Search results for "Electrodialysi"

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…

Determination of limiting current density and current efficiency in electrodialysis units

2018

Abstract A crucial parameter for the design and operation of electrodialysis (ED) units is the limiting current density (LCD). This is often identified with the diffusion-limited current density, which corresponds to the complete solute depletion in the layer adjacent to the membrane. Current-voltage curves obtained from measurements with electrodes in contact with the solution (i.e. without membranes) are consistent with this interpretation and exhibit a horizontal plateau identifying LCD. However, real ED systems show more complex behaviours, with a reduced-slope tract instead of a plateau and a third region in which the current increases more markedly (overlimiting current). The phenomen…

Electrodialysis for wastewater treatment—Part I: Fundamentals and municipal effluents

2020

Abstract Selectivity, high recovery, and chemical-free operation are strengths of electrodialysis. Different configurations have been proposed for several applications. Effluents from municipal wastewater treatment plants (including sludge and supernatants), desalination plants, and animal farms can be treated for recovering water, nutrients, salts, and acids/bases. Although many applications are technoeconomically feasible and competitive with other zero liquid discharge systems, only a few real plants have been installed. However, the research is currently very active, thus paving the way for a widespread use at large scale in the next future.

Electrodialysis for wastewater treatment-part II: Industrial effluents

2020

Abstract Electrodialysis and related processes have huge potential in the treatment of effluents from a variety of industrial processes. They can recover water and other valuable products, including heavy metal ions, acids and bases, nutrients, and organics. In recent years, novel and improved systems have been continuously developed as a result of research in the field, showing that the (near) zero liquid discharge approach can be affordable in several industrial applications. A larger market share is expected in the near future.

Novel concepts on the recovery of by-products from alkaline pulping

2016

Innovative biorefinery concepts were developed for the separation and utilization of organic materials, especially aliphatic carboxylic acids, lignin, and extractives, which are formed as by-products during wood-based alkaline delignification processes. The partial recovery of sodium as NaOH and aliphatic carboxylic acids from hardwood soda-AQ black liquor was studied via electrodialysis. The lignin was partly (about 59 % of the initial lignin) precipitated from black liquor by carbonation (pH to about 8.5) followed by electrodialysis or H2SO4 (pH to about 2), with subsequent precipitation of more lignin and the liberation of aliphatic acids. The Na2SO4 formed was successfully separated fro…

Brackish water off-grid desalination systems for developing countries

2017

The REvivED water project aims to contribute to overcoming the drinking water challenge through desalination technology. The goal is to produce safe and affordable drinking water with a significantly reduced energy consumption compared to the current state-of-the-art technology. The overall project comprises several systems and applications with twelve pilots in total, ranging from Electrodialysis (ED) small systems for brackish water desalination to larger scale hybrid (RED/ED-RO) systems for sea water desalination. Specific attention is devoted to develop energy efficient and robust brackish water desalination systems for application in developing countries. To reduce the energy consumpti…

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…

Resource, environmental and economic considerations in the development of a Reverse Electrodialysis Heat Engine

The RED Heat Engine operates as a closed-loop RED system, where limited amounts of artificial saline solutions are used as working fluids. The solutions exiting from the RED unit are regenerated by means of a separation step, which uses low-temperature heat as its energy source. Essentially the system converts low-grade heat to electricity. There are two main alternative regeneration strategies: (i) extract solvent from the high salinity solution and move it to the low salinity solution or (ii) extract salt from the low salinity solution and move it to the high salinity solution. In this thesis are considered the Multi-effect distillation (MED) and the Membrane Distillation (MD) under the s…