6533b836fe1ef96bd12a0198

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Towards 1 kW power production in a reverse electrodialysis pilot plant with saline waters and concentrated brines

Michele TedescoAlessandro TamburiniAndrea CipollinaGiorgio Micale

subject

Settore ING-IND/26 - Teoria Dello Sviluppo Dei Processi ChimiciEngineeringBrineSettore ING-IND/25 - Impianti ChimiciFiltration and Separation02 engineering and technologySTREAMSBiochemistry020401 chemical engineeringBriningReversed electrodialysisSalinity gradient powerGeneral Materials Science0204 chemical engineeringPhysical and Theoretical ChemistryIon exchange membraneBrackish waterbusiness.industryREAPowerBrackish waterEnvironmental engineeringRED021001 nanoscience & nanotechnologyPower (physics)SalinityPilot plantMaterials Science (all)Brackish water; Brine; Ion exchange membrane; REAPower; RED; Salinity gradient power; Biochemistry; Materials Science (all); Physical and Theoretical Chemistry; Filtration and Separation0210 nano-technologybusinessNominal power (photovoltaic)

description

Abstract Reverse electrodialysis (RED) is a promising technology to extract energy from salinity gradients, especially in the areas where concentrated brine and saline waters are available as feed streams. A first pilot-scale plant was recently built in Trapani (Italy), and tested with real brackish water and brine from saltworks. The present work focuses on the scale-up of the pilot plant, reaching more than 400 m 2 of total membrane area installed and representing the largest operating RED plant so far reported in the literature. With a nominal power capacity of 1 kW, the pilot plant reached almost 700 W of power capacity using artificial brine and brackish water, while a 50% decrease in power output was observed when using real solutions. This reduction was likely due to the presence of non-NaCl ions in relatively large concentration, which negatively affected both the electromotive force and stack resistance. These results provide relevant and unique information for the RED process scale-up, representing the first step for the feasibility assessment of RED technology on large scale.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2017-01-01Journal of Membrane Science
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2016.09.015