temperature polarization phenomenon is a well-known detrimental effect for the MD process. Spacers are traditionally used to enhance mixing and shrink tempera…

Neutralization of acid and base solutions by Reverse Electrodialysis with Bipolar Membranes: a sustainable way to recover energy

2020

The large amount of acidic wastewaters produced in various industrial processes can have a large economic and environmental impact. Companies producing waste acid solutions have to send them to specific sites for the neutralization with alkaline solutions. However, efforts have been devoted so far to promote the acid recovery or its reuse. In the perspective of a more circular manufacturing approach, the present work proposes for the first time the use of the novel Bipolar Membrane Reverse Electrodialysis technology as a viable on-site way to convert the chemical energy associated to the pH gradient of waste acid/base solutions into electrical energy. Bipolar Membrane Reverse Electrodialysi…

Techno-economic evaluation of Reverse Electrodialysis process in different real environments

2018

Salinity Gradient Power is a promising renewable energy source based on the recovery of the chemical potential released from the mixing of solutions at different concentrations. Natural salinity gradients are extensively available worldwide in natural reservoirs. Reverse Electrodialysis is an innovative technology able to perform a direct conversion of the energy of mixing into electricity. Salinity gradients coming from natural resources or from human activities are worldwide available. In the present work a number of different scenarios, including natural resources (e.g. rivers, seas, lakes and salt ponds), industrial/urban wastes (e.g. brine and treated wastewaters) are analysed. The aim…

Dense Solid-Liquid Suspensions in Top-Covered Unbaffled Stirred Vessels

2011

In the present work solids suspension is investigated in an unbaffled tank stirred by a Rushton turbine and provided with a top-cover in order to avoid the formation of the well known central vortex. The data obtained are compared with those pertaining baffled stirred tanks via comparison with the well known Zwietering’s correlation. The dependence of Njs on particle concentration is found to be similar to that well established for baffled vessels, while, as a difference from the latter, Njs is found to decrease when liquid viscosity increases. Results also show that Njs is substantially independent of particle size, a feature that may advice the adoption of unbaffled tanks when large heavy…

A novel Reverse Electrodialysis application to generate power from low-grade heat

2015

A novel idea for the conversion of low-temperature heat into electricity is based on the generation of electricity from salinity gradients using a Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) device in a closed-loop system. In this concept a limited amount of artificial saline solutions can be used as the working fluids in a closed-loop. The solutions exiting from the RED unit are then regenerated, in order to restore the original salinity gradient, by means of a separation step, which uses low-temperature heat (40-100°C) as its energy source. A theoretical analysis of potentials of this technology is illustrated in the present work.

Diffusion dialysis for HCl and heavy metals separation from highly concentrated pickling solutions

2019

Disposal of pickling waste solutions strongly affects hot-dip galvanizing industries’ economics and environmental footprint. Thus, the recovery of acid is an important step to enhance the process sustainability. Diffusion dialysis (DD) can be used to separate acids and heavy metals (e.g. iron and zinc) from pickling waters, promoting the circular use of such raw materials. In the present work, two DD modules, a laboratory scale unit operating in batch and a continuous operated large unit, equipped with Fumasep anionic exchange membranes were tested. Results obtained show that zinc and iron affect HCl recovery in opposite way, however reaching high recovery values. In particular, zinc consid…

Bipolar membrane (reverse) electrodialysis acid/base flow battery for energy storage: a multi-scale model for increased efficiency

2019

The renewable energy market is rapidly increasing. Most of renewable energy sources are intermittent, e.g. wind and solar among them. This has led to the need for new large scale energy storage systems. In this regard, the Acid/Base Flow Battery (AB-FB) represents an innovative, safe and sustainable way to store energy with high performances [1]. The energy density accumulated in an AB-FB, in the form of pH and salinity gradients, can theoretically reach 7 kWh/m8 which is higher than the values relevant to the most used technologies (e.g. pumped hydropower and compressed air). The core of the battery is the stack where two membrane separation processes are carried out: bipolar membrane elec…

Integrated modelling of membrane deformation, fluid dynamics and mass transfer in electromembrane processes

In recent years, water and energy supply issues have drawn the attention of the scientific community to electromembrane processes. Electrodialysis (ED) and Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) are two of the most attractive electromembrane technologies for water desalination and electric energy production from salinity gradients, respectively. In order to gain an important place in the industrial market, technological challenges on various aspects are involved in the optimization of these processes. In this context, profiled membranes exhibit interesting performance. However, the mechanical behavior of the membranes and its interaction with fluid dynamics has been poorly investigated so far. In me…

Experimental investigation on the efficiency of zinc(II) recovery from waste streams by TBP liquid-liquid extraction

2016

In many industrial processes the presence of zinc in the wastewater may represent an obstacle to its high efficient regeneration. This is the case of the treatment of spent pickling solutions aiming the recovery of hydrochloric acid via pyrohydrolysis techniques. Hydrochloric spent pickling solutions from steel processing contain relevant amount of metals such as iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) that may significantly affect recovery of hydrochloric acid (HCl) through pyrohydrolysis. In fact, although Fe may be recovered as ferric oxide (Fe2O3) and does not have a substantial effect on pyrohydrolysis process, zinc chloride (ZnCl2) evaporating can occlude nozzles and stick to the pyrohydrolysis react…

