Comparative assessment of the effects of 3D printed feed spacers on process performance in MD systems
In this study, process enhancements achieved by the use of 3D printed feed spacers based on triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) were comparatively assessed using the two most common membrane distillation (MD) configurations: air gap (AGMD) and direct contact (DCMD). The MD performance was assess...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
Elsevier BV
2021
|
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/129639 |
| _version_ | 1826211966850433024 |
|---|---|
| author | Thomas, Navya Swaminathan, Jaichander Zaragoza, Guillermo Abu Al-Rub, Rashid K. Lienhard, John H Arafat, Hassan A. |
| author2 | Rohsenow Kendall Heat Transfer Laboratory (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) |
| author_facet | Rohsenow Kendall Heat Transfer Laboratory (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Thomas, Navya Swaminathan, Jaichander Zaragoza, Guillermo Abu Al-Rub, Rashid K. Lienhard, John H Arafat, Hassan A. |
| author_sort | Thomas, Navya |
| collection | MIT |
| description | In this study, process enhancements achieved by the use of 3D printed feed spacers based on triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) were comparatively assessed using the two most common membrane distillation (MD) configurations: air gap (AGMD) and direct contact (DCMD). The MD performance was assessed based on the impact of spacer design (TPMS vs. commercial spacer) on flux and feed channel pressure drop, and their consequent impact on the levelized cost of water (COW). The studied spacer architectures led to a minimal improvement (≤17%) in AGMD flux, much lower than that achieved in DCMD (≤57%). Consequently, for a waste heat-operated MD process, the spacer-induced channel pressure drop became the most influential cost bottleneck on COW. Generally, the contribution of the pumping cost to the total operating cost was found to be greater for DCMD than AGMD. Thus, the COW of a waste heat operated DCMD is more sensitive to a decrease in spacer-induced channel pressure drop than in an AGMD. For an MD process operated with additional heat cost, the flux improvement achieved using TPMS spacers reduces the thermal energy component of the operating cost. Ultimately, this predominantly contributes to a lower COW. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:13:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/129639 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:13:54Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Elsevier BV |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1296392022-09-29T13:32:47Z Comparative assessment of the effects of 3D printed feed spacers on process performance in MD systems Thomas, Navya Swaminathan, Jaichander Zaragoza, Guillermo Abu Al-Rub, Rashid K. Lienhard, John H Arafat, Hassan A. Rohsenow Kendall Heat Transfer Laboratory (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering In this study, process enhancements achieved by the use of 3D printed feed spacers based on triply periodic minimal surfaces (TPMS) were comparatively assessed using the two most common membrane distillation (MD) configurations: air gap (AGMD) and direct contact (DCMD). The MD performance was assessed based on the impact of spacer design (TPMS vs. commercial spacer) on flux and feed channel pressure drop, and their consequent impact on the levelized cost of water (COW). The studied spacer architectures led to a minimal improvement (≤17%) in AGMD flux, much lower than that achieved in DCMD (≤57%). Consequently, for a waste heat-operated MD process, the spacer-induced channel pressure drop became the most influential cost bottleneck on COW. Generally, the contribution of the pumping cost to the total operating cost was found to be greater for DCMD than AGMD. Thus, the COW of a waste heat operated DCMD is more sensitive to a decrease in spacer-induced channel pressure drop than in an AGMD. For an MD process operated with additional heat cost, the flux improvement achieved using TPMS spacers reduces the thermal energy component of the operating cost. Ultimately, this predominantly contributes to a lower COW. 2021-02-02T19:03:15Z 2021-02-02T19:03:15Z 2021-01 2020-12 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0011-9164 https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/129639 Thomas, Navya et al. “Comparative assessment of the effect of 3D printed feed spacer geometries on process performance in membrane distillation systems.” Desalination 503 (May 2021): 114940 © 2021 Elsevier B.V. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.desal.2021.114940 Desalination Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ application/pdf Elsevier BV Prof. Lienhard |
| spellingShingle | Thomas, Navya Swaminathan, Jaichander Zaragoza, Guillermo Abu Al-Rub, Rashid K. Lienhard, John H Arafat, Hassan A. Comparative assessment of the effects of 3D printed feed spacers on process performance in MD systems |
| title | Comparative assessment of the effects of 3D printed feed spacers on process performance in MD systems |
| title_full | Comparative assessment of the effects of 3D printed feed spacers on process performance in MD systems |
| title_fullStr | Comparative assessment of the effects of 3D printed feed spacers on process performance in MD systems |
| title_full_unstemmed | Comparative assessment of the effects of 3D printed feed spacers on process performance in MD systems |
| title_short | Comparative assessment of the effects of 3D printed feed spacers on process performance in MD systems |
| title_sort | comparative assessment of the effects of 3d printed feed spacers on process performance in md systems |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/129639 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT thomasnavya comparativeassessmentoftheeffectsof3dprintedfeedspacersonprocessperformanceinmdsystems AT swaminathanjaichander comparativeassessmentoftheeffectsof3dprintedfeedspacersonprocessperformanceinmdsystems AT zaragozaguillermo comparativeassessmentoftheeffectsof3dprintedfeedspacersonprocessperformanceinmdsystems AT abualrubrashidk comparativeassessmentoftheeffectsof3dprintedfeedspacersonprocessperformanceinmdsystems AT lienhardjohnh comparativeassessmentoftheeffectsof3dprintedfeedspacersonprocessperformanceinmdsystems AT arafathassana comparativeassessmentoftheeffectsof3dprintedfeedspacersonprocessperformanceinmdsystems |