Search results for "Polar membrane"
showing 10 items of 19 documents
A Bi-objective Optimization Study of an Acid-Base Flow Battery for High Efficiency and Improved Power Density
2022
Electrical energy storage is critical for a broader penetration of renewable energies with intermittent nature, such as solar and wind energy. The Acid/Base Flow Battery (AB-FB) is a unique, sustainable, and environmental-friendly storage technology with high electrolyte solution energy density. The method relies on reversible electrodialytic technologies using bipolar membranes to transform electrical energy into chemical energy related to pH gradients and vice versa. The charge phase is accomplished by using bipolar membrane electrodialysis, whereas the discharge phase is performed via bipolar membrane reverse electrodialysis. In a previous work, we developed an advanced multi-scale proce…
The superlattice model of lateral organization of membranes and its implications on membrane lipid homeostasis.
2008
AbstractMost biological membranes are extremely complex structures consisting of hundreds of different lipid and protein molecules. According to the famous fluid-mosaic model lipids and many proteins are free to diffuse very rapidly in the plane of the membrane. While such fast diffusion implies that different membrane lipids would be laterally randomly distributed, accumulating evidence indicates that in model and natural membranes the lipid components tend to adopt regular (superlattice-like) distributions. The superlattice model, put forward based on such evidence, is intriguing because it predicts that 1) there is a limited number of allowed compositions representing local minima in mem…
Improving efficiency and discharge power of acid-base flow battery via a bi-objective optimisation
2023
Bipolar membrane (reverse) electrodialysis acid/base flow battery for energy storage: a multi-scale model for increased efficiency
2019
The renewable energy market is rapidly increasing. Most of renewable energy sources are intermittent, e.g. wind and solar among them. This has led to the need for new large scale energy storage systems. In this regard, the Acid/Base Flow Battery (AB-FB) represents an innovative, safe and sustainable way to store energy with high performances [1]. The energy density accumulated in an AB-FB, in the form of pH and salinity gradients, can theoretically reach 7 kWh/m8 which is higher than the values relevant to the most used technologies (e.g. pumped hydropower and compressed air). The core of the battery is the stack where two membrane separation processes are carried out: bipolar membrane elec…
Analysis of Operational Parameters in Acid and Base Production Using an Electrodialysis with Bipolar Membranes Pilot Plant
2023
In agreement with the Water Framework Directive, Circular Economy and European Union (EU) Green Deal packages, the EU-funded WATER-MINING project aims to validate next-generation water resource solutions at the pre-commercial demonstration scale in order to provide water management and recovery of valuable materials from alternative sources. In the framework of the WATER-MINING project, desalination brines from the Lampedusa (Italy) seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) plant will be used to produce freshwater and recover valuable salts by integrating different technologies. In particular, electrodialysis with bipolar membranes (EDBM) will be used to produce chemicals (NaOH and HCl). A novel EDBM…
A multi-scale tool for simulating electrodialysis with bipolar membranes systems
2022
In recent years, the global capacity of the desalination industry has increased to address freshwater scarcity, with reverse osmosis established as the leading technology. Brine disposal is a major issue due to the environmental impacts. However, novel brine management methods are oriented by (near) Zero Liquid Discharge strategies towards waste disposal minimization and resource recovery. In this context, ElectroDialysis with Bipolar Membranes (EDBM) can be utilised to valorise and, thus, repurpose the waste brine, thereby producing valuable chemicals, such as acid and base solutions, and recovering desalted water. However, the EDBM system must be carefully designed to meet the process req…
A comprehensive multi-scale model for bipolar membrane electrodialysis (BMED)
2022
Bipolar membrane electrodialysis (BMED) is a technology combining solute and solvent dissociation to produce chemicals. In the recent decades, it has been typically studied for the production of valuable acid and base solutions from salt streams. Although many works have been devoted to the experimental investigation of BMED, only a few efforts have focused on its mathematical modelling. In the present work, a comprehensive process model based on a multi-scale approach with distributed parameters is presented for the first time. Five models related to four different dimensional scales were fully integrated to form a comprehensive tool. The integrated model was developed by using the process…
Simulation of bipolar membrane electrodialysis (BMED) units by a validated process model
2022
The BMED technology can be used for the production or the regeneration of acid and base solutions by water dissociation. BMED has practical applications in several fields including in chemical and biochemical industry, environmental protection and, recently, even for brine valorisation. Many are the irreversibility sources involved in the BMED process. Some of them are related to the non-ideal transport properties of the Ion Exchange Membranes causing undesired co-ion leakages and water flux. Furthermore, the presence of shunt currents through the manifolds (i.e. distributors and collectors of the solutions) decrease the current efficiency. The aim of this work is to give a quantitative des…
The acid–base flow battery : Sustainable energy storage via reversible water dissociation with bipolar membranes
2020
The increasing share of renewables in electric grids nowadays causes a growing daily and seasonal mismatch between electricity generation and demand. In this regard, novel energy storage systems need to be developed, to allow large-scale storage of the excess electricity during low-demand time, and its distribution during peak demand time. Acid–base flow battery (ABFB) is a novel and environmentally friendly technology based on the reversible water dissociation by bipolar membranes, and it stores electricity in the form of chemical energy in acid and base solutions. The technology has already been demonstrated at the laboratory scale, and the experimental testing of the first 1 kW pilot pla…
Optimization study of acid-base flow battery stacks with monopolar and bipolar membranes
2021
The Acid-Base Flow Battery (AB-FB) is a novel technology for energy storage. It is based on reversible electrodialytic techniques with ion-exchange membranes. The kye elements are the bipolar membranes, which convert electrical energy in the form of pH gradients and vice versa. Despite the promising results of few experimental studies, the AB-FB potential has been poorly explored so far. This work presents an optimization study of the AB-FB. It was performed by a multi-scale process model previously developed (gPROMS Model Builder® environment) and experimentally validated. A two-objective optimization was conducted by maximizing the Net Round Trip Efficiency and the Net Power Density in th…