Water-organic systems in closed-loop reverse electrodialysis for lower regeneration requirements

2016

Salinity Gradient Power (SGP) is an emerging opportunity to produce sustainable energy. Among the different SGP technologies, Reverse ElectroDialysis (RED) looks very promising. In a RED system the salinity gradient between two different solutions is used to directly produce electricity. Closed-loop RED is an innovative process, combining a RED unit with a regeneration system. If low grade waste-heat is used for the regeneration stage, in which the initial concentrations of the solutions exiting the RED unit are restored, the closed-loop can be seen as a RED-heat-engine able to convert thermal energy into electricity. The aim of this work is to perform a preliminary analysis of a regenerati…

Exergy analysis of electrodialysis for water desalination: Influence of irreversibility sources

2022

The increasing freshwater demand is pushing the development and adoption of desalination technologies. In this framework, electrodialysis has a consolidated role in brackish water desalination, but to make it competitive with other technologies for the desalination of more concentrated solutions (e.g., seawater), the specific energy consumption should be reduced. Exergy analysis provides a useful tool for determining the contribution of each thermodynamic inefficiencies on the process efficiency and the specific energy consumption. In this regard, this paper presents an exergy analysis of the electrodialysis process. A 1-D model is used for evaluating the performance of industrial-scale sys…

Investigation on magnesium hydroxide recovery from real bitterns

2022

A multi-scale tool for simulating electrodialysis with bipolar membranes systems

2022

In recent years, the global capacity of the desalination industry has increased to address freshwater scarcity, with reverse osmosis established as the leading technology. Brine disposal is a major issue due to the environmental impacts. However, novel brine management methods are oriented by (near) Zero Liquid Discharge strategies towards waste disposal minimization and resource recovery. In this context, ElectroDialysis with Bipolar Membranes (EDBM) can be utilised to valorise and, thus, repurpose the waste brine, thereby producing valuable chemicals, such as acid and base solutions, and recovering desalted water. However, the EDBM system must be carefully designed to meet the process req…

Measurements of Njs and Power Requirements in Unbaffled Bioslurry Reactors

2012

The remediation of urban/industrial polluted lands is a topic of crucial importance nowadays. Bioremediation techniques are widely employed to remove organic pollutants from contaminated soils because of their simplicity and cheapness. The bioslurry reactors mechanically agitated by stirrers represent one of the most promising bioremediation techniques. In the present work an unbaffled stirred vessel filled with solids and water is experimentally investigated from a fluid dynamic point of view. Air presence within the tank is guaranteed by the central vortex formation (typical occurrence concerning stirred vessels unprovided with baffles) instead of an intrinsically more expensive insufflat…

Modeling and Design of Membrane Integrated Processes for HCl and Metals Recovery from Pickling Solutions

2018

Hydrochloric acid pickling is a common practice in steel manufacturing industry. During the process, acid is consumed to dissolve surface oxides and metals are accumulated in the solution. This fact leads to a process efficiency decrease. Continuous regeneration of pickling solutions enhances process rate and performance, but also minimises the highly expensive and environmentally risky wastewater disposal. The recovery of valuable substances (e.g. acid and metals) can be accomplished by coupling diffusion dialysis (DD) and membrane distillation (MD) technologies. In the present work, a steady state process simulator for the integrated process has been developed. The aim is to analyze and p…

Experimental assessment of reverse electrodialysis in closed loop configuration fed by NH4HCO3-water solutions

2018

Closed loop reverse electrodialysis is a novel technology for converting low-temperature waste heat into electric energy. This innovative heat engine consists of two units: (i) a reverse electrodialysis unit where power is produced exploiting the concentration difference between a diluted and a concentrated salt solution and (ii) a thermally driven regeneration unit where low-grade waste heat is used to re-establish the original salinity gradient between the two salt solutions. Among all the possible salt solutions suitable as working fluid in such application, Thermolytic salts solutions, in particular Ammonium bicarbonate solutions, may be promising thanks to their characteristic thermall…

NH4HCO3–water solutions regeneration in RED closed loop applications

2017

Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) in closed loop arrangement (Reverse Electrodialysis Heat Engine - REDHE) is a promising technology to convert low-grade waste heat into electricity. RED is a membrane process exploiting the salinity gradient between a concentrated and a diluted solution to generate electrical current. Due to the transfer phenomena occurring in the RED unit, the two exiting solutions are partially mixed. Thermal regeneration processes can be used to restore the initial conditions of the two solutions, thus closing the loop. In this regard, ammonium hydrogen carbonate (NH4HCO3) salt solutions are suitable for such applications, being able to decompose at temperatures above 40-45 …

