Effect of different aqueous solutions of pure salts and salt mixtures in reverse electrodialysis systems for closed-loop applications

Abstract Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) in a closed-loop arrangement is a viable way to convert low-grade heat into electric power. The present work experimentally investigates the use of pure salt- and equimolar two salts-water solutions as feeds in a lab-scale RED unit. RED performances were analysed in terms of Open Circuit Voltage (OCV), stack resistance and corrected power density. The pure salts and the mixtures employed were chosen via a computational analysis. Effect of feed solution velocity and concentration was investigated. Results concerning the pure salt-water experiments show that NH4Cl is the most performing salt in the concentration range probed, while higher power density v…