Journal of Hydraulic Structures

Journal of Hydraulic Structures

Numerical investigation of the effect of periodic turbulence promoters on the performance enhancement of nanofiltration modules.

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Mojtaba Azizi 1
meysam naderi 2
1 Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Malek Ashtar University of Technology, P.O. Box 16765-3454, Tehran, Iran
2 Department of Chemical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology (Tehran Polytechnic), Tehran, Iran.
10.22055/jhs.2024.47885.1321
Abstract
A new method for increasing the permeate flux of a nanofiltration module is presented. In a wall-patterned flat sheet membrane module, three distinct patterned walls were designed for the feed channel. 2D CFD modeling and simulation of the system's performance in nanofiltration of an aqueous solution of MgSO4 were used to examine the impact of the turbulence promoters on the system's performance. The model's output was compared to the published experimental data; strong agreements were found. With varying feed flow rates, the largest variance for the permeate flux was 1.8%. The simulation results at different feed flow rates showed that applying geometric patterns on the opposite wall of the membrane in the nanofiltration module can enhance the permeate flux. The sine-wave pattern with a maximum increase of 48% of the permeate flux had the best performance among the investigated geometries under the same conditions. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to investigate the impact of various operating parameters on permeate flux in a nanofiltration module with a Sine-wave patterned channel. RSM results showed that raising the transmembrane pressure (TMP) or the feed flow rate resulted in a noticeable improvement in the permeate flux. However, when the concentration of the feed was increased, the permeate flux tended to decrease.
Keywords
concentration polarization
CFD simulation
water desalination
RSM
Subjects
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