Effective magnesium recovery via seawater brines mining

In the last couple of decades, a rising interest has been focused on the research of novel and unconventional sources for mining minerals, such as industrial waste brines. As an example, brines are produced by desalination plants and discharged directly, or after being treated, into receiving water bodies possibly causing environmental concerns and renouncing the possibility to recover minerals [1,2]. Within this framework, the Water Mining WU-H2020 project aims at implementing an advanced Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) demo systems for the extraction of minerals and valuables products from industrial waste brines through a circular approach. The ZLD demo plant consists of: (i) Nano Filtration…

Power requirements for complete suspension and aeration in an unbaffled bioslurry reactor

2016

Remediation of contaminated soils is spreading as a matter of crucial importance nowadays. Bioremediation via bioslurry reactors of sites polluted by recalcitrant pollutants has been proved to be a valuable option, although optimization is needed to reduce process costs. Free-surface unbaffled stirred tanks (with central air vortex) have been recently proposed as a promising alternative to the more common systems provided with baffles. In a bioslurry reactor solid-liquid interfacial area, oxygen supply, solid loading per reactor unit volume should be maximized, and, at the same time, operation costs have to be kept low. In this regard, the minimum impeller speeds for complete suspension Njs…

Magnesium recovery from exhausted brine

2016

abstractita

REVERSE ELECTRODIALYSIS FOR POWER PRODUCTION FROM OILFIELD WASTEWATERS

2022

Produced waters (PWs) are wastewaters generated by crude-oil extraction processes. They can present very different characteristics depending on the field location and production process. Dispersed oil, dissolved organics and solid particles are usually the main components. Moreover, PWs can contain a very high quantity of dissolved salts 1, with a total dissolved solid (TDS) concentration up to 300 g/L. Each barrel of extracted oil requires the simultaneous extraction of 3 barrels of produced water2 on average. PWs are often discharged into the sea, or sent in evaporation ponds thus leading to a dramatic environment impact3. Reinjection in the extraction well is currently the most common an…

Development of a pilot plant for the recovery of magnesium hydroxide from waste brines

Waste brines from various industrial processes, mainly from saltworks, are an important source of minerals, such as magnesium, table salt and potable water.

Modelling Reverse Electrodialysis process via Exergy Analysis

2017

Salinity Gradient Power Heat Engines (SGP-HEs) represent a novel technology to convert low grade waste heat into electricity. Reverse Electrodialysis Heat Engine (REDHE) is one of the possible application of this concept, where a common RED unit is coupled with a thermal regeneration unit supplied with waste heat to restore the salinity gradient of the streams to be fed back to the RED unit. In a RED unit, anion and cation exchange membranes (AEMs and CEMs) are alternatively stacked and interposed between salt solutions at different concentration generating an electric potential difference over each membrane along with a selective transport of cations and anions from the concentrated soluti…

GREEN ENERGY HARVESTING FROM CONCENTRATED SALTWORKS BITTERNS BY REVERSE ELECTRODIALYSIS

2022

Concentrated bitterns discharged from saltworks have extremely high salinity, often up to 300 g/L, thus their direct disposal not only can have harmful effect on the environment, but also generates a depletion of a potential resource of renewable energy. Here, reverse electrodialysis (RED), an emerging electrochemical membrane process, is introduced to capture the salinity gradient power (SGP) intrinsically conveyed by these bitterns also aiming at the reduction of concentrated salty water disposal. A RED unit at the laboratory scale has been adopted to study the SGP potential with different ion exchange membrane and different operating conditions. In particular, membranes supplied by Fujif…

A validated multi-scale model of a novel electrodialytic acid-base flow battery

2020

Electrical energy storage is crucial for a deeper penetration of intermittent renewable energies, e.g. solar and wind. The Acid/Base Flow Battery (AB-FB) is a novel, sustainable, environmental-friendly storage technology with high energy density1. The process is based on reversible electrodialytic techniques that convert the electrical energy in the chemical energy associated to pH gradients and vice versa. The bipolar membrane electrodialysis process operates in the charge phase, while the bipolar membrane reverse electrodialysis in the discharge phase. The stack consists of repetitive units, called triplets, made up of an anion-exchange membrane, a bipolar membrane, and a cation-exchange …

CFD Simulation of Mass Transfer Phenomena in Spacer Filled Channels for Reverse Electrodialysis Applications

2013

Salinity Gradient Power via Reverse Electrodialysis is a topic of primary importance nowadays. It allows getting energy from the “controlled” mixing of solutions at different salt concentration. The performance of this technology depends on many factors such as: components properties (i.e. membranes, spacers, electrodes), stack geometry, operating conditions and feeds features. Concentration polarization phenomena may significantly affect the actual membrane potential, thus reducing the gross power produced. On the other hand, C-polarization phenomena may significantly be reduced by suitably choosing the hydrodynamic regime within the stack. Such a choice may in turn significantly require h…

Modeling and Design of Membrane Process Recovery of HCl and Metals from Pickling Solutions

2018

Abstract Hydrochloric acid pickling is one of the key steps in the hot-dip galvanizing process. It is a process widely used as a chemical pre-treatment method for cleaning, where metal surfaces with oxides are immersed into an acid solution. During the pickling process, the acid concentration decreases with time while the metal is accumulated. Thus, the efficiency of the pickling solution decreases and fresh solution must be used. Continuous regeneration of pickling solutions enhances pickling rate and process performance, but also minimises industrial wastewater disposal and chemicals consumption. The recovery and recycling process of valuable substances (e.g. acid and metals) can be accom…

