Search results for "Multiple-effect distillation"
showing 5 items of 15 documents
Reverse electrodialysis heat engine with multi-effect distillation: Exergy analysis and perspectives
2019
Abstract The increasing worldwide energy demand is rising the interest on alternative power production technologies based on renewable and emission-free energy sources. In this regard, the closed-loop reverse electrodialysis heat engine is a promising technology with the potential to convert low-grade heat into electric power. The reverse electrodialysis technology has been under investigation in the last years to explore the real potentials for energy generation from natural and artificial solutions, and recent works have been addressing also the potential of its coupling with regeneration strategies, looking at medium and large energy supply purposes. In this work, for the first time, a c…
Thermodynamic, Exergy, and Thermoeconomic analysis of Multiple Effect Distillation Processes
2018
Abstract Multiple effect distillation (MED) is nowadays the preferred technology for the construction of new plants based on thermal processes in the growing desalination market. MED technology, in fact, presents a number of advantages with respect to the more traditional multistage flash technology, among all the lower energy consumption achievable in MED plants. However, a large potential for improvement in terms of lowering production costs still exists, which stimulates further efforts on process optimization from companies and researchers involved in the field. Thermodynamic and exergy analysis provides useful insights regarding the identification of main inefficiencies and the margins…
Boosting the performance of a Reverse Electrodialysis – Multi-Effect Distillation Heat Engine by novel solutions and operating conditions
2019
Abstract This work presents a performance analysis of a waste-heat-to-power Reverse Electrodialysis Heat Engine (RED-HE) with a Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) unit as the regeneration stage. The performance of the system is comparatively evaluated using two different salts, sodium chloride and potassium acetate, and investigating the impact of different working solutions concentration and temperature in the RED unit. For both salt solutions, the impact of membrane properties on the system efficiency is analysed by considering reference ionic exchange membranes and high-performing membranes. Detailed mathematical models for the RED and MED units have been used to predict the thermal efficie…
Techno-economic assessment of multi-effect distillation process for the treatment and recycling of ion exchange resin spent brines
2019
Abstract A treatment chain including nanofiltration, crystallization and multi-effect distillation (MED) is for the first time proposed for the treatment of an effluent produced during the regeneration of Ion Exchange resins employed for water softening. The goal is to recover the minerals and to restore the regenerant solution to be reused in the next regeneration cycle. MED is the most crucial unit of the treatment chain from an economic point of view. A techno-economic analysis on the MED unit was performed and a novel performance indicator, named Levelized Brine Cost, was introduced as a measure of the economic feasibility of the process. Different scenarios were analysed, assuming diff…
Correlations for estimating the specific capital cost of multi-effect distillation plants considering the main design trends and operating conditions
2018
Abstract This work proposes a correlation for the specific capital cost of multi-effect distillation (MED) plants, considering their main design options and parameters, such as the number of effects, size/capacity, and heat source temperature. These parameters are varied within a large range to cover as many different cases as possible. The cost correlation decouples the evaporator cost and includes in the expression the ratio of the heat exchanger area to a reference one. This area is calculated using a validated MED numerical model, with the results then processed to produce fitted expressions. Two versions of this correlation with different levels of complexity are proposed, which provid…