Search results for " electrodialysis"
showing 10 items of 114 documents
Towards the first proof of the concept of a Reverse ElectroDialysis - Membrane Distillation Heat Engine
2019
Abstract The coupling of Reverse Electrodialysis with Membrane Distillation is a promising option for the conversion of waste heat into electricity. This study evaluates the performances of the integrated system under different operating conditions, employing validated model and correlations. This work provides a detailed description of the behaviour of a real RED-MD heat engine and indicates the set of inlet concentrations, velocities and equipment size which returns the highest cycle exergy efficiency. These operating conditions were selected for the pilot plant developed within the EU-funded project RED Heat to Power. For the first time, a perspective analysis was also included, consider…
Thermolytic reverse electrodialysis heat engine: model development, integration and performance analysis
2019
Abstract Salinity gradient heat engines represent an innovative and promising way to convert low-grade heat into electricity by employing salinity gradient technology in a closed-loop configuration. Among the aqueous solutions which can be used as working fluid, ammonium bicarbonate-water solutions appear very promising due to their capability to decompose at low temperature. In this work, an experimentally validated model for a reverse electrodialysis heat engine fed with ammonium bicarbonate-water solutions was developed. The model consists of two validated sub-models purposely integrated, one for the reverse electrodialysis unit and the other for the stripping/absorption regeneration uni…
Membrane Deformation and Its Effects on Flow and Mass Transfer in the Electromembrane Processes
2019
In the membrane processes, a trans-membrane pressure (TMP) may arise due to design features or operating conditions. In most applications, stacks for electrodialysis (ED) or reverse electrodialysis (RED) operate at low TMP (<
Multi-physical modelling of reverse electrodialysis
2017
Abstract Reverse electrodialysis (RED) is an electrochemical membrane process that directly converts the energy associated with the concentration difference between two salt solutions into electrical energy by means of a selective controlled mixing. The physics of RED involves the interaction of several phenomena of different nature and space-time scales. Therefore, mathematical modelling and numerical simulation tools are crucial for performance prediction. In this work, a multi-physical modelling approach for the simulation of RED units was developed. A periodic portion of a single cell pair was simulated in two dimensions. Fluid dynamics was simulated by the Navier-Stokes and continuity …
Energy harvesting by waste acid/base neutralization via bipolar membrane reverse electrodialysis
2020
Bipolar Membrane Reverse Electrodialysis (BMRED) can be used to produce electricity exploiting acid-base neutralization, thus representing a valuable route in reusing waste streams. The present work investigates the performance of a lab-scale BMRED module under several operating conditions. By feeding the stack with 1 M HCl and NaOH streams, a maximum power density of ~17 W m−2 was obtained at 100 A m−2 with a 10-triplet stack with a flow velocity of 1 cm s−1, while an energy density of ~10 kWh m−3 acid could be extracted by a complete neutralization. Parasitic currents along feed and drain manifolds significantly affected the performance of the stack when equipped with a higher number of t…
Effect of different aqueous solutions of pure salts and salt mixtures in reverse electrodialysis systems for closed-loop applications
2018
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…
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…
Pressure-Induced Deformation of Pillar-Type Profiled Membranes and Its Effects on Flow and Mass Transfer
2019
In electro-membrane processes, a pressure difference may arise between solutions flowing in alternate channels. This transmembrane pressure (TMP) causes a deformation of the membranes and of the fluid compartments. This, in turn, affects pressure losses and mass transfer rates with respect to undeformed conditions and may result in uneven flow rate and mass flux distributions. These phenomena were analyzed here for round pillar-type profiled membranes by integrated mechanical and fluid dynamics simulations. The analysis involved three steps: (1) A conservatively large value of TMP was imposed, and mechanical simulations were performed to identify the geometry with the minimum pillar density…
Optimisation analysis of Reverse Electrodialysis systems for power production from concentrated brines
2016
Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) is rapidly growing as technology to produce electric energy by mixing saline solutions with different salinity. Recent developments have shown promising results on real site installations, demonstrating the feasibility of the RED process on the pilot scale. Therefore, further modelling efforts are now needed to optimise the technology, in order to enhance the performance. In this work, an optimisation study for the RED process is presented, taking into account saline waters and concentrated brine as feed streams. The model, which is developed within GAMS environment, predicts the optimal set of process variables that maximise the process yield, as well as the g…
ABATEMENT OF ACID ORANGE 7 IN WATER BY DIFFERENT ELECTROCHEMICAL APPROACHES
2014
Very large amounts of synthetic dyes are discharged in the environment from industrial effluents [1]. Due to their large-scale production and extensive application, synthetic dyes can cause considerable nonaesthetic pollution and are serious health-risk factors [2]. Dyes are commonly classified from their chromophore group. The majority of these compounds consumed at industrial scale are azo (–N=N–) derivatives that represent more than 50% of the all dyes used in textile industries, although antraquinone, indigoide, triphenylmethyl, xanthene, sulphur and phtalocyanine derivatives are frequently utilized [3]. Since dyes usually present high stability under sunlight and resistance to microbia…