Optimization study of acid-base flow battery stacks with monopolar and bipolar membranes

2021

The Acid-Base Flow Battery (AB-FB) is a novel technology for energy storage. It is based on reversible electrodialytic techniques with ion-exchange membranes. The kye elements are the bipolar membranes, which convert electrical energy in the form of pH gradients and vice versa. Despite the promising results of few experimental studies, the AB-FB potential has been poorly explored so far. This work presents an optimization study of the AB-FB. It was performed by a multi-scale process model previously developed (gPROMS Model Builder® environment) and experimentally validated. A two-objective optimization was conducted by maximizing the Net Round Trip Efficiency and the Net Power Density in th…

Experimental Analysis via Thermochromic Liquid Crystals of the Temperature Local Distribution in Membrane Distillation Modules

2013

A reliable and optimized design of channels for Membrane Distillation (MD) requires knowledge of local temperature distributions within the module. This information is essential to measure the temperature polarization, choice the module configuration (net spacer features, channel size, etc) providing the best process performance. Notwithstanding such crucial aspects, only few studies have been devoted to the experimental characterization of MD channels and none of them includes data on the local temperature distribution. In the present work, an experimental technique based on the use of Thermochromic Liquid Crystals (TLCs) and digital image processing, previously proposed by the authors (Pi…

Hierarchical modelling of electrodialysis desalination process

2017

In recent years, thanks to the development of ion exchange membranes (IEMs) manufacturing industry, Electrodialysis (ED) is spreading as a viable alternative to the more common membrane desalination processes. Therefore, many research efforts have been recently devoted to studying this process both via experimental and modelling activities. In the present work a novel mathematical model for ED was developed using a multi-scale approach. This method allows to build a hierarchical simulation tool that is able to gauge the impact of all the phenomena involved in the process. The lower-hierarchy model describes the behaviour of the elementary unit of an ED stack, namely cell pair. This model is…

Two-dimensional model of cross-flow electrodialysis units for the assessment of membrane deformation effects on the process performance

Potentials for critical raw materials recovery from Mediterranean saltworks bitterns

2022

Minerals extraction from seawater brines is currently regarded as the most practical approach to reduce European dependency from the import of many Critical Raw Materials. The technical feasibility of such approach has been widely demonstrated in several different research and development projects but the economic sustainability has always been found to depend on the local demand for sodium chloride, which is always the most abundant product of the extraction. Starting from this crucial node, the SEArcularMINE project has investigated the possibility to use the residual brines originated by sea-salt extraction in traditional saltworks, regarded as an already well-established marketplace. Th…

Thermodynamic characterisation of novel solutions for closed-loop reverse electrodialysis

2018

Closed-loop reverse electrodialysis is a novel technology to convert low-grade heat directly into electricity. It consists of a reverse electrodialysis unit coupled with a regeneration unit in which the waste-heat is used to restore the initial conditions of the two solutions. One of the most impor- tant advantages of closed-loop system is the possibility to select an ad-hoc salt solution to obtain high efficiency. In this regard, it is important to assess how the salt solution properties affect the performance of the energy generation and solution regeneration processes. The aim of this study is to analyse the effect of thermodynamic properties of non-conventional salt solutions within a R…

Long-run operation of a reverse electrodialysis system fed with wastewater solutions

2016

In the framework of Salinity Gradient Power technologies, Reverse ElectroDialysis (RED) is one of the most promising. In RED, two solutions of different salt concentration are fed into a series of alternate compartments, the one fed by the low salinity solution, the other by the high salinity solution. Compartments are separated by anion and cation exchange membranes alternatively piled to form a stack. Selective ion transport from the concentrate compartment to the dilute one across the membranes allows to generate an ionic current, which is eventually converted into electric current by means of suitable electrode compartments closing the stack. Several options for the feed solutions are p…

Recovering of zinc(II) from spent pickling solutions by liquid-liquid extraction

2015

Hydrochloric acid can be successfully recovered from spent pickling liquors with high efficiencies via pyrohydrolysis techniques. In the pickling solution feed, other metallic ions are typically present besides iron (mainly Fe2+) such as zinc(II). In order to avoid undesirable effects, zinc(II) has to be removed, because zinc chloride evaporates and sticks to the reactor walls, as well as it contaminates iron oxides product1. Moreover, zinc recovery is economically affordable because it allows the marketing of some products such as ZnCl2 and ZnSO4. In the present work, liquid-liquid extraction process has been selected to recover zinc(II) from pickling liquors, using suitable extractant age…

Treatment of electroplating wastewater by combining membrane technologies and reactive precipitation process at pilot scale

