A simulation tool for analysis and design of reverse electrodialysis using concentrated brines

2015

Abstract Reverse electrodialysis (SGP-RE or RED) represents a viable technology for the conversion of the salinity gradient power into electric power. A comprehensive model is proposed for the RED process using sea or brackish water and concentrated brine as feed solutions. The goals were (i) reliably describing the physical phenomena involved in the process and (ii) providing information for optimal equipment design. For such purposes, the model has been developed at two different scales of description: a lower scale for the repeating unit of the system (cell pair), and a higher scale for the entire equipment (stack). The model was implemented in a process simulator, validated against orig…

A hierarchical model for novel schemes of electrodialysis desalination

2019

Abstract A new hierarchical model for the electrodialysis (ED) process is presented. The model has been implemented into gPROMs Modelbuilder (PSE), allowing the development of a distributed-parameters simulation tool that combines the effectiveness of a semi-empirical modelling approach to the flexibility of a layered arrangement of modelling scales. Thanks to its structure, the tool makes possible the simulation of many different and complex layouts, requiring only membrane properties as input parameters (e.g. membrane resistance or salt and water permeability). The model has been validated against original experimental data obtained from a lab scale ED test rig. Simulation results concern…

Electrodialysis with capacitive electrodes (CED): hierarchical process modelling for water desalination

2018

The present work describes the development of the first dynamic model for CED

Analysis and simulation of scale-up potentials in reverse electrodialysis

2015

The Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) process has been widely accepted as a viable and promising technology to produce electric energy from salinity difference (salinity gradient power - e.g. using river water/seawater, or seawater and concentrated brines). Recent R&D efforts demonstrated how an appropriate design of the RED unit and a suitable selection of process conditions may crucially enhance the process performance. With this regard, a process simulator was developed and validated with experimental data collected on a lab-scale unit, providing a new modelling tool for process optimisation. In this work, performed within the REAPower project (www.reapower.eu), a process simulator previousl…

Modelling of Electrodialysis units by a multi-scale process simulator

Drinking water production by desalination is an interesting alternative to face water scarcity issues. Electrodialysis (ED) is an electro-membrane process that is actually gaining attention as a competitive alternative for seawater and brackish water desalination due to recent developments in manufacturing of high performance ion exchange membranes (IEMs). In this context, a suitable process simulator can be a very effective tool in order to drive the design of optimized ED systems. In this work a novel mathematical model of ED units was developed by a hierarchical simulation strategy of separation of scales, in order to address the full simulation problem. The model was implemented in PSE …

A 2-D model of electrodialysis stacks including the effects of membrane deformation

2021

Abstract Membrane-based processes have gained a relevant role in many engineering applications. Much effort has been devoted to thoroughly understand the fundamental phenomena behind them. However, membrane deformation has been taken into consideration only recently, although much evidence has shown its impacts in many applications. This work presents a novel 2-D, multi-scale, semi-empirical process model able to predict the behavior and the performance of Electrodialysis (ED) systems in cross-flow configurations in the presence and absence of local membrane deformations. The model exploits the results and the simulation approaches of previous fluid-structure investigations performed by the…

Water desalination by capacitive electrodialysis: Experiments and modelling

2020

Abstract Electrodialysis-related technologies keep spreading in multiple fields, among which water desalination still plays a major role. A new technology that has not yet been thoroughly investigated is capacitive electrodialysis (CED), which couples the standard ED with capacitive electrodes. CED has a number of advantages such as removal of toxic products and system simplification. Little mention is made of this technology in the literature and, to the best of our knowledge, no modelling works have ever been presented. In this work, the CED process has been studied through experiments and modelling. A CED model is presented for the first time. With a simple calibration based on macroscop…