2022

Process modelling of a novel acid-base flow battery based on bipolar-membranes

2021

The storage of electrical energy is crucial for a deeper penetration of renewable energies with intermittent nature, e.g. solar and wind energy. The Acid/Base Flow Battery (AB-FB) is a novel, sustainable, environmental-friendly storage technology with high energy density of the electrolyte solutions. The process is based on reversible electrodialytic techniques with bipolar membranes, which convert the electrical energy in the chemical energy associated to pH gradients and vice versa. The charge phase is a bipolar membrane electrodialysis process, while the discharge phase is a bipolar membrane reverse electrodialysis process. The stack consists of several repetitive units, called triplets,…

RED Heat-to-Power: conversione di calore di scarto in energia elettrica mediante elettrodialisi inversa a ciclo chiuso

2016

La produzione di energia da gradienti salini si sta affermando come una valida alternativa alle tradizionali fonti di energia rinnovabili. In particolare l’elettrodialisi inversa (RED) è di certo tra le tecnologie più promettenti per effettuare la conversione di gradienti salini in energia utile. Un recente sviluppo è l’utilizzo del processo RED a ciclo chiuso con soluzioni saline artificiali, nel quale le soluzioni in uscita dall’unità RED vengono rigenerate all’interno di un’unità di rigenerazione termica, che ripristina il gradiente salino iniziale. L’utilizzo del sistema a ciclo chiuso premette dunque di convertire calore a bassa temperatura (e.g. calore di scarto a T <70-100°C) in e…

Recovery of pickling acid solutions by membrane technology: the EU REWACEM Project

2017

Resource recovery from industrial waste water by cutting edge membrane technologies

Effective recovery of HCl and metals from pickling solutions by cutting-edge membrane technologies

2018

The pickling process is an essential step in the hot-dip galvanizing process.It is performed by immersing manufacturedsteel pieces inacid bathsin order todissolve the oxidized layers. During the pickling process, acid attacks metal oxides on the surface, dissolving them in the pickling bath. Thus, the efficiency of the pickling liquor decreases due to the accumulation of metal salts and the consumption of free acid in the solution. When hydrochloric acid is used,ferrous chloride is producedduring the pickling treatment, reaching concentrations up to 250 g/l, while the acid concentration decreases by 75-85%. A pickling bath in this condition is considered spent [1] due to thevery low picklin…

SELECTIVE CRYSTALLISATION OF MAGNESIUM AND CALCIUM HYDROXIDES FROM INDUSTRIAL WASTE BRINES: A PILOT STUDY

2021

In the last years, a rising interest has been focused on the valorization of waste brines from industrial processes, such as desalination plants. In most current scenarios, waste brines are disposed directly, or after being treated, into a receiving water bodies, often causing environmental concerns and, more importantly, renouncing to the possibility of using such a waste as source of valuable raw materials. In fact, these brines are typically rich in useful salts and minerals, whose recovery can increase the environmental and economical sustainability of the industrial process [1-2]. The ZERO BRINE EU-H2020 project aims at the development of technologies for the recovery of salts, mineral…

Experimental investigation and modelling for sulphuric acid recovery by diffusion dialysis

2018

Sulphuric acid is known to be one of the key inorganic acid and has been widely used in chemical reaction and metal industries for surface treatments as in the copper electroplating process. During these processes, large amounts of waste sulphuric acid solution are generally generated, containing high concentrations of metals and acid. The possibility of recover and reuse the sulphuric acid in the process could avoid environmental contamination and reduce costs of the disposal. Among several separation methods, diffusion dialysis (DD) is becoming more and more attractive thanks to the recent important advances in ion exchange membranes (IEMs) field and because of its clean nature and operat…

Simulation of a regeneration plant for spent pickling solutions via spray roasting

2015

Nowadays, pyrohydrolysis techniques are widely applied for regeneration of spent pickling liquors providing an excellent environmental and economical strategy to the problem of waste disposal/recovery, also thanks to the high acid recovery efficiencies (>99%) achieved1. In fact, in these processes, iron chlorides are converted into iron oxides and hydrogen chloride at high temperature in spray roasting or fluidized bed reactors2. Though the state-of-the-art technologies have been successfully applied only to large scale plants, the development of small scale units, able to perform a delocalized regeneration of spent solutions where these latter are actually produced, would be strongly ne…

A feasibility study of table salt production from seawater reverse osmosis brine

2022

Prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism in elderly patients with multimorbidity

2013

none 327 si Pharmacological thromboprophylaxis (TP) is known to reduce venous thromboembolism (VTE) in medical inpatients, but the criteria for risk-driven prescription, safety and impact on mortality are still debated. We analyze data on elderly patients with multimorbidities admitted in the year 2010 to the Italian internal medicine wards participating in the REPOSI registry to investigate the rate of TP during the hospital stay, and analyze the factors that are related to its prescription. Multivariate logistic regression, area under the ROC curve and CART analysis were performed to look for independent predictors of TP prescription. Association between TP and VTE, bleeding and death in …

Modelling and experimental investigation of a novel ion exchange membrane crystallizer for magnesium recovery

2020

An integrated approach for HCl and metals recovery from waste pickling solutions: pilot plant design and operations

Continuous regeneration of industrial pickling solutions and recovery of valuable materials are implemented in a pilot-scale plant including diffusion dialysis, membrane distillation and reactive precipitation units. The main results of the preliminary assessment of on site operation are presented. Different hydrochloric acid concentration and metals composition were investigated and the performance of the system were analysed in terms of quality of recovered compounds, energy efficiency and environmental footprint.

A multi-physics modelling tool for Reverse Electrodialysis

2015

In this work, a multi-physics modelling approach has been developed for the RED process.

Reverse Electrodialysis with brackish water and concentrated brines: up-scaled pilot plant operating in a real environment

2015

This work focuses on the saling up of the REA Power plant through the installation of two larger RED modules

Dense Solid-Liquid Off-Bottom Suspension Dynamics: Simulation and Experiment

2009

Dense solid-liquid off-bottom suspension inside a baffled mechanically agitated stirred tank equipped with a standard Rushton turbine is investigated. Dynamic evolution of the suspension from start up to steady state conditions has been inspected by both visual experiments and computational fluid dynamics. A classical Eulerian-Eulerian Multi Fluid Model along with the “homogeneous” k-epsilon turbulence model is adopted to simulate suspension dynamics. In these systems the drag inter-phase force affects both solids suspension and distribution. Therefore, different computational approaches are tested in order to compute this term. Simulation results are compared with images acquired on the re…

CHP retrofit for a large Med-Tvc Desalination Plant: High efficiency assessment for different design options under the current legislative EU framewo…

2015

Integrated power plants in "dual purpose" configuration may represent a viable option for energy cost abatement of desalted water produced by MED-TVC (Multiple Effect Distillation along with Thermal Vapour Compression). In this paper an existing large MED-TVC plant with a 36,000 m(3)/day capacity is studied: a plant retrofit is designed, based on a steam power plant with condensation and steam extraction used to drive the steam ejector. As the plant operates in CHP (Combined Heat and Power) mode, the possibility to assess the integrated "CHP + MED-TVC" as high efficiency cogeneration according to Directive 2004/8/EC is discussed. Based on a model developed in Engineering Equation Solver, a …

Apparatus for synthesizing and separating synthesis products e.g. gaseous and liquid phases on bed, maintains heavier liquid phase at lower portion o…

2013

NOVELTY - The apparatus has header that is set to make the heavier and lighter liquid phases flow along outer side surface of a third tube (8) as far as first closure element (13). The third tube is provided with second side openings for directly connecting the first and second meatus. The heavier liquid phase is maintained at lower portion of the first meatus due to gravity and lighter liquid phase is maintained at upper portion of the first meatus until the liquid phases fall into a fourth tube (9). The heavier liquid phase is collectible through a collection hole (12). USE - Apparatus e.g. reactor/separator for synthesizing and separating synthesis products e.g. gaseous phase and heavier…

Lab-scale investigation of a pressure retarded osmosis module fed by "non-conventional" salinity gradient

2015

Aim of this work has been to investigate the feasibility of PRO technology for power generation from saline streams originated by different water treatments plants, namely brine from a thermal desalination plant and fresh water from a sewage treatment plant.

Societal and economic aspects of a novel circular system for the valorisation of desalination brine and waste heat from a power plant

2022

Direct disposal of concentrate brines produced in industrial plants can have a relevant impact to environmental systems. For this reason, brine treatment and valorisation could help to avoid disposal and produce marketable salts, thus representing a possible economic benefit. With this aim, a novel process, where advanced separation technologies are combined with waste heat recovery, is proposed within the EU-funded WATER MINING project. The Case Study presented in this work concerns the power plant in Lampedusa island, where waste heat and desalination brine are available to implement the process via a pilot plant to be installed for alternative thermal treatment of the brine. The aim is t…

Application of computational fluid dynamics technique in membrane distillation processes

2022

This Chapter illustrates the application of CFD to spacer-filled channels for membrane distillation. The topics discussed cover finite volume grids and grid independence, the unit-cell treatment of spatially periodic net spacers, and the dependence of flow and thermal fields and overall performance parameters (pressure drop and mean heat transfer coefficients) upon geometry and operating conditions (Reynolds number, flow attack angle, pitch-to-height ratio, spacer thermal conductivity, thermal boundary conditions, and one-side vs. two-side heat transfer).

Techno-economic analysis of a novel hybrid system for the valorisation of SWRO brines in a minor Sicilian island

2021

In small remote islands, freshwater scarcity is an issue to which several viable solutions have already been found employing constantly evolving desalination technologies. The several RO plants in the Canary and minor Sicilian Islands are just an example . However, the beneficial application of seawater desalination is accompanied by a problematic matter: the production of high salinity brines. Not only do they compromise the aquatic ecosystem but their treatment in order to respect environmental regulations is costly too. Worth noting how these so-called “wastewater streams” present a high concentration of valuable raw materials, such as magnesium and calcium or sodium chloride, that are e…

ION EXCHANGE MEMBRANE CRYSTALLIZER FOR MAGNESIUM RECOVERY FROM SEAWATER AND INDUSTRIAL BRINE

2020

The treatment and valorisation of waste brines deriving from industrial processes raised in the last years a strong interest in order to promote the whole process sustainability both in terms of minimisation of environmental impacts and raw materials recovery within a circular economy approach. With this respect, magnesium recovery from brines can be an interesting and practical example. In this work, a novel ion exchange membrane crystallizer (CrIEM1) is presented. In a CrIEM reactor, the presence of an Anion Exchange Membrane, separating a brine and an alkaline solutions, allows the passage of hydroxyl ions from the alkaline to the brine compartment, where crystallization of magnesium hyd…

Coupling CFD simulation with a simplified process model for reverse electrodialysis units

2017

Salinity gradient between two solutions is a renewable source of energy. Among the technologies able to exploit the salinity gradient, reverse electrodialysis (RED) is an electrochemical process for electrical power generation through direct conversion. Ion exchange membranes, piled alternately and separated by net spacers or membrane profiles, are the key elements of a RED stack. A multiplex phenomenology occurs in RED units; Ohmic and non-Ohmic (due to concentration changes) voltage losses and pressure drop are the main issues, and the membrane/channel configuration is crucial for the stack performance. In this framework, mathematical modelling can be a powerful tool for predictive purpos…

CFD Simulation of Solid Liquid Suspensions in Baffled Stirred Vessels Below Complete Suspension Speed

2011

Suspension of solid particles into liquids within stirred vessels is a complex phenomenon encountered in several industrial applications. Most researchers have focused their attention on the assessment of the minimum impeller speed (Njs) able to guarantee the suspension of all particles. Actually, in a number of industrial cases an impeller speed N lower than Njs is chosen as typical operating condition (Oldshue, 1983) as the resulting energy savings well counterbalance the loss of active interfacial area. Therefore, the assessment of the amount of unsuspended particles at any given impeller speed represents the key to quantify the economical advantage/disadvantage of adopting an impeller s…

CFD PREDICTION OF SCALAR TRANPORT IN THIN CHANNELS FOR REVERSE ELECTRODIALYSIS

2014

Reverse ElectroDialysis (RED) is a very promising technology allowing the electrochemical potential difference of a salinity gradient to be directly converted into electric energy. Fluid dynamics optimization of the thin channels to be devoted for the RED process is still an open problem. The present preliminary work focuses on the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation of the flow and concentration fields in these channels. In particular three different configurations were investigated: a channel unprovided with a spacer and two different spacer (made of either overlapped filaments or woven filaments) filled channels. Two passive scalars were transported along with the water in orde…

Experimental investigation and modelling of diffusion dialysis process for regeneration of acidic pickling solutions

2017

Pickling is one of the key steps in metal finishing industries, where HCl solutions are largely used thus generating significant amounts of spent waste solutions containing high concentrations of metals and acid. The recovery of acid from such waste solutions is thus one of the most beneficial steps for reducing the environmental and economical impact of these processes. Among several separation methods, diffusion dialysis (DD) is becoming more and more attractive thanks to the recent important advances in ion exchange membranes (IEMs) field and because of its clean nature and operational simplicity, low installation and operating costs and low energy consumption [1,2]. In the present work,…

Design, construction and operational results of a pilot plant for the treatment and valorization of pickling waste solutions

2021

An innovative hybrid technology for both minimizing the waste production and optimizing the pickling process through the continuous control of pickling baths composition has been proposed by means of a pilot-plant installed at the Tecnozinco Srl, Carini (PA) hot-dip galvanizing plant. The recovery process has been accomplished by coupling a diffusion dialysis (DD), where HCl is recovered, a membrane distillation (MD), where HCl is concentrated, and a reactive precipitation (RP), where metal ions are recovered as iron hydroxide and ammonium/zinc chloride solution, to be used in the fluxing baths of the plant. The pilot plant was commissioned and operated using synthetic HCl solutions first a…

Application of computational fluid dynamics technique in electrodialysis/reverse electrodialysis processes

2022

This Chapter treats the application of CFD technique in ED/RED processes. CFD simulations are able to predict flow and mass transfer in channels filled with spacers or membrane profiles, by providing dimensionless correlations useful for process models. At a larger scale, manifolds of the stack and inlet/ outlet zones of the channel can be simulated. Numerical models can include the computation of the electrical potential, thus characterizing the process performance. Direct numerical simulations can elucidate the complex phenomenology of overlimiting transport and of chaotic electrokinetic flows.

Volume and number average sizes of Mg(OH)2 particles from concentrated Mg2+ containing solutions

Thermal regeneration of ammonium bi-carbonate solutions for closed-loop reverse electrodialysis

2016

Reverse electrodialysis is a novel technology that exploits a salinity gradient to generate electrical energy. The salinity gradient can be available from natural waters such as seawater and river water or they can be artificially generated and used within closed-loop applications. This last option has been recently investigated leading to the development of the RED heat engine concept. In this case, the deployed salinity gradient exiting the RED unit is regenerated in a thermally-driven unit using low-temperature heat, thus being able to convert heat to power within an integrated system. Among the different regeneration alternatives, the use of thermolytic salts has been presented as a pro…

Application of diffusion dialysis in separation of sulfuric acid and copper from electroplating wastewater

Electroplating industry creates large volumes of wastewater that contain acids and heavy metallic ions which are toxic but valuable. Diffusion dialysis (DD) can be used to separate acids from heavy metals. In this work, two single-cell DD modules equipped with Fumasep FAD membranes were used for the first time for the separation of sulfuric acid from copper. The first module consisted of a laboratory-scale DD unit operated in a batch configuration to study the effect of process parameters on the efficiency of sulfuric acid recovery. The latter one was a large-scale DD unit operated in a continuous configuration to simulate the process operation at the industrial scale. Results showed that F…

Influence of bundle porosity on shell-side hydrodynamics and mass transfer in regular fiber arrays: A computational study

2023

CFD predictions of the effects of a fiber bundle porosity on shell-side hydrodynamics and mass transfer under conditions of steady laminar flow were obtained. Fluid was assumed to flow around regular hexag-onal or square arrays of cylindrical fibers of different pitch to diameter ratios, yielding bundle porosities ranging from the theoretical minimum up to similar to 1. A large number of axial, transverse and mixed flow combinations were simulated by letting the axial and transverse flow Reynolds numbers and the trans-verse flow attack angle vary. Both fully developed and developing conditions (entrance effects) were con-sidered. The continuity and momentum equations, along with a transport…

A process model of electrodialysis including membrane deformation effects

2020

Electrodialysis (ED) is an electro-driven process that makes use of ion exchange membranes (IEMs) under an applied electric field. The main application of ED is the desalination for drinking water production. A transmembrane pressure (TMP) distribution may arise in ED stacks due to an uneven pressure distribution in the two fluid channels, thus causing membrane/channel deformation and flow redistribution. This can occur in large-scale non-parallel configurations, e.g. crossflow arrangements. Detrimental effects of membrane deformation have widely been studied with reference to several membrane processes. However, this aspect has been neglected in ED applications. In this work, a novel proce…

Modelling of an innovative membrane crystallizer for the production of magnesium hydroxide from waste brine

2021

Background The discharge of industrial waste brines into natural water bodies has gained large interest in recent years, both for its possible environmental impact, but also for the high potential of raw materials recovery contained in brines, pushing towards a circular economy approach. Among such raw materials, magnesium is often abundant and has been defined as aCritical Raw Material by EU [1]. Within this framework, a Crystallizer with Ion Exchange Membrane (CrIEM) has been proposed as an innovative process to recover magnesium from waste brines exploiting low-cost alkaline reactants. In the present work, a novel mathematical model of the CrIEM process is proposed providing a useful too…

Lab-scale experiments on a novel acid/base electrodialytic flow battery with bipolar membranes

2021

Electrical energy storage has a key role in the development and diffusion of renewable energy technologies. The Acid/Base Flow Battery is an innovative process to store electrical energy in the form of pH and salinity gradients via electrodialytic reversible techniques based on the use of bipolar membranes. During the charge phase, the unit produces acid and alkaline solutions by applying an electric field, during the discharge phase, converts the pH gradient into electrical energy. In this work, several experimental tests were performed in a 10×10 cm2 laboratory-scale unit fed with HCl, NaOH and NaCl solutions, in order to characterize the battery and assess its performance. The effect of …

High temperature solid-catalized transesterification for biodiesel production

2010

Biodiesel has become more attractive recently because of its environmental benefits and the fact that it is made from renewable resources. Biodiesel is a mixture of monoalkyl esters of long chain fatty acids derived from renewable feed stock like vegetable oils and animal fats, mainly made of fatty acid glycerides. It is produced by transesterification processes in which oil or fat are reacted with a monohydric alcohol in the presence of a catalyst. The transesterification process is affected by reaction conditions, alcohol to oil molar ratio, type of alcohol, type and amount of catalysts, temperature and purity of reactants. Heterogeneous acid catalysts are quite efficient in promoting the…

Ion Exchange Membrane deformation and its relevance in Reverse ElectroDialysis

2017

Reverse electrodialysis (RED) is an innovative electro-membrane technology for electric energy generation from two salt solutions with different concentration. This different concentration is the driving force to a selective movement of ions from the concentrate channel to the dilute one oriented by Ion Exchange Membranes (IEMs). Typically, RED stack are made by piling alternatively cation exchange membranes and anion exchange membranes with the aid of spacers or profiles built on the membrane surface. Two electrodic compartments are placed at the two ends of the stack, where the ion flux generated is converted into an electric current able to circulate through an external load connected to…

Sustainable Energy from Salinity Gradients

2016

Salinity gradient energy, also known as blue energy and osmotic energy, is the energy obtainable from the difference in salt concentration between two feed solutions, typically sea water and river water. It is a large-scale renewable resource that can be harvested and converted to electricity. Efficient extraction of this energy is not straightforward, however. Sustainable Energy from Salinity Gradients provides a comprehensive review of resources, technologies and applications in this area of fast-growing interest. Key technologies covered include pressure retarded osmosis, reverse electrodialysis and accumulator mixing. Environmental and economic aspects are also considered, together with…